Theresa Garnett

Black and white photography of Theresa Garnett
Theresa Garnett in 1909

Theresa Garnett (1888, Leeds – 1966) was a British suffragette.

Biography

Theresa Garnett was born in Leeds in 1888,[1] daughter to Joshua Garnett and Frances Theresa Garnett[2] and she's raised at a convent school.[3]

She worked for some time as a teacher. In 1907, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) after being inspired by a speech given by Adela Pankhurst.[4] In April 1909, she sparked some interest by chaining herself, along with four other activists, to a statue in the Central Lobby of the Houses of Parliament to protest against a law forbidding precisely this kind of thing - disorderly conduct within the Palace of Westminster when the Parliament was in session.

On November 14, 1909,[2] she assaulted Winston Churchill at the Bristol gare, with a horsewhip, but failed to cause any injury. Arrested, she's sentenced to a month in prison at the HM Prison Bristol for disturbing the peace (Churchill didn't press charges for the assault itself). She went on a hunger strike, was force-fed, tried to put her cell on fire, and finished her time in hospital.[5] She received for her actions, from the WSPU, a brooch for her imprisonment, and a medal of honor for the hunger strike.[6]

In 1910, she became organizer for the WSPU in Camberwell, but left the Union after some disagreement about the WPSU's arson campaign. She stayed favorable to the feminist movement,[5] becoming honorary editor for the Women's Freedom League bulletin in 1960.[3]

During the first world war, she worked as a sister at the Royal London Hospital and in France.[5]

She died in 1966,[1] almost penniless.[3]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. 1 2 Women of the right spirit: paid organisers of the women's social and political union (WSPU) 1904-18, by Krista Cowman
  3. 1 2 3 Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928, by Elizabeth Crawford
  4. ↑ 13 novembre 1909. Jeune ministre, Winston Churchill est agressé par la suffragette Theresa Garnett, on lepoint.fr
  5. 1 2 3 Theresa Garnett, biography on Spartacus Educational.
  6. ↑ Description of her photography by Col. Linley Blathwayt
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