Sylvia Pankhurst

Ask most people what they associate with the women's suffragette movement and they will probably say, 'votes for women', chaining themselves to railings, or they may mention Emmeline Pankhurst. It is of course true that she was probably the most leading woman in the British movement, but so were two of her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, and it is Sylvia with who we are most concerned.

Sylvia was born in Manchester before she was seven years old her mother had become fully involved in the campaign to give women the vote, as she grew up Sylvia developed an interest and talent for art which led her to winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, while there she divided her time between her studies and campaigning with her mother and sister.

After trying to put their bill before parliament with the help of sympathetic MP's, usually by being deliberately talked out, the thoughts of Mrs Pankhurst turned to more direct action. As Sylvia was a pacifist this decision caused some distance between her and both her mother and Christabel. Nevertheless she remained a dedicated member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) which she had helped found with her mother and sister.

During this time she was arrested many times for non violent protests and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, whenever this happened all suffragettes would go on hunger strike and the authorities would force feed them. This practice was horrendously and vividly described by Sylvia as the following:

'' On the third day the two doctors sounded my heart and felt my pulse. The senior told me he had not alternative but to feed me by force. Then they left the cell. I was thrown into a state of great agitation, heart palpitating with fear, noises in my ears, hot and cold shivers down my spine. I paced the cell, crouched against the wall, knelt by the bed, paced again, longing for some means of escape, resolving impotently to fight to prevent the outrage, knowing not what to do … Presently I heard footsteps approaching, collecting outside my cell. I was strangled with fear, cold and stunned, yet alert to every sound. The door opened - not the doctors, but a crowd of war dresses filled the doorway … There were six of them, a;; much stronger and bigger than I. They flung me on my back on the bed and held me down firmly by the shoulders and wrists, hips, knees and ankles. Then the doctors came stealing in. Someone seized me by the head and thrust a sheet under my chin. My eyes were shut. I set my teeth and tightened my lips over them with all my strength. A man's hands were trying to force open my mouth; my breath was coming so fast I felt I as though I should suffocate. His fingers were striving to pull my lips apart - getting inside. I felt them and a steel instrument pressing round my gums, feeling for gaps in my teeth … I was panting and heaving, my breath quicker and quicker, coming now with a low scream which was getting louder. 'Here is a gap' she of them said. 'No here is a better one. This long gap here!' A steel instrument pressed my gums, cutting into the flesh. I braced myself to resist that terrible pain. 'No, that won't do' - that voice again. 'Give me the pointed one!' A stab of sharp, intolerable agony. I wrenched my head free. Again they grasped me. Again the struggle.

Again the steel cutting its way in, though I strained my force against it. Then something gradually forced my jaws apart as a screw was turned; the pain was like having teeth drawn. They were trying to get the tube down my throat, I was struggling madly to stiffen my muscles and close my throat. They got it down, I suppose, though I was unconscious of anything then save the mad revolt of struggling, for they said at last: 'That's all.' And I vomited as the tube came up. They left me on the bed exhausted, gasping for breath and sobbing convulsively. '' 

Judging the penal system of their day by ours is pretty ineffectual, there were no human rights for the suffragettes who were treated far more harshly than the diktats of the day would expect, their rallies were often broken up by baton wielding police, and the working class recruits were singled out for even worse treatment, not even rape was exempt in an attempt to 'put women back in their place'.

When the authorities discovered they couldn't prevent the women going on hunger strike they brought in a new law specifically to deal with this, the law was widely known as the 'cat and mouse' act. In reality whenever the women were near death through refusing food and in some cases water they were released. When they were seen to be recovering their health they were re-arrested to finish their original sentence and the whole process started over again.

Perhaps it was against this backdrop of rising violence that Emmeline decided that the WSPU should meet violence with violence, and because of this Sylvia distanced herself even further, for as she couldn't involve herself in the arson attacks her mother was planning she came to the east end. Sylvia had been feeling adrift in the organisation for some time, her mother had sister believed that emancipation was for 'ladies' whereas Sylvia was concerned with working class women, who she believed would benefit the most.

The first thing she did when arriving in Bow and at the bakery shop she had rented was to paint the 'VOTES FOR WOMEN'  in gold letters on the fascia. In 1912 George Lansbury Labour MP in the neighbouring borough of Poplar had resigned his seat to fight on the single issue of  'votes for women', however he got little if any assistance from the local WSPU mainly because of Sylvia's insistence of working not only with working class women but also with men, something her sister Christabel totally opposed. As a result Lansbury lost his seat to the Conservatives.

