The Suffragette Handkerchief is a

handkerchief A handkerchief (; also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as wi ...

displayed at

The Priest House, West Hoathly The Priest House is a Grade II* listed fifteenth century timber framed hall house in the centre of West Hoathly, in West Sussex, England. It is close to The Cat Inn and St Margaret's Church. It is now a museum, open to the public six days a week ...

in West Sussex, England. It has sixty-six embroidered signatures and two sets of initials, mostly of women imprisoned in

HMP Holloway 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. Histor ...

for their part in 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 ...

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 ...

window smashing demonstrations of March 1912. This was a brave act of defiance in a prison where the women were closely watched at all times.

Origin

It is believed that the Handkerchief was started by

Mary Ann Hilliard Mary Ann Hilliard (1860–1950) was an Irish nurse and suffragette. She was arrested for breaking windows in March 1912, and while imprisoned contributed to the Suffragette Handkerchief. Biography Mary Ann Hilliard was born in Cork in 1860, ...

as she kept it as a souvenir of her fellow prisoners afterwards until donating it to the archive of the

British College of Nurses The British College of Nurses was set up in 1926 by Ethel Bedford Fenwick in order to offer its members professional education and support of various kinds. It was to be run by nurses, for nurses, in a democratic manner. Fenwick had many supporter ...

. The March 1942 issue of the ''British Journal of Nursing'' recorded that:

Miss Mary Hilliard, a gentle, very valiant suffragette, has bestowed as a gift to the College the fine linen handkerchief, signed by and embroidered by all the gallant women who suffered imprisonment for conscience sake, in support of the enfranchisement of women in Holloway prison in March 1912. It displays 67 signatures embroidered in various colours, and all that remains is to offer a warm vote of thanks to Miss Mary Hilliard, R.B.N.A., and to await the time when this historic gift can be suitably framed and placed in the History Section of the British College of Nurses, where its unique value will be appreciated.’

Of the 66 women whose full names appear on the handkerchief, 61 are known to have been arrested on the window-smashing campaign of March 1912 and who received prison sentences ranging from two to six months. Sixteen of the women held positions in local branches of the

in 1912 while 18 had served earlier sentences prison for their actions on behalf of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, while at least four were arrested subsequently. Twenty-four of the women on the handkerchief took part in the

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 ...

s of 1912 and fifteen were forcibly-fed. These women received the

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 ...

from the leadership of the WSPU.

Later ownership and exhibition

It is not known how the Handkerchief came to leave the collection of the British College of Nurses after it closed in 1956 or how it came to be found in the 1960s at a jumble sale at

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...

by Dora Arnold, custodian of the Priest House. Its link to the village of West Hoathly is not clear (although an owner of the Priest House in the early 20th-century John Godwin King's daughter Ursula was a member of the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...

) and research is ongoing. The list of the signatories and some notes on their activism is available. The Suffragette Handkerchief is displayed on the first floor of

. From September 2018 to January 2019 the Handkerchief was displayed at the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

as part of the 'This vexed question: 500 years of women in medicine' exhibition. A particular focus of the exhibition was the signature of

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 educ ...

(1853–1943), a Scottish doctor who worked as a surgeon at the Children's Hospital in Birmingham, and who was honorary Medical Officer to the Wirral Hospital for Sick Children. Dr Ker had been active in the Birkenhead Women's Suffrage Society, and in 1912 was sentenced to three months 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 ...

for smashing a window at

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

.Hunger Strikes and Handkerchiefs
-

website

Signatories

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suffragette Handkerchief, The Feminist organisations in the United Kingdom First-wave feminism Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom Social history of the United Kingdom Women's Social and Political Union Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Feminism and the arts Embroidery in the United Kingdom

Origin

Later ownership and exhibition

Signatories

See also

References