Catherine Pine
Catherine Pine | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pine in 1913, nursing Emmeline Pankhurst | |
| Born | Catherine Emily Pine 7 May 1864 Maidstone, Kent, England |
| Died | 14 August 1941 (aged 77) Finsbury Extra, Rochester, Kent |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Nurse and suffragette |
Catherine Emily Pine (7 May 1864 – 14 August 1941)[1] was active in the women's suffrage movement in Britain. She nursed the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and her son Henry.[2] Pine travelled with Pankhurst until she decided to move back to Britain permanently in 1924.
Family and education
[edit]Catherine Emily Pine was born in Maidstone on 7 May 1864.[1] Her parents were Robert Pine, a corn merchant, and his wife, Anne Bret. Catherine trained to be a nurse. Pine attended a school for nursing and trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital between 1895 and 1897.[3] After qualification she remained at St Bartholomew's until she was promoted to Hospital Sister in 1900.[4] She was described by the staff as "‘punctual, very kind and attentive, very patient and even tempered".[5]
Career and support for suffragettes
[edit]Pine opened a nursing home in 1907 in Pembridge Gardens, Notting Hill, London, working with Nurse Catherine Townend.[1] Suffragettes who had gone on hunger strike and were forcibly fed in prison were taken there after being released to receive medical care and recuperate.[6] Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the imprisoned suffragettes that underwent care at the nursing home and she soon viewed Pine as a friend and a competent nurse. Pine also took care of Pankhurst's son, who was suffering from an inflammation of the bladder,[7] until he died of poliomyelitis in 1910.[5]
When the 1911 census was enumerated, Pine gave the details of her patients and wrote across her census form: "Above names at request. For the rest No Votes No Information."[5]
Relationship with the Pankhursts
[edit]In 1912 Pine and Townend assisted Christabel Pankhurst in escaping arrest by providing her with a nurse's uniform and access to a friend's house.[1]
From 1917 Pine worked in the home procured by the Pankhurst family at Tower Cressy, Campden Hill but was not in sympathy with the Montessori teaching methods used by Jenny (Jane) Kenney for the children there.[1][8] Then Pine accompanied the Pankhursts went to Paris in early 1919, while Emmeline worked in France for the suffrage movement.[4] That September, they sailed to the United States and Canada, and although Pine longed to go home, she knew she had a job to do.[citation needed] A lot of the time, Emmeline was not at home, so Pine was charged with the duties of taking care of Pankhurst's children.
Later life
[edit]Pine returned to England in 1923 and found employment at Cottage Hospital, Herne Bay, Kent.[1] She attended Pankhurst's funeral in July 1928.[1]
Pine suffered a stroke and died in 1941.[1]
Suffragette Medal
[edit]Pine was awarded a suffragette medal and left it to the History Section of the British College of Nursing,[6] which was founded in 1926 by Ethel Gordon Fenwick, a former matron of St Bartholomew’s where Pine had trained and worked.[9] Pine's library and mementos were given to the Museum of London.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Doughan, David (23 September 2004). "Pine, Catherine Emily". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63884. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Robinson, Jane (11 January 2018). Hearts And Minds: The Untold Story of the Great Pilgrimage and How Women Won the Vote. Random House. ISBN 9781473540866.
- ^ "Catherine Pine". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- ^ a b Purvis, June (2 September 2003). Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. Routledge. ISBN 9781134341924.
- ^ a b c "Catherine Pine". Mapping Women's Suffrage. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ a b Crawford, Elizabeth (26 May 2016). "Suffrage Stories: The Mystery of Nurse Pine's Medal". Woman and her Sphere. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- ^ Gottlieb, Julie V.; Toye, Richard (28 May 2013). The Aftermath of Suffrage: Women, Gender, and Politics in Britain, 1918-1945. Springer. ISBN 9781137333001.
- ^ Pugh, Martin (2013). The Pankhursts. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9781448162680. OCLC 615842857.
- ^ Crawford, Elizabeth (25 July 2024). "The mystery of nurse Catherine Pine's suffragette medal—and its solution". Women's History Review: 1–7. doi:10.1080/09612025.2024.2376857. ISSN 0961-2025.
- ^ "Catherine Pine". City, University of London. Retrieved 19 October 2019.