Beatrice Helen Sanders (1874 – 29 November 1932) 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, ...

suffragette and humanist, who served as financial secretary of the

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 and ...

from 1904 until 1914.

Life

Born Beatrice Helen Martin, her mother was a hairdresser and she worked as an assistant in her fathers' tobacconist shop before marrying a progressive social politician, William Stephen Sanders. A keen women's suffrage activist, from 1904 until 1914, she was employed, at a salary of £3 a week, as the financial secretary of the Women's Social and Political Union.

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 ...

recalled in her memoirs Sanders' strong control of members' expenses, as they would be expected to correct errors or deficits "out of our own pocket". Sanders worked closely with

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 ...

, and was imprisoned for her activities on multiple occasions. On one occasion, she was sentenced to fourteen months for taking part in the events at 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. ...

in February 1907, and for a month for throwing stones on Black Friday in November 1910. By 1913, as financial secretary of the

, she was arrested with Harriet Kerr after a struggle with police which was front-page news in ''

The Suffragette 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 and ...

'', when the premises at

Clement's Inn The Inns of Chancery or ''Hospida Cancellarie'' were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from a ...

was raided, the sentence was fifteen days. She 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 ...

in Lewes prison and was temporarily released under the terms of the

Cat and Mouse Act The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under H. H. Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Un ...

, and although her sentence was never annulled, she was not re-arrested. Sanders' name appears on the 'Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners'. She was also given a

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 th ...

'for Valour' by the WSPU. Sanders and her husband were longstanding members of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

and the West London Ethical Society (part of the Union of Ethical Societies, now

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

). During the 1920s Beatrice served as chair of the

Fabian Women's Group Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

. For a period when her husband was working in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, she became an organiser in the Swiss women's movement. Beatrice Sanders died on 29 November 1932 at the age of 58. The Suffragette front page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Beatrice 1874 births 1932 deaths English suffragettes Members of the Fabian Society Women's Social and Political Union Hunger Strike Medal recipients English humanists