Vera Wentworth
| Vera Wentworth | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Jessie Spinks 1890 |
| Died | 1957 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital |
| Nationality | UK |
| Education | St Andrews University |
Vera Wentworth (1890 – 1957) was a British suffragette. She went to jail for the cause and was force fed. She door stepped and then assaulted the Prime Minister twice. She wrote "Three Months in Holloway"
Wentworth was born in 1890. In 1908 she joined the Women's Social and Political Union. She was quickly arrested demonstrating outside parliament. Her sentence was six weeks in prison and she had to stay an extra day because she had carved votes for women into her cell wall. She and others were met by Mary Blathwayt and the two of them became friends. 1908 continued in similar vein. In June she was arrested again for demonstrating outside the House of Commons. This time she was given a three month sentence. After her release she published "Should Christian Women Demand the Vote" and "Three Months in Holloway". Wentworth was a writer with an ambition to attend university. She joined the Women Writer's Suffrage League which was founded in 1908.
Wentworth was then based in Bristol with other suffragettes including Annie Kenney and Elsie Howey. She gained another three month prison sentence when she and Elsie Howey were arrested for demonstrating outside H. H. Asquith's house.
Vera was invited to Mary Blathwayt's home at Batheaston where the leading suffragettes met. Significant visitors were asked to plant a tree to record their achievements on behalf of the cause e.g. a prison sentence.
She and Jessie Kenney were jailed for assaulting the Prime Minister. On 5 September 1909 Wentworth, Elsie Howey and Jessie Kenney had assaulted Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone during a golf match. Elsie Howey and Wentworth then tried to contact Asquith at his church. These actions proved too much for the Blathwayt family. Emily resigned from the WSPU and Linley wrote letters of protest to Christabel Pankhurst, Elsie Howey and Wentworth. Pankhurst was told that Howey and Wentworth could not visit their house again. Wentworth sent them a long reply expressing regret at their reaction but noting that "if Mr. Asquith will not receive deputation they will pummel him again".
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