About Katherine "Kitty" Marshall
Lived 1870 – 1947 (aged 76–77). Katherine "Kitty" Marshall was a British suffragette and feminist.
Emily Katherine Willoughby Marshall (; 1870–1947), known as Kitty Marshall, was a British suffragette known for her role in the militant Women's Social and Political Union and as one of the bodyguard for the movement's leaders who had been trained in ju-jitsu.
Life Marshall was born Emily Katherine Jacques in 1870, the daughter of the Rev Kinton Jacques of West Houghton, Lancashire. a doctor, the son of a vicar, who had contracted venereal disease in 1899 and passed it to Kitty, and from whom she was divorced in 1901. She then married Arthur Marshall, a solicitor, in 1904. Marshall also organised the unveiling of the WSPU leader's statue in Westminster in 1930 and was presented with a miniature of the statue to commemorate her involvement.
A celebration lunch reception at the Criterion, Piccadilly for 15 released prisoners and 300 activists who welcomed them was held on 23 December 1910. Marshall wrote about the experiences of using this form of self-defence and other incidents, including acting as wardrobe mistress for disguises and using decoys especially for leaders avoiding re-capture under the "Cat and Mouse Act" in her unpublished memoir titled Suffragette Escapes and Adventures. Journalists at the time called them the "jiujitsuffragettes" - a portmanteau of "jiujitsu" and "suffragette" - and referred to their tactics as "suffrajitsu".
On 6 February 1911 Marshall was with Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, both well dressed and let through by police as Prime Minister Asquith left Number 10, and they held up a "Give Women the Vote" banner. The Princess's protest was reported in the press but frustratingly did not lead to the publicity associated with a trial and imprisonment.
Marshall was with Emmeline Pankhurst and Mabel Tuke on 1 March 1912, and all were arrested after pulling up in a taxicab and stoning two windows of Number 10 (as Mrs Pankhurst's stone missed). Within an hour, the campaign of 150 suffragettes (a few every quarter of an hour) broke the windows in shops and in commercial property across Haymarket, Piccadilly, Regent Street, the Strand, Oxford Street and Bond Street.
At their trial for conspiracy, Mrs Pankhurst and Marshall were sentenced to two months (her third prison term), Mabel Tuke sentenced to three weeks.
In 1913, Marshall and her husband sheltered Grace Roe. She was the WSPU head of operations after she took over from Annie Kenney who had been imprisoned. Roe was then evading her own arrest for conspiracy, and ill from her journey after visiting Christabel Pankhurst in Paris for instructions for the movement. Marshall lent her "racy" clothes as disguise, a heavy veil and toque hat.
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Important facts
People in Katherine "Kitty" Marshall's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Katherine "Kitty" Marshall's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Katherine "Kitty" Marshall?
British suffragette
When was Katherine "Kitty" Marshall born?
Katherine "Kitty" Marshall was born in 1870.
When did Katherine "Kitty" Marshall die?
Katherine "Kitty" Marshall died in 1947 in Halstead.
What was Katherine "Kitty" Marshall's occupation?
Katherine "Kitty" Marshall was a suffragette and feminist.
What nationality was Katherine "Kitty" Marshall?
Katherine "Kitty" Marshall was British.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Katherine "Kitty" Marshall
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Katherine "Kitty" Marshall. https://biography.guide/katherine-kitty-marshall/
MLA: "Katherine "Kitty" Marshall." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/katherine-kitty-marshall/.
Chicago: "Katherine "Kitty" Marshall." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/katherine-kitty-marshall/.
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