young Ambassadors, at just 14 years old, have reprised their feat of last year when, instead of receiving birthday presents,  they arranged for friends and family to donate to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal.

This year they have done the same, raising a wonderful £130 for our funds. We are so grateful, especially as the girls must have been under huge pressure of work, having moved up this year to Brighton College’s senior school. Once again the girls have had the active support of parents and friends and we are so thankful to them.

Sophia and Izzie are seasoned campaigners, having previously raised the money to fund a blue plaque in Brighton

for pioneering lawyer Helena Normanton. In this they had the support of their prep school at Brighton College and many friends, as well as their parents, and many prominent women lawyers and academics inspired by Helena’s life and achievement. They raised so much money they were able to erect the plaque and also ensure that Helena’s grave at St Wulfran’s Church in Ovingdean was cleaned and restored.

We were delighted to be able to attend the inspiring unveiling ceremony, along with many others including the Mayor Cllr Lizzie Deane. We were also very honoured that the girls, their parents and key donors then decided that funds not used for the Normanton plaque should be donated to the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal. This was extremely generous and we were very grateful. 

Inspired by Mary’s example, our young ambassadors have themselves shown inspirational levels of commitment.

The plaque was unveiled to an enthusiastic crowd, which packed the street, on the afternoon of 18th June at 4 Clifton Place, Brighton. A girls’ choir of students from Brighton College (the twins’ school) sang “This Girl’s on Fire” to start the event.

Izzy and Sophia introduced speeches by a distinguished group of women, including the Mayor Cllr Lizzie Deane;  Professor Judith Bourne, Head of Law at St Mary’s University; Professor Nicky Padfield QC, Master of the Bench at Middle Temple and Professor of Law at Cambridge University;  Dr Helen Dancer, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex; and Shelley Baker, Head Teacher of Varndean School, who stood in for Caroline Lucas MP, who was unable to attend. The family was represented by Dr Angela Owen-Smith.

Photographs were taken by the plaque. Thereafter some of those present travelled to the graveyard of St Wulfran’s Church at Ovingdean to drink a toast to Helena at her newly cleaned and restored grave.

Izzy and Sophia said: “This year, 2022, marks 100 years since Helena Normanton was called to the bar at the Middle Temple. We think it is brilliant to be able to have a plaque put up in time to celebrate that and everything she achieved.”

Background

The speakers stressed Helena Normanton’s national importance as a lawyer and a campaigner for women’s rights. She was the first woman to be admitted to an Inn of Court, lead murder trials in the English courts, the first female law student at an inn of court, the first female counsel to lead in a case at the high court, the first woman to run a trial at the Old Bailey and one of the first two women to be made a King’s Counsel.

She was a champion of women’s rights, outside as well as inside the courts, making history as the first married woman to have a passport issued in her birth name at a time when a wife not taking her husband’s name was a rarity. She was a strong supporter of female suffrage, being a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union and later the Women’s Freedom League. She was an early advocate for equal pay for equal work.

Born in 1882, her father was killed when she was only four years old. Her mother, Jane Normanton, moved to Brighton with her two young daughters. She ran a small grocery shop and also turned her family home at 4 Clifton Place into a boarding house.

Helena won a scholarship to York Place Science School, forerunner of Varndean School. She later trained as a teacher and then moved to London, but always retained her loyalty to her old school, to Brighton and to Sussex. In 1947, she attended a special reunion of the Varndean Old Girls Association to mark 21 years since the school moved to new premises. She recalled the early days in York Place and wrote for the school magazine. Speakers at the unveiling quoted her comment in the Varndean Chronicle that “a school is not a building, a place or a staff, but the whole living, breathing texture that moves on through generations.”.

Speakers stressed Helena’s love of Sussex, quoting her

touching statement that “You can go and see the Alps and the Andes, but where do you see anything as sweet as the rolling Downs?” . She was also the first person to leave money for the future University of Sussex saying “I make this gift in gratitude for all that Brighton did to educate me when I was left an orphan”. There is now the Normanton university scholarship in her name.

Please see the ITV news piece (link below) for background about the girls’ campaign.

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2022-03-26/sussex-twins-join-campaign-to-honour-suffragette-in-brighton

We are so proud of the girls and delighted that, in addition to this campaign, the girls are also Youth Ambassadors for the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal.

sportswomen. Izzy focusses on hockey, while Sophia prefers netball and, in particular, cricket. Sophia plays cricket for the Brighton College boys first team.

The sisters are seasoned campaigners, with a particular interest in commemorating the lives of women who have no local memorial. While working on a school project about the Victorians, they came across tombstones in their local graveyard for Helena Normanton and Sophia Jex-Blake, inspirational women who fought to allow women to practice Law and Medicine. 

The girls thought it odd that Helena and Sophia were not commemorated in the city. They were surprised to discover that less than a quarter of Brighton’s blue plaques commemorate women and that some of these only refer to women as “wife”, “daughter” or “mistress” of men. 

The sisters began a local campaign for plaques for Helena Normanton and Sophia Jex-Blake, and were delighted that their applications received approval from the Council. They sought the support of Jean Calder, the Chair of our Appeal, and so learned about Mary Clarke, another inspirational ‘forgotten’ woman. 

They are now enthusiastic Child Ambassadors and are excited and proud to be involved in fundraising for, and promoting, the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal. Meanwhile, they plan to unveil the blue plaque for Helena Normanton in 2022, the 100 year anniversary of her admission to the bar. 

Izzy said: “Mary Clarke did so much for women’s rights – the least we can do is honour her with a statue. It will be educational for Brighton & Hove school children, both boys and girls, to learn more about her.”

Sophia said: “It has been so interesting to learn about the inspiring Mary Clarke and the sacrifice she made over a hundred years ago. It helped open up so many opportunities – all of us girls and women owe her so much!”

Jean Calder said: “ We are so pleased that Sophia and Isabel have joined the Appeal as Child Ambassadors. We are full of admiration for their plaque campaign and are sure that everyone involved in the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal will be cheering them on when the plaque for Helena Normanton is unveiled later this year. In the meanwhile, we hope to harness their commitment, energy and enthusiasm in our campaign for Mary’s statue.”