Quote · Empire: World History
369. The First British Indians: The Suffragette Princess (Ep 1)
Where this was said
Tax Resistance and the Auction House Coup
At 48:32 · chapter starts 47:50
Sophia's activism extends beyond the streets: in 1909 she joins the Women's Tax Resistance League and immediately stops paying taxes on her servants, her Pomeranian dogs' licences, and her carriage. She tears up tax demand notices and writes to the tax office invoking 'no taxation without representation.' When bailiffs arrive at Faraday House, force their way past the housekeeper, and seize her jewellery, the suffragettes turn it into theatre. They pack every seat at the Ashford auction, sit on male bidders or growl in their ears, and have celebrated Victorian artist and friend of Oscar Wilde, Louise Jopling-Roe, buy Sophia's ring and carry it back across the room to her in front of a cheering crowd of suffragettes unfurling their banners. Sophia also refuses to sign census papers, scrawling 'As women do not count, I refuse to be counted.' The bombing campaign of the wider suffragette movement is escalating dangerously — until the First World War ends it all.
Sophia refused taxes on servants, dogs, and carriages — and when bailiffs seized her jewels, the suffragettes packed the auction house and sat on any man who tried to bid. Celebrated artist Louise Jopling-Roe bought Sophia's ring and returned it to her across the room while the crowd erupted. It was, as Anita Anand put it, 'a movie'.
