Medal - Suffragette Medal (Hunger Strike), Awarded to Myra Eleanor Sadd Brown, Great Britain, 1909

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This item is on display at Melbourne Museum

Summary:: Suffragette Medal awarded to Myra Eleanor Sadd Brown, following her being force fed in Holloway Prison in March 1912. The colours of the ribbon from which the bar and medal hang represent dignity (purple), purity (white) and hope (green). These were adopted as the official WSPU colours in May 1908.

Myra Sadd Brown [nee Myra Sadd] was a women's rights activist and internationalist. She was active in the women's suffrage movement in London and became a member of the militant Women's Social and Political Union, being imprisoned and arrested in 1912. While in Holloway Prison she went on hunger strike and was force fed.

The Suffragette Medal was commissioned in 1909 by the Women's Social and Political Union, and fewer than 100 are thought to have been awarded.
Description:: A small round silver medal (22 mm. diameter) suspended by a ring from a green, white and purple ribbon which is supported by a lower bar enamelled in horizontal stripes of purple, white and green, and an upper silver bar which is inscribed FOR VALOUR. The obverse of the medal is inscribed HUNGER STRIKE. The reverse is inscribed MYRA SADD BROWN within a laurel wreath. The back of the lower bar is inscribed FED BY FORCE 4/3/12 and the back of the upper bar is impressed TOYE. 57 THEOBALDS RD. LONDON

Discipline:	Numismatics
Dimensions:	75 mm (Height), 38 mm (Width), 22 mm (Diameter)

Tagged with:	suffragette movement, women s suffrage
Themes this item is part of:	Myra Eleanor Sadd Brown, Women's Rights Activist & Internationalist (1872-1938), Numismatics & Philately Collection, Public Life & Institutions Collection, The Militant Suffrage Movement in Great Britain
On Display at:	Melbourne Museum
Primary Classification:	MEDALS
Secondary Classification:	Decorations - Civil
Tertiary Classification:	(to be classified)
DateEra:	1909 AD
Obverse Description:	A small round silver medal (22 mm. diameter) suspended by a ring from a green, white and purple ribbon which si supported by a lower bar enamelled in horizontal stripes of purple, white and green, and an upper silver bar which is inscribed FOR VALOUR. The obverse of the medal is inscribed HUNGER STRIKE.
Reverse Description:	The reverse is inscribed MYRA SADD BROWN within a laurel wreath. The back of the lower bar is inscribed FED BY FORCE 4/3/12 and the back of the upper bar is impressed TOYE. 57 THEOBALDS RD. LONDON
Edge Description:	Plain
Inscriptions:	HUNGER STRIKE MYRA SADD BROWN FED BY FORCE 4/3/12 TOYE. 57 THEOBALDS RD. LONDON
Shape:	Round with loop, bar and ribbon
Material:	Silver
Issued By:	England, Great Britain
Awarded To:	Myra Brown, England, Great Britain, 1912 Awarded to Myra Sadd Brown following her being force fed in Hollway Prison, Mar 1912.