Adela Constantia Mary Walsh ( Pankhurst; 19 June 1885 – 23 May 1961) was a British born suffragette who worked as a political organiser for the WSPU in Scotland. In 1914 she moved to Australia where she continued her activism and was co-founder of both the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political parties, Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membersh ...

and the Australia First Movement together with her husband, Tom Walsh.

Early life

Pankhurst was born on 19 June 1885 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, into a politicised family: her father,

Richard Pankhurst Richard Marsden Pankhurst (1834 – 5 July 1898) was an English barrister and socialist who was a strong supporter of women's rights. Early life Richard Pankhurst was the son of Henry Francis Pankhurst (1806–1873) and Margaret Marsden (1 ...

, was a socialist and candidate for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, and her mother, Emmeline Pankhurst (née Goulden), and sisters, Sylvia and Christabel, were leaders of the British suffragette movement. Her mother was of Manx descent.Bartley, p. 16; Liddington and Norris, p. 74. Adela attended the all-woman Studley Horticultural College in Warwickshire, and Manchester High School for Girls.

UK

As a teenager, Adela became involved in 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 ...

founded by her mother and sisters. In November 1909 she joined a protest that interrupted a talk by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

at his constituency in Dundee. She was arrested along with Helen Archdale, Catherine Corbett and Maud Joachim. Adela had slapped a policeman who was trying to evict her from the building. Although Adela went on hunger strike there, she was not force-fed as prison governor and medical supervisor assessed her "heart's action as violent and laboured". Suffragettes Adela Pankhurst, Jessie and Annie Kenney 1910

Suffragettes Adela Pankhurst, Jessie and Annie Kenney 1910

Eagle House near Bath in Somerset had become an important refuge for suffragettes who had been released from prison.

Mary Blathwayt Mary Blathwayt (1 February 1879 – 25 June 1961) was a British feminist, suffragette and social reformer. She lived at Eagle House in Somerset. This house became known as the "Suffragette's Rest" and contained a memorial to the protests of ...

's parents planted trees there between April 1909 and July 1911 to commemorate the achievements of suffragettes including Adela's mother and sister, Christabel as well as

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

Charlotte Despard Charlotte Despard (née French; 15 June 1844 – 10 November 1939) was an Anglo-Irish suffragist, socialist, pacifist, Sinn Féin activist, and novelist. She was a founding member of the Women's Freedom League, Women's Peace Crusade, and the ...

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...

and Lady Lytton. The trees were known as "Annie's Arboreatum" after Annie Kenney. There was also a "Pankhurst Pond" within the grounds. Adela was invited to Eagle House in 1909 and 1910. She planted a Himalayan Cedar on 3 July 1910. A plaque was made and her photograph was recorded again by Colonel Linley Blathwayt. Her mother's favourite was Christabel and the two of them took the

as their own organisation. They fell out with many of their leading volunteers and supporters and this included

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 Adela. Both of the latter believed in socialism whereas Emmeline and Christabel were pushing for the vote for middle-class women. Sylvia was ejected from the party and she set up her own splinter group in East London. Christabel is reported to have said to Sylvia "I would not care if you were multiplied by a hundred, but one of Adela is too many." Adela was given £20, a ticket to Australia and a letter introducing her to

Vida Goldstein Vida Jane Mary Goldstein (pron. ) (13 April 186915 August 1949) was an Australian suffragist and social reformer. She was one of four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand. Goldstein wa ...

. Adela was among the first group of suffragettes to go on hunger strike when in prison. She was being targeted by the police, as a high-profile activist. Adela Pankhurst had been given a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by WSPU.

Australia

Adela emigrated to Australia in 1914 following estrangement from her family and frequent incarceration. Adela's experience of activism enabled her to be recruited during World War I as an organiser for the Women's Peace Army in Melbourne by

. Pankhurst wrote a book called ''Put Up the Sword'', penned a number of anti-war pamphlets, and addressed public meetings, speaking against war and conscription. In 1915, With Cecilia John from the Women's Peace Army, she toured Australia, establishing branches of the Women's Peace Army. In 1916 she traveled through New Zealand addressing large crowds, and again toured New South Wales and Queensland arguing the importance of feminist opposition to militarism. In August 1917, Pankhurst was arrested during a march against rising

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

in Melbourne, which had been part of a series of sometimes violent demonstrations, unusual for the time in that they were spearheaded by women. British suffragette Louie (Louisa) Cullen also now in Melbourne, was among the 5000+ who signed a petition to the Australian Prime Minister for her release. In September 1917, she married Tom Walsh of the Federated Seamen's Union of Australasia, with whom she had a son, Richard (born in 1918) and four daughters, Sylvia (born in 1920), Christian (born in 1921), Ursula (born in 1923) and Faith (born and died in 1926). Her husband had three daughters from his previous marriage. In 1920, Pankhurst became a founding member of the

, from which she was later expelled. She became disillusioned with communism and founded the anti-communist Australian Women's Guild of Empire in 1927. In 1941 Pankhurst became one of the founding members of the far-right nationalistic Australia First Movement. She visited Japan in 1939, and was arrested and interned in March 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan. She was released in October. Tom Walsh died in 1943; afterwards, Pankhurst withdrew from public life. In 1960, she converted to Roman Catholicism. She died on 23 May 1961, and was buried according to Catholic rites.

Posthumous recognition

Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

of the

statue of Millicent Fawcett The statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, honours the British suffragist leader and social campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett. It was made in 2018 by Gillian Wearing. Following a campaign and petition by the activist Caroline ...

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

, London, unveiled in 2018. Pankhurst Crescent, in the Canberra suburb of Gilmore, is named in her honour.

References

External links

*
Adela Constantia Pankhurst
at Australian Dictionary of Biography *
Adela Pankhurst, Peace Negotiator: World War 1, Queensland
in ''Outskirts'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pankhurst, Adela 1885 births 1961 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Australian feminists Australian people of Manx descent British feminists English emigrants to Australia Feminism and history Former Marxists People educated at Manchester High School for Girls People from Chorlton-on-Medlock Australian anti-communists Adela Australian fascists Eagle House suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women Hunger Strike Medal recipients Communist Party of Australia members

Early life

UK

Australia

Posthumous recognition

See also

References

Further reading

External links