Catherine Marshall

Catherine Elizabeth Marshall (29 April 1880 – 22 March 1961) was a suffragist and campaigner against conscription during the First World War. She moved from women's votes to peace and worked in Geneva supporting the League of Nations.

Early life and education Marshall was born on 29 April 1880, in Harrow on the Hill. Her father, Francis Marshall, taught mathematics at Harrow School and her mother Caroline had also been a teacher. Marshall and her mother joined the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and created the Keswick branch. Marshall was demonstrating what became best practice by establishing a stall in Keswick market to sell suffrage literature and raise awareness.

In February 1915, the Women's International Congress took place in The Hague. This was a conference she had helped organise. Marshall was convinced that peace could be established by recognising the consent of the people and refusing models built of force and power. In March 1915, she resigned from her positions with the NUWSS. She started a relationship with Clifford Allen, Chairman of the No-Conscription Fellowship, who was imprisoned as a conscientious objector three times. In 1917, he became so ill that he was released from prison and he and Marshall set up house together, Marshall was also ill, but from overwork. Marshall hoped that their relationship would continue, but Allen ended their partnership.

Marshall recovered from her overwork threw herself again into ensuring peace. She was a delegate in Zurich at the Women's International Congress. The congress attracted delegations from many of former countries who had been at war. The congress was able to review the model for the new League of Nations.

Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, unveiled in 2018.