The True Story Behind Enola Holmes 2

The True Story Behind Enola Holmes 2 and the Matchgirls Strike of 1888

Welcome to MsMojo and today we’ll be discussing The True Story Behind Enola Holmes 2 and the Matchgirls Strike of 1888.

For this video, we’re taking a look at the real-life 1888 matchgirls' strike and how it inspired the 2022 sequel to the mystery film, “Enola Holmes.”

Had you heard of the Matchgirls Strike before Enola Holmes introduced you? Do you think the matchgirls deserve a movie of their own? Let us know in the comments!

During the finale of “Enola Holmes 2,” the female workforce of a matchmaking factory in London abandon their benches and stage a walk-out. They’re led by Sarah Chapman, one of their own and a pivotal character in the film. The scene was inspired by the real Matchgirls’ Strike of 1888, but how much truth is in the tale?

The Matchgirls Strike was an early industrial action taken by female workers in the UK. It was a pivotal moment in the fight for workers’ rights. The year was 1888. Queen Victoria was on the throne, Jack the Ripper was stalking the streets and the working conditions of lower class women were nobody’s first priority. Yet, on the 2nd of July (or thereabouts) the workforce of the Bryant & May match factory in Bow took matters into their own hands. On the first day of the Strike, roughly 1,400 girls stopped their work, demanding change from the factory management. Within the space of a few days, the factory had ground to a halt and the whole workforce was out on strike.

Bryant & May employed almost 5,000 workers, most of them female, in their mid-teens to early twenties. They were mostly Irish immigrants, or of Irish descent, drawn from the East End slums, which were then a place of extreme poverty and overcrowding. The East Enders were considered “too rough”, not suitable for domestic service. The workers of the match factory were denigrated for their colorful clothes, shrill laughter and their knowledge of “all the popular music hall songs of the day.” The music hall, as depicted in “Enola Holmes 2” was their one outlet for entertainment, but it was a rare pleasure. The factory girls worked twelve to fourteen hour days for around 4 to 8 shillings a week - a fraction of the wage earned by male employees.

In addition to the long hours and poor pay, a tyrannical fining system left the workers at the mercy of the foreman. Wages could be docked for any number of trivial reasons. The girls also had to supply their own materials and pay the delivery boys out of their own money. At the end of a long week, the pay they took home would be barely enough to feed themselves. But this was not the worst of the girls’ worries.

The matches in the Bryant & May factory were made with white phosphorus. Due to exposure to this hazardous substance, many of the workers developed a form of bone disease that came to be known as “phossy jaw.” The early indicators of the condition were toothache and flu-like symptoms and it culminated in the painful swelling and eventual decay of the jaw. Bryant & May had identified the problem, but their solution was simply to fire anyone who had a toothache - or force them to have their teeth taken out..

In “Enola Holmes 2,” we’re told that the factory had switched from using non-hazardous red phosphorus to the deadly white alternative and that the factory owners were covering up the effects. In reality, Bryant & May had always used white phosphorus and made no attempts to transition to the less dangerous kind.

There were numerous reasons for the factory girls to strike but the days leading up to the event can give us an idea of the growing discontent and the spark that finally lit the flame. In June 1888, a prominent socialist named Annie Besant was attending a meeting of the Fabian Society - this was a mainly middle-class organization that promoted social democracy and reform. On hearing of the horrendous conditions at the Bryant & May factory, she was determined to find out more. Besant, who was a writer and campaigner for women’s rights, interviewed some of the factory girls and published an expose, with the title “White Slavery in London.”

The article gained traction and the factory owners were furious. They reportedly threatened to sue Besant for libel and attempted to persuade the girls’ to sign off that the article was all lies. When a girl was unfairly dismissed, something finally snapped. In a report from the time, one woman tells us how the strike began. She said: it ‘just went like tinder, one girl began, and the rest said ‘yes’ so out we all went’.

So what happened next? The matchgirls had no union - as most did not allow women to join - and they could expect little public support. They began by enlisting Annie Besant, who had been the first to speak up for them. 200 women marched to her office in Bouverie street and three met with her in person - these were Mary Naulls, May Cummings and Sarah Chapman. At first, Besant was dismayed by the drastic action the girls had taken, but at their persistence, she agreed to help them form a strike committee. Just a few days later, a select group of matchgirls met with MPs in the House of Commons, and the tables began to turn. With some powerful people in their corner and public sympathy on their side - thanks to a change of heart from the mainstream press - the Strike was shaping up to become a PR disaster for Bryant & May.

On the 17th July, less than three weeks after the strike began, it came to a triumphant end. The directors of Bryant & May met with the matchgirls’ Strike committee and the London Trades Council. They agreed to meet all of their demands. These included the abolishment of fines, the reinstatement of all the strikers, the introduction of a dining room, where the girls could eat away from the phosphorus, and the forming of an official union. The committee conveyed the results of the meeting to the rest of the girls, who greeted the news with “warm applause” and “wild cheering.”

The Star expressed admiration at a victory "won without preparation – without organization – without funds” and described it as “a turning point in the history of our industrial development."

In “Enola Holmes 2”, Sarah Chapman is presented as the strike leader and the brains behind the discovery of corruption within the factory. In reality, the factory girls were mostly aware of the damage caused by the white phosphorus and no one ringleader has been specifically named among the workers. However, Chapman was an important voice among the strikers. By the time of the strike, she had already worked at the factory for a number of years and had risen to the position of booker. As one of the three matchgirls to meet with Annie Besant, one of the 8 who made up the Strike committee, and one of the twelve members of the union committee, she was a part of all the major decisions. After the conclusion of the strike, Sarah became the first member of the the Union of Women Match Makers to be elected to the Trades Union Congress.

The importance of the Matchgirls strike in the Trade Union movement shouldn’t be underestimated. A year later, the East End dock workers followed the lead of their sisters, wives and daughters and came out on strike. John Burns, a well-known orator and later MP, called on a meeting of striking dockers to “remember the matchgirls, who won their strike and formed a union.” The dockers stood “shoulder to shoulder” as he suggested, and the matchgirls stood right along with them.

In response to the London dock strike of 1889, The Salvation Army also set up a match factory in East London, paying better wages and using red instead of white phosphorus. As a result of the bad publicity from the strike and the competition posed by the rival factory, Bryant & May finally stopped using white phosphorus in 1901. In 1908, the House of Commons passed a law that banned the use of white phosphorus in matches.

In 2022, the matchgirls were commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque - unveiled by the great granddaughter of Sarah Chapman.