An Earlston Suffragette Makes The Headlines

In October 1908 Prime Minister Herbert Asquith came to Earlston to make a political speech.  This was a major event for the Scottish Borders  village,  and newspapers were full of the preparations, with one particular aspect occupying their concerns, not only in local newspapers but in the press further afield – the threat of suffragette demonstrations.      

Preparations for the Visit

"The Jedburgh Advertiser”:  October 3rd described the plans  for the visit.  These included  the erection of a tent, measuring 220 feet by 60 feet  with seating accommodation for about 4000 people - this when the population  of Earlston in the 1911 census was only 1677!   How many political meetings in the Borders attract that kind of number today?

 Other newspapers gave additional details, amongst them “The Berwickshire News” with a lengthy article, published on 29^th September 1908:

• "There is no building in Earlston big enough for a mass meeting of any sort, and as the sudden return of summer could not be foreseen or depended upon, provision has been made in a marquee to afford sitting accommodation for some four thousand people." 
  

•  “Arrangement for the great Liberal demonstration to be addressed by the Prime 'Minister at Earlston on  the afternoon of Saturday, 3rd October, are now well advanced, and everything points  to the gathering being a record one………..Houses and shops are being painted  and decorated and made to look their best." 
  
  
  
  
  
   
• "For the benefit those desirous taking advantage of the special trains are asked to state that   it has now been arranged that there shall be five special trains to Earlston the afternoon bringing passengers from Edinburgh, Berwick, Dunbar, 'Hawick, Jedburgh, Kelso, and other stations en route………"
  

• "Every available room in Earlston is spoken for……tickets are being given: away freely, upon application, to Unionists well as to' Liberal, —in fact to any respectable person who is not likely cause any disturbance at the meeting."

• The report concluded with an exhortation that local residents respected the honour that was due on the occasion:
  

 “It is to be hoped Success will attend Asquith’s meeting in Earlston.  It is an event of no ordinary importance,. It will be the first time in the political history Berwickshire that a Prime Minister of Great Britain has delivered a speech at public meeting the county, and there is a desire on the part of the inhabitants to show their appreciation, of the honour which is about to be conferred upon them.” 

“The Sheffield Daily Telegraph” presented to its readers a picture of Earlston, waxing lyrically that “the remote village was more a land of poetry and romance than politics and politicians” . The paper also questioned  “Why Earlston?”  The answer was the Prime Minster had never spoken in Berwickshire and his son in law Mr. Harold John Tennant was the local MP.  

Threats Of Suffragette Intervention

This was a serious preoccupation for the organisers as evidenced by the press coverage,  which used such terms as "the dreaded suffragettes,   “pernicious feminine politicians”, “militant political women”   “displaying their usual offensive manners”, and "mischievously disposed females." 

Rumours abounded that suffragettes would  follow in motor cars the Prime Minister’s party to Earlston, with the  waving of flags and banners and shouts of their motto” Votes or Women”  and the approach of the picturesque procession to the various villages and hamlets the way being heralded by the ringing of bells to herald their presence.   In the event, the Prime Minister arrived by train, 

 Prime Minister Asquith arriving at Earlston Station

The strategy  of the organisers was to  sit all ladies attending the event in a specially designated part of the marquee;  or as “The Sheffield Daily Telegraph” said  “Put the Ladies in a  Compound” – a policy well covered by the local press and further afield by such titles as “The Huntly Express”, “The Aberdeen Press and Journal” and “The Daily Record”. 

Ladies would not be admitted to any other part of the building even if they possessed tickets for other parts.  “The purpose of this arrangement is evident”.  Names and addresses were also required ,  This precaution is specially intended to keep out any suffragettes who may attempt  to be present and carry out their policy in their  usual offensive manner.”

“The Daily Record” of 26^th Sept 1908 noted:

“The decision that they  must ail sit together has been arrived at, is  scarcely necessary to say, because of the probability of a suffragette disturbance. With the women in a bunch, it is believed  that any need for ejectment will be the more easier accomplished than if the ladies were dotted all over the marquee”.

