Victor Diederichs Duval and Una Dugdale
Victor Diederichs Duval (1885-1945)
Son of Emily and Ernest Diederichs Duval, brother of Elsie Duval and, eventually, brother-in-law of Hugh FRANKLIN. Victor Duval was secretary of the Clapham League of Young Liberals, but resigned from i and became a suffragist after seeing woman thrown out of one of John Burns's meetings.
In 1909 he helped Marion Wallace-Dimior stencil her petition on the walls of St Stephen's Hall in the House of Commons and in 1910 was the founder of the MEN'S POLITICAL UNION FOR WOMEN'S ENFRANCHISEMENT.
In October 1910 he was imprisoned for a week after a disturbance when he addressed Lloyd George outside the City Temple and in November 1911 received another sentence of five days.
Victor Duval gave his support to the NEW CONSTITUTIONAL SOCIETY FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE in 1910 and was on the committee of the International Women's Franchise Club (see under CLUBS). He published two pamphlets, An Appeal to Men, 1910, and Why I Went to Prison, 1910.
In January 1912 he married Una Dugdale. He spent two years of the First World War at Salonika serving with the Royal Engineers, and on his return rejoined the Liberal party. He stood as a Liberal, unsuccessfully, at three elections, including South Nottinghamshire in 1923 and North Camberwell in 1924.
Address (1913): 18 Harrington Road, London SW.
Photograph: in A. Raeburnn, The Militant Suffragettes, 1973.
Archival source: Duval Papers, Fawcett Library.
[Source: Link.]
[Wikipedia: South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency).]
Una Duval [nee Dugdale]
Una Harriet Ella Stratford Duval [née Dugdale] (1879 - 1975) was a suffragette and marriage reformer. [1] Her refusal to say "and obey" in her marriage vows made national news.
Una was the debutante ["Catherine Blackford, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.] daughter of Commander Edward Stratford Dugdale and his wife, who were supporters of the suffrage movement. Una was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and later in Hanover and Paris where she studied singing. [ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 - 1928. Routledge. p. 177.] She was niece of Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, Speaker of the House of Commons. [ The Marriage Vow". Ashburton Guardian. New Zealand. 1 March 1912] Her parents household had five servants and they had a holiday home near Aberdeen. [ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 - 1928. Routledge. p. 177.]
...
Dugdale sparked a national scandal in 1912 before she married Victor Diederichs Duval (1885 - 1945), who she had met when he acted as best man at Frank Rutter's wedding. Dugdale said she would refuse to use the word "obey" in her marriage vows, but did so after being advised that its omission could cast doubt on the legality of the marriage. [ Alan Travis (10 October 2003). "Big Brother and the sisters". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 18 June 2015. "SUFFRAGIST WEDDING". North West Post (Formby, Tas.: 1887 - 1916). 6 March 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 24 October 2017.] The wedding took place at the Savoy Chapel, her father led her down the aisle and Christabel Pankhurst, Constance Lytton and the Pethick-Lawrences attended dressed in WSPU colours. [ Diane Atkinson (8 February 2018). Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 129.]
Duval was the founder of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement; son of Emily Hayes Duval and brother of Elsie Duval - both fellow suffragists. Elsie was the second person to be released under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 (the so-called "Cat and Mouse law"), [ Elizabeth Crawford (2013). "Elsie Duval". Women's Suffrage Movement. pp. 179 - 180. ISBN 1135434026.] and wife to Hugh Franklin. Duval's father, Ernest Charles Augustus Diederichs Duval, was a German immigrant. ["Naturalisations published in the Jewish Chronicle between 1902 and 1906. Extracted by Ian Melville". Ancestry.co.uk. [permanent dead link]]
As a response to the scandal, Mrs. Duval wrote 'To Love Honour - But Not Obey'. [Duval, Una (1912). Love and Honour But Not Obey. UK: George Villiers Press.1]
[Wikipedia: Una Duval.]
[Source: Love and Honour But Not Obey (no ebook available.]
VICTOR DIEDERICHS DUVAL (1885-1945)
Son of Emily and Ernest Diederichs Duval, brother of Elsie Duval and, eventually, brother-in-law of Hugh FRANKLIN. Victor Duval was secretary of the Clapham League of Young Liberals, but resigned from It and became a suffragist after seeing woman thrown out of one of John Burns's meetings.
In 1909 he helped Marion Wallace-Dimior stencil her petition on the walls of St Stephen's Hall in the House of Commons and in 1910 was the founder of the MEN'S POLITICAL UNION FOR WOMEN'S ENFRANCHISEMENT.
