Angela Holdsworth

Congratulations to Michele Dougherty first woman astronomer royal. It took 350 years

Woman of the Day martial arts expert, playwright and suffragist Edith Garrud (1872-1971) of Bath, the first woman to teach ju-jitsu in Britain. She trained Emmeline Pankhurst’s all-female Bodyguard in the art of self-defence, distraction techniques, and in the use of wooden Indian clubs which they concealed in their dresses Having learned ju-jitsu in 1899, Edith opened her own dojo in London, wrote self-defence scenarios for magazines that formed the basis of her suffrage theatre performances, and joined the Women’s Freedom League in 1906 where she set up a self-defence club. Edith demonstrated her martial arts techniques at the Woman’s Exhibition in Knightsbridge organised by the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1909 and according to the Evening Telegraph, a male police officer volunteered to put her skills to the test. Realising he towered over her - she was just 4ft 11in - he said, “Why, you’re only a little dot of a woman” and began grappling with her. Within a minute or two, Edith dropped to the floor and lay flat on her back. He leaned over to subdue her but she planted her feet on his diaphragm and flipped him so that he somersaulted and landed on his head. Rubbing his sore head, he muttered, “If that had happened on the pavement instead of this mat, the police force would be one man short.” Mrs Pankhurst immediately spotted the potential. Suffragettes often had to defend themselves from male hecklers who tried to stop them from speaking but there had already been several serious assaults and the level of violence and intimidation by angry men was steadily escalating. Matters came to a head on Black Friday, 18 November 1910 when around 300 suffragettes gathered outside Parliament to protest and were assaulted - including being groped - by both police officers and male members of the crowd. Many women sustained serious injuries. After that, they didn’t go unprepared. Some resorted to putting cardboard under their corsets for protection - rib cracking was a common injury - but Edith taught them how to defend themselves. Mrs Pankhurst in particular needed protection - she was a prime target - so Edith formed The Bodyguard; thirty women specially trained by her in defence and distraction techniques. "Sometimes all they would get would be a phone call and instructions to follow a particular car." The fiercest resistance by the Bodyguard became known as the Battle of Glasgow on 9 March 1914 when Emmeline Pankhurst was due to speak at St Andrew’s Hall at 8pm. The day before, the Bodyguard caught the overnight train from London to Glasgow, with Indian clubs concealed in their dresses, while suffragette Olive Bartel rigged the stage of the Hall with defence mechanisms hidden by bouquets and garlands of flowers. Fifty police officers took up position inside the Hall while outside, a cordon of police checked the audience’s IDs as they arrived, hoping to arrest Emmeline before she could enter the Hall. (These days, you’d only need that level of security to permit a panel of women to discuss, well, women’s rights. Such are the lengths to which some men - and some women - will go to prevent women from speaking). She was already in there, in the front row, disguised. At 8pm, she threw off her disguise and started speaking to an audience of 4000. The police inside the Hall lunged towards her, hampered by the defence mechanisms and by the Bodyguard, and they battled it out for as long as they could - Emmeline still speaking - until Scottish suffragette Janie Allan fired a pistol loaded with blanks and pandemonium ensued. Emmeline was arrested and taken away. Flora Drummond picked up her speech and delivered the rest of it on her behalf. Later the same year and subject to re-arrest under the Cat and Mouse Act, Mrs Pankhurst gave a speech from a balcony in Camden Square. As soon as she left the house in a veil, the police swooped and the Bodyguard made strenuous attempts to protect her. However, the police knocked her to the ground and she was dragged away unconscious. When they unveiled her, it was another woman altogether. The real Emmeline had been smuggled out in the commotion. Edith was quite clear: “Physical force seems the only thing in which women have not demonstrated their equality to men, and whilst we are waiting for the evolution which is slowly taking place and bringing about that equality, we might just as well take time by the forelock and use science, otherwise ju-jitsu.” During an interview in 1965, Edith recalled the time a policeman tried to stop her from protesting outside Parliament. "Now then, move on, you can't start causing an obstruction here," he said. "Excuse me,” she said, “it is you who are making an obstruction," and tossed him over her shoulder. She died in 1971, aged 99. Whatever the ruling today, remember that we have always had to fight hard for every single one of our rights. Nothing has ever been handed to us on a plate. Our mothers and grandmother had to argue and scrap each time and we are not about to betray their sacrifices. The future of our daughters and granddaughters depends on it. We use different methods these days to state our case. We lobby, campaign, and, yes, we have to resort to lawfare. But we stand together.

My urgent tracked mail still sitting at Greenford sorting office. @RoyalMailHelp 021516CE012D79A1 next day delivery seems to be 9 day delivery at current count …

@RoyalMailHelp My tracked 1st class envelope sent from Dorset 25 March received Greenford 26th. Still there it is vital for me 021516CE012D79A1. receipt says aim next working day!

@patrick_kidd It’s changed a lot since the early years of Twitter and I engage far less.

@AngelHoldsworth Thank you. Not heard from you in a while but always good to do so

@patrick_kidd good luck with the next venture. I’ve enjoyed reading you from when you did parliament and on through the diary years. Look forward to sketches.

French senator perfectly describes the Trump situation.

Where is the EU? Where is the US? Where is the UK?

@campbellclaret @KattyKay_ Typo Katty!

@campbellclaret @KattyKay_ Bit tough on Kitty. Seem to remember Rory also having time off and Gauke filling in …

Can’t believe @KattyKay_ has “holidays!”

@guidedogs @ramo_katherine @bhorsetrials @foxpitteventing Fantastic

@campbellclaret Biden Trump debate disaster. Hard to watch. Will Biden now stand aside? CNN moderators didn’t do much moderating!

@AliceKrakauer Jane Taffinder and I are hoping you pick this up.We were reminiscing about NY 1969 and would love to be back in touch

@AliceKrakauer Are you the Alice I worked with on theMailer campaign and my friend, Jane Taffinder, on the McCarthy? We were talking and reminiscing...would love to be in touch.

@CWilson_FCDO Bet he is proud of you. Just back from HK we missed you.

26 years after my year at Beijng Normal Uni 北师大, I returned. One of my strictest teachers was waiting ... I think he feels my Chinese should have progressed more in the intervening decades 😲. And one of China's most famous authors - literary giant Mo Yan. A moving visit.

This is an amazing tale of determination and success despite immense challenges. Now young Salma is off to university, she needs financial support for the next few years. Please help.

Left: 15 years old visiting my dad in prison for the first time. He was arrested on my birthday. My first time ever in court or court cells was a few days later when they let me down to see him. Right: 28 years old on my last day of pupillage, now a FULLY QUALIFIED BARRISTER.

@Rosathome I suppose it's been much worse since austerity, then endless upheavals like Brexit and Ministers being constantly reshuffled and Boris and Truss! Once upon a time I wouldn't have believed it could be possible .

@AngelHoldsworth + Strikes and sewage in rivers. Seems like a fresh hell everyday. Where did it all go wrong?

This country is literally as well as metaphorically falling apart under this government. Raac now found in hospitals.

Thrilling news - very proud to have had a hand in this pioneering exhibition which was born out of my work on Sir William Lyons in High Performance