Person    | Female  Born 31/5/1875  Died 29/7/1953

Rosa May Billinghurst

Suffragette. Born in Lewisham. As a child, she survived poliomyelitis and had to use crutches or a tricycle, modified as a wheelchair. She was active in the women's suffrage movement and founded the Greenwich branch of the Women's Social and Political Union. During the window-smashing campaign in March 1912, she apparently hid stones beneath the rug that covered her knees.

She was imprisoned twice and was force-fed when she went on hunger strike. In 1913 she chained herself to the gates of Buckingham Palace, and took part in the mass deputation of suffragettes to petition King George V in 1914. Though she was not arrested, it is said that two policemen deliberately tipped her out of her wheelchair. Worked for Christabel Pankhurst’s campaign in the 1918 election then later joined Women’s Freedom League and Suffragette Fellowship. Died in a hospital in Twickenham.

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:
Rosa May Billinghurst

Commemorated ati

Fawcett frieze - 37, Billinghurst

Rosa May Billinghurst, 1875 - 1953

Read More

Votes for Women campaign hommage

The mural was due to be completed in 2018, to mark the centenary of votes for...

Read More

Other Subjects

Nessie Stewart-Brown

Nessie Stewart-Brown

Suffragist and Liberal Party politician. Co-founder of Liverpool Women’s Suffrage Society, and led Women’s Liberal Federation branches in Liverpool. Born as Nessie Muspratt near Liverpool. 1888 Mar...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Emily Wilding Davison

Emily Wilding Davison

Militant suffragette. Born Roxburgh House, Vanbrugh Park Road, Greenwich (see Running Past for info about the house). Brought up in Hertfordshire until aged 11 when the family returned to London. H...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Tragedy

4 memorials
Abraham Davis

Abraham Davis

Alderman (of St Pancras Borough Council), property developer and pioneer of flats for ladies. A son of Polish immigrants, he and his 5 brothers prospered in property development, initially in East...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
Blue Plaque Rebellion

Blue Plaque Rebellion

Writing her book 'Eat Sweat Play: How Sport Can Change Our Lives' Anna Kessel, was shocked at the lack of recognition for sportswomen from the past. Hence the Blue Plaque Rebellion, set up with the...

Group, Gender Issues, Sport / Games

1 memorial
Margaret Ashton

Margaret Ashton

Chairperson of the North of England Society for Women’s Suffrage. Manchester’s first woman councillor. Active in women’s peace campaigns during First World War. The photograph shows her at the Manc...

Person, Gender Issues

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Frederick Newland Pedley

Frederick Newland Pedley

Founded the Guy's Dental School in 1889.

Person, Medicine

1 memorial
John Thomas

John Thomas

Born Gloucestershire.  A prolific Victorian sculptor. The splendid Speel gives this list of other works in London: pediment of Paddington Station Great Western Hotel; decorative work on the piers o...

Person, Sculpture

4 memorials
Councillor Sam Elsbury

Councillor Sam Elsbury

Councillor and member of Housing Committee, Parmiter Street, 1926. Councillor and on the Bethnal Green Baths Committee in 1926. Probably married to Rebecca.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
S. Harris

S. Harris

Name on one of the corner plaques of the East Ham WW1 memorial.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Fm.John Victor Appleby

Fm.John Victor Appleby

Fireman killed in the Dudgeon's Wharf explosion. Andrew Behan has researched Appleby: Fireman John Victor Appleby was born on 20 June 1946 and his birth was registered in Poplar. He was the son of...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

3 memorials