Georgina "Ina" Agnes Brackenbury (1 July 1865 – 27 July 1949) was a British painter who was known as a militant suffragette. She was jailed for demonstrating for women's rights. She followed Emmeline Pankhurst's lead as she became more militant (and lost former colleagues). Brackenbury was one of Emmeline Pankhurst's pallbearers. Her portrait of Pankhurst was bought by her memorial committee for the nation.

Life

Brackenbury was born at Royal Military Academy in Woolwich where her father, Major General

Charles Booth Brackenbury Charles Booth Brackenbury (7 November 1831 – 20 June 1890) was a British major general and military correspondent, part of a Lincolnshire family whose members fought in nearly all of Britain's wars of the 19th century. He saw service in the Crim ...

who had been a Times correspondent before he was wounded was Director of the artillery college.Lloyd, E. (2004-09-23). Brackenbury, Charles Booth (1831–1890), army officer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 8 Jan. 2018, se
link
/ref> She was brought up by

Flora Shaw Dame Flora Louise Shaw, Lady Lugard (born 19 December 1852 – 25 January 1929), was a British journalist and writer. She is credited with having coined the name ''Nigeria''. Early life She was born at 2 Dundas Terrace, Woolwich, South Lond ...

, a governess housekeeper - as Brackenbury's mother, Hilda Eliza, disliked houseFmotherwork. In 1890 the family moved to Kensington after the death of their father. Her parents both had artistic interests and in 1888 Georgina went to the Slade School of Art where she specialised in portraits as suggested by

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

. In time her sister Maria Brackenbury would follow her lead. Georgina would mostly paint at home but she did hire a studio. In 1894 she created a portrait of Harold Dillon, 17th Viscount Dillon who was the Chair of the trustees at the National Portrait Gallery. She exhibited at London galleries including the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Their mother had been interested in women's rights and in 1907 she joined the increasingly radical

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). Quickly Georgina and Marie also joined the WSPU and they transformed their studios in Holland Park into classrooms where they could train women in public speaking.Margaret O'Sullivan, ‘Brackenbury, Georgina Agnes (1865–1949)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2015; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 29 Oct 2017
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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 ...

and Georgina Brackenbury at the Eagle House (suffragette's rest), Suffragette's Rest Georgina and Marie were sentenced to six weeks in prison after they joined a WSPU stunt at the House of Commons. This was the "pantechnicon raid" when a furniture van (pantechnicon) was used as a "Trojan Horse" to get twenty suffragettes to the House of Commons. When they were close both Maria and Geiorgina joined the many who tried to rush their way into the lobby. They met surprised police who manhandled women to the ground, more than once, as they rushed to approach the doors. Brackenbury's imprisonment qualified her sister and herself to have a commemorative tree planted at the "Suffragette's Rest" 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_ ...

on 22 July 1910. The "Suffragette's Rest" was the nickname for

's home at Eagle House where her parents also indulged their WSPU enthusiasm. Her parents had set land aside to plant an individual tree for each WSPU member sentenced to prison. The planting was then photographed by Mary's father. The tree's and the photographs recorded their achievements. Cat and Mouse Act Poster - 1914

The Brackenburys' studio also became a recuperation home for prisoners recovering from force-feeding under the notorious 'Cat and Mouse" Act, prior to be re-arrested and referred to by the movement as the 'Mouse's Castle'. Georgina allegedly informed

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 ...

that at a function she had heard senior police state they had been instructed by government not to let suffragettes be treated as 'political' prisoners. Her art studio, which she shared with her sister, Marie, in 2 Camden Hill Square was to be the secret locus for WSPU campaigner

Marion Wallace-Dunlop Marion Wallace Dunlop (22 December 1864 – 12 September 1942) was a Scottish artist and author. She was the first and one of the most well known British suffragettes to go on hunger strike, on 5 July 1909, after being arrested in July 1909 f ...

to reveal the militants' campaign plans to new recruits in February 1912. In 1912, her own mother, Hilda, was arrested for breaking windows. Her mother made the point that two of her sons had been killed in India on active service whilst she had little political rights to vote. Her mother served eight days on remand and fourteen days in jail despite being 80 years old. Her mother was asked to talk at the London Pavilion when she was released in April 1912. Brackenbury died in

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early- ...

in 1949, and her 2 Camden Hill Square,

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

home was left to a group providing clubs and hostel accommodation for women over thirty (the Over Thirties Association, founded 1934). The Suffragette Fellowship marked the house with a plaque stating "The Brackenbury trio were so whole-hearted and helpful during all the early strenuously years of the militant suffrage movement. We remember them with honour." She has portraits in the National Portrait Gallery including a painting of

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 ...

which was bought by Pankhurst's memorial committee. An enamel plaque of the Brackenbury women including an image of a woman in a natural meadow scene, freed from chains by

Ernestine Mills Ernestine Evans Mills (née Bell; 1871 – 6 February 1959) was an English metalworker and enameller who became known as an artist, writer and suffragette. She was the author of ''The Domestic Problem, Past, Present, and Future'' (1925). Three pi ...

is in the Museum of London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brackenbury, Georgina Agnes 1865 births 1949 deaths People from Woolwich British painters Eagle House suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union