Following the defeat the WSPU wanted to close the office in Bow but Sylvia refused and she was ejected from the organisation. Not to be deterred she renamed her branch the  East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS).With this, her own, organisation Sylvia could put into practice her belief that true democracy starts with the emancipation of the whole working class both men and women, and that to achieve this aim poverty must be eradicated.

Free from the constraints of the WSPU Sylvia could expand her office in the way she wished, using the wooden platform outside the office she could give speeches to the crowd that gathered below.

Soon however as more and more people came to listen to her so a meeting at Bromley Public Hall was arranged, this building which still stands in Bow road was used for marriages, and the registration of birth, marriages and deaths, it was just a few minutes walk from where Sylvia had her offices.

However following her first meeting at the hall she and her American co-worker, Zelie Emerson were arrested and taken to the local police station further up the road, it was here that a couple of windows were broken either by those arrested or the crowd of supporters outside is not recorded. The result was that Sylvia and her two companions were sentenced to two months hard labour.

Between February 1913 and August 1914, Sylvia was arrested eight times. Each time she went on hunger strike, was released, would defy the government by appearing on platforms in the East End while on 'licence', and was then hunted down by the police. Her arrests were always resisted violently by the community and her mixed bodyguard of women and dockers.

By this time Sylvia had moved her office to 231 Roman Road, it was here she took over the Gunmakers Arms public house where she set up The Mother Arms in Old Ford it was a nursery, creche, mother and baby clinic and nursery school. She used to hand out free milk, bread and free medicine and organised a lending library, choir, and a junior suffragettes club. The offices were used for lectures, concerts, and as strike headquarters by the asbestos workers. News of the Women's Hall grew and people with problems began to call there for help. Also the older women who were working as seamstresses taught their skills to the younger females.

Although Sylvia's story continues on we will leave her from the time she left Bow Road. Towards the end of World War One she moved to Wood Green with her partner Silvio Corio who was an Italian anarchist. In 1927 their had their son Richard, Sylvia didn't believe in marriage so their son was given her name of Pankhurst. It was because of this her mother Emmeline Pankhurst refused to speak to her again.

In 1935, she campaigned vigorously against the invasion of Ethiopia by Fascist Italy and founded The New Times and Ethiopia News to publicize the plight of the Ethiopians and other victims of fascism. She later helped settle Jewish refugees from Germany.

In 1956, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie invited her to live in Ethiopia, and she accepted the invitation. Although in her 70s, she founded the Ethiopia Observer and edited the paper for four years.

She died on September 27, 1960, and was given a state funeral by the Ethiopian government in recognition of her service to the country. She is the only foreigner buried in Holy Trinity Church Addis Ababa an honour usually reserved for those patriotic Ethiopians who fought in the Italian campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQO8GwJIXBk

Nathaniel Bentley aka Dirty Dick

When tourists come to London they of course do all the tourist things and one of those might include a trip to Bishopsgate and a drink or a meal at 'Dirty Dicks'. It's a little more 'up market' than it was in the past no more sawdust on the floor and far less dingy interior, but the artifacts remain.

One question that's always asked is  ''who was Dirty Dick ?'' ..... ''did he really exist ?'' well like many stories that are passed down though the years things get changed, and added, so it's impossible to decide where fact ends and fiction begins.  

Nathaniel Bentley (aka Dirty Dick) was born into a fairly affluent family about 1735, his father had a warehouse shop which stood on a corner of Leadenhall Street alongside this was side an alley lead which lead to the family home, which was formerly the 'The Old Crown' public house. Leadenhall street was one of the busiest streets in London. The shop was the first glazed hardware shop in London as his father was fond of telling anyone who entered the premises.

Nathaniel's mother was Sarah Pankeman, it's suggested she was of french descent of possibly Huguenot family. Although Nathaniel was given a good education his home life was far from happy for his father was an abusive bully. One drinking partner remembers him saying ''I'll go home and kick up a fine dust'' and keeping to his threat he went home and abused both his son and servants. There is no record of whether Nathaniels mother was alive at this time, or how old he was, but shortly afterwards he left the home and stayed away for some years. It's thought that the ill treatment at his fathers hands had something to do with the eccentricities he exhibited later in his life.

