Clemence Annie Housman (23 November 1861 – 6 December 1955) was an author, illustrator and activist in the women's suffrage movement. She was the sister of

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

and

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...

. Her novels included ''The Were-Wolf'', ''Unknown Sea'' and'' The Life of Sir Aglovale De Galis''. She was also a leading figure in the

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 ...

movement.

Life

Clemence was born in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...

, Worcestershire. She went to the South London School of Technical Art in 1883 where she learned, among other things,

wood-engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...

.Elizabeth Crawford (2002) ''The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928'', page 424. Routledge. She worked for a time as an engraver for illustrated papers such as ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

''. In 1908 she subscribed to 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 ...

, and in 1909 she was a co-founder, with her brother

, of the

Suffrage Atelier Suffrage Atelier was an artists' collective campaigning for women's suffrage in England. It was founded in February 1909 by Laurence Housman, Clemence Housman and Alfred Pearse. Clemence was a writer, illustrator, and wood engraver, and her br ...

. She made banners for the suffrage movement between 1908 and 1914. In 1910 she became a member of the committee of the

Women's Tax Resistance League The Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) was from 1909 to 1918 a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest against the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage move ...

. She was arrested on 30 September 1911 for non-payment of taxes and she was sent to

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Hist ...

, but she was released after just one week following protests and demonstrations by her supporters. She lived with her brother Laurence for much of her life. After

World War I 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 ...

, they lived in a cottage in the village of

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

in Hampshire, and then, in 1924, moved to

Street, Somerset Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. ...

. She died in December 1955 aged 94.

Works

Clemence published three novels, and she illustrated some of the fantasies written by her brother Laurence.Brian Stableford, (2009), ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', page 205. Scarecrow Press. Each of Housman's novels is a "Christian fantasy", dramatising religious themes. Douglas A. Anderson, ''Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy''. Del Rey Books, New York, (pp. 213, 431) Her first novel, ''The Were-wolf'' (1896), was an allegorical erotic fantasy featuring a

female werewolf ''Female Werewolf'' is a 2015 independent horror film that was written and directed by Chris Alexander. The film stars Carrie Gemmell as a woman known only as "She", who believes that she is turning into a werewolf. ''Female Werewolf'' marks Gemm ...

. H. P. Lovecraft said of the ''Were-Wolf'' that it "attains a high degree of gruesome tension and achieves to some extent the atmosphere of authentic folklore."

Basil Copper Basil Frederick Albert Copper (5 February 1924 – 3 April 2013) was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor. Mike Ashley, "Basil Copper", in David Pringle, ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers.''(London: ...

described ''The Were-wolf'' as "a minor classic in the genre".Basil Copper, ''The Werewolf : In Legend, Fact and Art''. New York, St. Martin's Press 1977. (pp. 179-80) ''The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis'' is an

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...

fantasy. Douglas A. Anderson has described ''The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis'' as Housman's "supreme achievement". "The Drawn Arrow" (1923) is a short

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

set in a desert kingdom.

Novels

* – illustrated by Laurence Housman. * *

As illustrator

* Laurence Housman, ''The Blue Moon'' (1904) – illustrations by L.H., engraved by C.H. *

References

External links