In October 1910 he was imprisoned for a week after a disturbance when he addressed Lloyd George outside the City Temple and in November 1911 received another sentence of five days.
Victor Duval gave his support to the NEW CONSTITUTIONAL SOCIETY FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE in 1910 and was on the committee of the International Women's Franchise Club (see under CLUBS). He published two pamphlets, An Appeal to Men, 1910, and Why I Went to Prison, 1910.
In January 1912 he married Una Dugdale. He spent two years of the First World War at Salonika serving with the Royal Engineers, and on his return rejoined the Liberal party. He stood as a Liberal, unsuccessfully, at three elections, including South Nottinghamshire in 1923 and North Camberwell in 1924.
Address (1913): 18 Harrington Road, London SW.
Photograph: in A. Raeburnn, The Militant Suffragettes, 1973.
Archival source: Duval Papers, Fawcett Library.
[Source: Link.]
[Wikipedia: South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency).]
Una Duval [nee Dugdale]
Una Harriet Ella Stratford Duval [née Dugdale] (1879 - 1975) was a suffragette and marriage reformer. [1] Her refusal to say "and obey" in her marriage vows made national news.
Una was the debutante ["Catherine Blackford, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.] daughter of Commander Edward Stratford Dugdale and his wife, who were supporters of the suffrage movement. Una was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and later in Hanover and Paris where she studied singing. [ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 - 1928. Routledge. p. 177.] She was niece of Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, Speaker of the House of Commons. [ The Marriage Vow". Ashburton Guardian. New Zealand. 1 March 1912] Her parents household had five servants and they had a holiday home near Aberdeen. [ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 - 1928. Routledge. p. 177.]
...
Dugdale sparked a national scandal in 1912 before she married Victor Diederichs Duval (1885 - 1945), who she had met when he acted as best man at Frank Rutter's wedding. Dugdale said she would refuse to use the word "obey" in her marriage vows, but did so after being advised that its omission could cast doubt on the legality of the marriage. [ Alan Travis (10 October 2003). "Big Brother and the sisters". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 18 June 2015. "SUFFRAGIST WEDDING". North West Post (Formby, Tas.: 1887 - 1916). 6 March 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 24 October 2017.] The wedding took place at the Savoy Chapel, her father led her down the aisle and Christabel Pankhurst, Constance Lytton and the Pethick-Lawrences attended dressed in WSPU colours. [ Diane Atkinson (8 February 2018). Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 129.]
Duval was the founder of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement; son of Emily Hayes Duval and brother of Elsie Duval - both fellow suffragists. Elsie was the second person to be released under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 (the so-called "Cat and Mouse law"), [ Elizabeth Crawford (2013). "Elsie Duval". Women's Suffrage Movement. pp. 179 - 180. ISBN 1135434026.] and wife to Hugh Franklin. Duval's father, Ernest Charles Augustus Diederichs Duval, was a German immigrant. ["Naturalisations published in the Jewish Chronicle between 1902 and 1906. Extracted by Ian Melville". Ancestry.co.uk. [permanent dead link]]
As a response to the scandal, Mrs. Duval wrote 'To Love Honour - But Not Obey'. [Duval, Una (1912). Love and Honour But Not Obey. UK: George Villiers Press.1]
[Wikipedia: Una Duval.]
[Source: Love and Honour But Not Obey (no ebook available.]
VICTOR DUVAL 1910
Westminster Gazette - Tuesday 18 October 1910
MALE SUFFRAGISTS CHARGED. SEQUEL TO CHANCELLOR'S MEETING.
At Guildhall to-day Victor Duval, hon. secretary of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, and George Jacobs, a member of the same society, appeared to answer charges in connexion with the Chancellor of the Exchequer's visit to the City Temple last night.
When Mr. Lloyd George alighted from his motor-car he was surrounded by members of the Union, who hurled uncomplimentary epithets at him. Duval was charged with using language calculated to provoke a breach of the peace, while the more serious charge of assaulting the police was preferred against Jacobs. After evidence had been given both men were remanded until Monday. Jacobs denied the assault, and Duval expressed his intention of endeavouring to call Mr. Lloyd George as a witness at the next hearing.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002947/19101018/153/0016
Daily Mirror - Tuesday 25 October 1910
MEN MARTYRS FOR WOMEN'S VOTES
Two Participants in City Temple Demonstration Decide To Go to Prison. As a result of the Suffragist disturbance outside the City Temple when Mr. Lloyd-George arrived there to speak at a meeting, Victor Duval, said to be the secretary of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, and George Jacobs, of Kew, were each fined at the Guildhall yesterday 40s. or seven days in the second division. It was stated that Duval took hold of the Chancellor's coat and shouted: " Lloyd-George, you're a traitor and a villain," while Jacobs tried to prevent Duval's arrest, and struck a sergeant in the struggle. Both men said they would go to prison " Mrs. Bull," please
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19101025/181/0017
["in the second division": "The second division is intended to provide for the separation of prisoners of previously good character from those of depraved or criminal habits."]
