Doreen Allen (1879 – 18 June 1963) was a militant English suffragette and member 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 an ...

(WSPU), who on being imprisoned was

force-fed Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose ( nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into t ...

, for which she received the WSPU's

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 t ...

'''For Valour'''.

Life

She was born in Dartford in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

as Edith Doreen Allchin, one of ten children of Mary Ann ''née'' Amos (1838–1924) and John James Allchin (1836–1903), a builder. In 1905 she married Melville Hodsoll Allen (1879–1932) who worked at the Stock Exchange in London and who served in

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 ...

as a captain in the

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

.Capt. Melville Hodsoll Allen, Royal West Kents - The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary
/ref> Following her arrest in March 1912 for taking part in a window smashing campaign she appeared at

Bow Street Magistrates' Court Bow Street Magistrates' Court became one of the most famous magistrates' court in England. Over its 266-year existence it occupied various buildings on Bow Street in Central London, immediately north-east of Covent Garden. It closed in 2006 a ...

on 12 March 1912, before being sent for trial at the London Sessions on 19 March 1912, when she was sentenced to four months imprisonment in

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. Histor ...

; in prison 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 ...

and was

A fellow-prisoner in Holloway was Mary Ann Aldham and the signatures of the two appear on ''

The Suffragette Handkerchief The Suffragette Handkerchief is a handkerchief displayed at The Priest House, West Hoathly in West Sussex, England. It has sixty-six embroidered signatures and two sets of initials, mostly of women imprisoned in HMP Holloway for their part in the ...

'' embroidered by Janie Terrero. To keep up morale in prison, the women were forced to make their own entertainment. Some such as

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist and suffragette. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. Her father, Henry Pethick, ...

told stories while Doreen Allen sat at her feet with an arm on her knee; later Emmeline Pankhurst reminisced about the early days of the WSPU. On 10 June 1912 the three imprisoned grandmothers -

Gertrude Wilkinson Gertrude Jessie Heward Wilkinson (1851 – 19 September 1929), also known as Jessie Howard, was a British militant Suffragette, who, as a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), was imprisoned in Winson Green Prison. She went ...

(aka Jessie Howard),

Janet Boyd Janet Augusta Boyd (née Haig; 1850 – 22 September 1928) was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and militant suffragette who in 1912 went on hunger strike in prison for which action she was awarded the WSPU's Hunger Str ...

and Mary Ann Aldham sang together. On another occasion some of the women performed a scene from ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' with

Evaline Hilda Burkitt Evaline Hilda Burkitt (19 July 1876 – 7 March 1955) was a British suffragette and member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). A militant activist for women's rights, she went on hunger strike in prison and was the first suffra ...

as Shylock and the role of Narissa played by Allen. On her release Allen resumed her political activities on behalf of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

.The Suffragette Handkerchief at the Priest House, West Hoathly - Sussex Past
/ref> When WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst returned to Great Britain from America in late 1913, she was met at Plymouth by a group suffragettes which included Doreen Allen. As Pankhurst disembarked from the ''Majestic'' she was arrested under 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 ...

and taken to Exeter Prison. in her later years Doreen Allen lived in Brighton in Sussex. She died in June 1963.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Edith Doreen Allen 1963 - Ancestry.com
/ref> 2011-0110 30-06-11~1 copy

Her nephew was Sir Geoffrey Cuthbert Allchin KCBE, CMG, MC (1895–1968), British Ambassador in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Doreen 1879 births 1963 deaths People from Dartford English suffragettes English feminists British women's rights activists Women's Social and Political Union Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Hunger Strike Medal recipients

Life

See also

References