Campaign for statue of British suffragette hero is hit by funding crisis

The Guardian

20-06-2025

The campaign to commemorate the first suffragette to die for women's rights is facing a funding crisis.
Mary Clarke, who was the sister of Emmeline Pankhurst, helped found the Women's Social and Political Union and suffered imprisonment three times.
But she has been all but forgotten: there is no public memorial to her and she is not even among the 59 suffragettes named on the Millicent Fawcett plinth in Parliament Square.
'Mary was extraordinarily brave,' said Jean Calder, who is leading the campaign for a statue of Clarke in Brighton that will also be a memorial to women and girls who have died from domestic, sexual or state violence.
'At a time when domestic violence was condoned and divorce a matter of shame, Mary escaped an abusive marriage, during which she experienced destitution and homelessness,' said Calder.
The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal has raised £20,000 for a work by Denise Dutton, the sculptor who created the Mary Anning statue in Lyme Regis. Organisers say a lack of name recognition for Clarke – the reason they want the statue in the first place – is preventing them reaching their £60,000 target.
'Mary was injured in the notorious violence of 'Black Friday' on 18 November 1910, later imprisoned for one month, enduring a hunger strike and, reportedly, forcible feeding,' said Calder. 'She died of a brain haemorrhage on Christmas Day 1910, two days after her release from prison.'
Birgit Miller, cabinet member for culture, heritage and tourism at Brighton and Hove council, said that although the campaign had all-party support, cuts meant the council could not fund it.
'Remembering Mary is important because she dedicated her life – and ultimately sacrificed it – so women like me could have a vote,' said Miller.
She believes Clarke has been forgotten because she died so early in the suffrage campaign. 'It was only those who had been following the fight since its beginning who would have remembered who she was,' she said.
Professor Julie Gottlieb, who was on the panel advising which names should appear on Fawcett's plinth, said Clarke's was never considered, even though her sister Emmeline is commemorated along with her three nieces.
'Our priority was to be as representative as possible across all kinds of lines: demographic, political, ethnic, gender, religious and class,' she said. 'I think the balance that was struck was fair and successful.'
Clarke's story, however, still has the power to inspire younger generations. River Isaac was seven when she read about the statue appeal in a newspaper.
'I had been wanting to write to our headteacher to campaign for better football facilities for girls but had been too scared,' she said. 'But then I thought how Mary Clarke had done all these things, even though she must have been scared, and decided it was no reason for not doing something.'
Not only was Isaac's appeal to the headteacher a success but she and some friends then set up the Mary's Lamp group, asking Brighton councillors questions about women's rights and highlighting discrimination against girls in Afghanistan.
Women are hugely underrepresented in UK public art, statues and memorials: excluding royals, there are just over 100 statues honouring a specific woman for her achievements.
'Visibility of women like Mary Clarke is important and we agree there should be a statue to celebrate her sacrifice in the campaign for suffrage,' said Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society.
Brighton was the territory where Clarke campaigned before her death aged 47 or 48.