Kerr was born in 1859 in Wanstead, Essex.[1] Her father Robert Kerr was a professor of architecture at King's College London.[2][3] She became interested in women's rights and suffrage because of her father's prejudice against women.[2]
Women's suffrage
Kerr with fellow suffragettes Hilda Dallas, Maud Joachim and one other, at the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
Kerr ran a successful secretarial agency in London, but she gave up her business to dedicate herself to working for the campaign for women's enfranchisement.[4] In 1906, she was appointed as the paid office manager of the national headquarters of the WSPU in Clement's Inn, London,[5] on the agreement that her work would be solely administrative.[6] She oversaw volunteers and mentored new recruits such as Charlotte Marsh.[4]
Front page of The Suffragette, 3 October 1913, reporting the arrests of Kerr and SandersKerr and Beatrice Sanders at the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), from The Suffragette, 3 October 1913
On 30 April 1913, Kerr was arrested alongside Beatrice Sanders, Rachel Barrett, Agnes Lake (business manager of The Suffragette newspaper) and Flora Drummond when police raided the WSPU offices.[7] She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour for conspiracy to do wilful damage to property,[8] even though she had not yet marched in a deputation or participated in any militant action.[5] She went on hunger strike and was temporarily released in June 1913 under the "Cat and Mouse Act".[2] It is likely that she was awarded the Hunger Strike Medal. She stayed at Hook Cottage in Billingshurst, Sussex, to recuperate,[9] then in October 1913 was rearrested, once again at the WSPU offices.[10] During the rearrest of Kerr and Sanders, Annie Ford, Emma Birchell and Alice Virtue tried to stop the police from taking them and were also arrested. They were charged with obstructing the police and fined 40 shillings each.[10] After serving the rest of her sentence, Kerr was sentenced to twelve months under police supervision.[11] Due to the impact on her physical health, Kerr retired from the suffrage campaign.[2]
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