https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/d9cb23fa5b49ca02626397748333d7d8.jpg f752b0e206cc0b279e7a7e88b0bf66b7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource East Cowes Castle, Viscountess Gort's home. The castle was demolished in 1963. Source: County Press 7 December 2019 © 2001-2025. The Isle of Wight County Press https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/b97e0a9ab940551a65a2796d56a3d88c.jpg d2033c33fa431830e55a3a3cf27405e7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Ashbourne Telegraph 19 March 1909 https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/885f51f99a5bba468ba1b33dbefedbdf.jpg aeaaeabb87ec50e791718549da2f7c32 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Vote, 26 Feb 1910 https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/1551cb026dc2c126c68cbec7fd444a54.jpg e2fe6e87dc3907e0017f4018fbddde21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource London Evening Standard 8 July 1914 https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/3ebb117d7116f78b3c0fd5d2607d1866.jpg b1df8c4576e181dd9607d26ec3251e88 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The death of Viscountess Gort in 1933 at East Cowes Castle. Western Morning News 1 March 1933 https://map.mappingwomenssuffrage.org.uk/files/original/54bd404cbee7e5e769e32811a4f50c30.jpg e24527a4fef95cb03fba7ed9787f4b02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Viscountess Gort occupied/owned several homes moving around the country including Durham and London where she was staying and recorded on the 1911 census. However, her home and much of her social and political life was located on the Isle of Wight where she also died and is found on the project map. Census courtesy The National Archives. Person (Campaigner) A record of a person related to the Mapping Women's Suffrage project Occupation None Age The age of this person at the time of the 1911 UK Census 54 Marital Status The marital status of this person at the time of the 1911 UK Census Married Address The address of this person at the time of the 1911 UK Census East Cowes Castle, East Cowes PO32 6QG Suffrage Society The suffrage society this person was affiliated with at the time of the 1911 UK Census CUWFA Census This person's response to the 1911 UK Census Complies Biographical Text Viscountess Eleanor Gort was born Eleanor Surtees in 1857. Her father was Richard Smith Surtees, who was a well-known novelist and editor. He owned Hamsterley Hall in Durham, which Eleanor inherited after her father's death in 1864. There is little information on Eleanor’s upbringing and young adult life. She married John Gage Prendergast Vereker, the 5th Viscount of Gort, in January 1885. Eleanor and John would be gifted the now demolished East Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight as a Christmas gift in 1895 from John’s father. Eleanor and John had two sons together before John died in 1902. Eleanor would go on to marry Colonel Starling Meux Benson in June 1908, who was also a widower. In their marriage announcement, the pair were described as devout to the Church of England, and both believed in women’s suffrage. Eleanor was a member of the Conservative and Unionist Women’s Franchise Association, which was founded to support the suffrage movement. Eleanor was also involved in the Blue Cross, lending her drawing room for a sale of China, jewellery and enamel to raise money. She also opened a Blue Cross shelter in Chelsea in 1909. Eleanor also opened her home for suffrage meetings in all her homes across the country in Durham, London and on the Isle of Wight. In 1909, she opened her home in Grosvenor Gardens in London to an at-home which was well attended by members of the conservative franchise association. This included the president, Lady Knightley of Fawsley and Lady Edward-spencer Churchill, aunt of future prime minister Winston Churchill. She complied with the 1911 census and was recorded as staying at her London home with her second husband and 8 servants. She held an at-home at Hamsterley Hall for the Shotley Bridge and Consett branch of the NUWSS in 1912. In 1913, Eleanor presided over a Church League for Women's Suffrage meeting at Cowes. It was attended by many local Island residents. Eleanor attended the 1914 meeting for delegates of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance, in which Great Britain was represented by Mrs Stanton Coit, who travelled to the Isle of Wight many times to help the suffragist movement. Eleanor died in March 1933 at East Cowes Castle, just a month after her husband. Eleanor complied with the 1911 census while staying at her house in London. Families who lived on the Island often had houses in London to be close to the heart of British society and would regularly travel between them, depending on the season and occasion. For Eleanor, this also includes her home in Durham. Eleanor has been plotted at her house, East Cowes Castle, to represent her vital role in the suffrage movement on the Isle of Wight. While she participated in the movement in London and Durham, her work was most prevalent on the Isle of Wight, and thus she is plotted on the Island to highlight this. East Cowes Castle was demolished in 1963 but the map location is placed on the site where it was. Sources: Mosley, Charles, Burke’s Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage: Clan Chiefs, Scottish Feudal Barons (Stokesley, Burke’s Peerage & Gentry, 2003). Contributed by Becca Aspden, URSS student researcher, History Dept., Warwick University Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eleanor Gort (Viscountess) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant ||||osm POINT(-142549.57626328364 6578616.386816286)