SEX AND GENDER

Manuscript Sources from the Public Record Office

Parts 1 and 2: Empire and Suffrage

Publisher's Note

Parts 1 and 2 are devoted to the twin themes of Empire and Suffrage. The files break into four subject areas:

Nationality Law as it affects women

Nationality Law was the subject of controversy in Britain as early as 1914, with the passage of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act. These files enable scholars to examine the topic of Nationality Law in British relations with the dominions and in discussions concerning women, marriage and migration in the period after the First World War. Some examples can be found in:

DO 35/1383 Minutes of Meetings of the Committee of officials on nationality questions set up by the Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers, papers for 1943-1946

DO 35/1384 Proposals for changes in the British Nationality Law: Joint memorandum by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, papers for 1943-1946

DO 35/1385-1387 Consultations with Dominions on proposals for reform of the British Nationality Law affecting the status of women, 1943-1946

CAB 32/18 Nationality Committee. Imperial Conference, 1923

CO 323/1525/4 Imperial Conference, 1937: Nationality: Status and rights of women; Six Point Group papers; interdepartmental committee on intra-imperial relations, 1937

HO 45/20163 Nationality and Naturalisation: Home Office representation on Conference on the operation of Dominion Legislation and Merchant Shipping Legislation, 1929: Memoranda in connection with nationality matters; extra territorial effect of British Nationality Law; papers for 1927-1930

CO 323/1083/4 Nationality of Married Women, 1930.

The condition of indigenous women, female colonial subjects and women of colour

The imperial state dealt with a variety of subjects including female genital mutilation, slavery, veiling, religious practices and customary or ‘personal’ law in the colonies and protectorates. The files provide a number of interesting case studies such as Kikuyu circumcision ceremonies in Kenya, the work of the Colonial Advisory Committee on Social Hygiene, and moves to abolish brothels and suppress the ‘white slave’ trade. The files highlight the problems of an essentially male dominated Colonial Office in facing up to issues of gender which they clearly struggled to comprehend. Several files point to the Colonial Office’s reluctance to appoint women as much needed advisors. There is particularly good material in a number of Colonial Office files:

CO 323/1067/2-4 Status of indigenous women and children: East Africa, 1930

CO 323/1067/5 Status of indigenous women and children: West Africa, 1930

CO 323/1067/6 Status of indigenous women and children: reports on population, health and welfare, 1930

CO 323/1071/8 Slavery of Women, 1930-1931

CO 323/1083/10 British Social Hygiene Council; venereal disease; participation in International Colonial Exhibition; papers and grants, 1930

CO 323/1111/17 Colonial Office: appointment of adviser on women’s affairs, 1930-1931

CO 323/1121/12 Labour: employment of women and children in East Africa, 1931

CO 323/1439/1 League of Nations enquiry into the status of women, 1937-1938

CO 533/392/1 Kenya: Kikuyu Central Association: Political Activities, 1929

CO 533/392/10 Kenya: Operation on Kikuyu Girl (Circumcision), 1929

CO 533/392/11 Kenya: Operation on Kikuyu Girl. Parliamentary sub-file, 1929

CO 533/394/10-11 Kenya: Kikuyu Circumcision Ceremony, 1930. (2 files; Parts I & II)
The second file includes material on the Conference of Governors of East African Dependencies (Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda) 1930; the Paper circulated by the Governor of Kenya; extracts from the
East African Medical Journal, October 1929 and from the Medical Journal for 1926; also as an Appendix: Memorandum by Native Affairs Department, Kenya.

CO 533/418/2 Kenya: Kikuyu Circumcision Ceremony, 1932 (especially the Church of Scotland: Memorandum prepared by the Kikuyu Mission Council on Female Circumcision and related correspondence and papers)

CO 822/1136 Witchcraft legislation in Uganda, 1956

CO 822/1137 Legislation for control of female circumcision in Kenya, 1956-1957

CO 822/1139 Advancement of African women in Kenya, 1954-1955

CO 859/123/5 Status of women in the colonies: customs, marriage and employment, 1944

CO 873/373 Wai-Hai-Wei: footbinding, proposed proclamation, 1913.

Reports of the Native Commissioners for 1900-1901 in Rhodesia, with information on their journeys through different regions and villages, allegations against certain companies for their poor treatment of natives, and observations on local customs, can be found in various Dominions Office files, for instance:

DO 119/586 South Africa: Rhodesia. Reports of the Native Commissioners for 1900.

DO 119/587 South Africa: Rhodesia. Reports from Barotseland; legislation to curb prostitution; ordinance regarding 'lung sickness' in cattle; and report on the 'lobolo' system in southern Rhodesia, 1900.