In 1751 Nathaniels father married for a second time. Bethia Plomer was a dissenting Protestant, as was her new husband, she was also a widow, and a very wealthy one. Into the marriage she brought an eleggant mansion in Edmonton, which was still countryside at that time, together with servants, carriages and all the trappings of a very comfortable life. During this time he aquired several properties including, his self importance grew with his wealth for although a dissenting Protestant in 1754 he made a gift of a bell to the church in Leadenhall Street St Catherine's Cree. 

St Catherines Cree (Cree is a corruption of the word Christ, the church was built in 1630 and escaped the fire of London in 1666. The church was later renovated in 1830 and the name changed from the Regency spelling to St Katherine Cree). the bell however came with a proviso,and that it was to be rung each year on his birthday as long as he lived.  

It's seems that Nathaniel had returned home during this time for it is noted that before his father's death in 1760 he was known as the 'Beau of Leadenhall Street'. The title 'beau' was given to any young man considered overly conscience of his appearance and if not a fashion setter was certainly someone who was the first to been seen in the latest styles. It probably derived from Beau Nash. Born Richard Nash in Swansea in 1674 he became the most celebrated dandy of his day, being refered to as 'The King of Fashion'.   

In the Georgian period, in which Richard lived, Bath was the social centre for society and he became what is known as 'the master of ceremonies' in the spa town, It was Richard who arranged the social life of the wealthy visitors, the balls, social gatherings, dances and so on and as being 'The King of Fashion' he certainly dressed the part.

Instead of the usual white wig, which was custom at, he wore the direct opposite a black wig topped with a beaver trimmed and bejewelled hat. His coat decorated in the most flamboyany way was worn open to show his waistcoat, something that hadn't been seen before. The customery knee high boots were dispensed with and stockings and shoes were worn instead, this was one innovation that was quickly adopted. It seems that every age has its own trendsetter. In the early 18th century it was Richard 'Beau' Nash but before the century was over another trendsetter arrived on the scene who turn the earlier fashion on its head, that man was Beau Brummel, but let's get back to Nathaniel Bentley.

The image of Nathaniel that has come down through the years is that of a dirty dishevelled recluse who upon the death of his future wife on the eve of their wedding shut himself away from the world with the wedding feast left to decay mirroring own life and earning the name Dirty Dick. As I say that is the folktale and whether it is true or not it's impossible to say. What is true is that his life wasn't that of the owner of  'The Dirty Warehouse' as his business was known, although this was fame of a kind for it's said just that address sent from anywhere in the UK or abroad would be delivered to him.

He had had a good education and could speak several languages, French and Italian fluently, and he used this when he travelled abroad. In 1775 he travelled to France for the coronation of King Louis XV1. While there he was presented to the King and made a very favourable impression on the whole court who considered him one of the most accomplished Englishmen who were at court during this time. 

Although Nathaniel had travelled to France many times before, usually to Paris, this time he was in Reims and to the Notre-Dame de Reims where French Kings had been crowned for a thousand years. Little did anyone who attended that splendid glittering occasion full of ritual and history that the young king would live through one of the most turbulent times in the history of France. His reign was marked by wars and revolution and in January 1793 after being arrested and tried for treason he became to first King of France to face the guilotine, his wife Marie Antoinette was held in prison with her two children Louis Charles and Marie Therese Charlotte, after a few weeks she was seperated from her children and in October the same year she followed her husband to the guilotine, her son Louis Charles died in prison but her daughter was released sometime later.

According to contempary writers Nathaniel Bentley was also well know in British high society.He had attended the Masquerade balls at Renalgh House, a visit to Sadlers Wells was another favourite of his where he was often seen dressed in his finery in the company of society women. He also attended the Prince Regents birthday at Vauxhall Gardens which was the most famous pleasure gardens of the Regency era, and one of the Prince's favourite places to entertain.

Anyone not knowing Nathaniel personally and seeing him at any of these occasions would think him a wealthy man about town, well wealthy he certainly was for when his father died he inherited not only his monetary fortune but all his stocks and property, but when he returned from one of these events he would slip into the persona of Dirty Dick barely caring to wash from one event to the other and living on the cheapest meat and vegetables. He chose not to keep any servants, instead whenever he went out he paid a local woman threepence to stand outside the warehouse until he returned to make certain no-one should enter without consent. Once inside he would discard his fashionable clothes and return once again the Dirty Dick his neighbours were used to.

