Home  / KP/AK/2/LYT/C/7 - Letter, Constance Lytton to Annie Kenney, 24/5/1909

KP/AK/2/LYT/C/7 - Letter, Constance Lytton to Annie Kenney, 24/5/1909

Reference code
KP/AK/2/LYT/C/7
Level of description
Item
Title
Letter, Constance Lytton to Annie Kenney, 24/5/1909
Date/s
24/5/1909
Quantity & Format
1 Letters (MS)
Creator
Lytton, Constance, Lady
Creator
Kenney, Annie, 1879-1953
Scope and content
Lytton confirms an upcoming meeting with Annie and Mrs Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (one of WSPU's leaders together with her husband Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, Emmeline Pankhurst and Christabel Pankhurst) and shares her anxiety about public speaking in an atmosphere charged with disagreement. Constance Lytton was a prominent suffragette, women's rights activist, and campaigner for prison reform. She was imprisoned on a number of occasions, but felt she was not given the same treatment as other suffragette inmates due to her aristocratic background. To test her theory, she gave a fake name - Jane Warton - after being taken to Walton Gaol, Liverpool. As Jane Warton, she adopted the hunger strike and was force-fed - an experience which disturbed her health for the rest of her life. She documented the experience in her 1914 memoir 'Prisons and Prisoners'.

Transcript provided by Stanislava Dikova.

May 27, 1909

Dear Annie Kenney, Mrs Lawrence told me she would be leaving by the [illegible] p.m. (mid-day) from Paddington train on Tuesday next. I shall be there without fail this time. I am so hugely looking forward to [Page 2] being with you and her again, but oh! I do wish I could feel some control of my speechifying instead of letting it [illegible] on the top of me and grip me with terror-making claws. It is specially difficult to feel strong in the matter [Page 3] when one lives mostly in an atmosphere of opponents. I can’t help complaining to you because you are so sympathising but I don’t really mean to grumble and I know I shall feel alright when I am with you again.

[Page 4] Yours always after, Connie Lytton.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright: Owned by Knebworth Estates – www.knebworthhouse.com. All rights are reserved.
Existence and location of copies
A digital copy may be viewed at Suffragette Stories: https://suffragettestories.omeka.net/items/show/46
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