Edith New

Suffrage activism

In the early 1900s, New left her teaching career and began working as an organiser and campaigner for the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She travelled around England, speaking to groups about the women's movement. In January 1908, New and Olivia Smith chained themselves to the railings of 10 Downing Street shouting "Votes for Women!", to create a diversion for their fellow suffragettes Flora Drummond and Mary Macarthur to sneak in before being arrested. In June 1908, during a protest, New and another suffragette, Mary Leigh, broke two windows at 10 Downing Street. They were arrested and sentenced to two months in prison at Holloway.

It was the first time in the suffrage movement that vandalism had taken place. The women were at first concerned that other suffragettes would not approve of their actions, but Emmeline Pankhurst, a leader of the suffrage movement, visited the women in prison and gave them her approval for using vandalism as a tactic for getting their voices heard. Additional acts of vandalism and arson were planned by the women soon after. During their court sentencing, the women threatened that next time they would use bombs. When they were released from prison in August 1908, a parade was held in their honour by a delegation of suffragettes that included Christabel Pankhurst.

The WSPU presented Edith New with a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' in recognition of her contributions to the suffrage movement. While in prison, she had gone on hunger strike in protest for the woman's right to vote. In 1909, New was pictured in Hawick, Scotland addressing crowds outside the Tower Hotel. That year the WSPU and the rival NWSPU both took shops in Hawick and the police had to intervene when the crowd began to shake the speaker's carriage. In 1911, New left the WSPU and moved to Lewisham to resume her teaching career.

Later life and legacy

New retired to the small town of Polperro in Cornwall

Portrayal in media In the 2015 film Suffragette, a character partially based on New is portrayed by English actress Helena Bonham Carter.