Ada Cole

Last updated • 9 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Ada Cole
Ada Merrett Frances Cole.jpg
Born
Ada Merrett Frances Cole

1 January 1860 [1]
Croxton Hall
Died17 October 1930
OccupationActivist

Ada Merrett Frances Cole (1 January 1860 – 17 October 1930) was a nurse, animal welfare activist and founder of the International League Against the Export of Horses for Butchery, later renamed the International League for the Protection of Horses, [3] now known as World Horse Welfare. [4] She was largely responsible for making the transport of horses for slaughter more humane and for improving horse abattoirs. She was decorated for her actions while nursing in Belgium in World War One. [5]

Contents

Early life

Ada Cole was born on Croxton Hall Farm near Thetford on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. She was a daughter of Louisa Henrietta (née Clarke) and Edward Cole, an eloped couple, and was one of ten children, of whom only five survived infancy. She was educated at home by her mother and a relative, Mrs. Merrett, who acted as governess. The family were tenant-farmers of some eleven hundred acres and used Shire horses and oxen to work the land. The children thus grew up surrounded by horses and cattle, and had dogs and a donkey. Louisa Cole died unexpectedly in 1883, aged fifty-two. It was discovered that Edward Cole had been living a double life with Emily Clarke, whom he married in 1888, having already had two children with her. Ada and her younger sister Effie left home for London soon after their mother's death. [6]

Before the First World War

From 1883, Cole worked as a nurse at the thirty-year-old London Fever Hospital near King's Cross. At that time, before the era of motorized transport, horses were the major means of transport and haulage. The suffering of cab horses had already prompted Anna Sewell's famous tale, Black Beauty , first published in 1877 by Jarrolds of Norwich. Sewell was also born in Norfolk. Cole was just as dismayed as that author at seeing overworked cab horses collapsing in the street from exhaustion and ill health. Having been raised around animals, she knew they should be handled with compassion and respect. Stray cats and dogs were at the time also often hunted and kept in laboratories for operations without anesthetic. Cole became an early anti-vivisectionist and a vegetarian. [6]

In 1886, both sisters became Roman Catholics, Ada taking the name of St Francis of Assisi as her baptismal name. After her sister became a nun, Cole took on private nursing work in the 1890s in the UK and in Europe. When she began to suffer from poor health, she moved to Norwich in 1890 where she worked as a district nurse until 1911 in the St Georges area, a poor district where she set up a club for impecunious Catholic girls. While in Norwich, Cole would visit the Cattle Market where she reprimanded the cattle handlers if she saw them handling the animals with brutality. [6] In 1906, Cole published, with Scientific Press, a booklet on nursing, called Lectures on home nursing for the poor. The booklet is now available as a classic reprint. [7]

In 1910, Cole's health deteriorated and she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. She gave up nursing temporarily and moved to Cley-next-the-Sea, on the North Norfolk Coast, in order to rest and get well. In 1911, somewhat recovered, Cole went to visit her younger sister, now the mother of a convent in Antwerp. One day, while passing the docks with her sister, Cole saw lines of horses who, ill and exhausted at the end of their working lives, had been sent from Britain to be disposed of in overseas abattoirs. [8] She was appalled at their brutal treatment. [9] She did not object to the eating of horses or their slaughter for meat per se but wanted more humane conditions for their transport to slaughterhouses. [10] The invention of the internal combustion engine meant that many working horses had become redundant. By 1906, nearly 50,000 worn-out horses per year were being exported on British ships to the continent for meat or vivisection without anesthetic. [11]

Cole researched the situation, [5] working with the RSPCA and the Brussels Society for the Protection of Animals, watching and recording the journeys of horses and mules, often without access to food or water. Once back home again in Cley, she corresponded with relevant authorities and kept detailed records on, for example, the number of animals arriving in Antwerp each year, the number sent to veterinary colleges for vivisection and those slaughtered in abattoirs in Antwerp. She contributed to newspapers, gave public talks and was joined by others in sympathy with her actions and ideals. These included Stephen Coleridge, John Galsworthy and Alfred Munnings. In 1914, largely as a result of her efforts, the first Exportation of Horses Act was passed in Britain. It only limited export to five ports and only prevented horses in very poor health from being exported. Owing to the outbreak of war, it was never really put into effect. [12]

War work

When the first world war broke out in 1914, Cole joined her sister Effie in Belgium. She worked as a Red Cross nurse treating German and allied soldiers. She also helped allied soldiers to escape back to their homes via underground networks that included her sister's convent. Cole also distributed resistance newspapers. She was arrested on August 3, 1918, and held in the Antwerp Military Prison which was also known, jokingly, as the Patriots' Hotel. Interrogated and at times in solitary confinement, she then stood trial on November 1, 1918, and was sentenced to a year in prison in Germany. Saved by the Armistice, she was freed on November 11. [6]

After the war

Cole returned to Britain in 1919. She had kept a diary throughout the war, hiding the texts under the floorboards at the convent. Three articles in the Eastern Daily Press October 1919 were derived from them. These were:

In 1920, she received, along with her sister who had also been imprisoned, the Decoration Civique or Civic Decoration, a reward for exceptional acts of bravery, devotion or humanity. It was granted to her by Albert king of Belgium for her bravery, self-sacrifice and humanitarian actions during the war.

