Helen Miller Fraser, later Moyes (14 September 1881 – 2 December 1979),[1] was a Scottish suffragist, feminist, educationalist[2] and Liberal Party politician who later emigrated to Australia.
Her father began work as a tailor's cutter, moving from Caithness to Edinburgh to Leeds, before finally settling in Glasgow when Helen was a child.
As a middle class young woman in Glasgow, her life involved dances and balls, theatre, raising money for charity, playing tennis, and visiting poor families in the city.
[1] She joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) after hearing Teresa Billington speak in Glasgow.
[6] Although suffragettes tended towards more direct action, and law-abiding suffragists preferred more legal, democratic means, they both took the opportunity of national and local elections to raise awareness of the cause of votes for women.
[7][8] In 1907, Fraser organised the WSPU campaign, using press publicity handbills about the experiences of the demonstrators, which read: 'CRUSHED BY THE MOUNTED POLICE AGAINST THE RAILINGS OF THE ABBEY, AND TRAMPLED UNDER THEIR HORSES HOOFS'.
[6] Fraser had the help of Mary Phillips in East Fife and during the 1907 Aberdeen South by-election she met Adela Pankhurst with whom she remained close friends throughout her life.
He came home in the evening quite reconciled to it, and when Anne came home after fourteen cold days in Holloway Prison he took her to a municipal reception saying to her, “Put on your prettiest dress and come with me.” She looked charming and he introduced her all round as “My prisoner daughter”.In 1907, Janie Allan, being inspired by Fraser and Theresa Billington-Greig speaking about suffragette activity and organised a large WSPU meeting in St. Andrew's Hall, Glasgow.
She resigned from the WSPU soon afterwards, and was approached by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and agreed to work for them.
[11] Her action in moving a vote of no confidence in the Government at a public meeting where Mr Haldane was speaking in Rutherglan in 1908 led to her being ejected from the hall.
[19] Her efforts during the war and after had come to the attention of Prime Minister David Lloyd George and she joined his National Liberal organisation.
"[23] In 1923 she went to Paris, France to attend the conference of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship as a delegate of the NUWSS.
[3] Later in 1923, following re-union between Lloyd George and Asquith, she switched constituencies to stand as Liberal party candidate for the Hamilton Division of Lanarkshire at the 1923 general election.
However, abuse and calumny by the Labour Party candidate Duncan Macgregor Graham made the experience a thoroughly unpleasant one.
[1] While living in London, Fraser was in contact with an old friend named James Moyes who had emigrated to Australia.
[29][30] In 2018, the National Library of Scotland received a diary belonging to Fraser, which had been found in a recycling centre in Ulladulla, Australia.
Fraser talks about her family, and their support for women's suffrage, her involvement with the NUWSS as well as the WSPU, and the differences between the two organisations, as well as time in Wales, Scotland, France, the USA and Australia.