The Berwickshire News reported on 29^th September that

"A few days ago, two ladies who had been inquiring where the meeting was held and when tickets were to be had. were directed to the Secretary of the local Liberal Association. In the course of a talk with him they said that they were Unionists, and admitted they were  suffragettes, but not of the wild  description, and they offered to pay for tickets. They were told, however, that the tickets were not for sale, and that they must  apply to the local secretary of the district from which they came – A safeguard against actions  contemplated these pertinacious feminine politicians.

"The Southern Reporter  noted that the local motto of suffragettes was “Ask Asquith with All Your Might"

The Prime Minister’s Visit: Saturday

 “The Aberdeen Press and Journal” of 10^th October 1908 presented a colourful report as the village awaited the arrival  of PM Asquith.

"In  all its history the little Berwickshire town of Earlston  has not witnessed such scenes on Saturday. Its High Street under normal conditions can boast of about a dozen people on it at one time, except on Saturday evening, when country people lend a brief spell of life to the town, it might thought that it was only peopled by the ghostly contemporaries of  Thomas  the Rhymer, whose ruined tower still stands at the southern end of the village.

On Friday night Earlstonians went to bed unknown; Saturday they awoke to find the eyes of the British-speaking world focussed upon their quaint little town, and in the afternoon the erstwhile solitary street was crowded with motor cars, traps, cycles, and close on 8000 people. Earlston had, however, risen to the occasion. Within its bounds was to speak Britain’s greatest political figure and statesman, the Prime Minister, and the town did not hesitate to do him honour. From east to west of the long High Street flags and streamers waved profusion; Union Jacks and other patriotic emblems”.

 

It proved to be a notable  occasion,  disrupted by the late arrival of reporters and M.Ps on a delayed Edinburgh train which took three hours to reach Earlston; crowds spilling out of from the crowded hot  marquee, and noise from the "shunt, snort and whistles" of a railway engine threatening  to drown out the speakers.

When Mr Asquith stood to speak "He got  a warm greeting.  Many of the people rose to their feet and waved hats and handkerchiefs and cheered with great cordiality".

 

A Suffragette Interruption

However Mr Asquith had only said a few words when,  at his  remark  "My primary purpose in coming here this afternoon is........., a woman startled her neighbours by exclaiming " “Give votes to women!". 

“The interrupter was a young woman of graceful figure and pleasant features, and, having borne her testimony, she smiled and waited. She had not to wait long before she was attended to. One of the stewards quickly realised the situation. Ah., ha, here you are, are you", he seemed to say, and he made his way to the fair suffragette. She was  calm and unresisting, but with her sailor hat somewhat awry , and they a little excited and very energetic, but not severe. As far as one could judge the suffragette had no confederates beside her, for the ladies in whose all she stood appeared most surprised of all when the  demand for their civil emancipation came from their midst, and there not a flutter among them  while the furbelows that had been ruffled were re-arranged. Of course they were cruel men who shouted  "Put her out". She didn't care - she had done what she could.

“The Huntly Express” referred to “the stylishly-dressed young suffragette, who  within a few seconds was in the arms of a stalwart Gala steward, and was borne out amid the laughter of the audience. She appeared to be the only one of her kind who had succeeded in effecting an entrance, and the Prime Minister proceeded without further interruption”.

The “Votes for Women”, publication in London not surprisingly gave a different slant on the incident:

“In  spite of the most elaborate precautions to exclude any but ardent supporters, a woman found her way into Mr. Asquith's meeting at Earlston, and at an early stage in the proceedings protested that he ought to give votes to qualified women. She was, of course, ejected after considerable uproar, being followed by a large crowd, who were evidently more interested in the Suffragettes than in the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, a man who interrupted the speaker several times was left in undisturbed possession of his seat.”

"The Jedburgh Gazette"  reporter clearly found this incident far more  interesting than Mr Asquith's speech which he described as "Unimpassioned with no striking phrases." 

But on a brief Saturday afternoon in October 1908

Earlston was on the national stage politically.

Official photograph taken by Walter Swanston, an Earlston-born photographer
 who set up a studio on Leith Walk, Edinburgh. 

