The Rebel Suffragette by Beverley Adams

Author:Beverley Adams [Adams, Beverley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526773906
Google: TVk8zgEACAAJ
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Published: 2021-09-15T22:13:54+00:00

Chapter Five

Edith’s Last Push

It wasn’t until 1913 that Edith decided to re-join the militant campaign. By now she had five convictions to her name, but her most shocking actions were still ahead of her. On Easter Monday she travelled to Manchester with Beth Hesmondhalgh to hear Labour MP for Derby, James Thomas, speak at the Free Trade Hall. They took their seats and listened to his speech, but soon enough Edith had heard all she wanted to hear – she considered his speech to be offensive, so she stood up and began pelting the bemused MP with black puddings. When she had discharged her meaty ammunition she promptly left the hall, much to the amusement of Beth, who later questioned the freshness of the sausages. The ladies left without facing punishment but did leave chaos in their wake. Later, on 11 May, Edith was wrongly accused of tarring the brand-new statue of 14th Lord Derby, the grandfather of the then 17th Earl of Derby, who had been in open opposition to ‘Votes for Women’ campaign. The Stanley family had long since had links to the town and the statue stood proudly in Miller Park, a grand formal Victorian park not far from the town centre. It was opened in 1867 and is situated on the banks of the River Ribble, it also is only a short walk from Edith’s home on Winckley Square so unsurprisingly she was prime suspect number one. Upon discovery of the vandalism, a large crowd gathered at the newly-erected statue as the police and the town’s officials were called to witness what was described as an utter senseless act of vandalism. The Lancashire Daily Post reported on the crime, stating:

Someone has spattered the body of the statue with some black viscous fluid resembling diluted tar which has blackened the trunk, arms and legs, and splashed the polished granite base … It was suggested that a syringe had been used by someone not tall enough to spray the head. This fact, coupled with the small footprints in the grass, indicated – not surprisingly – that the culprit was a woman, or, two women.

Outrage poured out of the park and through the streets of Preston, soon crowds of more than a hundred were gathered to see poor Lord Derby decked in tar. The police investigation of the surrounding area yielded only a small success: they found a white handkerchief in a bush. All the evidence, albeit one hanky, surely proved this was done by the hand of a woman. It took great effort to clean the statue, in fact you can still see the remnants of the tar today. A film recorded at the time by Will Onda shows the damage caused and the attempt to clean the statue. Edith vehemently denied having done what the local officials called an ‘abhorrent act of vandalism’ until years later, when she confessed to having arranged for it to be done. Edith was not a woman to disown her acts of

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