National Archives | Wallace Connection
By 1914 frustrations had peaked in the suffrage movement, as the government refused to progress the issue of votes for women. Militant action increased, from the smashing of windows to arson attacks. Surveillance photographs were taken during suffragettes’ prison stays to keep a watch on those suspected of future militant activities. These were then circulated to prominent attractions, likely in response to the suffragette attack on the National Gallery’s ‘Rokeby Venus’.