Over time the warehouse became more and more delapidated that other traders in the street became worried that the site of it was affecting their own trade. It was large double fronted building that was now unpainted and cracked with so many broken windows that the shabby shutters stayed closed all day. In fact the outside was very little different to the inside which was piled high with so many things that only Nathaniel knew where to find anything.

Finally the traders decided to face Nathaniel to tell him if he wouldn't see to the repair of his frontage then they were willing to do so at their own cost. If they had expected him to accept their offer they were to be disappointed. He told them he had no intention of changing the way the warehouse looked not when its fame had stretched over the whole of England ''why'' he told them ''I recently had a woman who had travelled from Yorkshire just to see it, and she even told him he was the most remarkable person she had ever seen'', he then added if she was curious about him to travel all that way he was sure other ladies would be too.

As they returned to their businesses they thought how odd it was that he should be welcoming the interest in women when the loss of one particular woman had sent him spiralling into the unkempt and pitiful figure he had become. They were of course referring to the story which had circulated for so many years wether it was myth or truth no-one could say. It goes as follows some time ago Nathaniel had fallen in love with the daughter of a wealthy family, it seemed she retuned his feelings and in due time arrangemnets were made for their marriage. The wedding breakfast, or what we now call the reception, was to be held in one of the upper rooms of the warehouse, of course in those days it wasn't in the condition that it was to become later.

The room, so it is said, was freshly decorated in pale blue and white. flowers filled the room as well as filling a huge urn which stood at the centre of a long table laid out with the finest food including an ornate wedding cake. On a side table the expensive wines and crystal glasses caught the reflection of the sun as it shone through the window. Alll was ready for the celebration of his marriage and the room would be filled with family and friends. It was almost time for him to leave for church when a knock at the door brought him news that would change his life.

Nathaniel was surprised to see a friend standing ther for the arrangement was that the all meet at the church and come back to his house afterwards. Surprise changed to concern as he noticed the expression on his friends face, ''what's wrong'' he asked ''I'm afraid it's bad news'' he repied. Nathaniel heard none of the words of consolation, nor those of sympathy as he was told his bride to be had died suddenly that morning. He couldn't remember closing the door on his friend or climbing the stairs or turning the key in the door of the room that would never see a celebration. The food would remain uneaten, the wine undrunk and the flowers turn to dust for the room would remain locked and left to the ghosts of what might have been.

Whether this is fancy or not we shall never know. n 1802 the lease on the old warehouse expired and passed to a Mr Gosling, although it took another two years to get Nathaniel to leave the premises. When this happened many of the locals were eager to see over the dirty warehouse and were given permission to do so by the new owner. No sooner were the doors opened than the people filed in. Soon the whole building was crowded with the curious opening drawers her, and poking through the great piles of oddities that had been gathered over the years. Doors were flung open to see whatever lay inside, all doors that is accept one which had its key rusted into its lock. If they had managed to get inside what would they have see, perhaps time and rats had erased all sign of the wedding feast and left nothing but dust and the dishes and plates to show that once they had been there, flowers do longer exuded their perfume and would have long since turned to dust, perhaps it was only the wine that remained to keep the memory of what might have been.

By this time Nathaniel had moved to Jewry Street Aldgate where he took a three year lease on a house. However he also took a good deal of his stock into the new house so when the lease was up the landlord refused to renew it. The landlord it seems had no intention of letting Nathaniel turn the house into a replica of the warehouse. This time he took his goods with him to Leonard Street Shoreditch. He put a value of the 'goods' as 10,000 pounds but later sold them for just one thousand pounds. This  amount together what he already had in the bank would have seen him through his old age, for by now he was in his seventies. Sadly for him though during this time he had taken up with a woman of dubious character who in return for friendship stole most of the money.

Nathaniel had lived in the house for just about a year when one day he left and travelled around the country, more as a beggar than a traveller. In 1809 he found himself in Scotland, and booked in to a small inn in Musselburgh, while there he came ill with a fever. After he had rested for a few days he felt much better and continued his travels. He had walked ten miles before reached a place called Haddington but the fever hadn't left him and it was here he had a relapse. Although he was pennyless he booked in to the Crown Inn explaining to the landlord that he would write a letter to a friend and money would be sent by return, and this is what happened.