Humane slaughter

Although temporarily halted during the wartime hostilities, the transport of unfit horses to the continent for butchery continued after the war, as horse dealers eager for profit found loopholes in the 1914 act. Efforts were made to encourage trade abroad in dead meat instead of live, but freshly killed meat was more popular on the continent. Cole continued to work with help from, for example, the RSPCA, the Belgian SPCA, and Lord Mark Lambourne, to pressure the Minister of Agriculture to improve inspections and slaughter conditions in France and Belgium. Newspaper articles, posters around London and a meeting at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1921, at which Cole spoke, all helped to sway public opinion so that a tax of £20 was levied on every horse, mule or ass exported live from Britain, thus making the trade uneconomic for horse dealers. [6]

In the 1920s, Cole spoke publicly all over the country, gathering high-profile supporters such as John Buchan, who later became Governor General of Canada, and the Swedish anti-vivisectionist Emily Lind-af-Hageby and the Duchess of Hamilton. Her aim was to stop the export of horses completely as it was hard to verify that the slaughter techniques in continental abattoirs were humane. [14] In 1928, Cole founded the International League for the Protection of Horses. In 1929, she established Klondyke Horse Abattoir at Bourne, Lincolnshire, an abattoir designed to slaughter horses humanely. [15] It closed in 1973. [16]

RSPCA controversy

Cole joined the RSPCA in 1922. [17] In 1925, Cole and Jules Ruhl produced a controversial film for the RSPCA depicting the inhumane slaughter of export horses in Belgium that featured graphic footage taken at the village of Terhagon in 1914. [18] [19] The Departmental Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture alleged that the film featured staged slaughter footage by paid butchers. [20] [21] [22] Cole denied any faked film footage. [23]

Cole and Lady Simon planned a campaign to counteract the statements by the Departmental Committee. However, it was decided by the RSPCA that "it would not be expedient to conduct such a campaign". [21] In July 1925, she was dismissed from the RSPCA for conducting a campaign outside of the Society. [17] She campaigned against the exportation of worn-out horses; work which was not sanctioned by the RSPCA Council. [17] [24] Cole commented that "I could have resigned but I preferred to allow them to dismiss me... the attitude of the R.S.P.C.A. with regard to the traffic in old horses has always been unsatisfactory". [17]

In response she formed the Old Horse Traffic Committee with Lady Simon as chairman. Cole intended to get reinstated in the RSPCA as an organizer for the prevention of traffic in old horses. [24] Edward G. Fairholme, chief secretary of the RPSCA requested for a requisition with at least 150 secured signatures to summon an "extraordinary general meeting". [25] Cole sent requisition papers, signed by over 250 RSPCA members to their headquarters in February 1927. [26] A controversial RSPCA meeting presided by Sir William Gentle was held in June 1927. [27] There was divided opinion about Cole organizing a new special department of the Society to end the practice of exporting horses to Europe for slaughter. The were 173 votes in favour of the resolution and 100 against. [27]

International League Against the Export of Horses for Butchery

Cole's Old Horse Traffic Committee became the International League Against the Export of Horses for Butchery in 1928. [28] In 1930, Cole moved its offices to Bloomsbury Square. [28] The organization amalgamated with the National Council to Prevent the Export of Horses for Butchery in 1935 and was renamed the International League for Horses. [29] In 1937, it became the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH). [30] The League's work has been credited for driving the Exportation of Horses Act which was passed in 1937. [30] [31] Brigadier-General Sir George Cockerill was honorary director of ILPH in 1939. [32] The ILPH was re-branded as World Horse Welfare in 2008. [30]

Death and legacy

Cole died on 17 October 1930, aged 70. Her remains were cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, among those president were Sir Robert Gower of the RSPCA and De Vere Summers. [33]

In 1932, the Ada Cole Memorial Stables, a home for old and ill-treated horses, were established in her memory. Ledgers of the first residents show that some were military horses and mules brought back from fighting on the continent. The stables were merged with Redwings Horse Sanctuary in 2005. [34]

A book about Cole's life titled She Heard Their Cry, written by Joyce Rushen, was published in 1972 by ACMS Publishing. [6]

Parallels have been drawn between Cole and another courageous Norfolk nurse, Edith Cavell, whose execution by Germans in 1915 made all aware of the danger of resistance work. [13]

Ada Cole Avenue in Snetterton was named after her. [35]

Cole's great-nephew was Tom Harrisson. [6]

Quotations

"She heard their cry, and with far-seeing eyes

Undimmed by useless tears, with love aflame,

Challenged the world to end such cruelties."

