# Constance Bryer

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{{Short description|British classical violinist and campaigner for women's rights}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_date         = c. July 1870
| birth_place        = [Islington](/source/Islington), London, England
| death_date         = 12 July 1952 (aged 81 or 82)
| death_place        = [Dartmouth Park](/source/Dartmouth_Park), London, England
| occupation         = classical violinist and suffragette
| organisation       = [Women's Social and Political Union](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union) (WSPU) <br> [Church League for Women's Suffrage](/source/Church_League_for_Women's_Suffrage)
}}
thumb|Miss Adams and Constance Bryer released from prison
'''Constance Elizabeth Bryer''' (c. July 1870 &ndash; 12 July 1952) was a British classical violinist and campaigner for [women's rights](/source/Women's_suffrage), an activist and [suffragette](/source/suffragette) who during her imprisonment in [Holloway Prison](/source/HM_Prison_Holloway) went on [hunger strike](/source/hunger_strike) as a consequence of which she was [force-fed](/source/Force-feeding).

==Early life and family==
Constance Bryer was born in [Islington](/source/Islington) in London in 1870, the eldest of seven children born to Thomas John Bryer (1844–1916), a bullion merchant, and Elizabeth Butler Bryer ({{nee}} Chadwick; 1847–1937). In 1908, she was a violinist living in the family home at 49 Tufnell Park Road in London.<ref>Postcard to Constance Elizabeth Bryer at 49 Tufnell Park Road in London - the Glenn Christodoulou Collection.</ref> Her brother, Gilbert William Bryer (1882–1919), served as a gunner with the [Royal Garrison Artillery](/source/Royal_Garrison_Artillery) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and died of injuries sustained in service. He is buried in [Highgate Cemetery](/source/Highgate_Cemetery).<ref>[https://highgatecemetery.org/visit/war-graves War Graves in Highgate Cemetery]</ref> 
thumb|right|Holloway Prison c. 1896

==Suffrage activity==
Bryer joined the [Women's Social and Political Union](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union) (WSPU) and the [Church League for Women's Suffrage](/source/Church_League_for_Women's_Suffrage) (CLWS), abandoning her career as a musician to campaign for [women's rights](/source/Women's_suffrage). She seems to have come from a musical family for her relative George Bryer was a member of one of the fife and drum bands which took part in the procession for the [WSPU](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union)'s 'Women's Sunday' in June 1908<ref name=Crawford/> while her cellist sister Pearl studied under [Paderewski](/source/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski).<ref>[https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/IGNACY-JAN-PADEREWSKI.-Photograph-Signed-and-Inscribed,-to-M-2492+++++292+-++749186 Inscribed photograph from Paderewski to Pearl Bryer - Swann Auction Galleries, New York]</ref> 

Between 1911 and 1913 Constance Bryer was the Secretary for the North Islington branch of the WSPU. She was involved in '[Black Friday](/source/Black_Friday_(1910))' in 1910 and was arrested for obstruction but was later discharged. She illegally 'evaded' the 1911 census survey by not being present at her family home at 49 Tuffnell Park Road in London when officials called to record information. In 1911, Bryer was arrested when taking part in a WSPU demonstration against the 'torpedoing' of the [Conciliation Bill](/source/Conciliation_Bills) and for which she was sentenced to five days in prison.<ref name=Crawford/><ref>[https://www.suffrageresources.org.uk/database/1656/miss-constance-elizabeth-bryer Miss Constance Elizabeth Bryer - Women's Suffrage: History and Citizenship Resources for Schools]</ref> 
[[File:HM Prison Birmingham c1920.jpg|thumb|right|[HM Prison Birmingham](/source/HM_Prison_Birmingham) in the 1920s]]
In May 1912 Bryer was sentenced to four months in [HM Prison Birmingham](/source/HM_Prison_Birmingham) for breaking windows on [Regent Street](/source/Regent_Street) in London. In prison with her was [Olive Wharry](/source/Olive_Wharry), who became her lifelong friend.<ref>[https://www.devonhistorysociety.org.uk/wharry-miss-olive/ Miss Olive Wharry - Devon History Society online]</ref> While on [hunger strike](/source/hunger_strike) there with other suffragette prisoners Bryer wrote a verse and signed her name in an autograph album:
<blockquote>
Suffragettes we sit and sew<br />
Sew and sit and sit and sew<br />
Twenty-five are we:<br />
Making shirts and socks for men<br />
Cannot get away from them<br />
Even here you see.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2012/dec/06/suffragette-autograph-album-pictures A Suffragette autograph album - in pictures] - ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' 6 December 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/06/suffragette-autograph-album-movement-struggles Suffragette autograph album illuminates movement's struggles]  - ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' 6 December 2012</ref>
</blockquote>

==Later life and death==
She was made an [executor](/source/executor) in the will of her friend and fellow [suffragette](/source/suffragette) [Olive Wharry](/source/Olive_Wharry) in which Bryer was left an [annuity](/source/Annuity_(European_financial_arrangements)) of £200 together with Wharry's [hunger strike medal](/source/Hunger_Strike_Medal) and some of her etchings and books. Both Wharry and Bryer's hunger strike medals remain together in a private collection.<ref name="Crawford">{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Crawford (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygXwlK_mj50C&pg=PT264 |title=The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928 |date=2003-09-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-43401-4 |pages=707 |language=en}}</ref>

During [World War II](/source/World_War_II) she was bombed out of her home and was forced to take rooms on the top floor at 70 Alexandra Road in [St John's Wood](/source/St_John's_Wood) in London, which she shared with her sister Angela Bryer<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1795/40020_214075-00218?pid=46990097&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D1795%26h%3D46990097%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3Ddjv1709%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv1709&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.160103741.1457888932.1570226669-1197399642.1515349816 London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 for Constance E Bryer - Camden Hampstead 1951] - [Ancestry.com](/source/Ancestry.com) {{subscription required}}</ref> and where in her later years she was troubled with [sciatica](/source/sciatica). In 1951 she was asked by [Adela Verne](/source/Adela_Verne) to play in a concert with her but felt herself to be too out of practice.<ref>Letter to Mr Brierley - 4 September 1951 - auctioned 2018</ref>

Bryer died aged 82 in July 1952 at the Whittington Hospital in [Dartmouth Park](/source/Dartmouth_Park) in London. In her will she left £1,567 16s 6d to her unmarried sisters Emmeline Beatrice Bryer and Evelyn Maude Bryer.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/32858_633870_1437-00555?pid=19380814&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D1904%26h%3D19380814%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3Ddjv1702%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv1702&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.165400895.1457888932.1570226669-1197399642.1515349816 Constance Elizabeth Bryer in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995] - [Ancestry.com](/source/Ancestry.com) {{subscription required}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryer, Constance}}
Category:1870 births
Category:1952 deaths
Category:English classical violinists
Category:20th-century British classical violinists
Category:British suffragettes
Category:Women's Social and Political Union
Category:British feminist musicians
Category:British women's rights activists
Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales
Category:Hunger Strike Medal recipients
Category:People from Islington (district)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Constance Bryer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Bryer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Bryer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.