Florence Jane Short (aka Rachel Peace) (born 25 April 1881 – after 1932) was a British feminist 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 ...

, who was imprisoned and force-fed.

Early life

Florence Jane Short was born in 1881 in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

, the daughter of Mary ''née'' Brown (1857-) and Samuel Henry Short (1850–1924), then a labourer. By 1901 her father was a storekeeper for the Metropolitan Board of Works while Jane Short is listed as a shirt machinist. In 1911 she was a masseuse and embroideress in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

.1911 England Census for Florence Jane Short - Hertfordshire - Letchworth, 05

Suffragette activism

Short was arrested for joining in suffragette activism in

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

, in November 1911; in July 1912 for window breaking at

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...

and

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

post offices and again for breaking windows at an estate agents in Pall Mall in February 1913. Then on 4 October 1913, Short was arrested with

Mary Richardson Mary Raleigh Richardson (1882/3 – 7 November 1961) was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, an arsonist, a socialist parliamentary candidate and later head of the women's section of the B ...

near the scene of a mansion house fire (under the name 'Rachel Peace') . At the house 'The Elms',

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

, evidence of inflammables and a copy 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 ...

publication '' The Suffragette'' was found. The women had been caught by police in the early hours, and as Mary was out of prison 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 Un ...

, Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 to recover from ill health but on licence to return to serve the rest of their original sentence, when they were both arrested for

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, but refused to identify themselves. At their trial they were informed that if they 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 ...

, they would be

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 ...

if needed but were not to be released under the Act, due to their previous dangerous behaviour. Short led her own defence against the cruelty of force feeding and its impact on women's health, and then the audience of women rose up and threw tomatoes and a hammer at windows and at the court officials. The court was cleared whilst 'Rachel Peace' was sentenced to 18 months with hard labour. During her sentence Short was able to release detailed descriptions of the force-feeding and its physical and mental effect:

'I feel as if I should go mad.'

Within a week of this sentence, eight private doctors' practices had their premises' windows broken by missiles wrapped in suffragette materials. And church services at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

and

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

were disrupted by large groups of women chanting a loud prayer to God, in favour of Short & Richardson, the cruelty of force-feeding and justice of the cause. The Bishop of London did visit women 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. Hist ...

where they being force-fed and reported that Short (Peace) was pale but not unduly thin or distressed. And while 'Rachel Peace' was first imprisoned, an explosive attached to the walls shattering windows but no one was found or arrested for the attack. Short was given a

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 th ...

'for Valour' (named to Rachel Peace) by the WSPU. Today it is in a private collection. Short was able to write secretly to

and to

Kitty Marion Kitty Marion 12 March 1871 – 9 October 1944) was born Katherina Maria Schäfer in Germany. She emigrated to London in 1886 when she was fifteen, and she grew to minor prominence when she sang in music halls throughout the United Kingdom during ...

whilst they were all in prison, in pencil using thin brown lavatory paper. She even gave an

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

prediction (relating to fighting and beauty - Mars and Venus) on the latter's birthday. She suffered terribly while serving her prison sentence and endured

force-feeding 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 ...

three times a day, causing her to "lose her reason". On her release from prison she spent the rest of her life in and out of various lunatic asylums at the expense of

Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton (12 February 1869 – 2 May 1923), usually known as Constance Lytton, was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control. Sh ...

.Suffragettes under surveillance: Unseen police mugshots of the militant women who won the vote
- ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' 6 February 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Jane English suffragettes 1881 births Year of death missing Women's Social and Political Union Hunger Strike Medal recipients .