Marjorie Hasler (c. 1887 – 31 March 1913) was an Irish

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 ...

, deemed to be "the first Irish martyr for the suffragette cause".

Biography

Marjorie Hasler was born around 1887 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with nothing else known about her early life or family. She joined the

Irish Women's Franchise League The Irish Women's Franchise League was an organisation for women's suffrage which was set up in Dublin in November 1908. Its founder members included Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, Margaret Cousins, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and James H. Cousins. Tho ...

(IWFL) in July 1910. On 18 November 1910 Hasler was one of the Irish deputies who travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to support

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 ...

with her petition to

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, the British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. In the ensuing violence of this day, which became known as " Black Friday", Hasler suffered a head injury when she was knocked against a wall. As a result she suffered headaches intermittently, as well as some damage to her spine. This did not dissuade Hasler from her militant action, returning to London the next year when she was imprisoned for 14 days for breaking government windows. In June 1912, Hasler was imprisoned with

Hanna Sheehy Skeffington Johanna Mary Sheehy Skeffington (née Sheehy; 24 May 1877 – 20 April 1946) was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. Along with her husband Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Margaret Cousins and James Cousins, she founded the Irish Women's Franchise ...

and six other women in

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins. History ...

for her part in breaking the windows of the General Post Office, Dublin. These eight women were the first to be convicted and imprisoned in Ireland for militant suffragette action. Hasler was fined £10 and sentenced to six months, which was the longest sentence of any of the eight convicted suffragists. Hasler compared suffragists to Land Leaguers in an article for ''

The Irish Citizen ''The Irish Citizen'' was founded in 1912 as the newspaper by the Irish Women's Franchise League. Its first editors were Francis Sheehy-Skeffington the writer, pacifist and suffragist, and James Cousins, James H. Cousins'The "Irish Citizen", 1912 ...

'' on 22 June 1912: "We don't like smashing windows any more than men like smashing skulls, but in both cases there is, I believe, a strong feeling that something must be broken before a wrong can be righted." She was released on 10 November 1912 after serving four months, following the submission of a petition signed by ten of the jurymen who convicted her. Sheehy Skeffington claimed that Hasler refused to let the IWFL petition on her behalf. Upon leaving prison, Hasler's health was damaged, however this is in contrast to Sheehy Skeffington's testimony of Hasler's athletic stunts whilst in prison. Hasler died suddenly of heart failure on 31 March 1913 after contracting measles. Her fellow suffragists and ''The Irish Citizen'' maintained that it was her imprisonment and police brutality that had damaged her health in the year preceding her death. Sheehy Skeffington described her as "singularly beautiful, her face clear-cut as a cameo, with flashing brown eyes, framed in short brown curls."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasler, Marjorie 1880s births 1913 deaths Irish activists Irish women activists Irish suffragists Year of birth uncertain Suffragettes