Suffragettes Cell

And just in case anyone is feeling light-hearted and thinks that the suffragettes were a question of nice oil paintings of Mrs Pankhurst, and merrily chucking things at policemen, and scarves – this is a drawing by a suffragette of her cell in Holloway. It comes from the fascinating Suffragette's Blog where someone has transcribed a diary kept by a prisoner in July 1909. The suffragette's identity is unknown but she was clearly a factory or office worker (like Jenny in No Surrender) because she writes (15th July 1909): 'No sunshine can get into this cell... However my room at Stamford and Metcalf where I sat for 4 years was not much lighter than this.