Garud

A long, long time ago; much before you and I were born, long before Women’s Day was celebrated all over the world, there was a time when women inhabited an extremely discriminatory society. They were not allowed rights over their own children. Nor were they allowed to vote.

In this era of legal discrimination, in the county of Bath, England, was born a woman called Edith Margaret Williams.

According to some sources about her early life, Edith’s parents’ circumstances meant that she had to go away and live with her Aunt. During this time, “she had difficulty fitting in at school and took to athletics as a means of busying herself”.

She retained this interest and when an instructor of physical culture, William Garrud, came to Bath, she joined his exercise classes. William specialised in gymnastics, boxing and wrestling. A year later, in 1893, the 21-year-old Edith married William and moved to London with him, where he found a job as a physical culture trainer for Universities.

Their enduring interest in self-defence and physical training led Edith and William to enroll in classes to learn ju-jitsu, a Japanese martial art form. Eventually, they became owners of this gym and began teaching this martial art form to the people.

Around the same time, a lady called Emmeline Pankhurst was among those leading a movement for securing voting rights for women in Great Britain. When early parliamentary efforts failed, Pankhurst and her “Suffragettes” decided to change tactics to “deeds, not words”.

They “heckled politicians, tried to storm parliament, were attacked and sexually assaulted during battles with the police, chained themselves to railings, smashed windows, set fire to postboxes and empty buildings”.

Pankhurst and her fellow Suffragettes would be frequently arrested or prevented from making speeches and public appearances. Apart from all of this, the suffragettes were subjected to beatings, jail-time, being force-fed and more. In 1913, Emily Davison died during a protest. 50,000 people lined the streets during her funeral procession. Public support for women’s suffrage was growing but the British government, as any government, was mired in convention and patriarchy.

Around this time, Emmeline Pankhurst’s Suffragettes met ju-jitsu trainer Edith Margaret Garrud.

Edith and William began training the suffragettes in ju-jitsu and other self-defence techniques. The Suffragettes created a team called The Bodyguard that would guard them against attacks from hecklers and police. Eventually, The Bodyguard would defend themselves and successfully prevent the arrest of their leaders. The most notable among these incidents was the “Battle of Glasgow” that took place on 9th March 1914. Emmeline Pankhurst was scheduled to speak in the city but the police had surrounded the auditorium hoping to catch her. She managed to evade them and made a sudden appearance at the speaker’s podium. As 50 policemen moved in to arrest Pankhurst, they were met by 30 suffragettes who were carrying concealed Indian clubs to counter the batons of the police. A brawl ensued for several minutes as 4,000 people watched.

Edith Garrud also taught them to trick their opponents. At another event in 1914, Emmeline Pankhurst gave a speech from a balcony in Camden Square. "When she emerged from the house in a veil, escorted by members of The Bodyguard, the police swooped in. Despite a fierce fight she was knocked to the ground and dragged away unconscious. But when the police triumphantly unveiled her, they realised she was a decoy. The real Pankhurst had been smuggled out in the commotion!"

In 1914, WW1 broke out. Emmeline Pankhurst suspended all militant activities during the war and the British government stopped their aggression against them. The Bodyguard wasn’t needed anymore.

After WW1 ended in 1918, Great Britain passed a law to grant voting rights to women with property over the age of 30.

In 1928, a law was passed allowed all women over the age of 21, to vote.

The efforts of women like Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Fawcett (who deserves a separate article for her efforts) and Edith Garrud eventually beat back discriminatory tradition and patriarchy, and helped create a more equal world.

If you are a woman in today’s world, or a father / brother / husband / son to one; if you or those you love can vote today, do hold dear the work that these brave women did.

#Storytelling #WomensDay  #inclusion  #glassceiling #womenpower #women

Picture source: bbc.com / Jet City comics / suffrajitsu.com

Story sources: Multiple. Listed in the first comment.