Catalogue Number
NMLH.2018.177
Object Name
Publication
Title
'The Case of William Ball. Official Brutality on the Increase.'
Place
Birmingham, Pentonville Prison, London
People
William Ball (suffrage campaigner), Henry W. Nevison, Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement, Transport Workers' Federation
Events
Womens' Suffrage campaign, Trial of Willaim Bell
Description
An article published by the Menâs Political Union for Womenâs Enfranchisement, details âThe Case of William Ballâ in purple and green text.
William Ball was a trade unionist and campaigner for womens' suffrage who was jailed for breaking a window at the Home Office during a protest. Like many other suffrage campaigners, in prison Ball demanded to be treated as a political prisoner, and when the prison warden refused, he began a hunger strike. Repeated force feedings for five and a half weeks, while being denied access to medical help or visitors to advocate for him led to a mental breakdown. Ball's wife was informed by letter that the prison governor was going to have him legally declared insane and detained indefinitely.
The article is defiant, and insists that such treatment will not stop men supporting womens' suffrage. Nevison, the article's author and chairman of the union argues that it is unjust that suffrage campaigners pay taxes that enable prison staff to behave in this manner. They call for the immediate franchisement of women, and urge men to join the fight. Suffrage was eventually extended to women over 30 in 1918, and to all adults over the age of majority (21) in 1928.
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