Emily Marion Blathwayt (née Rose; 1852 – 1940) was a British suffragette and mother of

Mary Blathwayt Mary Blathwayt (1 February 1879 – 25 June 1961) was a British feminist, suffragette and social reformer. She lived at Eagle House in Somerset. This house became known as the "Suffragette's Rest" and contained a memorial to the protests o ...

. She and her husband, Linley, a retired Colonel from the Indian Army lived at Eagle House in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and established a welcome and garden summerhouse for women in the movement, that became known as the "Suffragette's Rest".

Early life

Emily Marion Rose was born in about 1852. Her father was John Benson Coles Rose. She married her first cousin, Colonel Linley Blathwayt in 1874 and they lived in India. Linley was an army officer and their first child John Linley was born in 1876. They returned to live in Sussex in 1877 after John died. They moved from there to Eagle House,

Batheaston Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of the English city of Bath, on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish had a population of 2,735 in 2011. The northern area of the parish, on the road to St Catherine, is an area known as No ...

, on the outskirts of Bath in 1892 with their son William and daughter Mary. They had two children, the elder daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

attended

Bath High School Royal High School Bath is an independent day and boarding school for girls and in the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England, catering for up to 650 pupils. The school is on Lansdown Road, just outside Bath city centre, and has boardin ...

and then was supported at home as she became an active member of the suffragette movement and the younger, son William, was an electrical engineer and English teacher in Germany until the start 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 ...

Campaigning for women's suffrage

Both Emily and Mary became affiliated 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 ...

(WSPU). Through a network of connections, people from the suffragette movement were invited to stay with Emily and her family to recover from a prison sentence or hunger strike and whilst there to plant a tree in the Eagle House garden to mark their suffering for this cause.

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

met Mary Blathwayt at a WPSU meeting in Bath and came to stay with the family, along with several other suffragettes who joined them for short periods over a number of years. The memorial trees planted (over 40 trees) became known as 'Annie's Arbour'. Suffragettes recuperated in the purpose built summer-house Emily's husband, Linley, created at

Eagle House (suffragette's rest) Eagle House is a Grade II* listed building in Batheaston, Somerset, near Bath. Before World War I the house had extensive grounds. When Emily Blathwayt and her husband Colonel Linley Blathwayt owned the house, its summerhouse was used, from 19 ...

. Emily would take people on tours of the gardens and planted and showed flowers in the suffragette colours. Emily Blathwayt recorded in her diary which is in the public archives:

"Elsie Howey, Vera Wentworth and Mary Phillips were arrested at Exeter and imprisoned for a week and it is said they are going through the hunger strike as the 14 have done. The crowds were with them outside Lord Carrington's meeting and all resisted police and two working men were arrested. The women would not pay the fine."

Resignation from the Women's Social and Political Union

Later in the campaign, other actions by

Vera Wentworth Vera Wentworth (born Jessie Alice Spink; 1890 – 1957) was a British suffragette, who notably door-stepped and then assaulted the Prime Minister on two occasions. She was incarcerated for the cause and was force fed, after which she wrote "Three ...

and

Elsie Howey Rose Elsie Neville Howey (1 December 1884 – 13 March 1963), known as Elsie Howey, was an English suffragette. She was a militant activist with the Women's Social and Political Union and was jailed at least six times between 1908 and 1912. Earl ...

(who had stayed with the Blathwayts) were considered violent towards the Prime Minister, leading to Emily herself resigning from the WSPU, and her husband Linley writing to them both to object to this approach and also complaining to

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 ...

at the violence arising in the movement. Despite their real concerns about the physical damage to property and the risk to hurting innocent people, the Blathwayts continued to support their daughter's activism and to welcome suffragette visitors and support the eventual achievement of votes for women. Personal activities and a uniquely private view of the suffragette movement from Emily's family perspective gives us an insight which adds depth to that usually in the public domain or the press of the time.

Death and legacy

Emily Blathwayt lived at Eagle House until her death in 1940. The archive of Emily's and Mary's personal diaries and the many photographs by Linley remain as an intimate record of the movement and its supporters. The trees that were planted at Eagle House were removed to make way for a housing estate. Other trees have been planted along with replacements for lost memorials. An art work was created to note the impact of Eagle House and of Annie Kenney (hosted by Emily Blathwayt) created by artist Jeni Wood in 2016. Emily Blathwayt 1909

External links

Read Mary Blathwayt's diaries at the National Archives.

View a picture of Mary Blathwayt, Emily Blathwayt and Annie Kenney at Pankhurst Pond in 1910.

References