Isabella Claude Potbury (1890 – 31 July 1965) was a portrait painter, a member of 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 ...

(WSPU) and a militant

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

who was arrested several times and imprisoned during which she was force-fed. She was awarded the Hunger Strike Medal by the leadership of the WSPU. Isabella Potbury was born in 1890 in

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the daughter of Harriet Alice ''née'' Clapham (1862–1942) and Cambridge-educated schoolmaster John Albert Potbury (1859–1903). She was first arrested on 25 November 1910 following which she appeared at

Bow Street Magistrates' Court Bow Street Magistrates' Court (formerly Bow Street Magistrates' court (England and Wales), Police Court) and Police Station each became one of the most famous magistrates' court (England and Wales), magistrates' courts and police stations in Eng ...

. She was in the dock there again on 24 November 1911 after a further arrest following which she was imprisoned. Potbury was back in court at the London Sessions on 12 December 1911 and again appeared at Bow Street on 7 March 1912 after breaking ten windows with Olive Wharry and Mollie Ward at Messers Robinson and Cleaver on

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

in London valued at £195. A student aged 22, Potbury was sent for trial at the London Sessions on 19 March 1912, receiving a sentence of six months imprisonment in Holloway Prison where she was a co-signatory on The Suffragette Handkerchief in 1912. She was released early at the end of June 1912 after joining the

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

and being force-fed. Her final appearance at Bow Street was on 30 June 1914.Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners 1905-1914
- The National Archives In 1929 she married the playwright and actor Charles Nicholas Spencer (1898–1958)1939 England and Wales Register for Isabella C Spencer: London, Chelsea - Ancestry.com
/ref> at Chelsea in London. The couple lived at 113 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea. Isabella Claude Spencer died in 1965 at Chelsea in London.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Isabella Claude Spencer 1965 - Ancestry.com
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potbury, Isabella 1890 births 1965 deaths People from Epsom English suffragettes Painters from London Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Women's Social and Political Union Force-feeding victims