From a sonnet entitled A Friend in Need on Ada Cole by Sir George Cockerill who became chair of the International League after Cole's death. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaughterhouse</span> Facility where animals are slaughtered for meat

In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir, is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat-packing facility.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world, and is one of the largest charities in the UK. The organisation also does international outreach work across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The League Against Cruel Sports, formerly known as the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, is a UK-based animal welfare charity which campaigns to stop blood sports such as fox hunting, hare and deer hunting; game bird shooting; and animal fighting. The charity helped bring about the Hunting Act 2004 and Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, which banned hunting with hounds in England, Wales and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton</span> British peeress and activists

Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton was a British peeress and animal welfare activist. She campaigned for humane slaughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse meat</span> Consumable meat from horses

Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in the Americas and in Eurasia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3 million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early existence, wild horses were hunted as a source of protein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live export</span> Cross-border movement of livestock by ship, rail, road or air

Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, exports of live sheep rose 21.4% and live calves increased 9.7% between March 2017 and March 2018. During 2017 alone, Australia exported 2.85 million living animals in shipping containers and airplanes. The expansion of the trade has been supported by the introduction of purpose-built ships which carry large numbers of animals. The amount of livestock exported from the European Union grew to nearly 586m kilograms between 2014 and 2017, a 62.5% increase during the time period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livestock transportation</span> Movement of livestock by ship, rail, road or air

Livestock transportation is the movement of livestock, by road, rail, ship, or air. Livestock are transported for many reasons, including slaughter, auction, breeding, livestock shows, rodeos, fairs, and grazing. When the movement crosses borders into another country, it is known as live export.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhabihah</span> Animal slaughter in Islamic law

In Islamic law, dhabihah, also spelled zabiha, is the prescribed method of slaughter for halal animals. It consists of a swift, deep incision to the throat with a very sharp knife, cutting the wind pipe, jugular veins and carotid arteries on both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. The butcher is also required to call upon the name of Allah individually for each animal.

Horse slaughter is the practice of slaughtering horses to produce meat for consumption. Humans have long consumed horse meat; the oldest known cave art, the 30,000-year-old paintings in France's Chauvet Cave, depict horses with other wild animals hunted by humans. Equine domestication is believed to have begun to raise horses for human consumption. The practice has become controversial in some parts of the world due to several concerns: whether horses are managed humanely in industrial slaughter; whether horses not raised for consumption yield safe meat, and whether it is appropriate to consume what some view as a companion animal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal aspects of ritual slaughter</span>

The legal aspects of ritual slaughter include the regulation of slaughterhouses, butchers, and religious personnel involved with traditional shechita (Jewish) and dhabiha (Islamic). Regulations also may extend to butchery products sold in accordance with kashrut and halal religious law. Governments regulate ritual slaughter, primarily through legislation and administrative law. In addition, compliance with oversight of ritual slaughter is monitored by governmental agencies and, on occasion, contested in litigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal slaughter</span> Killing of animals for human food

Animal slaughter is the killing of animals, usually referring to killing domestic livestock. It is estimated that each year, 80 billion land animals are slaughtered for food. Most animals are slaughtered for food; however, they may also be slaughtered for other reasons such as for harvesting of pelts, being diseased and unsuitable for consumption, or being surplus for maintaining a breeding stock. Slaughter typically involves some initial cutting, opening the major body cavities to remove the entrails and offal but usually leaving the carcass in one piece. Such dressing can be done by hunters in the field or in a slaughterhouse. Later, the carcass is usually butchered into smaller cuts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Greenwood</span> British lawyer and politician (1850–1928)

Sir Granville George Greenwood, usually known as George Greenwood or G. G. Greenwood, was a British lawyer, politician, cricketer, animal welfare campaigner and energetic advocate of the Shakespeare authorship question.

World Horse Welfare is a registered charity in the United Kingdom that was previously named the International League for the Protection of Horses. Anne, Princess Royal is its patron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society</span> English animal rights organization

The Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society (ADAVS), also known as the Animal Defence Society was an animal welfare organisation, co-founded in England, in 1906, by Lizzy Lind af Hageby, and Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton. The objective of the Society was a "Consistent Opposition to all forms of Cruelty to Animals and Abolition of Vivisection". The Society was known for its support of humane slaughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal welfare and rights in Australia</span> Treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Australia

This article is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Australia. Australia has moderate animal protections by international standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Bell (activist)</span> English publisher, writer and activist (1851–1933)

Ernest Bell was an English publisher, writer and activist. He was an advocate for animal rights and welfare, vegetarianism, and humanitarian causes.

