Gertrude Harding (1889 – 1977)

Gertrude Menzies Harding was a suffragette, one of the highest-ranking organizers of the UK's militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Born on a farm in Welsford, New Brunswick, the self-described "tomboy" arrived in London in 1912 and joined the suffragette movement at the height of its militancy. Harding planned and carried out numerous acts of political protest, and the WSPU wreaked significant damage on buildings and institutions in the name of women's rights. Harding was editor of the underground newspaper The Suffragette when she moved to Paris in 1915 to serve as private secretary to suffragette Christable Pankhurst. British women won partial voting rights in 1918 and full voting rights 10 years later. Harding went on to become a social worker, first in England and then in the United States. A lifelong social justice activist, she returned to New Brunswick in the final year of her remarkable life.