# Edith Hudson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edith_Hudson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edith_Hudson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Hudson > Source revision: 1346268060 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|British nurse and suffragette (born 1872)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Use British English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Edith Hudson | image = Edith Hudson born 1872.png | birth_date = 1872 | death_date = Unknown | occupation = Nurse | movement = Women's Social and Political Union, women's suffrage | years_active = 1909–1913 }} '''Edith Hudson''' (born 1872) was a British [nurse](/source/Nursing) and [suffragette](/source/suffragette). She was an active member of the [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh) branch of the [Women's Social and Political Union](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union) (WSPU) and was arrested several times for her part in their [protest](/source/protest)s in [Scotland](/source/Scotland) and [London](/source/London). She engaged in [hunger strike](/source/hunger_strike)s while in prison and was forcibly fed. She was released after the last of these strikes under the so-called [Cat and Mouse Act](/source/Prisoners_(Temporary_Discharge_for_Ill_Health)_Act_1913). Hudson was awarded a [Hunger Strike Medal](/source/Hunger_Strike_Medal) 'for Valour' by the WSPU.{{cn|date=July 2023}} ==Early life and career== Hudson was born in 1872.Suffragette Amnesty of August 1914: index of women arrested 1906-1914. Home Office: Registered Papers. Suffragette Collection. National Archives. Ref. HO 45/24665. By 1891 she was living with her mother and siblings in Glasgow in the census records, and in 1901 census she is working as a hospital nurse at Western Infirmary, Glasgow.{{Cite web |title=Find your Scottish ancestors {{!}} ScotlandsPeople |url=https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk}} She gave up her profession to dedicate herself to the [women’s suffrage](/source/Women's_suffrage) movement.The Suffragist Disturbances. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 23 November 1911. ==Campaign for women's suffrage== Hudson was an active member of the Edinburgh branch of the Women's Social and Political Union and engaged in protests in Scotland and London. She hosted meetings of the Edinburgh WSPU at her home in Melville Place.Edinburgh Suffragists and the London Raids. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 8 March 1912. She was arrested for the first time in Edinburgh in December 1909 at a [demonstration](/source/Demonstration_(political)) where Liberal MP [Sir Edward Grey](/source/Edward_Grey%2C_1st_Viscount_Grey_of_Fallodon) was delivering a speech. Hudson addressed a large crowd before making her way to the theatre and becoming engaged in scuffles with police who were blocking the way.Exciting Suffragist Scenes in the Streets. The Scotsman. Edinburgh 6 December 1909. She was charged with committing a [breach of the peace](/source/breach_of_the_peace) and pled guilty, but claimed her actions were “purely political” and necessary as “the Government at present had refused to hear any questions about women’s franchise that were put in a constitutional and peaceful manner.”The Leith Suffragist Disturbance. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 7 December 1909. She was given a £5 fine or 30 days' imprisonment. Hudson opted to go to [prison](/source/prison) and was removed to [Calton Jail](/source/Calton_Jail) with a fellow suffragette [Elsie Roe-Brown](/source/Elsie_Roe-Brown). Members of the Edinburgh WSPU gathered at the walls of Calton Jail to give them “an encouraging cheer”. She was involved in an incident at [Louth Town Hall](/source/Louth_Town_Hall) at [Louth](/source/Louth%2C_Lincolnshire) in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire) in 1910, when during a speech being given by the then [Chancellor of the Exchequer](/source/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer) and future [Prime Minister](/source/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom), [David Lloyd George](/source/David_Lloyd_George), she and [Bertha Brewster](/source/Bertha_Brewster) conducted a protest and were arrested.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zxUvCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA479 |title= The Suffragette: The History of the Women's Militant Suffrage Movement, 1905-1910| page=479|first=Sylvia|last=Pankhurst|publisher=Arkose Press|year=2015|isbn= 978-1345563368}} On 21 November 1911, Hudson was among the 223 protesters arrested at a WSPU demonstration at the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom), to which she had travelled with other women from the Edinburgh branch, including [Jessie C. Methven](/source/Jessie_C._Methven), [Alice Shipley](/source/Alice_Maud_Shipley), [Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson](/source/Elizabeth_and_Agnes_Thomson) and [Mrs N Grieve](/source/Mrs_N_Grieve). The demonstrations followed the "torpedoing" of the [Conciliation Bill](/source/Conciliation_Bills), meant to extend the right to vote to wealthy, property-owning women.Crawford, Elizabeth (1999). