"The circular medal is decorated with eleven silver bars and the purple, white and green ribbon of the suffragette movement. It was awarded "For Duty" by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), the militant suffrage organisation founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia."
"Each of the eleven bars carries an engraved date marking key moments when Nurse Pine provided care to imprisoned suffragettes - usually after arrests, hunger strikes, forced feeding, and releases under the controversial Cat and Mouse Act."
"Catherine Pine trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, rising to the role of House Sister before leaving in 1907 to open her own nursing home in Pembridge Gardens in Notting Hill. The home soon became a refuge for suffragettes recovering after imprisonment and hunger strikes."
"Pine also assisted the Pankhurst family in more direct ways - even helping Christabel and Sylvia evade arrest by lending them nursing uniforms as disguises."
Nurse Catherine Pine received a silver medal from the Women's Social and Political Union for her dedicated care of imprisoned suffragettes, particularly Emmeline Pankhurst. The medal features eleven engraved bars marking specific dates of suffragette releases and care incidents between 1913 and 1914. Pine trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital and opened a nursing home in Notting Hill that became a refuge for recovering suffragettes. She served as Pankhurst's chief nurse and trusted ally, providing medical care during hunger strikes and forced feeding. Pine also assisted the movement by helping Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst evade arrest using nursing uniforms as disguises. The medal, missing for decades, represents the crucial support network surrounding the militant suffrage campaign.
#suffragette-movement #emmeline-pankhurst #nurse-catherine-pine #womens-social-and-political-union #historical-medal
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