Clara Gilbert Cole (; 4 December 1868 – 4 February 1956) was an English suffragist, socialist, pacifist, anarchist, poet, and pamphleteer.

Early life

Clara Gilbert was born in Nantwich, Cheshire on 4 December 1868, the daughter of Mary Jane Greaves and Josiah Gilbert, a boot and shoe manufacturer. According to Sylvia Pankhurst, Josiah Gilbert got into financial distress for his refusal to “produce anything save honest, hand-made all-leather wares”. Her father and mother died in 1882 and 1883 respectively, leaving Clara an orphan. She found employment as a postal worker in Manchester, and met

Herbert Cole Herbert Cole (1867–1930) was an English book illustrator and portrait artist. Cole was influenced by Walter Crane and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. He illustrated a range of books published by various notable publishers. He illustrated the John Lan ...

, the artist who became her husband. They married in Cheetham, Manchester on 1 October 1898. Once married, Clara was known as Clara Gilbert Cole. The couple subsequently settled in London.

Activism

Both Clara and Herbert were active suffragists, with Herbert Cole providing illustrations for both 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 ...

(WSPU) (of which Clara was a member) and Pankhurst's ''The Worker’s Dreadnought.'' Clara Gilbert Cole was a pacifist, and an outspoken opponent of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1915, ahead of the introduction of conscription, she and Herbert founded the League Against War and Conscription, with Clara publishing a pamphlet entitled ''War Won't Pay.'' When Fenner and Lilla Brockway established the

No-Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organization which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, after the First World War had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent support ...

, the Coles were among its earliest members. In 1916, Clara Gilbert Cole, along with Rosa Hobhouse, leafletted across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire on behalf of the anti-war effort, and were arrested and imprisoned for five months. In 1918 Gilbert Cole published ''Prison Impressions,'' poems about prison experiences. She dedicated the book to "The Conscientious Objector", and used the preface to explain how she had come to be imprisoned:

To relate briefly the cause of our arrest, I will go back to Wednesday, May 10, 1916, when Rosa Hobhouse and myself set out from Knebworth, Herts., on a walking tour distributing literature for Peace. We were trying to create an atmosphere of love and brotherhood between all nationalities, instead of this deplorable feeling of hatred which at present exists and is daily being fomented by the Press. We had walked 50 miles and distributed 2,000 leaflets when we were arrested near Kettering, and detained in the police cell five days. After being twice remanded, we were brought up under the Defence of the Realm Act and were fined £50 each, or three months’ imprisonment. Not considering ourselves guilty, we refused to pay the fine or allow it to be paid for us, and were taken to Northampton prison. History has taught me that new ideas are always born in pain, so we are contented to suffer and be misunderstood in order that future generations might reap the benefit.

Clara Gilbert Cole was also associated with the

Workers Socialist Federation 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 comm ...

(WSF), the Camberwell Organised Unemployed, and the anarchist movement. She wrote and published widely, contributing to publications including Guy Aldred’s ''The Word,'' Freedom Press’ ''

War Commentary ''War Commentary'' was a British World War II era Antimilitarism, anti-militarist Anti-war movement, anti-war Anarchism, anarchist newspaper published fortnightly in London by Freedom Press from 1939 to 1945. The paper was launched as a successor ...

,'' and ''

Northern Voice Northern Voice was an annual blogging, social software and online communities conference held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 2005 to 2013. The conference was organized by members of the Vancouver blogging community, who attempted to k ...

''. During the 1930s, she supported the National Confederation of Trabajo (CNT) and the Anarchist Brigades during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In 1936, she published ''The Objectors to Conscription and War: a record of their suffering and sacrifice, their letters and tribunal appeals, their testimony for liberty of conscience.'' Stephen Wade has described this as reading "at times like the memoir of a street fighter for justice mixed with rage against the warmongers."

Death and legacy

Herbert Cole died in London on 12 September 1931, aged 64. Clara donated works of Herbert's to both the Victoria and Albert and the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Clara Gilbert Cole died on 4 February 1956, aged 87. She was described by anarchist and editor of ''

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

John Hewetson John Christopher Hewetson (10 January 1913 – 20 December 1990) was a British anarchist doctor, writer and newspaper editor. During the Second World War he was an editor of the anarchist newspaper '' War Commentary'', which saw him imprisoned o ...

as “one of the oldest comrades of the anarchist movement”. He also noted Gilbert Cole's opposition to all established religion, which made the religious service performed at her funeral particularly inappropriate.

References

External links

Painting of Clara Gilbert Cole by Herbert Cole
(1912)
Etching of Clara Gilbert Cole by Herbert Cole
at the

*
Prison Impressions
' by Clara Gilbert Cole at the Anarchist Library {{Authority control 1868 births 1956 deaths People from Nantwich English anarchists English suffragists 20th-century English women writers English pacifists English anti-war activists 20th-century English poets English socialists