Footnotes

'ONE OF THE BOLD BAD ONES!': A collection of suffragette memorabilia from the Pinner Branch of the WSPU.

The collection comes from the family of Phyllis Crome Pearce, née Verden (1889-1981) and her mother Marie Wallis Verden (1866-1956), wife of Mr Mark Verden, who were leading lights of the Pinner branch of the WSPU. The branch was founded in 1908 by five women, all neighbours, including Marie Verden and its Honorary Secretary, Janie Terrero (1848-1944) who, with her husband Manuel, frequently hosted fundraising garden parties in the grounds of their home, Rockstone House. Terrero was arrested for window smashing on 1 March 1912 and was sentenced to four months in Holloway during which she took part in two hunger strikes - her extensive notes describing her experiences in prison are held as part of the Suffragette Fellowship Collection. As well as documenting Terrero's arrest and imprisonment, newspaper cuttings in the album mention Marie Verden's role as Honorary Treasurer of the branch, whilst her daughter Phyllis is also mentioned as being involved in fundraising events. Both Marie and Phyllis held the role of Secretary at one time. Marie is said to have sustained injuries in the deputation to Buckingham Palace on 21 May 1914, the last major act of militancy before the First World War. Whilst training to be a nurse Phyllis met and married Frank Pearce (1878-1946), already a leading dental surgeon and Honorary Secretary of the British Dental Association. In 1936 he was created President of the Royal College of Dental Surgery, their highest honour, and received a knighthood for his contribution to dentistry, although Lady Pearce was said to be uncomfortable with using the title. A letter from the BBC's Woman's Hour Programme from 1964 reveals that Phyllis at one time held the position of 'house parlour maid' to Emmeline Pankhurst, through whom she may well have met leading suffragettes including Ada Wright (see adjacent lot). According to the family, Phyllis was the most active and militant of the Verden family and served in Holloway prison at the same time as Emmeline Pankhurst. They tell of the family house being stoned and windows broken by opponents of the Suffragette movement, with family members being chased up Pinner High Street by anti-suffragists. For more on the Verden family and the suffragette movement in Pinner see Thomas MacIver's article, 'Pinner's Suffragette's', London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Transactions, 69, 2018, pp.269-282. In this article a 'Miss Wright' is mentioned as sharing the responsibility for running the branch with Mrs Verden in 1914 but the connection, if any, to Ada Wright is not known.

The photograph of Emmeline Pankhurst was taken in Chicago on a highly successful tour of the USA in the Autumn of 1913. She was on the run from the British authorities after refusing to return to Holloway in June 1913 under the terms of the Cat and Mouse Act and, as a convicted criminal, she should have been refused entry to the USA. She was detained at Ellis Island on arrival but, after pressure from various women's groups, she was allowed to continue her visit on the promise of good behaviour. She was rearrested on her return to the UK in December 1913.

Provenance: Phyllis Crome Pearce, née Verden (1889-1981), the present owner's grandmother.