Suffragettes, Prisons and the Bard: Plans for 2026
A Burns-themed Patreon gathering, Women’s History Month plans, new staff and Holloway Jingles.
This newsletter was originally sent on 28/01/2026.
Making plans for 2026
It’s a whole new year, and OH YAS do we have plans for it! Here’s a wee round up, read on for all the juicy details….
We’re super excited about our Patreon, with our second monthly meet-up happening Saturday 31st January! We have a new staff member to introduce you to. We’ve also trawled through our archives to tell you more about the Holloway Jingles. And most amazing of all, we’re planning a special event for Women’s History Month in Glasgow on 12th March, so save the date!!!
January may not be your favourite month, but hopefully these treats will cheer you up, and embolden you for a new year!
Burning Up: Suffragettes,
Prisons & The Bard – this Sat 31st Jan!
Our first Patreon Gathering in Demember was a fabulous way to spend some downtime between Christmas and New Year. The P&S team met some of our new Patreon Community, and we had a beautiful and moving performance by Doctur Normul (aka Lorna McBean) of her new songs about the Holloway Jingles.
Going forward, Patreon Gatherings will be on the last Saturday of every month and we’ll vary the time to allow members in Australia, the US, and all over the world to join us! This month we’re meeting on 31st January 3pm, with a Burns theme.
In July 1914, militant suffragettes Fanny Parker and Ethel Moorhead were caught by the nightwatchman apparently attempting to blow up Burns’ cottage. Hear about the impact of that attempt and Suffragettes’ complex relationship with Burns…
Not a member yet? It’s not too late to join us this Saturday – sign up today using the QR code, or link below. Support our work, and help grow an international conversation – writing women back into Scotland’s history!
Join P&S Patreon
Planning ahead for Women’s History Month
As March is Women’s History Month we’re getting busy! If you have an event or conference in March that we could bring our ‘Suffragette Stall’ or mobile shop to – or you’d like to book us to give a wee talk, please get in touch as our diary is filling up fast!
Contact us about MARCH EVENTS
Save the Date – 12th March 6-8pm in Glasgow!
We’re planning a celebration of Scotland’s Suffrage Herstory, and you’re invited! Join us at Kinning Park Complex in Glasgow for an evening of music, herstories, and inspiring conversations.
Date: Thurs 12th March 2026
Time: 6pm – 8:15pm
Eats: Soup and tea/coffee provided
Booking: FREE but booking recommended.
How to book: Eventbrite will go live on 6th February
Speakers and musical contributors include Doctur Normul (aka Lorna MacBean) sharing new songs set to the Holloway Jingles (written by Suffragettes c1912), and the Protests and Suffragettes team speaking about Glasgow’s mighty suffrage activists who also have musical connections. We’ll be sharing stories about Jessie Soga, a professional musician, expert fundraiser, and the only mixed-race suffragette based in Glasgow (that we know of). The evening is already looking to be an unforgettable, joyous celebration of inspiring women who changed our world for the better, and is hosted in partnership with Kinning Park Complex. We hope you can join us!
We’re very excited to announce that the Protests and Suffragettes team will also be sharing our vision and goals for the Centenary of the Equal Franchise Act in 2028 – and all the projects we’re currently planning to ramp up towards the Centenary!
Welcome to the P&S team, Heather!
Thanks to recent funding from FirstPort (via the Scottish Government), we have a new team member here at P&S HQ! We’re thrilled to introduce Heather – our new Creative Workshop and Admin Assistant! Heather (she/they) is an artist, creative freelancer and passionate community worker with lots of third sector experience.
“I’m super excited to be a part of Protests and Suffragettes – having worked with them in the past through organisations in Govan, I feel very aligned with their mission to ensure women’s histories don’t go unnoticed, that they are celebrated and ensured their time in the spotlight. For all women – inclusivity is a massive part of my work as an artist and that feels very supported here at P&S!”
From our Archives: the Holloway Jingles
We’ve mentioned the Holloway Jingles a couple of times in this month’s newsletter, but do you know what they were? In March and April 1912, there were a fair amount of suffragette prisoners held in Holloway in London, including Janie Allan and Margaret McPhun from Glasgow. Missing home and keep themselves busy, some of them wrote poetry.
Fellow Glaswegian Nancy John had the idea to smuggle these poems out of the prison and collect them into a pamphlet. The collection was self-published by the Glasgow branch of the WSPU as ‘Holloway Jingles’. It was advertised in the Votes for Women newspaper at the cost of 1 shilling, with all proceeds going to fund WSPU activities.
Some of the ‘jingles’ reflect the inmates’ distress, others hope that their efforts will not be for nothing, and some are tender tributes to comrades. Margaret McPhun addresses Janie Allan, who had been on hunger strike and force fed – “the misery and the shame / Of these thy sisters – cast away”.
Read more about the Holloway Jingles on Wikipedia
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Visit our shop for a closer look at our Suffragette playing cards, Rent Strikers & Suffragettes zines, posters, postcards, wrapping paper and Education Packs!
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