Rosa May Billinghurst (31 May 1875 – 29 July 1953) was a British

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 ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist. She was known popularly as the "cripple suffragette" as she campaigned in a tricycle.

Early life

She was born in 1875 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 ...

, London, the second of nine children of Rosa Ann (Brinsmead) Billinghurst and Henry Farncombe Billinghurst. Her mother came from a family who manufactured pianos and her father was a banker. As a child she survived

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

, which left her unable to walk. She wore leg-irons and used either crutches or a modified tricycle. She became active in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

in a

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

, taught in a Sunday School, and joined the temperance

Band of Hope Hope UK is a United Kingdom Christian charity based in London, England which educates children and young people about drug and alcohol abuse. Local meetings started in 1847 and a formal organisation was established in 1855 with the name The United ...

Politics

She was an active member of a Women's Liberal Association (fifteen of which joined in 1887 to become the

Women's Liberal Federation The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation that was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom. History The Women's Liberal Federation (WLF) was formed on the initiative of Sophia Fry, who in 1886 called a meeting at her house of fi ...

that ultimately grew to 942 affiliated associations) and later, in 1907, a member of 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). She took part in the WSPU march to the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in June 1908. Billinghurst helped organise the WSPU response in the July

1908 Haggerston by-election The Haggerston by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 1 August 1908. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. Vacancy ...

; polling was on the day that twenty-four suffragettes were released from Holloway prison and came around the area canvassing to 'keep the Liberal out.' In 1909, she was presumed by Annie Barnes to be the wheelchair user seen distracting a police horse, who laughed as another woman seemed to tip the rider off to fall in a horse trough. The occupant of the wheelchair was the one arrested and rough-handled into a waiting police van. Two years later, she founded the

branch of the WSPU. As its first secretary she took part in the ' 1910 Black Friday' demonstrations, using an adapted tricycle for mobility. She was arrested after the police capsized her from the trike. Billinghurst knew that she was helpless when this happened, but she was quite prepared to take the added publicity to benefit the cause of suffrage. The police once exploited her disability leaving her in a side street after letting her tyres down and pocketing the valves. Rosa May Billinghurst demonstrating (cropped from 24849570088)

Rosa May Billinghurst demonstrating (cropped from 24849570088)

Billinghurst was able to get closer to the House of Commons on another occasion in 1911, when police thought the better of attacking her trike with 'Votes for Women' banner during the rush. She is thought to have been one of the suffragettes to evade the 1911 census on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 in response to the calls from suffragette organisations for a boycott. Billinghurst would place her crutches on both sides of her tricycle and would charge any opposition. She was arrested several more times in the next few years. The Glaswegian suffragette

Janie Allan Janie Allan (born Jane Allan; 28 March 1868 – 29 April 1968)Ewan ''et al.'' (2006), p. 11 was a Scottish activist and fundraiser for the suffragette movement of the early 20th century. Early life and family Janie Allan was born to Jane Smit ...

apparently worked in partnership with Billinghurst during the window-smashing campaign of March 1912, with Billinghurst apparently hiding a supply of stones under the rug that covered her knees. Billinghurst's first stint 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 ...

was for smashing a window on Henrietta Street during this campaign, for which she was sentenced to one month's hard labour. The prison authorities were confused regarding her sentence to hard labour, and gave her no extra work. She was befriended by many other prisoners, including Dr.

Alice Stewart Ker Alice Stewart Ker or Alice Jane Shannan Ker MRCPI (2 December 1853 – 20 March 1943) was a Scottish physician, health educator, and suffragette. She was the 13th woman on the registry of the British Medical Association. Early life and educat ...

, who had Billinghurst smuggle a letter out to Ker's daughter on her release. Force-feeding (suffragettes)

On 8 January 1913, she was tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to eight months in

for damaging letters in a postbox. Billinghurst represented herself in court to plead the case for women's suffrage. Her defence titled "The Guilt Lies on the Shoulders of the Government" was published in ''The Suffragette'' . She subsequently went on a

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 ...

, and was

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 ...

along with the other imprisoned suffragettes participating in the strike. She became so ill that she was released two weeks after her force-feeding began. Billinghurst 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'. She spoke at a public meeting in

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

in March 1913. On 24 May she chained herself to the gates of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and on 14 June she was dressed in white on her trike in the funeral procession for suffragette

Emily Wilding Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

, who was killed while reaching for the reins of the King's horse at the

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

. Billinghurst also took part in the mass deputation of suffragettes to petition King George V on 21 May 1914. Although she was not arrested, two policemen deliberately tipped her out of her tricycle. Billinghurst supported the Pankhursts' lead when they decided to prioritise the war over the campaign for women's rights. She helped in

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 ...

's campaign to be elected in Smethwick in 1918. However, she had joined the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access ...

and became part of the

Suffragette Fellowship 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 women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...

. She supported

Jill Craigie Jill Craigie (born Noreen Jean Craigie; 7 March 1911 – 13 December 1999) was a British documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and feminist. She was one of Britain's earliest female documentary makers. Her early films demonstrate Craigie's intere ...

's Equal Pay Film Fund. Billinghurst stopped her activity for women's suffrage after the

Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. At 27 words, it is the shortest UK statute. Background The R ...

gave some women the vote. She later attended the funeral 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 ...

and the unveiling of Emmeline's statue in 1930.

Family

In 1911, she was residing with her parents at 7 Oakhurst Road, Lewisham. Billinghurst lived in the garden house of her property "Minikoi", Sunbury, Surrey (then in Middlesex), with her adopted daughter, "Beth". Beth has since written a book describing her relationship with her adoptive mother. Her brother was Alfred John Billinghurst, an artist, with whom she lived after 1914.

Death

She died on 29 July 1953 at a hospital in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

,Hayley Trueman, 'Billinghurst, (Rosa) May (1875–1953)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 9 Oct 2017
/ref> leaving her body to science.

Posthumous recognition

Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

of the

statue of Millicent Fawcett The statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, honours the British suffragist leader and social campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett. It was made in 2018 by Gillian Wearing. Following a campaign and petition by the activist Caroline C ...

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

, London, unveiled in 2018.

Other sources

List of suffragists and suffragettes This list of suffragists and suffragettes includes noted individuals active in the worldwide women's suffrage movement who have campaigned or strongly advocated for women's suffrage, the organisations which they formed or joined, and the public ...

*Tejera, P. (2018).
Reinas de la carretera
'. Madrid. Ediciones Casiopea. (paper) / (digital). Spanish edit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billinghurst, Rosa May 1875 births 1953 deaths English suffragists English people with disabilities Women's Social and Political Union Wheelchair users Hunger Strike Medal recipients