Mr Winston Churchill was the victim of a disgraceful outrage by a militant suffragist at Bristol on Saturday, when a woman, said to be Miss Theresa Garnett, of Leeds, broke through a cordon of police on the railway station platform and struck Mr Churchill with a dog-whip. She aimed the first blow at his head, the lash cutting his face. Mr Churchill seized her and was able to secure the whip after a struggle. The police then took the woman into custody.
There were further suffragist disturbances in the town during the day. A woman is to be charged to-day for having thrown a stone through a window of the Colston Hall. At Mr Churchill’s meeting in the evening several male interrupters were ejected. In the morning a woman was committed to the assizes for having smashed the windows of the postoffice, and two others chose to go to prison for doing similar damage at the Liberal Club. Mr Walter Long, speaking in condemnation of the militant tactics at the Dolphin banquet, warned women that if they forgot their sex they left no reason to complain if sometimes men forgot it also.
Mr Churchill arrived at the principal railway station at Bristol on Saturday afternoon to fulfil his engagement with the Anchor Society. He was accompanied by Mrs Winston Churchill, and was met by Sir W Howell Davies, MP, and his daughter, and Mr Butler, president of the Anchor Society. There had been suffragist disturbances in the town the previous night, the windows of some of the principal buildings having been smashed. Precautions had therefore been taken to avoid a disturbance on the railway platform, and a force of police kept the crowd at a distance.
Mr Churchill had just alighted from the carriage (says the Press Association) and had introduced Mrs Churchill to a number of friends awaiting him. Nearly the whole of the Bristol detective force was formed up in a semi-circle round the party. Suddenly there was a sound of a female voice, and before anyone could realise what was happening a woman broke through the cordon of police, shouting frantically and flourishing a dog whip. In a flash she had gripped Mr Churchill’s coat with one hand, and with the other she brought the whip down on his head. The full force of the blow fell upon his hat, but the lash cut Mr. Churchill on the face. He turned immediately, and without hesitation seized the woman. She struggled, and as they were standing near the edge of the platform and in front of the space between two carriages it was a very exciting moment. The woman was shouting frantically, and was evidently beside herself. She made another vigorous attempt at assault, but Mr Churchill had her by the wrist this time, and the lash did no more than touch his face. The words, “Take that, you brute, you brute,” could be heard. Before the woman could make a further effort Mr Churchill had wrenched the whip from her grasp. Then the police came and pinned her arms to her side. She was promptly hurried outside the station, and kept there until Mr Churchill had left. She declined to give her name, but it was stated that she is Miss Theresa Garnett, of Leeds.
Mr Churchill was still very pale, but apart from this he showed no signs of excitement, and as the woman was taken away shouting and struggling he calmly put the whip into his overcoat pocket. The party on the platform continued their conversation for a few minutes, and then proceeded to the motor-car awaiting them. The police formed round Mr Churchill in a body, but there were no more demonstrations, and the party drove away safely.
The reception given to Mr Churchill at the Colston Hall later was of such a demonstrative nature as to suggest recognition of his successful resistance of the woman’s attack. Asked by a press representative if he was any the worse for the encounter, he replied, “Oh no; it was only one of those foolish women.” He added that he had not allowed the woman to hurt him.
In addition to Theresa Garnett, of Leeds, charged with assaulting Mr Churchill with a whip, the police have in custody Ellie Lewes, of Guilford, who is alleged to have broken a window at the Colston Hall by throwing a stone from the top of a tramcar.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion