Rosa May Billinghurst

Rosa May Billinghurst (31 May 1875 – 29 July 1953) was a British suffragette and women's rights activist.

As a child she survived polio, which left her unable to walk. She wore leg-irons and used either crutches or a modified tricycle. in response to the calls from suffragette organisations for a boycott.

Billinghurst would place her crutches on both sides of her tricycle and would charge any opposition. Billinghurst's first stint in Holloway Prison was for smashing a window on Henrietta Street during this campaign, for which she was sentenced to one month's hard labour. The prison authorities were confused regarding her sentence to hard labour, and gave her no extra work. She was befriended by many other prisoners, including Dr. Alice Stewart Ker, who had Billinghurst smuggle a letter out to Ker's daughter on her release. Billinghurst represented herself in court to plead the case for women's suffrage. Her defence titled "The Guilt Lies on the Shoulders of the Government" was published in The Suffragette. She subsequently went on a hunger strike, and was force-fed along with the other imprisoned suffragettes participating in the strike. She became so ill that she was released two weeks after her force-feeding began. who was killed while reaching for the reins of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby.

Billinghurst also took part in the mass deputation of suffragettes to petition King George V on 21 May 1914. Although she was not arrested, two policemen deliberately tipped her out of her tricycle.

Billinghurst lived in the garden house of her property "Minikoi", Sunbury, Surrey (then in Middlesex), with her adopted daughter, "Beth". Beth has since written a book describing her relationship with her adoptive mother. Her brother was Alfred John Billinghurst, an artist, with whom she lived after 1914. leaving her body to science.

Other sources List of suffragists and suffragettes Tejera, P. (2018). Reinas de la carretera. Madrid. Ediciones Casiopea. (paper) / (digital). Spanish edit.

Archives The archives of Rosa May Billinghurst are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics.