Summary

Suffragette Medal awarded to Myra Eleanor Sadd Brown, following her being force fed in Holloway Prison in March 1912. The colours of the ribbon from which the bar and medal hang represent dignity (purple), purity (white) and hope (green). These were adopted as the official WSPU colours in May 1908.

Myra Sadd Brown [nee Myra Sadd] was a women's rights activist and internationalist. She was active in the women's suffrage movement in London and became a member of the militant Women's Social and Political Union, being imprisoned and arrested in 1912. While in Holloway Prison she went on hunger strike and was force fed.

The Suffragette Medal was commissioned in 1909 by the Women's Social and Political Union, and fewer than 100 are thought to have been awarded.

Obverse Description

Small round silver medal (22 mm. diameter) suspended by a ring from a green, white and purple ribbon which si supported by a lower bar enamelled in horizontal stripes of purple, white and green, and an upper silver bar which is inscribed FOR VALOUR. The obverse of the medal is inscribed HUNGER STRIKE.

Reverse Description

The reverse is inscribed MYRA SADD BROWN within a laurel wreath. The back of the lower bar is inscribed FED BY FORCE 4/3/12 and the back of the upper bar is impressed TOYE. 57 THEOBALDS RD. LONDON.

Edge Description

Plain

Significance

The Suffragette Medal was commissioned in 1909 by the Women's Social and Political Union, and fewer than 100 are thought to have been awarded. These are a potent symbol of the efforts women in Britain were prepared to go to in order to obtain the vote, and are a valuable addition to the museum's collection of suffragette items. Only two other suffragette medals are known to be held in Australian institutions (National Library of Australia and Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House).

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