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Granny recalls turbulent daysTORONTO (CP)—Nell Hall-Humpherson, a calm but outspoken grandmother at 72, still recalls the days when she and her companions plotted to blow up buildings and the time she was jailed for conspiracy and possession of dynamite.Mrs. Hall-Humpherson was a suffragette, dedicated to gaining Ihe vote for women in Britain.Suffragettes, now in their 70s, 80s or 90s, meet once or twice a year in London to drink tea and place flowers at the statue of Emmeline Pankburst, themilitant suffragette leader.Some of the survivors met Feb. 6, the 47th anniversary of the date when women in Britain were first granted the vote.Mrs. Hall-Humpherson, a native of England, was not In London this year, hut she reminisced at. her Toronto home over those turbulent days whenseemingly demure young Edwardian misses baffled and outraged their contemporaries,both men and women.She was first arrested at the age of 16 but her case on that occasion was remanded andnever came up again.In 1914, Nell Hall, as she then was, was in charge of all so-called militancy operations for the suffragettes. She was hiding in the apartment of a friend in London, collecting and distributing weapons for smashing and dynamiting operations.HID PLANSThe ^ police discovered herhideout' and raided the apartment. Her possessions included a dispatch case containing plans for dynamiting several houses. She managed to hide the dispatch case in the cistern of a water closet. The police failed to find it in their search.“They did find some fuse cord, (Mrs. Hall - Humpherson later was able to convince thecourt that she thought it wasmerely window - blind cord.) They also found a pair of pyjamas belonging to the apartment owner, my friend “On the basis of her pyjamas, which had been left on a bed, they told me they were charging me with being loose, idle and disorderly.But when the case came tocourt the morals charge was dropped and she was charged with conspiracy and possession of dynamite.Mrs. Hall - Humpherson was sentenced to three months on each of the two charges.By the time she was released,the First World War had begun.“Mrs. Pankhurst issued a statement that as long as our country was at war we would be at peace.In 1918, women over 30 were given the vote in Britain and finally in 1928 all women over 21 were enfranchised.Jaycettescompletecourser^\ liThe Medicine Hat Jaycettesrecently completed the “Save-a-Life Week course, as part of1 his year’s self - improvement• *rS.*■4 .r5T!f.: (■1*f-f
Newspaper Details
Medicine Hat News
Medicine Hat, Alberta, CA
Mon, Mar 08, 1965
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 03 Mar 2020
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