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But the Asquith incident was not the end of suffragette activity in the village. 

"The Berwickshire News": 10th August 1909 printed the following report:

Suffragettes.—On Friday week three ladies of the Suffragette “persuasion” visited Earlston, and at the dinner hour of the factory workers addressed an open air meeting in the open space at Rhymer’s Mill. There was large attendance of the factory' workers and others who listened to the speeches of the ladies with attention. Two of them spoke of the advantages that would accrue to the country if the franchise were extended to women, who at present laboured under wrong and injustice in being denied it, Mrs Hope of Sunwick and other ladies who hold the views of the speakers were present. The Suffragettes left Earlston on the four o’clock train to Duns.  

 

Women workers at Simpson & Fairbairn Mill, Earlston - early 1900's

1913 saw more militant activity - this time in Kelso, when: 

"A couple of women, presumably suffragettes, had been caught red handed in an attempt to destroy by fire the new stand which had been erected in the paddock at the Racecourse.......The fire was subdued before any damage could be done and the suffragettes arrested......In the walk down to Kelso Police Station, the Ladies beguiled the time by giving lusty voice  to the suffragette song " March On."

The women  were conveyed to Jedburgh and apprehended before the  Sheriff.   A big crowd collected in the vicinity of  the court room to catch a glimpse of the daring but mischievously disposed females." 

 

The protesters  were committed to prison and taken by train to Edinburgh,  They  were found guilty as charged and sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Calton Jail, Edinburgh.  However they were liberated within a week having gone on hunger strike.  The terms of their temporary release  stated that they must return after a stipulated number of days - an instance of the infamous "cat and mouse"  policy.

 

Postscript

But it was the role of women in the First World War, undertaking men's work  that did as much as anything to show their ability and commitment.  

 

So in November 1918 the Representation of the People Act  gave the vote to some women i.e. those over the age of 30,  who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, and graduates of British universities.   It was to be a further ten years in 1928, before women gained the vote on the same basis as men.

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Source of Information:  www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

 

 Contributed by Susan Donaldson of the Auld Earlston Group 

 

 

 

THE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY IN EARLSTON

Auld Earlston member Sheila McKay was delighted to find during her family history research that her great grandfather Robert Frater had been a founding member of the local Cooperative Society. She was prompted to find out more about the Co-op’s history. 

 Background 

In Scotland, Fenwick Weavers in Ayrshire set up in 1769 the first Co-op using bulk buying to buy essentials for workers to purchase at affordable prices.  Other early co-operatives were soon established – Hawick and Galashiels in 1839 and by 1867 Scotland had 130 such societies.  Key principles behind their operation were:  voluntary and open membership, democratic members’ control, a community ethos, and payment of dividends based on purchases.

Early Days in Earlston  

The earliest record found online, at British Newspaper Archive,  was in “The Southern Reporter:  19^th April 1883  when a meeting was held in the Good Templar Hall, Earlston  to hear a talk on the subject on   “Co-operation – its principles and benefits to the working classes”  delivered by Mr. J. McNair, Glasgow; Mr. J. Allan and Mr. T. Little, Galashiels and Mr. Lochhead, Edinburgh,   The chair was occupied by Mr. R. H. Dunn, tweed manufacturer, and elected as first Secretary was Robert Frater.

 

“There was a good attendance, and the addresses were listened to with the greatest interest and attention.   At the close, a party of ten formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of endeavoring to obtain support for the establishment of a co-operative store in the town.”

Who was Robert Frater?   

Robert Frater (1846-1938) was born in Galashiels, son of William Muir Frater and Janet Smith,   His father was very active in Galashiels affairs, serving as a Councillor and a strong advocate for the Co-operative movement.   19 year old Robert  came to Earlston to work in the local Tweed Mill, at that time owned by Mr. Charles Wilson, and continued working there as a woollen warper until his retirement.  He was closely involved in the local Earlston community - a staunch member of the Temperance movement, as well as being a follower of Liberal politics.    He was a keen Rifle Volunteer, attending what became to be known as ‘The Wet Review “at Edinburgh in 1881.    He was also a prominent member of the Bowling Club, Horticultural Society and the Reading Room.   Robert was one of the villagers involved in the setting up of the Co-operative Society in Earlston in 1883 as its first secretary and was elected to President in 1906.

