Sarah Barbara Benett (1850 – 8 February 1924) was a

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 ...

, 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 Treasurer of the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom from 1907 to 1961 which campaigned for women's suffrage, pacifism and sexual equality. It was founded by former members of the Women's Social and Political Union after the Pa ...

(WFL). She was one of the "Brown Women" who walked from Edinburgh to London in 1912 and went on

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 ...

during her imprisonment 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, ...

for which she received the WSPU's

Hunger Strike Medal The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to suffragette prisoners by the leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). During their imprisonment, many went on hunger strike while serving the ...

and

Holloway brooch The Holloway brooch was presented by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to women who had been imprisoned at HM Prison Holloway, Holloway Prison for militant suffragette activity. It is also referred to as the "Portcullis badge", the "H ...

Early life

Sarah Benett was born in St Pancras in London in 1850, one of nine children born to William Morgan Benett (1813–1891), a solicitor, and Barbara Sarah Waring (1819–1894). Before Sarah Benett became involved in fighting for

women's suffrage 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 ...

she was active in social reform. She founded a

co-operative society A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democra ...

in the village she grew up in, in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. After the death of her mother in 1894 Benett moved to

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

where she started another co-operative society and a general store in nearby

Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...

, which she managed. She campaigned in the

Staffordshire Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke (which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of c ...

to improve the health and working conditions of workers by trying to ban the use of lead in pottery glaze.

Activism

In 1907 after attending a meeting where the speaker was

Flora Drummond Flora McKinnon Drummond (née Gibson; 4 August 1878 – 17 January 1949) was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading women's rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'with an officers cap and epaulettes'Sy ...

Bennet immediately realised that this important cause was where she needed to put her efforts and at the age of 57 joined the

(WSPU) and the newly formed

(WFL). Later that year, she was arrested for joining a WSPU deputation to 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 ...

. She refused to pay a 20s fine for which she received 14 days' imprisonment. In July 1907

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 ...

stayed with her while campaigning in the Potteries. Bennet was present at the founding of the

Women's Tax Resistance League The Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) was from 1909 to 1918 a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest against the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage mov ...

becoming a tax resister herself and in 1908 was a WFL delegate to the Amsterdam conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. Benett joined the New Constitutional Society for Women's Suffrage (NCSWS) and was Treasurer of the Women's Freedom League from 1909 until her resignation in 1910 from which time she devoted her efforts to the more militant

. She was one of 120 women arrested for demonstrating outside the

on ' Black Friday' in 1910 when many women were seriously assaulted by the police.

Benett took part in the WSPU's window smashing campaigns of 1911 and 1912 and was released early from her three-month jail sentence in

in 1912 after going on

, for which action she received the

and

from the WSPU. The application by the elderly Benett (she was 62 in 1912) for skipping ropes and balls for the suffragette prisoners to keep fit in Holloway Prison caused some amusement in the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

. A fellow inmate at this time was Kate Williams Evans on whose release Benett wrote a note to her maid Jane which reads: 'Miss Evans will be my guest till she is a little stronger. She has been starving so treat her as an invalid...' Benett's pencilled signature is included in an

autograph book An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. '' Webster's Third New Inter ...

collected by Evans in Holloway which also contains the signatures of

Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

and

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 ...

. Benett became a friend of Emily Davison for whom she arranged to smuggle a watch into

HM Prison Holloway 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, ...

. In 1916 she organised the annual pilgrimage to Davison's grave in the churchyard of

St. Mary's church St. Mary's Church, St. Mary the Virgin's Church, St. Mary Church, Saint Mary Church, or other variations on the name, is a commonly used name for specific churches of various Christian denominations. Notable uses of the term may refer to: Albania ...

at Morpeth.

The march

When Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque decided to mount a march from Edinburgh to London to draw attention to the women's suffrage cause she initially thought that walking to Edinburgh would be a good idea but it was decided to march from Edinburgh so that the march could end its publicity in London. Only six women including Fonblanque,

Agnes Brown Agnes Brown(e) or Broun may refer to: *Agnes Brown (17th century), alleged witch of Guilsborough, England *Agnes Broun (1732–1820), mother of Robert Burns *Agnes Brown (19th century), early business owner in Walnut Grove, California Walnut Gr ...

Eleanor Gordon, ‘Brown, Agnes Henderson (1866–1943)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 18 November 2017
/ref> and Benett set off on 21 October 1912. As they and Fonblanque traveled from Scotland to London they gathered signatures on a petition and coverage in the newspapers. Fonblanque ensured that they were dressed in brown with rosettes and bright green cockades and they were known as the "Brown Women". They followed the route of the A1 and were joined by dignitaries along the way. On one day near Berwick they walked over 30 miles before the now seven marchers were welcomed by the local Member of Parliament. Their numbers swelled slowly – when they passed through

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

in November there were twelve walkers. Finally they got to London on 16 November 1912 when they went by tube to

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

where the walkers entered to music. Benett later recalled that she "had walked her shoes off trying to get signatures to petition".

Later years

For her part in the smashing of windows at

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

department store in 1913 in protest over the government's withdrawal of the Franchise Bill Benett received a six-month prison sentence. Until her death in 1924 she was involved in the

. In her later years Benett lived in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

in North London. She died in February 1924 having never married. Dr Elizabeth Wilks was an executor to her will. Her biography ''Rebel With a Cause: The Life and Times of Sarah Benett, 1850-1924, Social Reformer and Suffragette'' by Iain Gordon was published in 2018.Iain Gordon, ''Rebel With a Cause: The Life and Times of Sarah Benett, 1850-1924, Social Reformer and Suffragette'', Pen & Sword History (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benett, Sarah 1850 births 1924 deaths English suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union British feminists British women's rights activists Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Women's Freedom League People from St Pancras, London English tax resisters