Dorothy Hartopp Radcliffe (16 September 1887 – 1959) was a British suffragette, member of the WSPU, and later a Carmelite nun.

Life

Radcliffe was born on 16 September 1887 in

Hersham Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25. Its housing is relatively low-rise and diverse and it has four technology/trading estates. The only contiguous settlement is Walton-on-Thames, its post town. Hersham is served by Hersham and Wa ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, one of six children of Francis and Helen Radcliffe. Radcliffe was christened at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Paddington, on 16 November 1887, with her full name being recorded as Dorothy Hartopp Yonge Radcliffe. Radcliffe is found contributing small amounts of money to the £20,000 fund in the 6 February 1908 issue of ''Votes for Women'', again in the 22 October 1908 issue and the £250,000 fund in the 2 January 1914 issue of ''

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 ...

''. These contributions do not reflect her active membership of the

WSPU 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 ...

. Radcliffe appears in several photographs held by the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

. She was the flag bearer at the

Women's Sunday Women's Sunday was a suffragette march and rally held in London on 21 June 1908. Organised by Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to persuade the Liberal government to support votes for women, it is thought to have b ...

March on 21 June 1908, leading the procession which formed up on Victoria Embankment to march to

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

. A Miss Radcliffe was secretary of the procession committee based at 400 King's Road, Chelsea, working with Chief Marshall

Florence Haig Florence Eliza Haig (1856–1952) was a Scottish artist and suffragette who was decorated for imprisonments and hunger strikes. Biography Haig was born in 1856. Her father was a Berwickshire barrister and she had two sisters, Cecilia and Evelyn. ...

Dorothy Radcliffe holding aloft a purple, white and green flag

left, Radcliffe at left Another picture from a week later shows Radcliffe at the front of a line of women with

Dora Beedham Dora Beedham (née Spong; 3 June 1879 – 1969) was a British nurse from the social activist Spong Family and suffragette who joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1908 and was imprisoned and Force-feeding, force-fed. Bi ...

Hilda Dallas Hilda Mary Dallas (1878–1958) was a British artist and a suffragette who designed suffrage posters and cards and took a leadership role for the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). A pacifist, she raised funds from a cross-section of so ...

and

Charlotte Marsh Charlotte Augusta Leopoldine Marsh (3 March 1887 – 21 April 1961), known as Charlie Marsh, was a militant British suffragette. She was a paid organiser of the Women's Social and Political Union and is one of the first women to be force fed ...

promoting the Women's Parliament on 30 June 1908. The final photograph shows her with

and

Elsa Gye Elsa Gye (1881–1943) was a music student at Guildhall who became a suffragette and involved in disruptive events in London and Scotland and was imprisoned for the cause of women's suffrage. She married the brother of fellow suffragette Daisy ...

, preparing to welcome the release of

Emmeline ''Emmeline, The Orphan of the Castle'' is the first novel written by English writer Charlotte Smith; it was published in 1788. A Cinderella story in which the heroine stands outside the traditional economic structures of English society and ...

and

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bord ...

from jail in December 1908. She was Banner Marshal for the university graduates in the Women's March to the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

which took place on 18 June 1910. Radcliffe was Banner and Colour Captain leading the Empire Pageant for the

Women's Coronation Procession The Women's Coronation Procession was a suffragette march through London, England, on 17 June 1911, just before King George V's coronation, demanding women's suffrage in the coronation year. The march was organised by the Women's Social and Poli ...

on 17 June 1911. She cannot be found in the

1911 Census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

when suffragettes refused to be counted. Radcliffe was imprisoned during her suffrage campaigning. Her name appears on the Suffragette Roll of Honour, with her surname mis-spelt as Radclyffe. She used a false name in 1913, calling herself 'Heather Mitchell' in the list of fictitious names used by the suffragettes in 1913. She does not appear on the original arrest records as Dorothy Radcliffe, but a 'Hester Mitchell' is recorded and could be a mis-spelling. At some point Radcliffe converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and became a nun. She is recorded in the 1939 Census as being an enclosed nun at the

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

Monastery, Rushmere, near Ipswich in Suffolk. The Carmelites moved from there to their present convent at

Quidenham Quidenham is a small rural village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 576 in 183 households at the 2001 census,

, Norfolk, in 1948. Radcliffe died there in early 1959 at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Dorothy Hartopp 1887 births 1959 deaths Carmelite nuns Converts to Roman Catholicism English suffragists People from Hersham People from Quidenham