Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard (nee French) (1844 – 1939) was a British suffragette; romantic novelist; Sinn Fein activist and sister of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John French.
She was born on family Estates in Ripple, Kent[1]. She expressed regret of her lack of education although she attended a finishing school in London.[2] She married the Anglo-Irish businessman Maximilian Carden Despard but she was left childless and widowed when he died in 1890. Her novels included Chaste as Ice and Pure as Snow. Leitmotifs included high-minded heroines, exotic settings, and happy endings.[3]
Despard was shocked by the levels of poverty in London where she lived as a child. Following her husband's death she devoted her time and money to helping the poor and in particular Little Ireland in Nine Elms, Battersea.[4] She was elected as a Poor Law Guardian.
Despard joined the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies) in 1906, but frustrated with the lack of progress the organisation was making she joined the more radical WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union).
Eventually, Despard was one of three women who formed the Women's Freedom League after disagreements over the autocratic way in which the WSPU was run. She was joined by Teresa Billington-Greig and Edith How-Martyn.
Ireland
Despard spend a lot of time in Ireland where her father was born, and here she formed the Irish Women’s Franchise League. She urged members to boycott the 1911 Census and withhold taxes. She provided financial support to workers during the Dublin labour disputes.
In 1909 Despard met Gandhi and was influenced by his theory of passive resistance. She was bitterly critical of her brother Field Marshall Sir John French.
She was buried in the Republican Plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
External link
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