# Grace Burbridge

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**Grace Edith Burbridge** (born 15 July 1887) was a British [suffragette](/source/Suffragette), burned whilst setting fire to a postbox.

## Life and activism

Burbridge was born in 1887 in [Holloway](/source/Holloway,_London), Middlesex, to William and Harriet Burbridge.[2]

Burbridge became a shorthand typist.[3] By the age of 25, her salary supported her father and sister[3] living in Hartham Road, Holloway.

Burbridge became involved in the militancy for women's suffrage. She was arrested[4] in 1913 after setting fire to a postbox at the junction of [Camden Road](/source/Camden_Road) and Sandhall Road, London, with liquid phosphorus and badly burning her own arm in the process.[3] The postman had collected the letters before noticing they were on fire and attempted to save the mail, a nearby postman noticed a woman with her arm in "blue flames" screaming, and contacted the police. A policeman followed Burbridge to a nearby doctor and overheard her confess to the doctor as to how she became burned, and where she left the chemical, which was collected in evidence.[5]

Burbridge's case at the Marylebone Police Court, was defended by Arthur Marshall, husband of [Kitty Marshall](/source/Katherine_%22Kitty%22_Marshall),[6] who in leading her defence, emphasised Burbridge's role as the main earner for her father and sister, as a typist, and her suffering and pain. The magistrate noted the "peculiar circumstances" and she was bound over to keep the peace rather than imprisoned.[3] The news of her action and injury spread as far as Australia, under the headline "The Biter Bitten"[7] and in another report the magistrate was quoted as calling her "a poor deluded dupe."[8]

## References

1. *London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923*

1. ["Grace Edith Burbridge"](https://www.suffrageresources.org.uk/database/1660/miss-grace-edith-burbidge). *Suffrage Resources*. 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.

1. Atkinson, Diane (2018). *Rise up, women! : the remarkable lives of the suffragettes*. London: Bloomsbury. p. 368. ISBN 9781408844045. [OCLC 1016848621](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1016848621)

1. ["Roll of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners 1905-1914"](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ee5a777f-1d7c-416b-a249-c7cb64fcc0a8)

1. ["Suffragettes January 29 1913"](https://lifeandtimesofflorencenightingale.wordpress.com/suffragette-newspaper-index/january-29-1913/). *The Life and Times of Florence Nightingale*. 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2019-10-18.

1. Godfrey, Emelyne (2023-04-13). [*Mrs Pankhurst's Bodyguard: On the Trail of 'Kitty' Marshall and the Met Police 'Cats'*](https://books.google.com/books?id=odSUEAAAQBAJ&dq=Grace+Burbridge&pg=PT160). History Press. ISBN 978-1-80399-178-8.

1. ["The Biter Bitten."](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175912833). *Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947)*. 1913-01-31. p. 2. Retrieved 2019-10-18.

1. ["THE SUFFRAGETTES, PILLAR-BOX OUTRAGE."](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90010754). *Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918)*. 1913-02-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2019-10-18.

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