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The Hard way up - The Autobiography of Hannah Mitchell - Suffragette and Rebel
“My readers may not find it a very thrilling story, but I hope it will reveal to them the early dreams, secret hopes and half-realized ambitions of one very ordinary woman...Looking back on my own life, I feel my greatest enemy has been the cooking stove — a sort of tyrant who has kept me in subjection.”
'The Hard Way Up' is a unique and absorbing social document — a first-hand account of the life and struggles of a working-class woman who became a leader of the Suffragette and Labour movements in the north of England.
Whereas most suffragettes came from the middle-class, this autobiography gives a different side of the picture.
Hannah Mitchell was born in 1871 in the remote Peak district of Derbyshire. With only a fortnight’s formal schooling, she escaped from a tyrannical mother to the hard life of domestic service and the miseries of a clothing sweatshop. Marriage, motherhood followed, and through the years the sheer force of her character helped her to extraordinary achievements as a suffragette, Labour Party campaigner, speaker, writer and public figure in the city of Manchester.
The story of her life, told with great simplicity and modesty, was found among her papers on her death. It is a record of extraordinary achievement, as well as standing as a fascinating account of social history which documents the lost rural traditions of agricultural England, and of the turbulent social and political changes of the early twentieth century.
‘A rare and fascinating picture of grassroots political involvement before the First World War and the personal experiences of a woman rebelling against sex and class injustice’ — Sheila Rowbotham, social historian.
Hannah Mitchell (1871-1956) was a suffragette and Labour Party activist.
'The Hard Way Up' is a unique and absorbing social document — a first-hand account of the life and struggles of a working-class woman who became a leader of the Suffragette and Labour movements in the north of England.
Whereas most suffragettes came from the middle-class, this autobiography gives a different side of the picture.
Hannah Mitchell was born in 1871 in the remote Peak district of Derbyshire. With only a fortnight’s formal schooling, she escaped from a tyrannical mother to the hard life of domestic service and the miseries of a clothing sweatshop. Marriage, motherhood followed, and through the years the sheer force of her character helped her to extraordinary achievements as a suffragette, Labour Party campaigner, speaker, writer and public figure in the city of Manchester.
The story of her life, told with great simplicity and modesty, was found among her papers on her death. It is a record of extraordinary achievement, as well as standing as a fascinating account of social history which documents the lost rural traditions of agricultural England, and of the turbulent social and political changes of the early twentieth century.
‘A rare and fascinating picture of grassroots political involvement before the First World War and the personal experiences of a woman rebelling against sex and class injustice’ — Sheila Rowbotham, social historian.
Hannah Mitchell (1871-1956) was a suffragette and Labour Party activist.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 18, 2022
This is not great literature, but is worthwhile reading as a record of a working class woman's experience of the labor and sufragette movements in north England. Just as interesting and valuable, it is an honest voice for the woman unsuited to life as a wife and mother who chose not to be a martyr to them at a time when that was unthinkable. A historian might provide a wider context for the movements, but Mitchell explains what powered the people actually working in the factories, mines and sweatshops to drag themselves out after 12 hour a day, 6 days a week to meet, talk and agitate.
Hannah Mitchell grew up on a remote and poor farm between Sheffield and Manchester. (Being from the U.S., I don't know a way to pinpoint the region, other than to say she said her accent was that of North Derbyshire.) Her mother clearly suffered from intense depression stemming from hating life on the farm and too many children; Mitchell says she took the brunt of the consequences. At any rate, family finances and location meant she received only two weeks of formal education, although she had been taught to read at home.
About a third of the book is taken up by her childhood and her early struggles to make her way as a seamstress after she ran away from home at the age of fourteen. Pay was pathetic, but she held on by her fingernails and through the occasional kindness of colleagues and landladies. Eventually she met the man who become her husband; he was a fellow lodger in a boarding house. They entered whole-heartedly into the labor movement, becoming active in the Independent Labor Party (I.L.P.). Eventually they ended up in Manchester. They had one son. Mitchell had a horrible labor and delivery, which convinced her that she would never have another child. Their poverty, accentuated by the sacrifices of being committed to the cause, reinforced this decision.