Robert married Janet Thomson in 1870, and they had eleven children, eight daughters and three sons, all of whom survived to adulthood.    Robert died in 1938 at the grand old age of 92 in his home at Janefield, Earlston where he had lived with three of his unmarried daughters for many years. 

 Photograph:  Robert with his wife and two of their daughters outside their home in Rodgers  Place.

 The Turn of the 19^th Century saw the Co-operative Society in Earlston with 200 members, and in 1898 it purchased the Old Parochial School on Station Road. “The Southern Reporter” of 28^th December 1898 noted:

“The old parish school and playground purchased by Mr. Carter, Berwick, when the new school  [at the East End] was opened in 1877,  has been sold by him to the Co-operative Store Company at, it is said, £400.   The company intend to make extensive alterations and additions, for which the playground affords ample space, in order that the premises may be adapted to their greatly increased and increasing business”.

The Co-op on Station Road the right

 An interesting “Situations Vacant” notice  appeared in ”The Southern Reporter” 20^th June 1901 for van drivers at a time when cars were still regarded as luxury travel for pleasure and only beginning to be introduced for business purposes.  (No such thing as driving tests to prove competency at this early date).

  "Wanted, a Man to drive Grocery Van; also a Baker who is capable of driving a van.   Apply, stating wages, etc. to Robert Frater, Secretary, Co-operative Society, Earlston.” 

 

Annual Festivals

 The local press revealed that besides the quarterly and annual business meetings, the Society had an Annual Festival in the Corn Exchange.  The 1906 report commented on:

“A large attendance. Mr. Robert Frater, president of the society, occupied the chair.   After tea, the Chairman referred to the fact that Earlston Co-operative Society was the only association of the kind in Berwickshire, and that it had distributed amongst its members a sum of something approaching ten thousand pounds during the twenty three years of its existence.   If the members of the Earlston Society wished to keep up their dividend, they should be thoroughly loyal in their support of the store, and show their interest in the society by attending its meetings” 

A “Soiree” followed of musical entertainment and:

“The hall was then cleared for dancing, which was taken part in by many young people, who kept it up till early the following morning.    Excellent music was provided by the Earlston Orchestra." 

For the 1907 festival the  audience enjoyed:

"An exhibition of animated pictures with songs interspersed.  The pictures that were thrown on the screen being mostly of a humorous kind called forth repeated plaudits.   Many of them excited roars of laughter”.

Semi Jubilee

1908 marked the 25th anniversary of the Co-operative Society in Earlston and was celebrated in a grand fashion, as reported in “The Southern Reporter”:  25^th June.

"On Saturday, a long procession of boys and girls, carrying flags and banners, marched through the town, headed by Melrose Pipe Band, who, in their kilts and philabegs made a brave show, and discoursed excellent music.   From the town they made their way to the scene of the sports, and the president of the society, Mr. Robert Frater, welcomed the huge assemblage, which numbered little, if anything, short of 1000 people all told. 

 

 

The occasion was celebrated “in the finest summer weather, and on the beautiful ground of Sorrowlessfield Haugh, on the right bank of the Leader, opposite Cowdenknowes mansion house, which from this point of view has its most striking aspect.   The society entertained a vast number of children and other guests to an abundant tea, and provided prizes for numerous sports which were keenly and numerously contested."  

 

The speeches made note that no less a sum than £10,000 had been handed over to the working men and working women of Earlston in dividends.    Mr. Robert Frater was presented with a handsome silver mounted walking stick as the only survivor of the six original office-bearers of the Society.

“In the course of the afternoon many sports were engaged in, and amusements of all kinds were provided for young and old.   The Earlston Orchestra also gave their services gratuitously, and to their stirring strains the lads and lasses danced right merrily on the grass.   The fete was a great success.” 

Robert Frater was last noted in press reports as President in 1909. He died in 1938 at the grand age of 92 with the local press paying fulsome tribute to him in obituaries.

