Edith Garrud, Jiu-jitsu and the suffragettes
Research for The Soho Jazz Murders
My 1920s sleuth, Marjorie Swallow, finds herself in some tight spots in the course of her investigation. Mostly, she relies on her wits, but there are times when a girl needs more than a pithy one-liner. She needs the self-defence art practised by those Edwardian warriors, the suffragettes of the Women’s Social and Political Union: jiu-jitsu*.
Mrs Edith Garrud, the first female teacher of jiu-jitsu in Britain, learned it alongside her husband William, a physical education teacher, at the end of the nineteenth century. She was very small, less than five foot tall, and was attracted by the idea of using skill to subdue a much bigger opponent. She and William trained under the Japanese practitioner Sadakazu Uyenishi, who opened his School of Japanese Self Defence in Golden Square, Soho, in 1903. When he returned to Japan he left the Dojo in the hands of his students William and Edith.
The real Black Friday
Mrs Garrud began teaching jiu-jitsu to women, and offered her services to the WSPU after giving a demonstration at a meeting. Things got more serious in 1910, after the ‘Black Friday’ demonstration on November 18 in which many suffragette protestors were injured after being beaten by police and bystanders.
Edith began training the ‘bodyguard,’ Mrs Pankhurst’s personal guard of women. She gave women-only lessons at Golden Square and wrote for the WSPU magazine urging women to learn jiu-jitsu.
She wrote: “It is the Japanese fine art of jujutsu or self-defence that has proved more than a match for mere brute force, and is, therefore, not only a good accomplishment, but a necessary safeguard for the woman who has to defend herself through life . . . 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.”
The decision of many women to learn the art caused some consternation - and amusement - in the press.
When war broke out in 1914, Mrs Pankhurst and the WSPU suspended their campaign. The Representation of the People Act of 1918 awarded the franchise to eight million women - but not on an equal footing to men. Only women aged 30 or over, who owned property, were allowed to vote.
‘Votes for Flappers’
The fight went on into the 1920s. In Death On Fleet Street, my latest book, I write about the 1924 Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, which sought to achieve voting equality. The move was dubbed ‘votes for flappers’ by the Daily Mirror, who foresaw it leading to votes for schoolgirls, children and infants. Although the first parliamentary vote was in favour, the bill did not become law and women were not awarded the vote on equal terms until 1928.
Mrs Garrud and William were still teaching at Golden Square in the 1920s. I thought this would be the ideal place for Marjorie Swallow, my apprentice sleuth, to learn the fine art of throwing men over her shoulder. The Soho Jazz Murders begins with Marjorie demonstrating her jiu-jitsu moves for Mrs Garrud. She continues to use it throughout her adventures, getting out of many a tight spot.
Research tip
Don’t forget about YouTube as a research resource. I rather enjoyed the cut-glass tones of this young lady demonstrating self-defence in 1933, as she calmly explained that: ‘It would be quite easy for me now to dislocate his elbow’. The poor man takes rather a battering.
Favourite research moment
This quote from Mrs Garrud, reported in a BBC article: “As Garrud recalled in an interview in 1965, a policeman once tried to prevent her from protesting outside Parliament. "Now then, move on, you can't start causing an obstruction here," he said. "Excuse me, it is you who are making an obstruction," she replied, and tossed him over her shoulder.”
Next time: Queen of Clubs, Kate Meyrick.
*Spellings vary; I’m going with this version.
This is fascinating, Anna. The video clip is hysterical!
This is the stuff I love to read about. Thank you so much for sharing and making me smile with this story!