Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland. It lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it was a town in its own right, it is officially a residential suburb of Edinburgh. The promenade fronts onto a wide sandy beach.
Helen Burness Cruickshank was a Scottish poet and suffragette and a focal point of the Scottish Renaissance. Scottish writers associated with the movement met at her home in Corstorphine.
Joppa is an eastern suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is bounded on the north by the coast of the Firth of Forth, on the west by Portobello of which it was a suburb when Portobello was a burgh, to the south by the open area south of Milton Road and to the east by Musselburgh in East Lothian. The name "Joppa" is of biblical origin, referring to the port of Jaffa in Israel, and was first bestowed on this part of Edinburgh in the 18th century.
Elsie Edith Bowerman was a British lawyer, suffragette, political activist, and RMS Titanic survivor.
Ethel Agnes Mary Moorhead was a British suffragette and painter and was the first suffragette in Scotland to be forcibly-fed.
Mary Margaret Cameron was a Scottish artist, renowned for her depictions of everyday Spanish life. She exhibited 54 works at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1886 and 1919.
Helen Crawfurd was a Scottish suffragette, rent strike organiser, Communist activist and politician. Born in Glasgow, she was brought up there and in London.
Frances Helen Simson (1854–1938) was a Scottish suffragist, campaigner for women's higher education and one of the first of eight women graduates from the University of Edinburgh in 1893.
Helen Alexander Archdale was a Scottish feminist, suffragette and journalist. Archdale was the Sheffield branch organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union and later its prisoners' secretary in London.
Janet "Jenny" McCallum or Janet Richardson was a Scottish trade unionist and working-class suffragette in a movement which was predominantly made up of middle and upper-class activists.
Arabella Scott was a Scottish teacher, suffragette hunger striker and women's rights campaigner. As a member of the Women's Freedom League (WFL) she took a petition to Downing Street in July 1909. She subsequently adopted more militant tactics with the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She was one of a group who attempted arson at Kelso racecourse in May 1913. She was arrested many times and went on hunger strikes when she was sent to jail. Whilst in Perth Prison in 1914, she was force-fed for an extraordinarily long time under the supervision of Dr Hugh Ferguson Watson, the only prison doctor in Scotland prepared to use this method. She was released under the controversial Cat and Mouse Act. WSPU activism ceased when the First World War began and Scott became a field nurse, later she married emigrated to Australia. She wrote about her experiences in her autobiography A Murky Past.
Elizabeth Watson was a Scottish child suffragette and piper.
Portobello Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Portobello, Edinburgh which was built in 1923 by the Edinburgh Corporation in order to cope with the increasing demand for electricity in the city. Although originally intended to be built in 1913, its construction was delayed because of the First World War, and it was formally opened by George V ten years later. Its electricity was used to power Edinburgh and the surrounding region while waste heat warmed the water of Portobello Open Air Pool.
Catherine Hogg Blair was a Scottish suffragette, magistrate, founder of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute (SWRI), and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Blair was a passionate campaigner and spokeswoman for rural women, dedicated to doing 'all in her power to further the interests of women'. In 1940, Blair's history of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute Rural Journey: A History of the S.W.R.I. From Cradle to Majority was published, summarising the achievements and goals of the organisation since its inception in 1917. Blair was also a skilled potter, founding Mak'Merry pottery studio in the town of MacMerry, East Lothian.
Jessie Cunningham Methven was a Scottish campaigner for women's suffrage. She was honorary secretary of the Edinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage from the mid 1890s until 1906. She subsequently joined the more militant Women's Social and Political Union and described herself as an "independent socialist".
Florence Jessie Hull was a British suffragette who wrote about her experience of being imprisoned for the cause. She was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and secretary of its Letchworth branch. She was an active campaigner for women's suffrage and served time in prison for her role in a suffragette protest. Her arrest took place in the context of a window smashing campaign by the WSPU. Hull is noted on the Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners 1905-1914.
Edith Hudson was a British nurse and suffragette. She was an active member of the Edinburgh branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was arrested several times for her part in their protests in Scotland and London. She engaged in hunger strikes while in prison and was forcibly fed. She was released after the last of these strikes under the so-called Cat and Mouse Act. Hudson was awarded a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by the WSPU.
Elizabethand Agnes Thomson were Scottish suffragettes and members of the Edinburgh branch of the Women's Social and Political Union. They were arrested for their involvement in WSPU protests in Scotland and London. The sisters were involved in the first arson attempt in Scotland as part of the WSPU arson campaign in 1913. Elizabeth was imprisoned for her role and went on hunger strike. She was later released under the Prisoners Act 1913, so-called Cat and Mouse Act. Elizabeth was awarded a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by the WSPU.
Jessie Margaret Soga, LRAM was a Xhosa/Scottish contralto singer, music teacher and suffragist. She was described as the only black/mixed race suffrage campaigner based in Scotland. Soga was a lead member of the Women's Freedom League in Glasgow and later joined the Women's Social and Political Union; but did not carry out militant activity, using her organisational skills and musical talent to raise funds.
Elizabeth Finlayson Gauld was a leading suffrage campaigner in Edinburgh devoted to working for women’s franchise for many years, convening meetings, taking part in the Women’s March from Edinburgh to London, working with some of the most prominent suffrage campaigners and activists for women's rights. She was also prominent in the campaign for Scottish self-determination and in amateur theatre productions.
