Margaret Vincentia "Marjery" Bryce (18 June 1891 – 8 June 1973), usually credited as Marjorie Bryce, was a British

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 ...

and actress, who rode dressed as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

in WSPU parades in support of votes for women.

Family

Bryce was born at 35

Bryanston Square Bryanston Square is an garden square in Marylebone, London. Terraced buildings surround it — often merged, converted or sub-divided, some of which remain residential. The southern end has the William Pitt Byrne memorial fountain. Next to ...

, Marylebone, to Irish-born parents

John Annan Bryce John Annan Bryce (1841 – 25 June 1923) was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. Background and family He was the son of the politician and geologist James Bryce and his wife Margaret Young, daughter of James Young. His elder br ...

, a politician of Ulster-Scots descent, and Violet L'Estrange, of Anglo-Irish descent. She had two brothers and a sister three years younger, Rosalind, known as 'Tiny'. One brother, Nigel Erskine, died at the age of seventeen. Her other brother Roland, was later to be one of the commissioners in 1922 to lay out the borders for Yugoslavia. Her father was Liberal MP for the Inverness Burghs, voted against the Conciliation Bill which was to give some women the franchise and wrote letters to the press against women's suffrage. Her mother, Violet held the opposite view and was a cousin to Countess Markievicz and

Eva Gore-Booth Eva Selina Laura Gore-Booth (22 May 1870 – 30 June 1926) was an Irish poet, theologian, and dramatist, and a committed suffragist, social worker and labour activist. She was born at Lissadell House, County Sligo, the younger sister of Co ...

, both activists for women's rights. Bryce remained single.

Role in Women's Suffrage movement

Bryce joined 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) parade at the age of nineteen was portraying 'the perfect woman' riding on a white horse dressed in full armour with a banner in the style of

, leading the forty thousand strong Women's Procession on 17 June 1911, before George V's Coronation. Her sister Rosalind "Tiny" Bryce was dressed as a page and led the horse's bridle. This demonstration was to encourage support of the proposed Conciliation Bill, which would have given the franchise to women who owned property. The image of Saint Joan was seen to represent 'the militant women's ideal....in every act of hers they recognize the same spirit as that which strengthens them to risk their liberty and endure torture for the sake of freedom'. And the leaders of WSPU, Emmeline and

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed Suffragette bombing and arson ca ...

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 ...

and Mabel Tuke led the parade, with groups of women's trades and professions, or, like Bryce, dressed as famous women from the past. Christabel in particular felt the image of Joan of Arc included the willingness to undertake physical hardship and emphasised the martial (masculine) qualities as an image of fighting for a cause of right. This was summed up a ' the loveliness of simplicity, purity, courage and militancy' which Bryce was acting in this parade and was an image used by WSPU as a symbol. The

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

has the original copyright image of Bryce as Joan of Arc cited in many of the references above. In other suffragette parades, Joan of Arc was also portrayed by

Elsie Howey Rose Elsie Neville Howey (1 December 1884 – 13 March 1963), known as Elsie Howey, was an English suffragette. She was a militant activist with the Women's Social and Political Union and was jailed at least six times between 1908 and 1912. Ear ...

Acting career

Bryce played the London stage for example, in the role of Nina Zarechnaya in ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' (1919), appeared in ''The Cloud that Lifted'' (1932) after performing in ''Other Gates'' in the Grafton Theatre, London in 1931, and was the Red Queen in ''Alice in Wonderland'' (in 1938 and again in 1947). In 1927 she took the role of 'The Spirit of Henley' in the Henley Historical Pageant. Her entry in 1939 ''

The Spotlight ''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and ...

'' theatrical casting directory describes her as a straight, comedy or character performer. Bryce was later known for her roles in

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's '' Ten Little Niggers'' (1949), appearing in

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''Sunday-Night Theatre'' (1950s) and appeared in a BBC series ''The Bell Family'' (1951).

Death

Bryce died on 8 June 1973, at

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is district general hospital and teaching hospital located in Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approxim ...

in Hammersmith, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, Margery 20th-century British actresses 1891 births 1973 deaths Women's Social and Political Union British women's rights activists Actresses from London People from Marylebone Actors from the City of Westminster