But Mitchell's real passion was women's rights. The Pankhursts lived in the area, and Mitchell became a speaker and agitator. She hovered on the edges of the violence that began in 1905 and 1906, when women resorted to physical demonstrations after polite requests for the vote were ignored year after year. She did not embrace violent means, and was arrested only once, I think. But she was certainly subjected to a lot of very rough handling and verbal abuse as she spoke at events all around the north, year after year.
After World War I, with the battle for the vote largely won, she returned to labor and welfare issues. She won election to the city council for four consequitive terms. This was quite an accomplishment for someone who was unable to vote only a few years before. Finally she was appointed to be a magistrate in what I take to be police courts where petty crime and family matters were adjudicated.
Throughout her life Mitchell met and worked with leaders who are now better known for their activity in the labor and suffrage fields. But she must have been an effective and potent force behind these leaders. Mitchell was no shrinking violet. She doesn't sugar coat her character. She admits she behaved selfishly, or at least contrary to custom, at times. She said what she thought, forcefully. She hated all kinds of housework, and didn't let that or the detested four meals a day grindstone stop her from showing up where she was needed to speak or organize. She did what she could before 10 am and then left the meals to be cooked by husband or son. She was very honest about essentially saying she would have been better off never marrying or having a child. That was a remarkable thing to write in your autobiography. She certainly cared for them, but she acted in a way closer to male figures for whom the cause comes first.
I found this in a list of books about women who longed to escape the limited world they were born into. ('Top 10 dissenting life stories,' The Guardian, November 30 2022.) The column was written by Sheila Rowbotham. She says
There are several more intriguing titles in the list. I plan to read on.
Hannah Mitchell grew up on a remote and poor farm between Sheffield and Manchester. (Being from the U.S., I don't know a way to pinpoint the region, other than to say she said her accent was that of North Derbyshire.) Her mother clearly suffered from intense depression stemming from hating life on the farm and too many children; Mitchell says she took the brunt of the consequences. At any rate, family finances and location meant she received only two weeks of formal education, although she had been taught to read at home.
About a third of the book is taken up by her childhood and her early struggles to make her way as a seamstress after she ran away from home at the age of fourteen. Pay was pathetic, but she held on by her fingernails and through the occasional kindness of colleagues and landladies. Eventually she met the man who become her husband; he was a fellow lodger in a boarding house. They entered whole-heartedly into the labor movement, becoming active in the Independent Labor Party (I.L.P.). Eventually they ended up in Manchester. They had one son. Mitchell had a horrible labor and delivery, which convinced her that she would never have another child. Their poverty, accentuated by the sacrifices of being committed to the cause, reinforced this decision.
But Mitchell's real passion was women's rights. The Pankhursts lived in the area, and Mitchell became a speaker and agitator. She hovered on the edges of the violence that began in 1905 and 1906, when women resorted to physical demonstrations after polite requests for the vote were ignored year after year. She did not embrace violent means, and was arrested only once, I think. But she was certainly subjected to a lot of very rough handling and verbal abuse as she spoke at events all around the north, year after year.
After World War I, with the battle for the vote largely won, she returned to labor and welfare issues. She won election to the city council for four consequitive terms. This was quite an accomplishment for someone who was unable to vote only a few years before. Finally she was appointed to be a magistrate in what I take to be police courts where petty crime and family matters were adjudicated.
Throughout her life Mitchell met and worked with leaders who are now better known for their activity in the labor and suffrage fields. But she must have been an effective and potent force behind these leaders. Mitchell was no shrinking violet. She doesn't sugar coat her character. She admits she behaved selfishly, or at least contrary to custom, at times. She said what she thought, forcefully. She hated all kinds of housework, and didn't let that or the detested four meals a day grindstone stop her from showing up where she was needed to speak or organize. She did what she could before 10 am and then left the meals to be cooked by husband or son. She was very honest about essentially saying she would have been better off never marrying or having a child. That was a remarkable thing to write in your autobiography. She certainly cared for them, but she acted in a way closer to male figures for whom the cause comes first.
