Annie Barnes (née Cappuccio; 6 December 1886 – 22 February 1982) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-Italian socialist and suffragist.

Life and suffragist action

Barnes was born in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

6 October 1886. She was born Annie Cappuccio and her father had a confectionery, fruit and vegetable shop. In her autobiography ''Tough Annie'' she did not mention her Italian roots, but recalled her mother helping their particularly poor neighbours, employing widows or others to help in the house: "Mother always believed in treating everyone the same, as equals..That's how I was brought up." Barnes saw the crowd of

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

protestors in July 1909, outside Edinburgh Castle Hall in

, including

Mary Leigh Mary Leigh (née Brown; 1885–1978) was an English political activist and suffragette. Life Leigh was born as Mary or Marie Brown in 1885. She was born in Manchester and was a schoolteacher until her marriage to a builder, surnamed Leigh. She j ...

Mabel Capper Mabel Henrietta Capper (23 June 1888 – 1 September 1966) was a British suffragette. She gave all her time between 1907 and 1913 to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) as a 'soldier' in the struggle for women's suffrage. She was imp ...

, and Jennie Baines trying to enter the

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

event. She said it was a "real to-do" including police falling head first off a horse into water trough to the crowd's amusement and then a woman in a wheelchair, possibly Rosa May Billinghurst, (who had been touching the horse) taken by van off to the police station. Barnes and her mother also witnessed four suffragette speakers talking against worker exploitation, then being given verbal abuse by men in the listening crowd, telling them to 'wash their dirty kids. You women are inferior to men anyway". And Barnes admired the speaker's retort "how can an inferior give birth to a superior" and was drawn to join the movement.

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 ...

persuaded her to join the

East London Federation of Suffragettes The Workers' Socialist Federation was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. Under many different names, it gradually broadened its politics from a focus on women's suffrage to eventually become a left com ...

in 1913.

On 8 April 1913, she went with Gertrude Shaw and Ethel Spark to the top of

The Monument The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a fluted Doric column in London, England, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating the Great Fire of London, it stands at the j ...

(to the Great Fire of London in

Pudding Lane Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monum ...

) throwing '

Votes for Women A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election. Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to: Music *''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004 *"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006 Television * " ...

' leaflets down. ''The Times'' and ''Daily Mirror'' the next day printed pictures of a large crowd who gathered to watch, including men from

Billingsgate Billingsgate is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. This small City Ward is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in the south-east of the Square Mile. The modern Ward extends south to the ...

fish market nearby. Barnes convinced the waiting police that she could not have climbed the 311 steps inside and had just gone up a little then returned. Shaw and Spark meantime hung a purple, white and green flag and a black banner "Death or Victory" from the top and were arrested and later released. Barnes was an enthusiastic supporter of women's suffrage but she avoided getting involved in any protest that might lead to a custodial sentence. Barnes enjoyed the many suffrage meetings and she found it difficult to refuse Pankhurst's leadership. She did refuse to be smuggled into the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

to drop flour on the prime ministers head, but she later dropped leaflets from London Bridge. She was stopped by the police but again managed to talk her way out of an arrest. She married Albert Barnes in 1919. They had no children of their own, but cared for Annie's younger siblings after her father remarried. She was later shocked by Pankhurst's disregard for matrimony. Pankhurst was a communist, but Barnes joined a Socialist group.

Later life

Barnes was a Labour member of

Stepney Metropolitan Borough Council The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formation and boundaries The borough was formed from thirteen civil parishes a ...

from 1934 to 1937, and again from 1941 to 1949. In 1938 she joined the

Charity Organization Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians. In the early 1870s a handful of local societies were formed w ...

which was active in assisting the poor but it had a poor reputation. Under her advice the organisation changed its name to remove the word "charity" to assist those who received their philanthropy. She and her husband were bombed out during the Second World War and lived for a time at

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

. She continued to keep in contact with Sylvia Pankhurst until she emigrated to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in 1955.

Death and legacy

Barnes died on 22 February 1982 in

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

. The accounts of Barnes's life were in part inspiration for the film ''

Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Annie 1886 births 1982 deaths People from Limehouse British suffragists Labour Party (UK) councillors Women councillors in England