Surveillance image of the Suffragette prisoner Mary Pascoe

Surveillance image of the Suffragette prisoner Mary Pascoe exercising in the yard of Holloway Prison.
The image was probably taken in 1913 when Mary was serving a term of imprisonment in Holloway on a charge of obstructing the police and insulting behaviour. On Sunday 27th July 1913 Mary was one of 13 women and 11 men arrested when 'fierce' skirmishes between the police and suffragettes erupted after a meeting in Trafalgar Square organised by the East London Federation of the WSPU and the Men's Federation for Women's Suffrage. The meeting was emotionally charged due to the dramatic appearance of Sylvia Pankhurst who had been released from Holloway on licence under the terms of the Cat and Mouse Act. As the police attempted to rearrest Sylvia as she made her escape down Whitehall surrounded by her bodyguards, Suffragettes followed her down the street and came face to face with police cordons, resulting in confrontation and arrest. All those arrested were charged with obstructing police or insulting behaviour and assault. For her part in the protest Mary Pascoe was sentenced to a month's imprisonment on each of the two charges.
Scotland Yard undertook covert photography of militant suffragettes from 1913. The images were used to identify suffragettes attempting to enter public buildings such as museums and art galleries, where they might attempt to damage the objects.