I found this in a list of books about women who longed to escape the limited world they were born into. ('Top 10 dissenting life stories,' The Guardian, November 30 2022.) The column was written by Sheila Rowbotham. She says
I spent my 1950s at a Methodist school in east Yorkshire, longing to be somewhere else. I was interested in history from an early age and as I grew older biographies, autobiographies and memoirs provided me with a means of travelling beyond the school gates. Through reading I met all kinds of dissenting individuals and entered excitingly diverse circles. Realizing there were alternative ways to think about yourself and how to live, I became a cerebral rebel.
There are several more intriguing titles in the list. I plan to read on.
January 9, 2026
A thoroughly admirable woman who led a life of genuine worth and goodness; she left the world better than she found it, she did the work that was in front of her to do (and more besides), and few among us can claim as much. How much she did with so little! Her memoir is clear, plain-spoken, and unadorned, and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who cares about working class or women's or political history. Outstanding.
January 23, 2018
"My readers may not find it a very thrilling story, but I hope it will reveal to them the early dreams, secret hopes and half-realized ambitions of one very ordinary woman."
Hannah Mitchell's Autobiography is a thoroughly engaging account of the life of an extraordinary woman. The text is rooted in its time and place, providing fascinating insights into working-class life in northern England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Mitchell touches on everything from living conditions and rent prices to household budgets and chores. At the same time, however, much of her commentary on stratification within the suffragette and socialist movements would have rung true at any time in the past 200 years (or more). It would probably be overstating it to call it intersectionality, but there are definite hints of it:
"She was a brilliant speaker and a fine propagandist, but her private manners left much to be desired. I have met many women who made this fatal mistake of treating their less gifted sisters with intellectual contempt. The average woman can sense this attitude a mile off."
"Even my Sunday leisure was gone for I soon found that a lot of the Socialist talk about freedom was only talk and these Socialist young men expected Sunday dinners and huge teas with home-made cakes, potted meat and pies, exactly like their reactionary fellows. Like Lowell’s pious Editor, they believed in ‘freedom’s cause’ but thought that liberty is a kind of thing that ‘don’t agree with wives.’ They expected that the girl who had shared their weekend cycling or rambling, summer games or winter dances, would change all her ways with her marriage ring and begin where their mothers left off."
As a member of the working class, Mitchell exists on the periphery of the suffragette movement - where others have an abundance of free time and financial support, she has a household to run on a tight budget. As a woman, Mitchell exists on the periphery of the socialist movement. Nonetheless, despite minimal education, she played an important role in both movements as well as doing valuable work amongst the community as a Poor Law Guardian and Magistrate.
"No cause can be won between dinner and tea, and most of us who were married had to work with one hand tied behind us, so to speak."
Mitchell is a great storyteller, with a no-nonsense approach to language and narrative. This is a short book and an easy read, peppered throughout with hard truths and timeless wisdom. Highly recommended for anyone interested in feminism, socialism, working-class history or northern England.
"Twenty years of peaceful propaganda had not produced such an effect, nor had fifty years of patient pleading which had gone before. The smouldering resentment in women’s hearts burst into a flame of revolt."
Hannah Mitchell's Autobiography is a thoroughly engaging account of the life of an extraordinary woman. The text is rooted in its time and place, providing fascinating insights into working-class life in northern England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Mitchell touches on everything from living conditions and rent prices to household budgets and chores. At the same time, however, much of her commentary on stratification within the suffragette and socialist movements would have rung true at any time in the past 200 years (or more). It would probably be overstating it to call it intersectionality, but there are definite hints of it:
"She was a brilliant speaker and a fine propagandist, but her private manners left much to be desired. I have met many women who made this fatal mistake of treating their less gifted sisters with intellectual contempt. The average woman can sense this attitude a mile off."
