The Suffragette Handkerchief is a handkerchief displayed at The Priest House, West Hoathly in West Sussex, England. It has sixty-six embroidered signatures and two sets of initials, mostly of women imprisoned in HMP Holloway for their part in the Women's Social and Political Union Suffragette window smashing demonstrations of March 1912. This was a brave act of defiance in a prison where the women were closely watched at all times. [1] [2]
It is believed that the Handkerchief was started by Mary Ann Hilliard as she kept it as a souvenir of her fellow prisoners afterwards [3] until donating it to the archive of the British College of Nurses. The March 1942 issue of the British Journal of Nursing recorded that:
Miss Mary Hilliard, a gentle, very valiant suffragette, has bestowed as a gift to the College the fine linen handkerchief, signed by and embroidered by all the gallant women who suffered imprisonment for conscience sake, in support of the enfranchisement of women in Holloway prison in March 1912. It displays 67 signatures embroidered in various colours, and all that remains is to offer a warm vote of thanks to Miss Mary Hilliard, R.B.N.A., and to await the time when this historic gift can be suitably framed and placed in the History Section of the British College of Nurses, where its unique value will be appreciated.’ [4]
Of the 66 women whose full names appear on the handkerchief, 61 are known to have been arrested on the window-smashing campaign of March 1912 and who received prison sentences ranging from two to six months. Sixteen of the women held positions in local branches of the Women's Social and Political Union in 1912 while 18 had served earlier sentences prison for their actions on behalf of women's suffrage, while at least four were arrested subsequently. Twenty-four of the women on the handkerchief took part in the hunger strikes of 1912 and fifteen were forcibly-fed. [1] These women received the Hunger Strike Medal from the leadership of the WSPU.
It is not known how the Handkerchief came to leave the collection of the British College of Nurses after it closed in 1956 or how it came to be found in the 1960s at a jumble sale at West Hoathly by Dora Arnold, custodian of the Priest House. [5] [6] Its link to the village of West Hoathly is not clear (although an owner of the Priest House in the early 20th-century John Godwin King's daughter Ursula was a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies [7] ) and research is ongoing. [8] The list of the signatories and some notes on their activism is available. [1]
The Suffragette Handkerchief is displayed on the first floor of The Priest House, West Hoathly. From September 2018 to January 2019 the Handkerchief was displayed at the Royal College of Physicians as part of the 'This vexed question: 500 years of women in medicine' exhibition. A particular focus of the exhibition was the signature of Alice Stewart Ker (1853–1943), a Scottish doctor who worked as a surgeon at the Children's Hospital in Birmingham, and who was honorary Medical Officer to the Wirral Hospital for Sick Children. Dr Ker had been active in the Birkenhead Women's Suffrage Society, and in 1912 was sentenced to three months in Holloway Prison for smashing a window at Harrods. [9]
Frances Mary "Fanny" Parker was a New Zealand-born suffragette who became prominent in the militant wing of the Scottish women's suffrage movement and was repeatedly imprisoned for her actions.
Eileen Mary Casey (1881–1972) was a suffragette, translator and teacher.
The Priest House is a Grade II* listed fifteenth century timber framed hall house in the centre of West Hoathly, in West Sussex, England. It is close to The Cat Inn and St Margaret's Church. It is now a museum, open to the public six days a week from March to October.
Alice Stewart Ker or Alice Jane Shannan KerMRCPI was a Scottish physician, health educator, and suffragette. She was the 13th woman on the registry of the British Medical Association.
Margaret Pollock McPhun (1876–1960) was a Scottish suffragette from Glasgow who served two months in Holloway Prison in London and composed a poem about imprisoned activist Janie Allan.
Frances Mary McPhun was a Scottish suffragette who served two months in Holloway prison, and had organised events and processions for women's suffrage in Edinburgh.
Margaret Macfarlane was a Scottish suffragette and honorary secretary of the Women's Social and Political Union in Dundee and East Fife.
The Holloway brooch was presented by the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) to women who had been imprisoned at Holloway Prison for militant suffragette activity. It is also referred to as the "Portcullis badge", the "Holloway Prison brooch" and the "Victoria Cross of the Union".
The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to suffragette prisoners by the leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). During their imprisonment, they went on hunger strike while serving their sentences in the prisons of the United Kingdom for acts of militancy in their campaign for women's suffrage. Many women were force-fed and their individual medals were created to reflect this.
Helen MacRae was a British suffragette who won a Hunger Strike Medal from the Women's Social and Political Union, and was one of those who embroidered the Suffragette's Handkerchief whilst in prison.
Mary Ann Hilliard (1860–1950) was an Irish nurse and suffragette. She was arrested for breaking windows in March 1912, and while imprisoned contributed to the Suffragette Handkerchief.
Alice Davies was a British suffragette and nurse. She was imprisoned for protesting for women's right to vote by smashing windows, went on hunger strike and was awarded the Women's Social and Political Union Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour'.
Alice Maud Shipley was a militant suffragette and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) who received a prison sentence during which she went on hunger strike and was force-fed, for which action she received the WSPU's Hunger Strike Medal.
Katharine Gatty was a British nurse, journalist, lecturer and militant suffragette. As a prominent member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she received from them the Hunger Strike Medal after going on a hunger strike in prison during which she was force-fed. In her later years she resided in California in the United States before emigrating to Australia, where she spent her last years.
Georgina Fanny Cheffins was an English militant suffragette who on her imprisonment in 1912 went on hunger strike for which action she received the Hunger Strike Medal from the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).
Janie Terrero was a militant suffragette who, as a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), was imprisoned and force-fed for which she received the WSPU's Hunger Strike Medal.
Mary Ann Aldham was an English militant suffragette and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) who was imprisoned at least seven times.
Doreen Allen was a militant English suffragette and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), who on being imprisoned was force-fed, for which she received the WSPU's Hunger Strike Medal 'For Valour'.
Genie Sheppard was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and militant suffragette who in prison went on hunger strike where she was force-fed for which action she received the WSPU's Hunger Strike Medal.
Janet Augusta Boyd was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and militant suffragette who in 1912 went on hunger strike in prison for which action she was awarded the WSPU's Hunger Strike Medal.