Ernestine Evans Mills (née Bell; 1871 – 6 February 1959) was an English metalworker and enameller who became known as an artist, writer and

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 ...

. She was the author of ''The Domestic Problem, Past, Present, and Future'' (1925). Three pieces of jewellery that Mills created for the suffragettes are in 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 ...

.Goring, Elizabeth S. (2002). "Suffragette Jewellery in Britain", ''The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 – the Present'', 26 (84–99), pp. 94–95.

Background

Mills was born in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

to Emily "Mynie" Ernest Bell (née Magnus; c. 1839 – 1893), an actor and classical musician, and her husband, Thomas Evans Bell, a writer. Mynie and Thomas Bell were both members of the

Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage was a committee formed in 1872 in London to lobby parliament. It was initially led by activists from Manchester. History Jacob Bright suggested in 1871 that it would be useful to cre ...

. Mynie Bell was one of the signatories of the 1866 petition, organised by Barbara Bodichon, asking that all householders be given the vote.V. Irene Cockroft (13 August 2010)
"Sylvia Pankhurst in the context of her radical family background"
2010 Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Lecture. She was educated at home with a governess, then at Notting Hill High School for Girls and taught drawing from a young age by the artist

Frederic Shields Frederic James Shields (14 March 1833 – 26 February 1911) was a British artist, illustrator, and designer closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites through Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown. Early years Frederic James Shields ...

, a friend of the family. Her father died in 1887 and her mother in 1893, and she was supported for a time by guardians, William Edward and

Hertha Ayrton Phoebe Sarah Hertha Ayrton (28 April 1854 – 26 August 1923) was a British engineer, mathematician, physicist and inventor, and suffragette. Known in adult life as Hertha Ayrton, born Phoebe Sarah Marks, she was awarded the Hughes Medal by the ...

. She attended

South Kensington School of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

Finsbury Central Technical School, and was awarded a place at the Slade Art School. An apprentice to

, she also studied enamelling under Alexander Fisher."Mrs Ernestine Mills"
sculpture.gla.ac.uk. She acted as vice-president for the craft section of the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in about 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and ...

for a period."Mirror"
V&A. In 1898 Mills married the doctor Herbert Henry Mills (1868–1947), who shared her Fabian views and was physician to

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

and

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

. They had a daughter, Hermia Mills (1902–1987), who became a doctor. In May 1915, Hertha Ayrton tested an 'anti-gas fan’ in Mill’s back garden in Kensington. It was later adopted as a device to clear poisonous chemical gases from British frontline trenches during the First World War. The story was transmuted into a scene in the 1924 novel ''The Call'' later written by Ayrton's step daughter

Edith Zangwill Edith Ayrton Zangwill (1879 – 1945) was a British author and activist. She helped form the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage. Early life Ayrton was born in 1875 in Japan to the scientist William Edward Ayrton and the doctor Matilda Chaplin ...

Activism

Black Friday, attacked suffragette on the ground

In 1907 Mills joined

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) and by 1909 had joined the Fabian Women's Group. According to the British National Archives, Mills was possibly the woman on the ground in the photograph on the ''Daily Mirror'' front page on 19 November 1910, the day after the " Black Friday" suffragette demonstration outside the House of Commons. The photograph was published under the headline: "Violent Scenes at Westminster Where Many Suffragettes Were Arrested While Trying to Force Their Way Into the House of Commons." Other sources have identified the woman as the suffragette

Ada Wright Ada Cecile Granville Wright (c. 1862–1939) was an English suffragette. Her photo on the front page of the ''Daily Mirror'' on 19 November became an iconic image of the suffrage movement. Biography Ada Cecile Granville Wright was born in ...

Works

The Museum of London holds three pieces of jewellery Mills made for the suffragettes. One is an enamel-and-silver pendant of winged Hope singing outside prison bars with semi-precious stones of purple, green and white, created to celebrate the release from prison of Louise Eates, Honorary Secretary of the Kensington branch of the WSPU. The other two are brooches, one in the WSPU colours, with the words "Votes for Women" in white on a green wreath and purple background, and the second, made for the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access ...

(WFL), reads "Votes for Women" in the WFL colours: green, white and gold. Mills was the author of ''The Domestic Problem, Past, Present, and Future'' (1925), on the nature of

domestic work A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

, and ''The Life and Letters of Frederic Shields'' (1912), a biography of her teacher. Mills was a member of the

Soroptimist Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volunteer organiza ...

Greater London club, founded in 1924, and for which she created an enamelled President's badge in 1933. The Soroptimist International of London Mayfair commissioned a painted enamel President's badge from her in 1946, paying seven guineas for it. The design included their founding date of 1942 and commemorates the Alpha Club, founded in 1928, from which they grew, with the chain ultimately listing the names of the club's presidents from 1942 to 2006, including

Flora Drummond Flora McKinnon Drummond (née Gibson) (born 4 August 1878, Manchester – died 17 January 1949, Carradale), was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading Women's Rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'wi ...

. The chain is now held at the

V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Death

Ernestine Mills died on 6 February 1959, aged 88. She was cremated at

Mortlake Crematorium Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery. The crematorium serves the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, ...

the ceremony attended by her daughter, Dr Hermia Mills, and members of the Society for Women Artists, and the Soroptimist Club of Greater London. Her obituary in ''The Times'' described her as "''a vivid personality, well known in Kensington, where she lived all her life. A very unconventional upbringing of late Victorian days made her an Edwardian of the modern school, a friend of Mrs Pankhurst, and a champion of women’s rights. She had a courtesy and sympathy for all and was beloved of a large circle of friends''."

Background

Activism

Works

Death

Notes

References

Further reading