Globe - Monday 31 October 1910
MEN MARTYRS FOR WOMEN'S VOTES
Two Participants in City Temple Demonstration Decide To Go to Prison. As a result of the Suffragist disturbance outside the City Temple when Mr. Lloyd-George arrived there to speak at a meeting, Victor Duval, said to be the secretary of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, and George Jacobs, of Kew, were each fined at the Guildhall yesterday 40s. or seven days in the second division. It was stated that Duval took hold of the Chancellor's coat and shouted: " Lloyd-George, you're a traitor and a villain," while Jacobs tried to prevent Duval's arrest, and struck a sergeant in the struggle. Both men said they would go to prison " Mrs. Bull," please
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19101025/181/0017
["in the second division": "The second division is intended to provide for the separation of prisoners of previously good character from those of depraved or criminal habits."]
WELCOME FROM PENTONVILLE
A "welcome" breakfast was given on Saturday to Messrs. Victor Duval and George Jacobs, who were released at 8 a.m. from Pentonville Gaol after serving seven days' imprisonment for taking part in demonstration against Mr. Lloyd George on the occasion of his recent visit to the City Temple. The guests of the morning, who are members of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, preferred to go prison rather than pay the fine of 40s. imposed.
Miss Christabel Pankhurst, who spoke at the breakfast, said those present welcomed Messrs. Duval and Jacobs comrades - as brother rebels. It was a fine thing to be a rebel. The Chairman read a telegram from Mi'" Mary Gawthorpe. which read; Hearty handshakes to our fellow gaol birds."
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001652/19101031/024/0002
Daily News (London) - Wednesday 02 November 1910
Noting Mr. Ratter's statement, reported in "The Daily News," that Mr. Victor Duval and Mr. G. Jacobs were the first men to go prison in the Suffragist cause, a correspondent claims that this honour rightly belongs to Mr. Thomas Bavard Simmons, who was imprisoned foe making a protest in the Strangers' Gallery.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000051/19101102/154/0008
Votes for Women - Friday 04 November 1910
WELCOME BREAKFAST. A Welcome breakfast was given to the ex-prisoners at the Etatace Miles Restaurant at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and though many members were reluctantly absent owing to their professional duties, the total number present was close on a hundred.
Mr. Rutter said that when their friends went to Pentonville the M.P.U. asked the Home Office to give them the treatment accorded to political prisoners. The following is the reply: Suit. - With reference to your letter of the 25th instant in the case of Victor Duval and George Jacobs, I am directed by the Secretary of State to inform you that persons guilty of rowdyism in the street or assault upon the police would not, in ordinary circumstances, come within the class for whom the privileges of the new rule have been designed; but in view of the circumstances, and as the magistrate sentenced them to serve in the Second Division, the Secretary, of State has, by special direction, decided to allot the application of the rule in their case. (Signed) W. P. BYRNE.
Lady Constance Lytton proposed good-health and prosperity to Messrs. Duval and Jacobs. To welcome those gentlemen on coming out of prison seemed, she said, like a dream - and a very good dream. Their action had emphasised the fact that the campaign to secure the vote for women was not a sex war; it was a great fight that was being undertaken now by men as well as women. Their action would be written in the annals of the fight in letters of gold.
Mrs. Despard, seconding the proposal, said it was a grand thing for them to find men putting themselves in the very front of the battle. Her brother," Mr. Jacobs, and her " young brother," Mr. Duval, by what they had done had strengthened the hands of the women enormously. Such a lesson had never before been taught and it was a great augury for the future.
Miss Christabel Pankhurst said it was a great thing to find that the woman's movement was felt to be so important, so sacred that men, as well as women, were prepared to make great sacrifices in order to push it forward to success. She and her fellow ex-prisoners welcomed Messrs. Duval and Jacobs as comrades, admitted them to the inner band of rebels.
Mr. Pethick Lawrence, speaking as a member of the Men's Political Union. said the M.P.U. was very proud of them, and their action made all members proud to belong to the M.P.U.
Mr. Victor Duval, responding, after saying that it was well worth doing a week in prison if only to be admitted a member of the "inner band" of fighting rebels, gave an account of his imprisonment, some details of which appear in his article.
