Marie Venetia Caroline Brackenbury (1866–1950) was a British painter who was a militant suffragette and suffragette artist. She was jailed for demonstrating for women's rights. She followed

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 ...

's lead as she became more militant (and lost former colleagues). Her home was known as "Mouse Castle" because it looked after recovering hunger strikers. The house now has a plaque which remembers the trio of her sister, her mother and Maria. She was the younger sister of

Georgina Brackenbury 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 ...

, also a painter and militant suffragette.

Life

Brackenbury was born in 1866. 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 ...

was Director of the artillery college in Woolwich.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
/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 housework. In 1890 the family moved to Kensington after the death of their father. Her parents both had artistic interests and Marie (and Georgina) went to the Slade School of Art where she specialised in landscapes. Her 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). Maria and his sister also joined the WSPU. Marie said that she was impressed by the "womanliness" of Emmeline Pankhurst. They transformed their studios into classrooms where they would train women in public speaking and later for creating suffragette art. In 1908 she created a cartoon called "This is the House that Men Built". In 1911 they created a Joan of Arc costume for a demonstration. Marie was particularly known for

pavement art Street painting, also known as screeving, pavement art, street art, and sidewalk art, is the performance art of rendering artistic designs on Road surface, pavement such as streets, sidewalks, and town squares with impermanent and semi-permane ...

where she would chalk pavements to advertise WSPU events. file:Suffragette Georgina Brackenbury busy planting tree with her sister Marie Brackenbury 1909.jpg, left, Marie and

at the Eagle House (suffragette's rest), Suffragette's Rest in 1909 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 the door opened and both Maria and Georgina joined the many who tried to rush their way into the lobby. The plaque states "Planted by Marie V.C. Brackenbury 22nd July 1909" Their imprisonment qualified both of them 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

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 ...

'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. In 1912, her 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. 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. In 1913 the government passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act which gave the authorities the power to release hunger-striking suffragettes and then rearrest them when they had recovered. It was known as the "Cat and Mouse Act" because cats are known for playing with mice before they kill them. Marie's home at 2 Campden Hill Square was used as a convalescent home for recovering hunger strikers and was nicknamed "Mouse Castle".

Death and legacy

Brackenbury died in 1950 with no close relatives. She left her home to a charity. The home in 2 Campden Hill Square has a plaque which remembers the trio of her sister, her mother and Maria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brackenbury, Marie 1866 births 1950 deaths People from Woolwich British painters Eagle House suffragettes