Lady Constance Lytton

Lady Constance Lytton (1869-1923) was the most unlikely of suffragettes. One of the elite, she was the daughter of a Viceroy of India and a lady in waiting to the Queen. She grew up in the family home of Knebworth and in embassies around the world. For forty years, she did nothing but devote herself to her family, denying herself the love of her life and possible careers as a musician or a reviewer. Then came a chance encounter with a suffragette. Constance was intrigued; witnessing Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst on trial convinced her of the urgent necessity of votes for women and she went to prison for the cause as gleefully as any child going on a school trip. But, once jailed, Constance soon found that her name and her connections singled her out for unwelcome special treatment. By now, 1909, the suffragettes were hunger striking and the government had retaliated with force-feeding. The stories that began to leak out - of bungled operations, of dirty tubes, of screams half-heard through brick walls, of straitjackets and handcuff s - outraged the suffragettes. Constance decided on her most radical step yet: to go to prison in disguise. Taking the name Jane Warton, she cut her hair, put on glasses and ugly clothes and got herself arrested in Liverpool. Once in prison, she was force-fed eight times before her identity was discovered and she was released. Her case became a cause célèbre, with debate raging in The Times and questions being asked in the House of Commons. Lady Constance Lytton became an inspiration and, in the end, a martyr. In this extraordinary new biography, Lyndsey Jenkins reveals for the first time the fascinating story of the woman who abandoned a life of privilege to fight for women's rights.

"Prisons & Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences" by Constance Lady Lytton offers readers a unique and personal perspective on the topic of prisons and the experiences of inmates. Drawing from her own encounters and observations, Lady Constance Lytton sheds light on the conditions and challenges faced by prisoners. Her firsthand insights provide valuable context and understanding of the issues surrounding incarceration, making this book an important work in the realm of criminal justice literature.

First published in 1925, this selection provides insight into the life of an influential figure in the women's suffrage movement.

A moving and evocative account of a suffragette's experience of imprisonment, hunger strikes and force-feeding,first published in 1914.

Reproduction of the original: Prisons & Prisoners by Constance Lytton

"Prisons, as you know, have been my hobby" wrote the prominent suffragette Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton. An influential British activist as well as a writer, speaker and campaigner for votes for women - and not forgetting prison reform - Constance Lytton was born in Vienna and spent the first eleven years of her life in India (her father was the Viceroy). After meeting a number of suffragettes, particularly at the Esperance Club and including Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Constance took on the 'hobby' of prison reform. She later demonstrated at the House of Commons, along with fellow suffragettes and was arrested, imprisoned, but subsequently released due to her social position and health. while in Holloway Prison in March 1909, she carved the outline of a V on her chest. Outraged by the treatment of fellow suffragettes of a lower class, in January 1910 she took on the pseudonym of Jane Warton to avoid release and suffered much mistreatment, including forcible feeding, at the hands of the prison warders. She was to include these experiences in her book, Prisons and Prisoners. Constance Lytton died in 1923 after many health complications, but with the knowledge that (some) women over the age of 30 had finally been given the right to vote.