WOMEN'S TAX RESISTANCE LEAGUE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Silver basket owned by the suffragette Lizzie Emma Turquand. A Victorian silver cake basket seized in lieu of taxes. Turquand belonged to the Tax Resistance League (TRL) and in May 1912 refused to pay her house duty as a protest against women's disenfranchisement. In due course, this family heirloom was confiscated by a bailiff. Turquand reclaimed it at auction after giving a speech on the urgency of women's suffrage.Lizzie Emma Turquand (1857-1943) was a member of multiple women's suffrage organizations in addition to the TRL, and worked as a secretary and a teacher. She sent a letter to the Income Tax Offices explaining her refusal to pay her taxes, which concluded, "to force women out of the their earnings to pay salaries to Cabinet Ministers and M.P.'s to legislate for men, who, through the ballot box, command attention and consideration, is to me such gross injustice that I offer no apology for my action". The ensuing seizure of the basket was "formal but friendly" and the bailiff acted with "forbearance and politeness" (Norwood News, p. 5).The TRL seized the opportunity of the auction to promote their cause and, on 14 May, arrived at the auction house in large numbers, bearing banners and placards. Although their presence in the auction room was unexpected, the auctioneers, dealers, and other attendants treated them with good humour. The auctioneer permitted Turquand to give a speech on her decision to resist taxation; her remarks were met with cheers and a chorus of "F

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