None given

46

Married

Duncton cottage, Duncton, West Sussex

WFL

Evades

Florence de Fonblanque (1864-1949) was the sister of Maud Arncliffe Sennett, a committee member of the Actresses Franchise League, who had a home in Midhurst. Florence married actor Robert de Fonblanque and settled at Duncton in 1893. She came to public and press attention when she led a Women’s March from Edinburgh, starting on 19 October 1912, and reaching London on 16 November, covering a distance of 466 miles. Charlotte Despard of the WFL accompanied the marchers the first day and MLWS members who walked with them included East Preston resident Israel Zangwill, husband of Edith Zangwill of the WSPU. Florence’s horse, Butterfly, pulled a light van. The march culminated in a rally in Trafalgar Square, presided over by Maud Arncliffe Sennett. Supporters were addressed by Charlotte Despard, Ruth Cavendish Bentinck, a defector from the WSPU to the NUWSS, and Florence herself. A petition, with signatures gathered along the way and in London, was delivered by Florence to 10 Downing Street. Although this made little impression on PM Asquith, the march attracted considerable publicity for the cause. The ‘Brown Women’, in their uniform of ‘business-like brown tweed skirts and golf coats’ with green cockades, had their daily progress recorded by regional papers in relay along the route as well as by their own enthusiastic reports sent in to The Vote, Votes for Women, Suffragette and Common Cause. In February 1913, Florence announced the formation of the Marchers Qui Vive Corps. This would run a shop at 60 (now 62) West Street, Horsham, selling suffrage literature and organising marches to Brighton and meetings in villages. At their first public meeting, in Horsham Town Hall in March, speakers Ruth Cavendish Bentinck and Revd Claude Hinscliff, of the Church League for Women’s Suffrage, were introduced by Florence who explained that the Marchers Qui Vive were making Horsham their headquarters for six months and that there would be a march every Saturday. In mid-May Florence and Marchers Qui Vive secretary, Annie Roff of Easebourne, Midhurst, marched with five others to Brighton, stopping overnight in Henfield, and coming back by Shoreham and Steyning. Nine meetings were held in four days, the last being on the marchers’ return to Horsham’s Carfax where they were met by a jeering crowd. The clamour of rattles and handbells was such that the meeting had to be abandoned and a police escort was required. Undaunted, in August 1913 Florence organised a march to Cowdray Park, Midhurst, home of suffragist Annie, Viscountess Country. At an overnight stop at Pulborough, a meeting was held at the Corn Exchange. At the next day’s Cowdray Park open-air meeting, near the polo ground, the star speaker was Mrs Cecil Chapman, President of the New Constitutional Society for Women’s Suffrage, formed following the January 1910 General Election. This was Florence’s last march. She placed a notice in The Vote in Oct 1913 saying that the Marchers qui Vive were giving up their depot in Horsham and would be holding indoor meetings in Sussex during the winter. Sources: West Sussex County Times; West Sussex Gazette; The Vote; Votes for Women; Suffragette; Common Cause. Contributed by independent writer and researcher, Frances Stenlake.