"Even my Sunday leisure was gone for I soon found that a lot of the Socialist talk about freedom was only talk and these Socialist young men expected Sunday dinners and huge teas with home-made cakes, potted meat and pies, exactly like their reactionary fellows. Like Lowell’s pious Editor, they believed in ‘freedom’s cause’ but thought that liberty is a kind of thing that ‘don’t agree with wives.’ They expected that the girl who had shared their weekend cycling or rambling, summer games or winter dances, would change all her ways with her marriage ring and begin where their mothers left off."
As a member of the working class, Mitchell exists on the periphery of the suffragette movement - where others have an abundance of free time and financial support, she has a household to run on a tight budget. As a woman, Mitchell exists on the periphery of the socialist movement. Nonetheless, despite minimal education, she played an important role in both movements as well as doing valuable work amongst the community as a Poor Law Guardian and Magistrate.
"No cause can be won between dinner and tea, and most of us who were married had to work with one hand tied behind us, so to speak."
Mitchell is a great storyteller, with a no-nonsense approach to language and narrative. This is a short book and an easy read, peppered throughout with hard truths and timeless wisdom. Highly recommended for anyone interested in feminism, socialism, working-class history or northern England.
"Twenty years of peaceful propaganda had not produced such an effect, nor had fifty years of patient pleading which had gone before. The smouldering resentment in women’s hearts burst into a flame of revolt."
November 12, 2015
The Hard Way Up is the thought-provoking autobiography of Hannah Mitchell who in spite of her upbringing valued education and fought, first for the rights of the working class and then for the rights of women. I was dismayed, although not surprised, to see how frequently the suffragettes were ignored and disregarded by the socialists - even as they had frequently fought alongside them to secure rights of the working class. Too often the majority, those with privilege, have no problem accepting the help and support of the minority and those without privilege, but when it comes to giving back and fighting for the rights of minority it is suddenly no longer of importance.
The Hard Way Up is a fascinating insight into a different, but incredibly important time that laid the foundation of many of the same issues we still see today. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, politics or women's rights.
*I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
The Hard Way Up is a fascinating insight into a different, but incredibly important time that laid the foundation of many of the same issues we still see today. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, politics or women's rights.
*I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
February 23, 2021
Great book saw the play of it in the 1980s brilliant.
June 7, 2023
A fascinating insight
This book gives a fascinating insight into the lives of those not born to privilege in the late 19th and early 20th century. Wonderful to see both the big picture and the small details brought together in a most interesting memoir.
This book gives a fascinating insight into the lives of those not born to privilege in the late 19th and early 20th century. Wonderful to see both the big picture and the small details brought together in a most interesting memoir.
November 9, 2020
Hannah Mitchell describes herself as a "very ordinary woman" in her autobiography The Hard Way Up. The fact that she's managed to write a fascinating account of working-class life in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries belies that description. Her story is incredibly uplifting and an example of what one can achieve with determination.
Born in 1872, Hannah divides her life into chapter-sized periods, describing the trials she endured and the obstacles she had to overcome in order to further her own aspirations and improve the lives of women and disadvantaged people. As a child her mother denied her the education she badly desired. As a woman (from the age of 14) she worked long hours for little pay, and was involved in the fight for better conditions. It was surprising to read of her life in Bolton that she "envied the cotton workers, who streamed out of the mill gates as soon as the ‘buzzer’ went at half past five. At least they knew when their working day would end." Marriage brought different problems, for husbands "expected that the girl who had shared their weekend cycling or rambling, summer games or winter dances, would change all her ways with her marriage ring and begin where their mothers left off."
As Hannah became involved in socialism, she also joined the struggle for female suffrage. Although she was never subjected to lengthy prison time nor force-feeding, her descriptions of the casual brutality meted out to activists is shocking. After WW1 she became more political and was elected a councillor for Manchester. She was also a magistrate, and in this position did a lot to temper the patronising morality of those who had no direct experience of poverty. There's a lot of humour in the book, especially when Hannah reports on how she dealt with hecklers at meetings, and, surprisingly, in some of the cases in which she was involved as a magistrate.
