Person    | Female  Born 1872  Died 1971

Edith Garrud

Suffragette and martial arts instructor. Born Edith Margaret Williams in Bath. She married William Garrud, a physical culture instructor and in 1899 they were introduced to the art of jiu-jitsu. In 1913, the so-called 'Cat and Mouse Act' was passed, which allowed Suffragettes on hunger strike to be released from prison and then  immediately re-arrested. As a response to this, an all-woman protection unit called the 'Bodyguard' was formed and she trained its members in jiu-jitsu and the use of Indian clubs as defensive weapons.  Now that really is 'resisting arrest.'

She is credited as Madame Gerrud in the short film Ju-Jitsu of 1907 : "Women pursue pickpockets from Piccadilly to Hampstead and wrestle them."  But sadly it seems to be lost.

Londonist has some more info as does London Historian.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Edith Garrud

Commemorated ati

Edith Garrud

Edith Garrud, 1872 - 1971, the suffragette that knew jiu-jitsu lived here. Is...

Read More

Other Subjects

Margaret Ethel MacDonald

Margaret Ethel MacDonald

Feminist and social reformer. Daughter of John & Margaret Gladstone. Born 17 Pembridge Square, her mother dying soon after. Brought up to do good works, she became a socialist, joined the Labou...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Votes for Women

Votes for Women

LSE History gives: "... Frederick and Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, who owned and edited the WSPU newspaper Votes for Women. Founded in 1907, Votes for Women was printed at the St Clement’s Press on C...

Media, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
Justice for Lai Dai Han

Justice for Lai Dai Han

This group campaigns for an independent UN-led investigation into allegations of widespread sexual violence by South Korean soldiers during the Vietnam War. The group commissioned the Mother and Ch...

Group, Gender Issues, Law, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Dorothy Richardson

Dorothy Richardson

Author and journalist.  Born Abingdon and brought up in Putney. Her father was bankrupt and her mother had died by suicide by the time Dorothy was 22. Moved to Bloomsbury in 1896 and while working ...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature

1 memorial
Edith S. Kerrison

Edith S. Kerrison

The first woman to serve on the West Ham council and an advocate of welfare for women and children. Was offered the Mayoralty but in view of her advancing years and increasing deafness she declined...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Giovanni Leto
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Brunel's Thames Tunnel

Brunel's Thames Tunnel

The first tunnel in the world under a navigable river. Built between 1825 and 1843 using the tunnelling shield technology invented by Marc Brunel. It was originally intended to be used for horse-dr...

Place, Engineering, Transport

5 memorials
Wagner School

Wagner School

Private day school for young boys at 90 Queen's Gate, run by Orlando Henry Wagner (1867-1956) and his wife Monica. Operating before WW1 but we can't find start and end dates. An old boy, Michael Ma...

Group, Education

1 memorial