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. Hudson had previously been arrested in London in November 1910. ===Hunger strikes=== thumb|suffragette window smashing campaign|alt= In March 1912, Hudson took part in a [militant](/source/militant) protest which involved concerted window-smashing in London over three days. Scottish participants were assigned [Kensington High Street](/source/Kensington_High_Street). Hudson was arrested, sentenced and sent to [Holloway prison](/source/Holloway_prison).Leneman, Leah (1991). A Guid Cause. Aberdeen University Press. P110-12. While she was serving her sentence, [Emmeline](/source/Emmeline_Pankhurst) and [Christabel Pankhurst](/source/Christabel_Pankhurst) were charged with [conspiracy](/source/conspiracy) and imprisoned in Holloway in April 1912. Suffragette prisoners were instructed by the WSPU to go on hunger strike to protest Mrs Pankhurst's [sentence](/source/Sentence_(law)). A fellow Scottish prisoner, [Lilias Mitchell](/source/Lilias_Mitchell), described the forcible feeding of the hunger strikers as "a sort of hell for two hours" and reported that Hudson "fought splendidly - knocked down all the six wardresses & told the doctor what she thought of him!"Leneman, Leah (1991). A Guid Cause. Aberdeen University Press. P112. Mrs Pankhurst was released the following day. All the released prisoners were presented with an "illuminated address"{{Cite web|date=2014-04-30|title=Suffrage Stories/Suffrage Collecting: WSPU Illuminated Address|url=https://womanandhersphere.com/2014/04/30/suffrage-storiessuffrage-collecting-wspu-illuminated-address/|access-date=2020-09-27|website=Woman and her Sphere|language=en}} designed by [Sylvia Pankhurst](/source/Sylvia_Pankhurst) and signed by Emmeline.Pankhurst, ES (1931). The Suffragette Movement: An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals. London. p218. In May 1913 Hudson was charged with attempting to set fire to [Kelso Racecourse](/source/Kelso_Racecourse) stand, along with [Arabella Scott](/source/Arabella_Scott) and [Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson](/source/Elizabeth_and_Agnes_Thomson), and, at [Jedburgh Sheriff Court](/source/Jedburgh_Sheriff_Court), was sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Calton Jail.Crawford, Elizabeth (2006). The Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland. Routledge. p237. The women immediately went on hunger strike.Geddes, J. F. (2008). "Culpable Complicity: the medical profession and the forcible feeding of suffragettes, 1909–1914". Women's History Review. 17 (1): 79–94. doi:10.1080/09612020701627977. p82. After seven days, Hudson and the other female prisoners were released under The [Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913](/source/Prisoners_(Temporary_Discharge_for_Ill_Health)_Act_1913), also known as the Cat and Mouse Act, which had recently been introduced to allow prisons to release women whose hunger strike had reached a critical stage. They were released [on licence](/source/Release_on_licence), to return when their health improved. No attempt had been made to [forcibly feed](/source/Force-feeding) them.Another Edinburgh Hunger-striker Released. The Scotsman. Edinburgh 25.05.1913. After her release Hudson stayed at the home of Dr [Grace Cadell](/source/Grace_Cadell), which was used as a refuge for suffragettes.Leneman, Leah (1991). A Guid Cause. Aberdeen University Press. p144. She was interviewed there by a journalist who described her as "a woman of fine physique" who would soon be to fit enough to return to Calton for "further martyrdom".Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. 27 May 1913. None of the women returned to prison when their licenses expired and Hudson subsequently “vanished”. Like many suffragettes at the time, Hudson used an alias to evade the police and went by Mary Brown.Leneman, Leah (1991). A Guid Cause. Aberdeen University Press. P261. For this reason it is likely that she is noted twice on the Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners.Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners 1905-1914. c.1960. Held by: London University: London School of Economics, The Women's Library. [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ee5a777f-1d7c-416b-a249-c7cb64fcc0a8] She was remembered by a fellow suffragette as "about the most gentle person I knew".Leneman, Leah (1991). A Guid Cause. Aberdeen University Press. P140. ==See also== * [List of suffragists and suffragettes](/source/List_of_suffragists_and_suffragettes) * [Women's Social and Political Union](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union) * [Timeline of women's suffrage](/source/Timeline_of_women's_suffrage) == References == {{reflist}} {{authority control}} {{Women's suffrage in Scotland}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Edith}} Category:Year of death missing Category:Scottish nurses Category:British women nurses Category:Scottish suffragettes Category:Women's Social and Political Union Category:1872 births Category:People associated with Edinburgh Category:British hunger strikers Category:British nurses Category:Health professionals from Glasgow --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edith Hudson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Hudson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Hudson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.