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Una Harriet Ella Stratford Duval [née Dugdale] (1879–1975) was a suffragette and marriage reformer.
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Early life
Una was the debutante daughter of Commander Edward Stratford Dugdale and his wife, who were supporters of the suffrage movement. Una was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and later in Hanover and Paris where she studied singing. She was niece of Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, Speaker of the House of Commons.
Activism
Una Dugdale was introduced to the suffrage movement by Frank Rutter. In 1907 she first heard Christabel Pankhurst speaking in Hyde Park and from thence on toured the country with Mrs. Pankhurst raising political awareness and helping her in her work. In 1908 she began working with Helen Fraser in Aberdeen.
On 24 February 1909 Dugdale was arrested in Parliament Square during a suffragette "raid" on the House of Commons. She remained in prison for one month.
One of her sisters Marjorie 'Daisie' Dugdale (1884–1973) led the procession to welcome Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst on their early release from prison on 19 Dec 1908.
During 1909 and 1910 Dugdale joined Mrs Pankhurst on her two Scottish tours.
Marriage controversy
Dugdale sparked a national scandal in 1912 when she married Victor Diederichs Duval (1885–1945), who she had met when he acted as best man at Frank Rutter's wedding, but refused to use the word "obey" in her marriage vows.
Duval was the founder of the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement; son of Emily Hayes Duval and brother of Elsie Diederichs Duval - both fellow suffragists. Elsie was the second person to be released under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 (the so-called "Cat and Mouse law"), and brother-in-law to Hugh Franklin. Duval's father, Ernest Charles Augustus Diederichs Duval, was a German Jewish immigrant.
As a response to the scandal, Mrs. Duval wrote 'To Love Honour - But Not Obey'``.