Clara Evelyn Mordan (28 September 1844 – 22 January 1915) was a British suffragist and benefactor to 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 founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

and

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

. Tuberculosis obliged her to fight for women's rights by supporting militant protests by proxy. She hoped that her "last bed will be a coffin some woman has earned her living by making".

Early life

Mordan was born in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

to a family who owned a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

who made propelling pencils. She was the eldest of the two daughters of Augustus and Elizabeth Jane Mordan. Her sister Ada married and had children but Clara was a lesbian who avoided marriage by expressing concern that marriage would mean surrendering the control of her money to her husband. Her attentions turned to the cause of women's rights. She was inspired by a lecture by

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

in 1866, which she attended with her father. Mordan was given a lot of financial freedom by her father and she established her own home and household.

Suffrage activism

After 1880 she joined the London Women's Suffrage Society and the Central Society for Women's Suffrage. Despite suffering from tuberculosis she served on their executive committees, had letterheads made with "Votes for Women" on them, and she was generous with her funding to these causes. 1897 saw her second interest develop. She heard a paper read by

Annie Rogers Annie Mary Anne Henley Rogers (15 February 1856 – 28 October 1937) was a British promoter of women's education. She had an offer of a university place at the University of Oxford withdrawn when it was realised that the candidate was female. Sh ...

in London about the need for better women's education. This was just after a proposal to allow women to be awarded degrees was defeated. Mordan had no formal education; she is thought to have been educated at home by governesses, but she wanted to support the idea. She set out with her partner Mary Gray Allen to decide the best deserving college and

was identified. She contracted to supply an annuity of £40 per annum to fund a scholarship on the condition that there was no

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...

involved in the recipients research. left, Clara Evelyn Mordan by unknown artist In 1901 her father died. She was now the only child and he left £117,000. In 1906 after many years of interest she joined the militant

which was led by

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, but it was a speech by

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

that inspired her. Moreover, she has the distinction of being their first benefactor of their newly founded WSPU campaign fund. Annie Kenney went round to see her after the event to thank her for the twenty pounds she had sent them towards their expenses. She spoke on their behalf and attended protest meetings. The 1908 WSPU procession was said to be mainly funded by Mordan and when the protesters reached Hyde Park they listened to speeches including one by Mordan. She also had the honour of unveiling a banner designed by

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (; 5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English Feminism, feminist and Socialism, socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise worki ...

at the event, given by

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist, suffragist and pacifist. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in 1867 in Clifton, Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. He ...

, which featured two eagles holding a shield bearing the motto "Hope is strong! Awake! Arise!" Mordon funded a variety of other projects from a WSPU Art exhibition at the

Prince's Skating Club Prince's Skating Club was an ice rink in the Knightsbridge area of London, England. It saw a number of firsts for ice hockey in Britain and Europe. The rink was opened on Montpelier Square on 7 November 1896 by the Prince's Sporting Club. I ...

in 1909 to $200 set aside for a "return to militancy" in 1912. Mordan was invited to Eagle House in

Batheaston Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of the English city of Bath, on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish had a population of 2,735 in 2011. The northern area of the parish, on the road to St Catherine, is an area known as ...

on 27 April 1910 to plant a holly tree. Eagle House was where

Mary Blathwayt Mary Blathwayt (1 February 1879 – 25 June 1961) was a British feminist, suffragette and social reformer. She lived at Eagle House in Somerset. This house became known as the "Suffragette's Rest" and contained a memorial to the protests o ...

's family entertained visitors at their "Suffragette's Rest". Many notable supporters were invited to the house.

Emily Blathwayt Emily Marion Blathwayt (née Rose; 1852 – 1940) was a British suffragette and mother of Mary Blathwayt. She and her husband, Linley, a retired Colonel from the Indian Army lived at Eagle House in Somerset and established a welcome and garden ...

and her family invited leading suffragettes and their supporters to plant trees and shrubs in "Annie's Arboretum" to commemorate their achievements and her husband recorded these in photographs. The arboretum was named after

and she had a room at Eagle House. Morden knew that she would die of tuberculosis and this meant that her militant acts were performed by proxy. She commented in a letter published by the newspaper ''

Votes for Women Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

'' that "I have impressed upon my doctor that she really must keep me alive till I can have a reasonable prospect of feeling that my last bed will be a coffin some woman has earned her living by making."

St Hugh's College

Morden first visited St Hugh's College in 1897. With Mordan's backing, St Hugh's bought a house called "The Mount" from University College and began to move to their new permanent site in 1913. The house was demolished to make way for the Main Building of the college which was funded by Mordan. She also gave £1000 to endow a scholarship. She was given regular updates by St Hughs staff after she became ill, and in reply she had said that the college was one of her proudest achievements. St Hugh's College named their new library Mordan Hall in recognition of her contributions to the college.''St Hugh's College Spring Newsletter 2011''; p.9-13

Death

Mordan left most of her wealth to her partner Mary Gray Allen who had shared her life. When Allen died in

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...

in 1915, she left a large bequest to St Hugh's college.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordan, Clara 1844 births 1915 deaths People from Southwark British philanthropists Eagle House suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union