Helen Hanson

Helen Beatrice de Rastricke Hanson (6 January 1874 – 6 July 1926) was a British physician, missionary and suffragist.

Life Hanson was born in Dorking, Surrey, on 6 January 1874 to Caroline Anne (born Offord) and Edward Hanson and his wife, Caroline Ann. Her parents were members of the Plymouth Brethren. Her father, who managed a local bank, had been brought up in Chile. She was with her family as they moved to Richmond and then to Bognor Regis until at fourteen she was sent to a boarding school run by her cousins. She was a voracious student and she decided to take up the challenge of a career in medicine. She had a Bedford College scholarship but decided to study at the London School of Medicine for Women. However she left India in 1909 and chose to travel in steerage class so that she could donate the five pounds saved to the suffragette cause. She remained interested in missionary work but did not feel well enough to return. She became a member of the Church of England on her return. She had been brought up in a family who was politically active and in support of women having the vote. Unlike her parents she believed in militancy. She joined Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union and she was one of those arrested on Black Friday. Two hundred suffragettes had been arrested as they tried to enter the Houses of Parliament. The event attracted wide attention. The deputation was led by Emmeline Pankhurst to petition Asquith. The delegates included Dorinda Neligan, Hertha Ayrton, Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson, Anne Cobden-Sanderson, and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. Under the name, Helen Rice, she served five days in prison.

After the war she joined an expeditionary force at the Black Sea. She served with that group until 1920 when she returned to her pre-war job. Her medals were sold at auction in 2012.