None given

46

Single

Flat 6, Block 1, 4 Bessborough Street, Westminster, London.

WFL

Resists

Constance Antonia better known as 'Nina' Boyle (1865–1943), was born in Bexley, Kent, on 21 December 1865. She lived in South Africa around the turn of the century, where she performed hospital duties during the South African War and worked as a journalist. Her activism for women’s rights started during this period, when she founded the Women's Enfranchisement League of Johannesburg. In 1911, she returned to Britain and joined the Women's Freedom League (WFL). She resisted the census in 1911 likely with 3 other women. Her (see) census form is defaced perhaps with the slightly exaggerated statement that the flat was '...filled with Census resisters. No Votes. No Census. Votes for Women'. The census official notes in red that a total of 5 women slept there that night, one of whom (Boyle's sister) took no part in the protest. In 1912, she became head of the WFL's political and militant department. Boyle was very active, she led numerous demonstrations and campaigns for the WFL. She wrote extensively for The Vote (the journal of the WFL). She was arrested on several occasions and imprisoned three times. She attempted to gain approval for women to be employed as special constables, but after it was refused, she founded the Women’s Volunteer Police (WVP) with Margaret Damer Dawson of the National Vigilance Association. The WVP represented a challenge to male control of the law—particularly in regard to sexual matters. In late 1916 Nina Boyle went to Macedonia and Serbia to perform war relief work. She received the Samaritan order of Serbia and the allied medal. After women over thirty obtained the vote in 1918, there were doubts about their capacity to stand for Parliament elections. In March 1918, Boyle attempted to stand as a WFL candidate in the Keighley by-election. Although her nomination was rejected because of a technical flaw, it was ruled that she could stand for election as a women. This acceptance of her candidature set the principle for other women to stand for election. During the 1920s and 1930s Boyle remained active in a broad range of women's organizations. She campaigned on behalf of the National Union of Women Teachers, the Women's Election Committee, the Open Door Council and organisations concerned with the welfare of women and children in developing countries. In 1920, Boyle published her novel Out of the Frying-Pan, followed by a string of adventure romance novels ending with Good Old Potts in 1934. Sources: M. Brodie, Boyle, Constance Antonina [Nina] (1865–1943), women's rights campaigner. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (May 25,2006, ). Jill Liddington, Vanishing for the Vote: Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the Census, (Manchester: Manchester Uni Press, 2014). Contributed by: Oihane Etayo, Warwick University.