(1888–1944, North London Collegiate 1903 –)
Dorothy Evans was a political fighter, an active and passionate suffragette whose activities influenced women all over the United Kingdom.
Born in 1888, as a pupil she was an integral part of North London Collegiate School, making contributions to sport, music and the school magazine.
Within the school archives is a 1906 description of Dorothy’s skills as a hockey goalie “Considering this was her first season in goal, the goal-keeper did well on the whole. She stops balls well with her feet, but is not quick enough in clearing. Also she is not quite ready enough to run out if the need arises.” She represented the school for diving, won the choir prize for her year, and was lucky enough to receive a bottle of Eau de Cologne in 1906 for winning the Tug of War on sports day.
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| Dorothy's admission form... |
However it was not sporting or extra curricular achievements which enabled her to influence society, it was her quick, controversial mind and decision-making as an active member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) which led later to her imprisonment.
In 1910, after briefly training to become a gymnastics teacher, Dorothy was arrested for “failing to pay a dog licence” on the grounds that women should not be taxed, as they had no political representation. She became heavily involved within the movement and was soon acting as liaison officer between the WSPU headquarters in London and its exiled leader Christabel Pankhurst, who was residing in Paris. As she became more involved with the suffragettes, her militant tactics became more extreme, and in 1913 she was arrested for the possession of explosives in Ireland. However, many of her prison sentences were not carried out because she undertook hunger and thirst strikes.
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| Photo: Mary Evans Picture Library |
Suffragist Procession 13th June 1908 led by [from left to right] Lady Frances Balfour, Mrs Millicent Fawcett, Miss Emily Davies and Dr Sophie Bryant (Headmistress of North London Collegiate)
As the years passed and World War I enveloped Europe, Dorothy became a pacifist, and devoted her energies to gaining equal legal rights for women, and equal pay, and for attaining the right for women to have custody of their children. As these rights began to be granted, Dorothy focused her attention on elevating the rights of married women and their position at home. Very unusually for the time, Miss Evans had a daughter with A. Emil Davies, the treasurer of the Fabian Society, and the pair decided not to marry as she believed in “partnership held together by love, comradeship and mutual respect and not by legal ties.” What further shocked society during the 1930s was her long-term relationship with the feminist Sybil Morrison, but she was not perturbed by social stigma and continued to fight for what she believed in.
Dorothy Evans tirelessly strived throughout her life for women’s rights and managed to gain the respect of a wide-range of women. A forward thinker, Dorothy Evans left her mark on politics, and enabled women to enjoy a higher standard of living.
Written & researched by Olivia Beecham (Sixth Form History student)