Rosamund Nora Massy (1870–1947) was an English suffragette and a "fierce woman". She was one of three women who organised the

Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial The Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial is a memorial in London to Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel Pankhurst, Christabel, two of the foremost British suffragettes. It stands at the entrance to Victoria Tower Gardens, sou ...

, and was awarded the Hunger Strike Medal.

Family

Rosamund Massy was born in London in 1870, the daughter of Sir Casey Knywett and Lady Knyvett. Her mother was also a prominent suffragette. She married a colonel in the

Dragoon Guards Dragoon Guards is a designation that has been used to refer to certain heavy cavalry regiments in the British Army since the 18th century. While the Prussian and Russian armies of the same period included dragoon regiments among their respective I ...

and her husband was supportive of her activism. They had one daughter.

Activism

She joined the Women's Suffrage movement around 1908 and had become a paid organiser 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) by the following year. In 1909. Massy helped Edith Rigby gate-crash a meeting featuring

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

in Preston and threw a stone through the window of the post office. It was wrapped in paper containing the statement: 'Message to Mr Winston Churchill: This stone through your post office window is to remind you of your broken promises to the Suffragists of Manchester and Dundee.’ She was arrested and pleaded guilty to causing £2 damage. She was imprisoned for the first time and went on an hunger-strike. After a week her mother paid the fine and she was released. She was arrested another three times and imprisoned again in 1910 for one month, after she had joined the Black Friday event. In 1913, together with her mother, she enquired with Sir William Byrne at the Home Office about the condition of

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 ...

who was imprisoned 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, ...

. The impression of Sir Byrne was that Lady Knyvett was a dear old lady and Massy a fierce woman. Lady Knyvett had given money to the WSPU while Massy warned of what she thought might happen if Pankhurst died in prison. Massy later supported Pankhurst in her election campaigns.

Pankhurst's funeral and memorials

died on 14 June 1928, Massy was one of her pallbearers, alongside other former suffragettes Georgiana Brackenbury,

Marie Brackenbury Marie Venetia Caroline Brackenbury (1866–1950) was a British painter who was a militant suffragette and suffragette artist. She was jailed for demonstrating for women's rights. She followed Emmeline Pankhurst's lead as she became more militant ...

Marion Wallace Dunlop Marion Wallace Dunlop (22 December 1864 – 12 September 1942) was a Scottish artist, author and illustrator of children's books, and suffragette. She was the first and one of the most well known British suffrage activists to go on hunger stri ...

, Harriet Kerr, Mildred Mansel, Kitty Marshall, Marie Naylor, Ada Wright and Barbara Wylie. Kitty Marshall, Margaret, Lady Rhondda and Massy decided to arrange and fundraise for Pankhurst's memorials, with Massy serving as the fund's secretary. They raised money for her gravestone in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

and a statue of her outside the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

(which she had frequently been stopped from entering). They also raised money to buy the painting that had been made by fellow suffragette Georgina Brackenbury so that it could be given to the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

. Massy's prison badge and Hunger Strike Medal were placed in a casket in the plinth of Emmeline Pankhurst's statue in the Victoria Tower Gardens. It was unveiled by

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

in 1930.

References

External links

Postcard of a group of suffragettes in Hyde Park on Women's Sunday (21st June 1908), including Massy
via The London Museum
Postcard featuring image of Massy c.1909
via '' Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Massy, Rosamund 1870 births 1947 deaths English suffragists Hunger Strike Medal recipients Women's Social and Political Union