Mr. George Jacob;, who was also received with tremendous enthusiasm, said it was a privilege for man to do something for the women who were sacrificing their lives for this great cause, fighting not merely to gain a vote for themselves, but to have the power to use that vote for good, for the good of men and women, for the benefit of humanity.
At a further meeting of the M.P.U., at Caxton Hall, on Tuesday evening, £50 was raised for the funds.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002187/19101104/007/0002
Votes for Women - Friday 04 November 1910
MEN'S POLITICAL UNION FOR WOMEN'S ENFRANCHISEMENT.
...Mr. F. Rutter explained the steps taken with a view to securing treatment as political offenders of Messrs. V. D. Duval and G. Jacobs. A resolution expressing the union's high appreciation of the action or Messrs. Duval in.!" Jacobs in electing to go to prison rather than ray the fines imposed on them in connection with the City Tcm protest. and condemning as utterly baseless and taro the assertion of Mr. Vickery (solicitor for the prosecution) that the honorary organising secretary was a professional agitator" was carried unanimously. Copies of this resolution have been sent to the Press, Cabinet Ministers and other authorities. A report of the welcome and breakfast to our ex-prisoners is given in another column.
Mr. Victor Duval has received so large a number of congratulatory letters that he is unable to reply to all personally, and therefore asks his correspondents to accept this general acknowledgment of his sincere thanks...
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002187/19101104/087/0013
Vote - Saturday 24 December 1910
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1910. WHY MEN A - public meeting, under the auspices of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, was he ld at the Caxton Hall last Friday evening, to explain why men protested at Cabinet Ministers' meetings.
MR. FRANK RUTTER, who presided, read a letter from the Right Rev. Bishop Mathew expressing his extreme regret that at the last moment he found it impossible ' 0 attend. "As you know," he wrote, "my sympathies entirely with your movement, and I wish you all possible success in your courageous and chivalrous efforts on behalf of the enfranchisement of women. Mr. Rutter continuing, said he believed, with Bishop - Mathew, it was only lack of understanding that kept the of the country from rallying in greater numbers to the women's cause. Men generally did not understand the urgency of this question, they did not under- Stand the tactics of the militant societies. If the members °f the Men's Political Union had been able effectively serve the cause, it was because they had been privileged to a have a better understanding of these matters. They realised that in this fight for women's liberty, men could only be an auxiliary force. They did not presume to give advice on the direction of the campaign, [?] flatter themselves that they knew better than the women how victory might best be attained.
The Men's Political Union believed it could best serve the cause by doing those things which at the present moment women were unable to do. Of those things the two most important were (1) To vote against the Government that denied justice to women, and (2) To voice from just grievances of women at so-called public meetings which women were excluded. The members of the conceived it their duty to vote at elections for whatever candidate had the best chance of beating the official nominee of the Liberal party. They did not believe in the policy of running suffrage candidates, Or in voting for fancy candidates whose prospects of success were slender. They believed that by voicing tuel' oug grievances of women at minister meetings they ht home to members of the Cabinet that some men as well as women were indignant with their unjust and autocratic actions, and they also had the satisfaction O f knowing that by their protests they roused local ° Pinion to a knowledge of the fact that Woman Suffrage w as a dominant question of the day. Mr. Duval's Experiences.
MR. VICTOR DUVAL denied that any disturbance of Public meetings was caused or intended by members of the Union. The disturbances were caused by the frenzy of the stewards and a section of the audience, and by the ministers themselves, who shirked answering [time of?] Woman's Suffrage. The men had begun t ke the women by asking their questions at question when but found their questions were unanswered, even en ministers had pledged themselves to answer questions
Mr. Lloyd George, a notorious offender, had repeatedly broken his pledged word in this respect. riding from experience that they could put no reliance on the promise of the minister to answer questions at the end of a meeting, Suffragists felt themselves entitled put their questions at any opening given by a minister the course of his speech.
It was admitted by Liberal newspapers that Suffragist interjections were generally set and relevant, yet these interjectors were immediately upon by stewards and ejected often with unnecessary and brutal violence, while men who made far less relevant interruptions on other subjects were allowed to keep their seats, e
Mr. Duval gave instances of this from his own experience at various meetings addressed by Cabinet Ministers. He admitted that other protests had been more rusational [?], at Limehouse for example, where a man had climbed a pillar and floated out a purple, white, conspiracy green flag. This had been done to break down the conspiracy of silence on time part of the Conservative and Liberal Press, who united in suppressing the voicing women's grievances legitimately made at Ministers' meeting s . Again, there were cases, as at Rochester
Women's Franchise — 18 October 1908
Local suffrage campaigner Mrs Emily Duval is advertised to speak on Wandsworth Common, and her son Victor — Battersea-born founder of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement — at Caxton Hall a few days later.
