This powerful and moving poem was written by Cllr Mitchie Alexander and read by her at a special meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council on 14th December 2022. She read it in support of the motion to posthumously award Mary the Freedom of the City. Mary Clarke 1862-1910 The First Suffragette to die for the cause “I wear my purple sleeves with pride, You…
On 7th April, we launched a post-pandemic appeal we are naming RaiseMary1000, which was inspired by writer Peter James, our newest Patron. We have received many hundreds of smaller donations, but only a few larger ones. Just recently we were grateful to receive two separate donations of £1,000, one of which was from Peter. It occurred to us that if we could identify just thirty five people to…
March is Women’s History Month and the 8th March is International Women’s Day. Jenny Engledow, well known local peace campaigner and an extremely accomplished embroiderer has just completed a banner depicting Mary Clarke. The suffragettes’ processions were central to their campaigning. They used fantastic costumes, flowers, horses, choirs and bands, and above all, beautifully coloured banners, to wonderful effect. Many banners were designed to be carried…
We are delighted to have received a statement of support for our campaign for a statue for Mary Clarke from Katy Bourne OBE, the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner. On 19th February she wrote: “Despite being the first suffragette to die for her cause, Mary Clarke has been largely forgotten by history. She was a determined woman who was not afraid to fight for…
Sculptor Denise Dutton has completed and delivered the much anticipated bronze maquette of Mary Clarke, the first suffragette to die for women’s right to vote – and did so in time for Mary’s birthday on 12th December. Cllr Alan Robins, the Mayor of Brighton & Hove received it on behalf of the Appeal and the people of Brighton & Hove in a brief socially-distanced ceremony…
Following months of discussion, research and painstaking work in miniature, our wonderful sculptor Denise Dutton has completed the rough plaster line maquette of Mary. She is now in the process of preparing a resin copy and a mould for the final bronze. Denise has faced many challenges. She has had to work from only 5 photographs, some of which are of poor quality and none…
Our chosen sculptor, Denise Dutton, has begun the early painstaking stages of her work. This will result in a small exact bronze model of what will eventually become the statue. Denise has been researching the clothing women of Mary Clarke’s time would have worn. She is already knowledgeable, because she sculpted the statue of suffragette Annie Kenney in Oldham. She has been working with an…