The Ascott Martyrs

Elizabeth Pratley and Mary Pratley each had infant children (7 months and 10 weeks respectively) and, as was common at the time, these children remained with their mothers during the term of imprisonment.  The older children were taken in by kindly neighbours and Agricultural Workers Union families.

Pay Back Time

The conviction of these women didn’t go down well and by 9.00 on the evening of the trial, word had got around the area and a rowdy bunch of 1,000 enraged people had gathered outside the Police Court.  These rioters tried desperately but unsuccessfully to rescue the women, even resorting to breaking street lamps and windows.  The disturbance continued for at least a couple of hours and it became necessary for police reinforcement to be drafted in from Oxford. 

During the fracas, the women remained in two dark cells that didn’t have enough seating for them all which meant they had to take it in turns to sit down and rest.  The women were left there until around 1.00 the following morning to allow for the more stalwart rebel supporters to be dispersed and swept away by the police but the women’s ordeal didn’t end there.  They were then transported during the early hours of the morning to Oxford Prison on open horse-drawn drays.  It was an extremely chilly night and the women weren’t dressed to travel in such awful weather conditions; they had no suitably warm clothing and, in order to protect the two infants from the elements, they tried as best they could to shelter them with umbrellas.

The women eventually arrived in Oxford Prison at around 6.00 that morning where 14 of them were given washing and ironing to do, the two women with infants being excused labour duties.  

The following day a protest meeting, attended by some 3000 supporters, was held in the village of Chipping Norton where a collection was taken.  News then subsequently reached the Houses of Parliament where questions were asked, and a personal appeal was sent to Queen Victoria.  It was she who eventually pardoned the women and for their suffering, ensured that each of the women received a red flannel petticoat and 5 shillings (25p/40-50 cents).

The Result

Fortunately the women’s ordeal was not in vain as the Chairman of the Oxford District of the National Union carried out an investigation into the wages and conditions of the Ascott farm workers and found that before the men had joined the Union their wages had been 9 shillings a week in winter and 10 in summer.  In addition to this they received 2 shillings a week extra for 13 or 14 weeks of the year during the busier seasons but during these 13 or 14 weeks they were compelled to work 12 to 16 hours a day.  These men received no ‘perks’ by way of holiday or sickness pay, and no wages at all when time was lost on wet days.  However, following their joining of the Union the basic pay increased by 2 shillings a week, a not inconsiderable sum for that time.

It’s understood that at least four of the families involved emigrated to the Antipodes following this relatively unknown but historically significant event but the people of Ascott-under-Wychwood are reminded of it on a daily basis as a wooden bench commemorating their suffering has been placed on the village green.