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Friday, January 17, 2014
Suffragette Hoax 'Bombs' in New Cross & Rotherhithe
From the New York Times, 17 May 1913, reports of suffragette hoax 'bomb' packages being left around London, including 'outside a coffee house at New Cross' and 'in the public library' at Rotherhithe. The 'make-believe bombs... contained such innocuous materials as cabbage leaves, soot and earth'. This was in the same month that St Catherine's Church in Kitto Road SE14 was set on fire in a presumed suffragette attack as the campaign for votes for women reached its peak of militancy.
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Suffragettes left a real bomb in Spurgeons Tabernacle, The Elephant on May 10th 1914.Damage was a few scorched pews. A card was left reading "Put your religion into practice and see that women obtain their freedom'.
The St. Catherine's episode was a bit of nifty PR by the then vicar. Blame the suffragettes - because two suspicious looking women in black had been seen near the church the day before - and you make front-page headlines and get a rebuilding fund well subscribed to (including donations by royalty). Admit to an accident with a coke boiler and you get blamed for incompetence and find yourself uninsurable for the future.
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