I live in Kent and am married with two children and a dog. I am a first time author and enjoy listening to and learning from other people’s stories. I particularly enjoy the ‘detective’ part of researching the past and then piecing it together to accurately convey accounts of events. I think this stems from my legal training as I was previously a Solicitor. In addition to researching and writing I work part time in a local council helping to deliver community projects to meet the needs of residents.
Tell us about your book
Suffragettes of Kent is my first book. It is published by Pen & Sword Ltd and includes many stories and journeys of hope, determination, courage and sacrifice of those involved in the women’s suffrage movement in Kent.
There were tours of Kent completed by the Women’s Freedom League in 1908 and 1913 and the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1913. I retraced these tours and include their messages and the reaction of the Kent inhabitants. Included is also a detailed account of the significant part Kent played in the 1913 mass pilgrimage to London by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.
Revealing the part Maidstone prison played in forcible feeding of suffragette prisoners, my book includes accounts by those who experienced such treatment.
My first chapter is dedicated to the previously untold story of Ethel Violet Baldock, a young working class Kent maid, involved in the suffrage movement. She was arrested and imprisoned for her part in the 1912 window smashing militant action in London. I made contact with Ethel’s descendants when researching and writing her story and we continue to meet at events including the recent unveiling of Hope, the life size statue of a suffragette (see more about this on my website: https://jennifergodfrey.co.uk)
What projects are you currently working on?
I give talks (online and in person) about my research and book, Suffragettes of Kent.
I
continue to get involved in spin off initiatives that have arisen from
Suffragettes of Kent including unveiling The Lego statue of a suffragette
called Hope when it visited Kent, a sensory garden in commemoration of a
suffrage campaigner; research project by a 12-year old girl currently living in
a Kent suffragette’s family home, the national mapping women’s suffrage project
and some school based studies. You can find out more by visiting my
website at: https://jennifergodfrey.co.uk
I really enjoy getting involved in these projects as history is being used to
inform the here and now. Bringing historical accounts and voices to life
enables us to learn from history and effectively apply it to today’s world.
Where can we buy your book?
Where you can find Jennifer Godfrey:
Website:
https://jennifergodfrey.co.uk
Twitter:
@JennyGodfrey19
Instagram:
jenny.godfrey.1426
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenny.godfrey1426
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