DO 119/588 South Africa: Rhodesia. Reports of the Native Commissioners for 1901.

The extension of suffrage and other civil and political rights to women at home and in the dominions

Women’s enfranchisement became an issue as dominions became ‘nations’ and, in the late imperial era, as decolonisation loomed in the ‘dependent’ empire. A central core of files address the women’s suffrage question in Britain and southern Africa. Further documents cover Australia, Canada, India, and New Zealand. Indian women’s suffrage became a big issue in the late 1920s and early 1930s, in the high level negotiations leading to the Government of India Act of 1935. Additional files cover colonies such as Bermuda, the Bahamas and Zanzibar. For comparative purposes there are a few files on suffrage in Bolivia, Cuba and Norway. Some highlights include:

HO 45/13020/474274 Equal Franchise Committee, 1927-1928 (2 folders; Parts I and II)

CO 37/296/5 Bermuda: Constitutional change: The Women’s Suffrage Act, 1944; qualifications for the franchise reconsidered, 1944-1945

CO 323/1177/1 Deputation to Secretary of State from the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship to discuss questions affecting women, 1932

CO 323/1365/10 Resolutions from unofficial bodies concerning women’s rights, 1936

CO 323/1632/11 Status of women: League of Nations enquiry, 1939

CO 323/1632/12 Women’s rights: resolutions from unofficial bodies, 1939

CO 323/1694/2 Extension of the franchise to women in the colonies, 1939

CO 822/1472 Zanzibar: extension of the franchise to women, 1959

CO 847/9/5 Africa: Status of women in Africa, 1937

CO 847/11/12 Africa: Status of women of native races, 1938

CO 847/14/11 Africa: Status of women of native races, 1939

CO 1031/2140 Bahamas: votes for women, 1957-1959

CO 1031/3082 Bahamas: extension of the franchise to women, 1960-1961

CO 1031/3541 Bahamas: female suffrage movement, 1960-1961

CO 1032/98 Constitutional development: terminology; use and meaning of terms "self-government" and "independence”, 1956

CO 1032/103-105 Suffrage arrangements in Colonial Territories, 1954-1957

CO 1032/156 Voting qualifications in the Colonies, 1957-1959

CO 1032/265 Suffrage arrangements in Colonial Territories, 1960-1962

DO 35/349/10 Status of native women in Colonies and Protectorates, 1930

DO 35/350/1 Status of native women in Colonies and Protectorates, 1930-1935

FO 371/67827 Liberia: female suffrage in Liberia, 1947

FO 371/90795 Cuba: Law concerning equal civil rights of women in Cuba, 1951

FO 371/97702 Bolivia: establishment of universal suffrage, 1952

FO 141/511/14083 Political views and activities of Egyptian Women, 1921-1928

CO 733/169/10 Status of Women in Palestine, 1929

T 172/106 Deputations from Women’s Tax Resistance League, 1913

T 172/110 Women’s Suffrage: Deputation from Working Women Suffragists, 1913

PREM 1/40 India: Deputation on Dominion Status for India: material by Annie Besant.

The obligations of the UK as a member of international bodies and as a party to international treaties

Women’s issues were international as well as imperial issues. The files allow scholars to explore such topics as prostitution and trafficking, the control of venereal disease, education, and the pay and working conditions of women. Particular files concern the status of women at home and abroad in the colonies. Other material covers legislative attempts to regulate and improve conditions for women. Examples include:

CO 323/1365/3 Missionaries: Roman Catholic – Training of Missionaries for Educational Work in the Colonies, 1936

CO 859/1594 UN Slavery Convention, papers for 1960-1962

FO 371/145419-145424 UN: Status of Women Commission, 1959, especially replies to questionnaires; good responses regarding Tanganyika, Gambia, Nigeria and the Cameroons

FO 371/178305 UN: Human Rights: political freedom for women, 1964

FO 371/189848-189950 UN seminars on Human Rights in Developing Countries: papers on women in public life, human rights and apartheid. The third of these files has good material on Apartheid.

FO 371/189951-189953 UN Commission on Status of Women, 1966.

We would like to thank Professor Ian Christopher Fletcher, Department of History, Georgia State University, in Atlanta, for all his help and advice with this project.

This microfilm project is published as a joint venture with the Public Record Office. I would like to thank all staff at the Public Record Office for their kind help and assistance in bringing this project to fruition. The complete survey and listing of sources relating to women held in the Public Record Office was a great help in identifying material for inclusion in this project.

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