“Doing good in Brighton”: honouring the educationalist and suffragette Mary Hare

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 27th March 2024)

When I was a councillor in the 1980s, I used to love door-knocking, both during election campaigns and throughout the year. But there was one exception, a street I never enjoyed visiting: St Michael’s Place in central Brighton. It was inevitably windy and raining. I was back in St Michael’s Place last Saturday. Not only was there a bitterly cold west wind, and not only did it rain, there was a most dramatic hailstorm the likes of which I have seldom experienced in England.

But Saturday was different. It was an uplifting and joyful celebration of the life of Mary Hare, a suffragette, the founder of an independent women’s police force in Brighton and, most importantly, a pioneering teacher of deaf children. The Mayor, Cllr. Jackie O’Quinn was there, the Brighton and Hove Bus that bears the name ‘Mary Hare’ was incongruously parked in this side street, and at least half those present were communicating through sign language. They were all there to witness the unveiling of a blue plaque to commemorate the life and work of Mary Hare.

17 St Michael’s Place was Mary’s home from 1895 to 1901, and was one of the sites of the school she had founded. According to the programme prepared for the unveiling, “Mary was ahead of her time in championing the rights and wellbeing of deaf children and women” and was “a revolutionary campaigner for the inclusion in society and education of deaf children who, at that time, were often abandoned in asylums, or considered by some as unworthy of education.”

Mary was a committed suffragette and a contemporary of Mary Clarke, the sister of Emmeline Pankhurst, Brighton resident and organiser, and the first suffragette to die for women’s right to vote. There is currently a campaign to have a statue of Mary Clarke erected in the gardens of the Royal Pavilion to commemorate her life and work. 

The Brighton Gazette of 1908 reports that Mary Hare chaired a Women’s Social and Political Union meeting on Queen’s Road where she said that suffragettes “were going to rouse Brighton”. In 1913 she became secretary of the Brighton Women’s Freedom League, which was prepared to break the law, but rejected violence.

In 1915 Mary Hare set up a volunteer uniformed women’s police force, much against the wishes of the local constabulary, to assist Brighton and Hove’s women and children. An article in the Brighton, Hove and South Sussex Graphic entitled  ‘Bobby – the Woman Policeman’ records her work and describes Mary as looking “particularly smart in her uniform and bowler hat”. Times have moved on and one of the speakers at the unveiling of the blue plaque in St Michael’s Place was Superintendent Petra Lazar from Sussex Police.

Her true passion, however, was as an educationalist for deaf children. She said that her efforts on behalf of these children “have been my greatest joy in life.” She established, originally in London, the Private Oral School for Deaf Children in 1895, taking mixed pupils of all ages from across the country. In 1916 the school moved to larger premises in Sussex, and then to Berkshire, where the Mary Hare Grammar School for the Deaf still operates.

A past student of the Mary Hare Grammar School is Brighton-born Margaret Stewart who lives with her husband John in Patcham. Margaret single-handedly set about fundraising for the blue plaque to recognise the pioneering work of the remarkable Mary Hare. ‘Remarkable’ can also be said of the formidable Margaret Stewart who herself should be seen as an inspiration to us all. She might be small in stature but she has displayed a steely determination to honour Mary Hare.

While Margaret was the driving force behind securing the blue plaque for Mary Hare, others have supported her including the influential Brighton Women’s History Group. Present, too, at the unveiling was the current Head of the Mary Hare School for the Deaf in Berkshire, Robin Askew, and the force of nature that is Victoria Garcia from Brighton and Hove Buses who does so much to ensure that the names of more of the daughters of the city are celebrated on our buses. 

About the independent police force, Mary Hare said that “we are out to do good work in Brighton, and we have had unsolicited testimonials to the effect that we have done good.” This could be said about all of her life’s work. It can also be said of Margaret Stewart, and those words should be a challenge to the rest of us “to do good in Brighton.”