Impact of the First World War

In 1914 membership of the Society stood at 280 and initially reports showed that it was in a good financial position. 

But as conscription was introduced, there was “in consequence a shortage of labour”, with the store severely depleted of its bakery staff. “   Shop hours were reduced, with a closure at lunchtime, and earlier closure in the evening. 

Appeals were made to the Military Tribunals to exempt staff and these were regularly reported in the press – as in this example from 1916:

“The President of the Earlston Co-operative Society petitioned on behalf of three workers:   John Brash, manager was granted a temporary exemption until the end of stock-taking  and that a man was found to take on his duties;  baker John Burrell,  was given an “absolute exemption", with van man Walter Brotherston’s claim  refused.”

In January 1916 the financial situation was more precarious and a request was made to other Co-operative Societies, as “Earlston, in existence for 26 years,   was in a very bad way”.  Societies responded with generous donations totalling £400 - £23,618 in today’s money terms.

By November 1918, the situation had reached crisis point and “The Berwickshire News” of 19^th November reported on a take-over by Galashiels Co-operative Society.

Galashiels Co-operative reported the event in “The Southern Reporter” 14^th November 1918:

Post 1918

In the inter-war period there was little news in the press on the activities of Earlston Cooperative Society, now part of   the Galashiels group of stores. In contrast the Earlston Co-operative Women’s Group received plenty of coverage on their regular meetings and activities.  

In the 1930’s a new shop was built on the site facing the Green. Note the shop fascia signage, identified as Earlston Branch – Galashiels United Co-operative Society Limited. 

 The chaps on the photo with the mobile shops are:   Left: Davie Waite; Centre: Jim Waite (Davie's father) and Right: Doug Kerr.

 

David Waite out and about in his Co-op van.

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Shopping Memories

 FFor an Auld Earlston exhibition in 2019, members of Earlston Wednesday Club  gave their memories of shopping in the Co-op.

·       "It was very different shop in the 1950’s - no self-service of course, but wooden counters all the way around where assistants waited to serve you with your groceries."

·       "Shoppers could hand in their order or “message line” and leave it to be put together and delivered by the message boy on his bicycle, with a large basket on the front.  All the grocers in the town offered a delivery service."

·       "The manager of the Co-op, Mr. McQuillin, who sang in the church choir, sat in a very important little booth and handed out milk tokens, to have milk delivered to the doorstep daily."

·       "Twice a year, Co-op members received “the divi”. A note was kept of the total amount of shopping done by each member and this was totalled up and paid as a loyalty dividend. This was a particularly busy day at the Co-op as members had to queue up at the manager’s booth to collect their cash." 

·       "My mother relied on getting the “Divi” to buy us children our shoes.

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In More Recent Times

In the 1960s the shop was converted into a self-service store.

Earlston Co-op overlooking the Green, c.1980's.  Note the changed fascia heading.

Through the 1990's Galashiels United Co-operative Society expanded through mergers to become the Lothians, Borders & Angus Co-operative Society.  In 2008, the Board and Membership voted to transfer its assets to the  much larger Co-operative Society. 

Helen Reid,  (great granddaughter of Robert Frater, first Secretary of Earlston Co-operative Society, and later its President)  on her last day of  working at the store on the Green in 2014.

December 2015 saw the Earlston Store relocating to enlarged premises on to the A68 Melrose Road at the former Rutherford’s petrol station and shop, with 19 staff and provision for parking of 32 vehicles.

Nine months later, the team at Co-op Earlston was celebrating after the store was crowned "Scotland's  Best Forecourt Retailer 2016", as reported in "The Border Telegraph":  22nd September 2016.

2020 saw the launch of the Co-op Local Community Fund, helping local groups, as featured in "the Border Telegraph: 17th January.  Groups from across the region, including Earlston have benefited from access to a share of millions of pounds of charitable donations,  made by Co-op members using their membership cards. 

So the same community ethos that inspired the founders of the movement in the 19th century is still reflected in it operation today.

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Contributed by Sheila McKay and Susan Donaldson of the Auld Earlston Group