Miss Kate Fowler Tutt (1868-1954), photo ©Edward Reeves Lewes
The daughter of a Brighton butcher, Kate was raised in modest circumstances but received a good education thanks to her grandmother’s encouragement. Kate’s commitment to education led her to become a teacher and then the headmistress at South Malling Elementary School in Lewes. Later in 1913, she became head of the Central Senior Girls School in Southover. While at South Malling, Kate saw the deprivation among her pupils at first hand and she campaigned for improvements in children’s health for the rest of her life.
Kate was initially sceptical of the need for women to have the parliamentary vote and was against militant action. She thought there should be a ‘Parliament of Women’ to deal with problems affecting women and children, especially as these were often overlooked by government. Over time, Kate became more convinced of the need for the vote. She often spoke at meetings on children’s health alongside Greta Allen, a nurse and prominent suffragette, who lived nearby. By the time of the 1918 general election, Kate was speaking at public meetings urging women to use their votes. She went on to become Lewes’ second female borough councillor in 1924 serving on over twenty committees.
As a councillor she pursued improvements in health and education and campaigned for good quality housing, contributing to the plans for the Nevill estate in the 1920s. In the 1930s, she was involved in the peace movement and was President of the International Friendship League which encouraged student visits between Britain and Germany. She praised the educational policies of Germany and Russia, but by 1941 she saw ‘British democracy as needing to be defended against the tyrannies of Bolshevism as well as Nazism and Fascism…’ and encouraged women to keep democracy alive by pushing elected representatives to get things done. Kate stepped down at the 1945 municipal election having served as a councillor for more than twenty years.
Kate used her position in civic life to work for the interests of women and children. In 2018, she was recognised as a Suffrage Pioneer by the Women’s Local Government Society which encourages women to enter public life.
For a fuller account of Kate Fowler Tutt’s life, see Frances Stenlake’s paper ‘Rehabilitating Kate Fowler Tutt, 1868-1954: Lewes Educationalist, Social Activist and Feminist’, Sussex Archaeological Collections, Vol 154, 2016, pp. 274-90, available from Archaeology Data Service
You can read more about how women such as Kate Fowler Tutt and others fought for the right to vote in local elections and to become councillors at https://bit.ly/31spY6D
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