Emmeline had a reminder of her ‘unbroken bond’ with suffragettes in the past
when, before Christmas, the Testimonial Fund Committee sent the balance left
over after the purchase of Westward Ho; the message accompanying the gift was
carefully worded, to avoid wounding her pride.^54
As usual, a big Christmas tree was bought for the children who were very
excited since it was only at Christmas and birthdays they received gifts.
Kathleen remembered that the girls were given presents of big dolls by the
gardener of a nearby park, that Christmas of 1922, a toy she especially hated
since they were regarded as suitable to play with on Sundays. ‘Most of the time
we stayed in the nursery but it was the occupation always on a Sunday morning
that we had to go down to the drawing room and play with the dolls. ... If I
could sneak out and go into the kitchen where Auntie Kate was, I did.’ That
winter, the children sat fascinated when Mother took them to the theatre to see
the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova dance. Trips to the pantomine were
great fun especially when, between the acts, two clowns played games with an
umbrella and sausages. A visit to the circus with Mother was another vivid
memory since the girls came home proudly carrying gas-filled balloons. Auntie
Kate got fed up with standing on a chair, trying to retrieve the balloons from
the ceiling, and eventually suggested that they were taken into the garden.
Within five minutes, the girls were back in the house, crying to her that their
balloons had flown away, high into the sky. ‘I am very sorry’, she told the chil-
dren, ‘but I cannot go that high.’ Catherine Pine’s care for the children was now
complemented by the services of a daily governess, Mrs. Cookson. ‘We were
told we must be very good to her because she only had one arm. We tried but it
did not last long.’^55
It was probably early in the New Year of 1923 that Emmeline, Christabel,
Catherine Pine and the children moved house again, to 76 St. Mary’s Street.
Emmeline continued the hectic pace of her work with the CNCCVD, which
was later renamed the Canadian Social Hygiene Council, coming home on
infrequent occasions. Tired after travelling, she was often strict with her
adopted daughters who gave their idolised Mother little peace. In the new
house there was a safety gate at the top of the stairs, as a precautionary measure
against accidents. On one occasion, when Kathleen and Joan were rushing to
get to the bathroom, Joan fell through the gate, tumbling to the landing below.
‘Mrs. Pankhurst was home at that time’, recollected Kathleen, ‘and said I had
done it deliberately. I got spanked for that.’ On another occasion, Mother made
Kathleen a dress. ‘It was a red dress with white spots and blue trimming. She
made me stand on the table while she put up the hem. I didn’t like the dress
and tore it not long after, which got me into trouble again.’ Emmeline was espe-
cially upset that her handiwork had been spoiled since, on the rare days when
visitors called, she liked the children to appear in their best clothes and hand
around plates of cakes. When she was at home, Emmeline sometimes found too
that she had also to deal with the usual childhood ailments. Thus, on one such
occasion, she had to arrange for the tonsils of Kathleen and Joan to be taken
LECTURER IN NORTH AMERICA