Eleanor Whitton was an Irish animal welfare campaigner, being a founding member of the South County Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Irish branch of the International League for the Protection of Horses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Lysley Derriman</span> British army officer and animal welfare campaigner

Captain Gerard Lysley Derriman was a British Army officer in the Grenadier Guards and chief constable of Shropshire Constabulary. He was an animal welfare campaigner known for his advocacy of humane slaughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward G. Fairholme</span> British animal welfare campaigner

Edward George Robert Fairholme was a British animal welfare campaigner and writer. He was chief secretary of the RSPCA from 1908 to 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Dudley Ward</span> English animal welfare activist and writer

Mary Dudley Ward was an English animal welfare activist and writer. She was a member of the executive committee of the League Against Cruel Sports.

References

  1. "Our Founder". World Horse Welfare. 2024. Archived from the original on 22 July 2024.
  2. "One Who Escaped Martyrdom". Liverpool Post and Mercury. 21 October 1930. p. 4.(subscription required)
  3. Davidson, Gemma (10 September 2018). "Tribute to war horses goes on display at racecourse". Bracknell News. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  4. "Our Founder". World Horse Welfare. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 Brink, Bill Vander. "WW1 – the silver lining – Elite Equestrian magazine" . Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rushen, Joyce (1993). She Heard Their Cry. Lavenham, Suffolk: ACMS Publishing. ISBN   0952218216.
  7. Cole, Ada (2018). Lectures on Home Nursing for the Poor (Classic Reprint ed.). London: Forgotten Books. ISBN   978-0484373760.
  8. "Our History". World Horse Welfare. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  9. "In The Saddle". Worcester News. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  10. Owers, Roly (25 June 2014). "Do slaughter and horse meat have a role in responsible ownership?". Thoroughbred Racing Commentary. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  11. James, Jeremy (1994). Debt of Honour: The Story of the International League for the Protection of Horses. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0333617915.
  12. Fitchett, Andrew (8 August 2014). "First World War echoes on through horse charity's work as Norfolk campaigner is remembered". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Recent New Material on Edith Cavell". Edith Cavell 1865–1915. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  14. "World Horse Welfare launches Legacy Awareness Week". www.vetclick.com. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  15. "The Last Journey: Humane End for Old Horses". The Mercury and Guardian. 3 December 1937. p. 21.(subscription required)
  16. "Bourne's Horse Abattoir Closing". Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury. 12 January 1973. p. 5.(subscription required)
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Old Horses Traffic: Miss Cole Dismissed by the R.S.P.C.A." Daily News. 20 July 1926. p. 8.(subscription required)
  18. "Horse-Slaughtering Film Controversy". The Birmingham Post. 25 November 1925. p. 9.(subscription required)
  19. "The Horse Film: R.S.P.C.A. Reply to the Faking Charge". The Nottingham Evening Post. 1 December 1925. p. 7.(subscription required)
  20. "Export of Horses to the Continent". The Derby Daily Telegraph. 28 October 1925. p. 4.(subscription required)
  21. 1 2 "The R.S.P.C.A. Wrangle". Evening News. 11 November 1926. p. 5.(subscription required)
  22. "Film of Cruelty to Horses Arouses Hysteria". The Leeds Mercury. 24 November 1925. p. 1.(subscription required)
  23. "The Horse Film: R.S.P.C.A. Reply to the Faking Charge". The Nottingham Evening Post. 1 December 1925. p. 7.(subscription required)
  24. 1 2 "Grave New Split in R.S.P.C.A." London Daily Chronicle. 11 November 1926. p. 7.(subscription required)
  25. "Horses For Meat: Move to Obtain Special General Meeting". Westminster Gazette. 17 February 1927. p. 2.(subscription required)
  26. "The R.S.P.C.A". Westminster Gazette. 27 March 1927. p. 6.(subscription required)
  27. 1 2 "Stormy Scene at R.S.P.C.A. Meeting". London Daily Chronicle. 9 June 1927. p. 7.(subscription required)
  28. 1 2 Douglas Hume, Ethel (1939). The Mind-Changers. M. Joseph Limited. p. 286.
  29. "International League for Horses". The Yorkshire Post. 4 July 1935. p. 6.(subscription required)
  30. 1 2 3 "Our History". World Horse Welfare. 2024.
  31. "The Export of Horses Bill". West Sussex Gazette & South of England Advertiser. 19 August 1937. p. 6.(subscription required)
  32. "The Horseshoe Ball". The Birmingham Post. 5 May 1939. p. 15.(subscription required)
  33. "The Horses' Champion". The Vote. 24 October 1930. p. 2.(subscription required)
  34. "Our story". Redwings Horse Sanctuary. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  35. Evans, Helen (2019). "Snetterton: From Horse Power to Horse Welfare" (PDF). The Norfolk Churches Trust. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2024.