'Household Drudge'

32

Married

8 Chequer Street, Penn Fields, Wolverhampton

WFL

Resists

Elizabeth Price (nee Matthews) was involved in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) as well as the Women’s Freedom League (WFL). She was born in Worcester in 1879, and married Arthur Price there in 1898. Arthur became a printer with Whitehead Brothers, St John’s Square, Wolverhampton, and the couple and their children were living at 8 Chequer Street, Penn Fields, in 1911. Elizabeth was associated with the Labour movement in Wolverhampton, but unlike (see) Emma Sproson remained relatively unknown until, on Wednesday 20 March 1907, she was arrested along with Emma and 74 other suffragettes following a further raid on the House of Commons. The names of all the women were listed in the Express & Star the following day. The newspaper also interviewed Elizabeth’s husband, Arthur, who said that the first he had heard about his wife being arrested was in the morning’s newspapers (see images). Asked whether he minded about what his wife was doing, he stated “Not in the least; I believe in it!” He also dispelled the myth that their home was neglected while his wife carried on her suffragette duties, as “My wife would not have gone to London if she had not known the home would be looked after.” By 1911, it is likely that Elizabeth like Emma Sproson had moved away from the WSPU toward the WFL. When the 1911 census was taken, Elizabeth was present and recorded but she is classed as a resister on the map to acknowledge her powerful statement under occupation as 'household drudge'. This was not an occupation that census officials would have recognised as legitimate, yet it was one that many women would have understood. Contributed by Heidi McIntosh, Senior Archivist, Wolverhampton Archives.