His illness continued getting worse each day but he refused the landlord's suggestion that a doctor should be called for. However the landlord was worried that he seemed to be growing worse each day sent for the local doctor. Unfortunately it was too late and a few days later. at the end of 1809 Nathaniel passed away. The money sent to him by his friend covered the cost of medical bills, lodgings and funeral. He was buried in the churchyard of Haddington church, the local magistrates, the landlord of the Crown Inn and a few local villages attended the burial. 

Mother of the Army

The memory of Catherine is somewhat overshadowed by that of her husbands, but although William Booth is always thought of as the founder  of  the Salvation Army Catherine, as his wife she shared more that just a bit part in its conception.

Catherine was born  in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on January 17 1829. She had four brothers but only one grew to adulthood. At five years old she could read and with a little help from her mother she would read Bible stories out loud, by twelve she would read the Bible eight times through a day, no wonder she knew it so well. At this age she became aware of the damage that alcohol could do and she wrote to newspapers with her veiws, she also set up the 'Juvenile Temperance Society' which did all she could to warn youngsters of the dangers drink could cause.

As she grew her beliefs never changed, then one day at a meeting with her mother there was a guest preacher, and he was someone that Catherine felt 'had the power to speak to peoples hearts'. A few days later she was visiting friends when she was introduced to the same preacher the Rev William Booth.

As time passed their friendship grew into something deeper and they spoke of marriage. Although Catherine agreed with his veiws of social injustice she couldn't accept his opinion that women were the 'weaker sex' and shouldn't be allowed to preach. In spite of his objection he did finally agree that Catherine could preach, but he said he ''wouldn't like it''. They married on 16th June 1855 at Stockwell New Chapel, but it wasn't until five years later that Catherine made her first public speech and it was so impressive that William changed his mind about women preachers.

In 1864 they began the Christian Mission in London's east end later the name was changed to the Salvation Army, Catherine with others began open air sermons around the docklands of Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, even though they knew they were risking being arrested for doing so.

Today we respect he Salvation army for the good work it does, but it wan't so in the beginning. One of the biggest opponents of the army was the Church of England, and Lord Shaftsbury described William Booth as the 'anti Christ, it's thought that one of the main charges against them that in the army women were treated as equals of men, a very radical idea for that age, but having witnessed the strength and commitment of his wife and the other women he couldn't help but acknowledge that his wife, when they first met, was correct in her veiw of a women place in the army when he wrote "the best men in my Army are the women."
Catherine knew that to save a persons soul you first needed to save their body, so in those areas of dire poverty that she saw during her sermons she opened  what would become known as ' Food-for-the-Million Shops ' where hot soup and a three course lunch was available for sixpence and also a farthing breakfast, Sunday schools and ragged schools were where children would receive a knowledge of the Bible and also of the three 'R's' which would help them with employment in later life.

Also creche's were opened where children would spend at least twelve hours, this would allow their mothers to work. For the babies cribs were made from orange boxes which were scrubbed and covered. By taking the children out of their overcrowded enviroments they were prevented from being vunerable to the diseases that ran rife in the slums. Each child was given something to eat and drink as soon as they arrived. In the first year over 6000 children were cared for.

For those children who had to work as children did in those days there was the 'Farthing Breakfast' which was a hot bowl of soup, Catherine also set up a system where clothes and shoes could be supplied, in other words wherever there was a need she tried to fill it.

During her work with women and children she became aware of the term 'sweated labour'. This  was where women and children were paid a few pence a day for the same work that men were paid shillings a day for doing the same type of work in a factory. Although the factory might not have been to the standards we expect today but they were far better than trying to sew of assemble a manner of goods in ill lit and cramped homes where the women worked.

During this time she became aware of the Annie Besant and her work with the matchgirls working in the local Bryant and May factory in Bow . Catherine decided firstly to shame employers into paying women workers the equal pay and to provide them with safe working conditions.

Sadly before she could see if her campaigns came to fruition Catherine died on the 4th of October 1890. she left behind her eight children and a grieving husband, but perhaps Catherines legacy was changing the Salvation Army into something it might never have been but for her love of the poor and a caring heart.
Both William and Catherine are buried in Abney Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London.

The inscription reads.William Booth Founder and 1st General of the Salvation Army. Born 1829 born again in spirit 1845. Founded the Salvation Army 1865. Went to Heaven 20th August 1921.Catherine Booth the Mother of the Salvation Army. Born 1829. Went to Heaven 4th October 1890.Location: Section - O06(Index ref: 6S02 Burial No - 120240 )