Olive Grace Walton (1886–1937) was a British Suffragette who was arrested three times, imprisoned twice, and force-fed in prison after going on a hunger strike.

Life

Walton was born in 1886 in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

. Her father was in his seventies when she was born, and had been a wine merchant. She had one brother and sister and felt herself intellectually inferior as she had only learned cookery and art. She was sent to London to do social work by her parents. Walton first joined the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In March 1919 it w ...

around 1908. She became honorary secretary of the militant Women's Social and Political Union there. Walton was arrested on 21 November 1911 for her participation in the protest a proposed a franchise bill that would continue to exclude women. She served one week in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

Walton was arrested again in 1912, for causing malicious damage at a

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 ...

window-smashing campaign in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

including at

Marshall & Snelgrove Marshall & Snelgrove was a department store on the north side of Oxford Street, London, on the corner with Vere Street, Westminster, Vere Street founded by James Marshall (b.1806 Yorkshire – d.22 November 1893). The company became part of the ...

premises with Eileen Casey. She was imprisoned in Aylesbury Prison where she was force-fed while participating in a hunger strike. At one point Walton said she heard outside the prison a band playing "The March of the Women" and flag waving 'people and our colours and they cheer and bravo us. It has all been grand but oh what a longing it gives one to be away from this place.' The hunger strikers were to be force fed three times a day and Walton had 'fine tussles before they get us tied into the chair". On other days the suffrage prisoners played games together to keep their spirits up like obstacle races, golf with sticks and stones, tennis with stone and dustbin lid using a prison bench as a net, although Walton's legs were 'very thin and shaky'. The women could reduce their sentence by working on making aprons, and the governor William Winder, ignored the suffragette slogans they embroidered 'Deeds not Words' and 'Dare to be Free' though they were made to unpick them before leaving gaol. Walton was given a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by WSPU. Walton was arrested a third time in 1914 in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland, for throwing a ball through the window of King George and Queen Mary's carriage. No charges were filed. In 1914, at the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Walton joined the Women Police Volunteers In 1920 she joined the Women's Auxiliary Service of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

. She became a hospital

almoner An almoner () is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. The title ''almoner'' has to some extent fallen out of use in English, but its equivalents in other languages are often used f ...

after she was injured in a motorcycle accident.

Personal life

Walton was estranged from her family due to her involvement in militant suffrage activities. Her personal style included wearing her hair short and dressing in suit and tie. She never married. She adopted an orphan girl and named her Christabel. She was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and Labour voter. She supported the miners actions in the 1920s. Walton died of cancer, after refusing treatment as a

Christian Scientist Activists, politicians, and military figures Activists *Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (1882-1985) – Native American singer and activist * Bonnie Carroll – President and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) *Henry ...

, in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Olive Grace 1886 births 1937 deaths Women's Social and Political Union British Christian Scientists Hunger Strike Medal recipients

Life

Personal life

See also

References