Harriet Kerr

Harriet Roberta Kerr (1859–1940) was a British suffragette and office manager of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).^[1]

Harriet Roberta Kerr
in 1913
Born	1859
Died	1940
Nationality	British

Life

Kerr was born in 1859.^[1] Her father was a professor of architecture at King's College London.^[2]

Kerr ran a successful secretarial agency in London, but she gave up her business to dedicate herself to working for the campaign for women's enfranchisement.^[3] In 1906, she was appointed as the paid office manager of the national headquarters of the WSPU in Clement's Inn, London,^[4] on the agreement that her work would be solely administrative.^[5] She oversaw volunteers and mentored new recruits such as Charlotte Marsh.^[3]

On 30 April 1913, Kerr was arrested alongside Beatrice Sanders, Rachel Barrett, Agnes Lake and Flora Drummond when police raided the WSPU offices.^[6] She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour for conspiracy to do wilful damage to property,^[7] even though she had not yet marched in a deputation or participated in any militant action.^[4] She went on hunger strike and was temporarily released in June 1913 under the "Cat and Mouse Act."^[2] It is likely that she was awarded the Hunger Strike Medal. She stayed at Hook Cottage in Billingshurst, Sussex, to recuperate,^[8] then in October 1913 was rearrested, once again at the WSPU offices.^[9] During the rearrest of Kerr and Sanders, Annie Ford, Emma Birchell and Alice Virtue tried to stop the police from taking them and were also arrested. They were charged with obstructing the police and fined 40 shillings each.^[9] After serving the rest of her sentence, Kerr was sentenced to twelve months under police supervision.^[10] Due to the impact on her physical health, Kerr retired from the suffrage campaign.^[2]

When Emmeline Pankhurst died on 14 June 1928, Kerr was one of her pallbearers, alongside other former suffragettes Georgiana Brackenbury, Marie Brackenbury, Marion Wallace Dunlop, Mildred Mansel, Kitty Marshall, Rosamund Massy, Marie Naylor, Ada Wright and Barbara Wylie.^[11][12]

She died in 1940.^[2]

References

1. Crawford, Elizabeth (2 September 2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. pp. 323–324. ISBN 978-1-135-43401-4.
2. "Miss Harriet Roberta Kerr". Women's Suffrage Resources. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
3. Cowman, Krista (15 July 2007). Women of the Right Spirit: Paid Organisers of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), 1904-18. Manchester University Press. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-0-7190-7002-0.
4. Cowman, Krista (18 December 2008). "What Was Suffragette Militancy? An Exploration of the British Example". In Markkola, Pirjo; Nevala-Nurmi, Seija-Leena; Sulkunen, Irma (eds.). Suffrage, Gender and Citizenship – International Perspectives on Parliamentary Reforms. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-4438-0301-4.
5. Holton, Sandra; Purvis, June (4 January 2002). Votes For Women. Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-134-61065-5.
6. Crawford, Elizabeth (30 April 2013). "WALKS/Suffrage Stories: The Raid On WSPU Headquarters, 30 April 1913". Woman and her Sphere. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
7. "The National Archives - 'Raided!!' London headquarters of the Women's Social and Political Union". The National Archives blog. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
8. Wojtczak, Helena (2008). Notable Sussex Women: 580 Biographical Sketches. Hastings. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-904109-15-0.
9. "Suffragettes: Emma Birchell & Agnes Buckton". THE LIVES AND ACTIONS OF SUFFRAGETTES AND SUFFRAGISTS. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
10. Atkinson, Diane (2019). Rise Up, Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 396. ISBN 978-1-4088-4405-2.
11. Purvis, June (2 September 2003). Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. Routledge. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-134-34191-7.
12. Pugh, Martin (2008). The Pankhursts: The History of One Radical Family. Vintage. p. 408. ISBN 978-0-09-952043-6.