On 28 April, the day that Emmeline’s licence expired, she was visited by
Sylvia and her solicitor, Alfred Marshall, who stated to the press that if
Emmeline was moved back to Holloway, it would probably kill her.^9 The
following day Emmeline’s medical attendant received a letter from the Home
Office saying that a warrant had been issued for her rearrest and that it would be
presented that day, at noon, by a police officer accompanied by a medical
inspector who would ascertain whether she was fit enough to be removed to
prison. The news spread quickly. Two large tricolours were hung from the upper
storey of the house while small groups of loyal women gathered on the doorstep
and at other strategic points so as to evade ‘Move on’ directions from the police.
They loudly booed Dr. Smalley, Medical Inspector of Prisons, when he arrived
with the police. Once inside the house, Hertha Ayrton, with Herbert Goulden
by her side, firmly announced that Emmeline refused an examination while
Emmeline herself gave no reply to the doctor’s questions. Dr. Smalley ruled that
the patient was too ill to be moved and that her licence would be renewed; he
also commented that she ‘seemed about to burst into tears’.^10
If Smalley’s assessment of Emmeline’s emotional state was accurate, it was a
vulnerable side of her nature that Emmeline did not wish her followers to see.
She knew that as leader and Honorary Treasurer of the WSPU she had to
appear strong and forceful. The forging of her identity, as a charismatic, mili-
tant, woman leader, a relatively new type of femininity, could admit of no
weakness. Yet the burdens that lay upon her shoulders were enormous. The
large WSPU meetings, where substantial donations were made and speakers
incited members to engage in attacks on property, had been curtailed; on 15
April, E. R. Henry, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, acting on
directions from the government, had informed Lincoln’s Inn House that they
would no longer be permitted to hold meetings in Hyde Park, Wimbledon
Common, and other public open spaces in the metropolitan area.^11 Now, at the
end of April, another blow was struck. On 30 April, the police raided WSPU
headquarters arresting Harriet Kerr, the office manager, Beatrice Sanders, the
financial secretary, Rachel Barrett, an assistant editor on The Suffragette,
Geraldine Lennox, its sub-editor, Agnes Lake, its business manager, and Flora
Drummond. They were charged with conspiring to cause damage to property.
The story was covered in every newspaper, many devoting the front page to
pictures of the women.^12 In the police court, Mr. Bodkin, on behalf of the
Public Prosecutor, said that the action had been taken with a view to ‘putting
down what has become a danger to a civilised community’.^13 Annie Kenney’s
flat was also raided as well as Victoria House Press which was printing The
Suffragettefor the first time that week, the previous printer having decided that
the affair was too risky. Annie was later arrested at Dover, as she returned from
France, and further detentions included those of Edwy Clayton, a chemist, who
had aided the WSPU, and Sidney Drew, the manager of the Victoria House
Press.^14 The raids produced a number of artefacts and documents that would be
used in the subsequent trials, including a collection of hammers, ‘Crime Record
PRISONER OF THE CAT AND MOUSE ACT