Constance Bryer

Constance Elizabeth Bryer (July 1870 – 12 July 1952) was a British classical violinist and campaigner for women's rights, an activist and suffragette who during her imprisonment in Holloway Prison went on hunger strike as a consequence of which she was force-fed.

Constance Bryer was born in Islington in London in 1870,[1] the eldest of seven children born to Thomas John Bryer (1844–1916), a woollen merchant, and Elizabeth Butler née Chadwick (1847–1937). In 1908 she was a violinist living in the family home at 49 Tufnell Park Road in London.[2] Her brother Gilbert William Bryer (1882–1919) served as a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I and died while on active service; he is buried in Highgate Cemetery.[3]

Holloway Prison c. 1896

Bryer joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and the Church League for Women's Suffrage (CLWS), abandoning her career as a musician to campaign for women's rights. She seems to have come from a musical family for her relative George Bryer was a member of one of the fife and drum bands which took part in the procession for the WSPU's 'Women's Sunday' in June 1908[4] while her cellist sister Pearl studied under Paderewski.[5] Between 1911 and 1913 Constance Bryer was the Secretary for the North Islington branch of the WSPU. She was involved in 'Black Friday' in 1910 and was arrested for obstruction but was later discharged. She illegally 'evaded' the 1911 census survey by not being present at her family home at 49 Tuffnell Park Road in London when officials called to record information. In 1911 Bryer was arrested when taking part in a WSPU demonstration against the 'torpedoing' of the Conciliation Bill and for which she was sentenced to five days in prison.[4][6]

HM Prison Birmingham in the 1920s

In May 1912 Bryer was sentenced to four months in HM Prison Birmingham for breaking windows on Regent Street in London. In prison with her was Olive Wharry, who became her lifelong friend.[7] While on hunger strike there with other suffragette prisoners Bryer wrote a verse and signed her name in an autograph album:

Suffragettes we sit and sew
Sew and sit and sit and sew
Twenty-five are we:
Making shirts and socks for men
Cannot get away from them
Even here you see.[8][9]

She was made an executor in the will of her friend and fellow Suffragette Olive Wharry in which Bryer was left an annuity of £200 together with Wharry's hunger strike medal and some of her etchings and books. Both Wharry and Byer's hunger strike medals remain together in a private collection.[4]

During World War II she was bombed out of her home and was forced to take rooms on the top floor at 70 Alexandra Road in St John's Wood in London, which she shared with her sister Angela Bryer[10] and where in her later years she was troubled with sciatica. In 1951 she was asked by Adela Verne to play in a concert with her but felt herself to be too out of practice.[11]

Constance Bryer died aged 82 in July 1952 at the Whittington Hospital in Dartmouth Park in London. In her will she left £1,567 16s 6d to her unmarried sisters Emmeline Beatrice Bryer and Evelyn Maude Bryer.[12]

References
  1. Constance Elizabeth Bryer in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  2. Postcard to Constance Elizabeth Bryer at 49 Tufnell Park Road in London - the Glenn Christodoulou Collection
  3. War Graves in Highgate Cemetery
  4. Crawford, Elizabeth The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866–1928, Routledge (1999) (pg 707) Google Books
  5. Inscribed photograph from Paderewski to Pearl Bryer - Swann Auction Galleries, New York
  6. Miss Constance Elizabeth Bryer - Women's Suffrage: History and Citizenship Resources for Schools
  7. Miss Olive Wharry - Devon History Society online
  8. A Suffragette autograph album - in pictures - The Guardian 6 December 2012
  9. Suffragette autograph album illuminates movement's struggles - The Guardian 6 December 2012
  10. London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 for Constance E Bryer - Camden Hampstead 1951 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  11. Letter to Mr Brierley - 4 September 1951 - auctioned 2018
  12. Constance Elizabeth Bryer in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.