Olive Beamish
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17 June 1890
Olive Beamish | |
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 | |
| Born | Agnes Olive Beamish 17 June 1890 Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 14 April 1978 (aged 87) Suffolk, England |
| Education | Girton College, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Suffragette and later typist agency business |
| Organisation | Women's Social and Political Union |
| Political party | Communist Party (1926-9) later Labour Party |
Olive Beamish (17 June 1890 – 14 April 1978) was an Irish-born suffragette, who wore a Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) badge whilst still at school, and became involved in the militant suffragette movement, including attacking postboxes and arson.[1] Beamish was also known as "Phyllis Brady".[1] Beamish was imprisoned and force-fed and was one of the first to be released under the "Cat and Mouse" Act and later sentenced to 18 months with hard labour.[1]
Agnes Olive Beamish was born in Cork in Ireland.[1] Her father was a Protestant farmer.[1] She had brothers. Her parents supported their daughter joining Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1906 and she wore their badge to school, whilst living in Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol, England, where they were had moved to by 1901.[1] Beamish felt the inferior status of women when her brothers were able to engage in politics for the 1905 election, saying "I felt the position keenly, that I would never be equal to them in the political world, and I also realised the inferior position of women, everywhere."[1] Beamish studied at Girton College Cambridge, mathematics and economics in 1912.[citation needed]