"Emily Hayes Duval, a prisoner at Holloway Prison in London, in prison uniform and sewing mail bags, circa 1908."
[Getty Images: Suffragette Prisoner - Emily Hayes Duval Suffragette. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)" Check the dates of her imprisonment.]
(Click on image to enlarge)
(Click on image to enlarge)
At this time, the Duval family of militant Suffragists lived close to the Common at 37 Park Road (now called Elsynge Road), having moved there from 97 Lavender Sweep (between Battersea Rise and Lavender Hill).
The Women's Freedom League had held its first "Open-Air Campaign" meeting on the Common five months earlier:
"New ground has been opened up at Wandsworth Common, where meetings are being held every Sunday morning. At the first meeting, on May 31st 1908... the speakers were Miss Mary Smith, Miss Alice Milne, and Mr Duval. On Whit Sunday [June 7th] Mrs Nevinson and Dr Thornett were the speakers."
[I haven't done much research on this yet, but "Mr. Duval" is probably Victor, though his father Ernest also spoke at suffrage meetings (indeed, they sometimes spoke together). "Miss Mary Smith", a working class activist from Manchester. "Miss Alice Milne" wrote a diary for the period 1906—1908, though I have not followed up whether it mentions the Common. [It's now in the Women's Library at the LSE. Surely it's been transcribed?] "Mrs Nevinson" was the mother of the war-artist Christopher ("C.R.W.") Nevinson whose name is commemorated in one of new roads near the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building (where he worked with the Royal Army Medical Corps when it was the 3rd London General Hospital). I assume "Dr Thornett" is the person sometimes referred to in suffrage newspapers as "Miss Thornett FRCS". Mrs Ackroyd? (In 1910 she served as a Guardian of the Poor for Croydon - mentioned in Sally Alexander, Women's Fabian Tracts).]
[There is an interesting and important history that needs researching on political and religious open-air meetings held on Wandsworth Common - a number of which were either physically attacked by groups of local men and boys, or banned by the London County Council. Which, ironically, is the main reason we can still read about them today, having been reported in newspapers or court records.]
Victor Duval c.1910.
"In October 1910, Victor went to prison after causing a disturbance at a meeting attended by the Liberal Cabinet minister David Lloyd George."
(Click on image to enlarge)
Victor was secretary of the Clapham League of Young Liberals but resigned due to frustration with the Liberal government's refusal to recognise votes for women. After seeing a woman roughly thrown out of a Liberal meeting, he stated: "I am ashamed of the men who call themselves Liberal. I am ashamed of them because they have insulted women — they have dragged the flag of Liberalism in the gutter and have trampled on it."
[Suffrage Resources: Victor Duval]
[Jeanne Rathbone writes that this meeting was being held by Battersea MP John Burns - "the one time socialist of Battersea was now very much seen as a renegade once he joined the Liberal Government.". Something to follow up.]
[In October 1908, David Lloyd-George was no longer living at 3 Routh Road (i.e. just across the Common from the Duvals). He had moved here in 1903, but his 17-year-old daughter Mair died in the house in November 1907. The family's grief was so great that they moved away (to Chelsea) shortly afterwards, in January 1908. So DLG was living elsewhere at the time of Victor's attempted assault on him in 1910.]
Winston Churchill [Home Secretary?] was furious and called on the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to explain how "the Chancellor of the Exchequer was assaulted... by a gang of male suffragists". The reply came that although Duval had indeed insulted Lloyd George, and seized hold of his coat, there had been no gang and no assault.
Churchill was not mollified, and called for incriminating evidence:
"The fact remains that an assassination with a knife could easily have taken place... It wd. be important if it could be shown that these ruffians are not genuine adherents or misguided enthusiasts for the cause of women's suffrage, but hired persons... The organisations of gangs of paid ruffians to make personal attacks on ministers ought to be treated with the extreme rigour of the law."
[Quoted in Paul Addison, Churchill on the Home Front, 1900—1955 (1992).]
Churchill was of course mistaken. Victor Duval was a genuine supporter of the cause.
[I hope to write more about the remarkable Duval family, for example Victor's mother Emily and sister Elsie. And there's obviously much more to learn about Victor, who fills many column inches in the press after about 1908. See BNA: "Victor Duval" I have transcribed a number of articles and added them to "/duvals/victor_duval.html".]
[For an illuminating and well-illustrated overview of the Duval family, see e.g. Jeanne Rathbone: The Duval suffrage family of Lavender Sweep .]