Mary Clarke: The Forgotten Suffragette

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 22nd March 2023)

Women’s History Month is celebrated in March each year. Over recent times there have been moves to recognise the achievements Brighton and Hove women, from the earliest suffragettes, early women physicians like Louisa Martindale (after whom the new wing at the Royal Sussex County Hospital has been named), women involved in sport such as Clare Connor, Sally Gunnell, and the magnificent women at Lewes FC.

Maquette of Mary Clarke by Denise Dutton (photo credit: Andrew Hasson)

There is one woman in particular who should be recognised and lauded by the City. She is Mary Clarke, the Brighton organiser of the Women’s Political and Social Union. She was a quiet, modest woman who never sought the limelight, but who was fearless in the face of male aggression.

She was assaulted and arrested on Black Friday in 1910 when police officers physically and sexually assaulted suffragettes outside Parliament. She was imprisoned in Holloway, went on hunger strike and was force-fed. She was released from prison two days before Christmas 1910 and died at the home of her brother on Christmas Day from a brain haemorrhage, probably caused by her treatment at the hands of the authorities.

There is a local campaign to have the life of Mary Clarke recognised by a statue, ideally in the grounds of the Royal Pavilion Estate where she and her fellow suffragettes held their meetings. Brighton and Hove has two statues of named women. Both of them are Queen Victoria. Now must be the time for a statue for Mary.

The Chair of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, Jean Calder, explains why recognising the ‘forgotten suffragette’ is so important: “Mary was the first suffragette to die for women’s right to vote, yet there is no public memorial for her anywhere in the country. 

“Despite her sacrifice – and the fact she was Emmeline Pankhurst’s sister and close companion – she is not even one of the fifty-nine suffrage campaigners commemorated on the plinth of the 2018 statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. The names of her sister and her three Pankhurst nieces, Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, are there. There are even three named men. But Mary’s name is absent.

“Though Mary was known for her gentleness and was not physically strong, she was extraordinarily brave. At a time when domestic violence was condoned and divorce a matter of shame, she had escaped an abusive marriage during which she experienced  destitution and homelessness. Thereafter she dedicated her life to the struggle for women’s suffrage.”

Fast-forward to 2023 and another group of pioneering women have made a comeback. In the late 1970s and early 1980s it was rare to find all-women music groups. This was the era of punk, New Wave, and Two Tone music. In Brighton a group of lesbians called, at different times, the Devil’s Dykes, Bright Girls and, latterly, Siren, rehearsed at the old Resource Centre, performed at The Richmond, The Marlborough, and at venues in London and Amsterdam.

Their presence proved to be a threat to many men, and they were frequently the target of male violence, sometimes after gigs while packing their equipment into their van. Some men, it seems, had a problem with all-women groups and, particularly, an all-lesbian one.

After many years, Siren have reformed and now perform regularly. The story of Siren, as pioneering women, musicians and lesbians, has been told in a documentary that can be seen on Latest TV. Siren have just released a new album, Under the Bridge, which is being formally launched on Friday 31st March at The Brunswick in Hove. 

Their music is unashamedly political: pro-women, pro-lesbian, anti-pornography, pro-environment, anti-war, and anti-capitalism.

One track on the album is The Ballad of Mary Clarke, commemorating the life of Mary. 12.5% of the proceeds from the sale of the album is being donated to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal.

At this point I should declare multiple interests: I am a trustee of the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, and am married to the Chair of the Appeal. My sister, Jude, is the keyboard player in Siren and her wife, Debs, is the drummer. As for the magnificent women at Lewes FC, I am a proud co-owner of the Club (along with 2,300 others in 40 countries).

As for the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal, we are making slow but steady progress. We have raised about a third of what we need. We have commissioned the sculptor, Denise Dutton, to produce a maquette which can be seen until the end of the month in the foyer of the Jubilee Library.

The eventual site for the statue is still a matter for discussion but one day Mary will be honoured and will no longer be the forgotten suffragette. For more information please see our website: https://maryclarkestatue.com

Jean Calder will be giving a talk about Mary Clarke tomorrow (Thursday) at 1.00pm in The Dome.

What’s in a Name? What should be the name of the new wing at the Royal Sussex County Hospital?

