Miss Nellie Hall

Other sources: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4769024
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866?1928 (1999)

Family information: Daughter of WSPU member Pattie Hall and sister to suffragette Emmeline Hall. The Hall family were very close to the Pankhurst family. They were also all involved with the Independent Labour Party (ILP).

Additional Information: In 1909, and still at school, Nellie took part in a parade each evening outside Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, when the practice of forcible feeding of suffragettes was taking place inside. Between 1911 and 1913, she worked voluntarily at the WSPU offices in Birmingham and was arrested in 1913 for throwing a brick through the window of the Prime Minister's car when visiting Birmingham. She was also charged on suspicion of being involved in several incidents timed to coincide with his visit to the city, including arson. Nellie was sentenced to three weeks in prison but went on hunger strike and was temporarily released under the 'Cat and Mouse Act' (apparently with mumps). She escaped recapture by the police by fleeing to London under the alias 'Marie Roberts' and started work at the WSPU central offices there for £2 a week as a secretary for prisoners. On the day that the WSPU took a deputation to the King in May 1914, Nellie was arrested with her sister and mother at a London flat, in possession of window-smashing material. She was held on remand for six weeks before being sentenced to three months in prison. She went on hunger strike, was forcibly fed and was only finally released when the Home Office amnesty came into effect on 10 August 1914. Nellie and her family's close connection to the Pankhursts saw her continue to work with them during and after the outbreak of war in 1914. She took part in the WSPU-organised 'War Work' procession in July 1915 and became Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst's secretary and liaison officer when she stood in St George East (London) as a Conservative candidate. Nellie helped to care for Emmeline in her final days before death. In 1929, Nellie emigrated to Canada with her husband and two children.

Other Suffrage Activities: Nellie joined the Post Office in Birmingham during the First World War, becoming the very first mail sorter for the British Expeditionary Force.