Anna Lewis (1889–1976) was a British suffragette, member of the militant

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...

. Lewis was imprisoned at least three times, went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

and was

force-fed Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose ( nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into t ...

by the authorities, fighting the cause of women's rights to vote. Lewis was awarded the Holloway brooch (twice) and the WPSU

Hunger Strike Medal 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 t ...

on 10 February 1914 'for Valour'''.'' Her medals were auctioned to a private buyer for over £27,000, one of the highest prices for such items in May 2019.

Family

Beatrice Anna Lewis was born in 1889 and grew up in Holt, in Wales, and she died at the age of 87, in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

, England, in 1976. Lewis had a sister and four children, at least two daughters, one of whom described Lewis as "a woman born before her time". Lewis had resented the limitations of being a female in that era, and her husband served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and had chosen to travel unaccompanied overseas. Lewis had also been given more children than was recommended on health advice, and her husband had also said '"I tell you what I think you need to know my dear".

Suffrage activism

Lewis joined the militant suffragette movement, the

(WSPU) and took a leading part in protests which were violently stopped by the Metropolitan Police, and she was charged and imprisoned at least twice. Lewis chained herself to railings. WPSU awarded her the Holloway brooch, a silver portcullis designed by

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with t ...

, and made by Toye and Co, in the shape of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

portcullis and the prisoner arrow symbols in the WSPU colours; purple for dignity, green for hope and white for purity.

Hunger Strike Medal

Lewis was a recipient of the

, awarded by Emmeline Pankhurst in a special ceremony in 1914. Lewis's medal had the date of her hunger strike 10 February 1914 engraved and the leather box had the citation: Force-feeding (suffragettes)

''‘Presented to Anna Lewis, by the Women’s Social and Political Union in recognition of a gallant action, whereby through endurance to the last extremity of hunger and hardship, A great principle of political justice was vindicated’'' Lewis was a friend of Miss De Pass, a fellow suffragette, and she was included in the Roll of Honour of the suffragette movement (as Ann Lewis). Lewis set up a home for other women who were protestors who had suffered ill-health from this treatment, and she herself had permanent damage to her throat from force-feeding. Lewis also attended the annual memorial services for suffragettes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Anna 1976 deaths Women's Social and Political Union Hunger Strike Medal recipients English suffragettes 1889 births