(This item first appeared in my ‘Brighton and Beyond’ column in the Brighton Argus on 17th August 2022)

What do Katie Price, Fat Boy Slim and Tony Bloom have in common? They have all been suggested as the name for the new £483 million wing at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Clearly these suggestions are tongue-in-cheek, not least that of Ms Price. The other two might have some merit if the building was a music venue or a sporting arena.

Louisa Martindale

I am very attracted by the suggestion from Sandra Vincent who has proposed Louisa Martindale, a physician, surgeon, suffragette and writer who was schooled and later worked in Brighton. Sandra explained: “She was the first female member of the Council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

“She was fierce and controversial, and also contributed to the city as a magistrate, prison commissioner and member of the National Council of Women.”

Martindale was the driving force in the setting up of the New Sussex Hospital for Women in Windlesham Road, and held the post of senior Surgeon and Physician there until 1937. She became a specialist in the early treatment of cervical cancer by X-Ray. Cancer services will be situated in the new wing.

Naming something after a living person, or someone who has recently died, is fraught with danger. A cafe at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, named after the serial paedophile and all-round vile individual, Jimmy Savile, had to change its name. 

Rolf Harris was for many years a national treasure, loved by generations of children and adults alike, honoured by Royalty, presenter of Animal Hospital, until he was revealed and jailed as a serial paedophile. 

Allowing the public to decide on the name for something might initially appeal to a public relations team, but it can turn into their worst nightmare in this age of social media.  Cast your mind back to Boaty McBoatface. The Natural Environment Research Council had called for nominations and votes for the name for its new expeditionary ship for the Antarctic.  

‘Boaty McBoatface’ emerged as the overwhelming favourite, securing 124,000 votes, 85,000 more than the next most popular, ‘RRS Poppy-Mai’, named after a little girl with incurable cancer.  

I loved the Boaty McBoatface phenomenon, but I did not vote for it.  I voted for Katharine Giles to be commemorated by having the ship named after her. Katharine was a research scientist who had dedicated her professional career to monitoring the impact of climate change. What more fitting way could there be to commemorate the life of a young woman whose life had been cut tragically short in a cycling accident in London three years previously.

The Natural Environment Research Council ignored the public by naming the ship the ‘RRS David Attenborough’.

I once found myself at a lunch sitting next to the greatest cricket commentator of all time, the late Christopher Martin-Jenkins (CMJ). It was a wonderful two hours, my own private Test Match Special. He was charming and generous with his knowledge of the great game, and the best company. I totally ignored the person to my right, to the point of rudeness!

Christopher Martin-Jenkins (right) with his son, Robin, at Arundel, 2008.

But CMJ and I argued, very courteously, about the naming of the new press centre that was, at the time, being developed in the south stand at the County Ground in Hove. The previous building had been known as the Gilligan Stand.

Arthur Gilligan was a fine cricketer, captain of Sussex, and he had led England to an Ashes victory over Australia almost 100 years ago. I had been quite vocal, including in a cricket column that I used to write for a lifestyle magazine, that an alternative name needed to be found because Gilligan, after retiring from cricket, had become the deputy to Oswald Mosley in the British Union of Fascists.

Later in life, from 1967 to 1968, Gilligan served as the President of the MCC. During his tenure, the MCC was involved in the controversy over the non-selection of Basil D’Oliveira to tour South Africa. D’Oliveira had been born as a Cape Coloured in Cape Town. His inclusion was unacceptable to the apartheid government which enforced racial segregation in all aspects of life, including in sport. Gilligan and others shamelessly excluded D’Oliveira from the touring party.

At our lunch, CMJ said that you should not mix sport and politics. As a South African who had supported the sporting boycott of the apartheid regime, I disagreed. When I said that on a recent visit to Berlin I had felt very uncomfortable attending an event at the Hermann Goering Handball Arena, CMJ was appalled. “Surely,” he said, “there is no such place!”. I said that I had never actually been to Berlin and there wasn’t such a venue, but he had just made my point for me.

The press centre was not named after Arthur Gilligan. It was a small, but satisfying, success.