Constance Lewcock

Constance Mary Lewcock OBE (, 11 April 1894 – 11 November 1980) was a British suffragette, arsonist and socialist. She campaigned with the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and the Independent Labour Party.

Life Lewcock was born on 11 April 1894 in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Her parents were Thomas Henry Ellis and Emily Mary Lessware.

Lewcock was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle. She moved to Esh Winning in 1912 to work as a teacher.

In 1913, Lewcock volunteered her services to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was initially warned against getting arrested. She learnt about politics by chairing and talking at WSPU meetings across County Durham. She later committed what she called the "perfect crime," when in March 1914 she burnt down a railway building at Esh Winning. She had designed a system where a jar of flammable liquid was set alight when a candle burnt down. This meant that by the time the wooden building was alight she was miles away establishing an alibi. She also had the assistance of a miner named Joss Craddock, who she had met at meetings of the Independent Labour Party at Cornsay Colliery. This meant that Lewcock avoided the bruises that she used to get before they met.

Lewcock died on 11 November 1980 in Newcastle upon Tyne, after a fall outside her home. In the 1976 interview Lewcock recalls her childhood and her WSPU work, her political interests and her husband. Elsie Wright, the niece and adopted daughter of Joss Craddock, also took part in the 1977 interview in which Lewcock speaks further about Craddock.

Lewcock was featured in a BBC Two clip, discussing suffragette tactics.

Durham County Record Office (DCRO) holds documents relating to Lewcock's life.

In 2019, a blue plaque commemorating Lewcock was unveiled at her former school, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle. She is also commemorated too with a plaque on the Local Heroes Walk of Fame along the Newcastle and Gateshead Quayside.