She was prominent in the Scottish National Women's Anti-Suffragette League (WASL),[1] founding the branch in St Andrews in 1909 [3]
The BWTA were pro women's suffrage, however the St Andrews branch where Lady Cheape was president (1909–12) [1][4][5] was opposed. In 1913 Lady Cheape formed the 'Beehive'- an anti-suffrage society based in St Andrews.[5] She was the President of the St Andrews Branch of the Scottish League for Opposing Women's Suffrage.[6]
"Lady Cheape believed that direct political representation would undermine, rather than amplify, the idea of feminine moral superiority. Her opinions may be traced to her strongly evangelical approach to temperance reform that emphasised moral, rather than legal, ‘suasion.’"[7]
^Elizabeth., Crawford (2006). The women's suffrage movement in Britain and Ireland : a regional survey. London: Routledge. ISBN0415383323. OCLC59149398.
^Scottish women : a documentary history, 1780-1914. Breitenbach, Esther. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2013. ISBN9780748683406. OCLC857078955.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ abK., Smitley, Megan (2009). The feminine public sphere : middle-class women in civic life in Scotland, c.1870-1914. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN9780719079665. OCLC430498979.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)