Early on in her tale, Hannah relates how every week from childhood she had to help with household chores. She says, "I think my first reactions to feminism began at this time when I was forced to darn my brothers’ stockings while they read or played cards or dominoes." Whilst praising all the battles fought and won by women such as Hannah, I regret to say that 100 years after her birth, this type of thing was still going on. At least it was in my family.
Born in 1872, Hannah divides her life into chapter-sized periods, describing the trials she endured and the obstacles she had to overcome in order to further her own aspirations and improve the lives of women and disadvantaged people. As a child her mother denied her the education she badly desired. As a woman (from the age of 14) she worked long hours for little pay, and was involved in the fight for better conditions. It was surprising to read of her life in Bolton that she "envied the cotton workers, who streamed out of the mill gates as soon as the ‘buzzer’ went at half past five. At least they knew when their working day would end." Marriage brought different problems, for husbands "expected that the girl who had shared their weekend cycling or rambling, summer games or winter dances, would change all her ways with her marriage ring and begin where their mothers left off."
As Hannah became involved in socialism, she also joined the struggle for female suffrage. Although she was never subjected to lengthy prison time nor force-feeding, her descriptions of the casual brutality meted out to activists is shocking. After WW1 she became more political and was elected a councillor for Manchester. She was also a magistrate, and in this position did a lot to temper the patronising morality of those who had no direct experience of poverty. There's a lot of humour in the book, especially when Hannah reports on how she dealt with hecklers at meetings, and, surprisingly, in some of the cases in which she was involved as a magistrate.
Early on in her tale, Hannah relates how every week from childhood she had to help with household chores. She says, "I think my first reactions to feminism began at this time when I was forced to darn my brothers’ stockings while they read or played cards or dominoes." Whilst praising all the battles fought and won by women such as Hannah, I regret to say that 100 years after her birth, this type of thing was still going on. At least it was in my family.
May 11, 2021
Quick interesting read
This took me just a day to read and is an interesting perspective of someone who was born in the 1800s. The fact she went through so much to simply be allowed a human right, that females now accept as a given, is so interesting. I’m reminded to be so grateful for the Suffragettes that came before me, giving me the right to political equality. It makes me deeply regret how I’ve taken this for granted when sometimes not voting in local elections.
One thing to note is that this book doesn’t talk about feminist ideology at all really, other than to say they were fighting for the right to vote. This book is purely the life experiences of one suffragette.
This took me just a day to read and is an interesting perspective of someone who was born in the 1800s. The fact she went through so much to simply be allowed a human right, that females now accept as a given, is so interesting. I’m reminded to be so grateful for the Suffragettes that came before me, giving me the right to political equality. It makes me deeply regret how I’ve taken this for granted when sometimes not voting in local elections.
One thing to note is that this book doesn’t talk about feminist ideology at all really, other than to say they were fighting for the right to vote. This book is purely the life experiences of one suffragette.
May 30, 2022
I greatly enjoyed the first two thirds of the book, but have to admit finding the final third which detailed the post war suffragette/ socialist meetings she attended and spoke at harder work, and gave up before the end. I suspect it will be fascinating for a researcher into the topic and period, but not so great for a lighter reader. Hannah was an inspiring woman and it is well worth reading and making up your own mind about the final section.
January 31, 2023
Hannah Mitchell had an amazing life. Such a strong, intelligent and articulate woman. I can't believe that it has taken me so long to come across this book and it is a must read for anyone. It is an important social commentary on life in general for the working classes, particularly women, education, politics and family life.
August 10, 2018
An exceptional woman
A very interesting read of a very admirable strong woman ahead of her time. I only wish I had some of her virtues. A very good insight into these times and show both progress and lack that still needs to be addressed with issues between the sexes.
A very interesting read of a very admirable strong woman ahead of her time. I only wish I had some of her virtues. A very good insight into these times and show both progress and lack that still needs to be addressed with issues between the sexes.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews