Mary Sophia Allen
Encyclopedia
Mary Sophia Allen was a Welsh
-born British woman who worked for women's rights. She is chiefly noted as one of the founders of the Women's Police Volunteers as well as for her involvement in far right
political activity.
in 1878, one of the ten children of Thomas Isaac Allen, Chief Superintendent of the Great Western Railway
. Mary was close to her sisters, all of whom had a tendency to religious mysticism. She was educated at Princess Helena College
. She left home in 1908 after a disagreement with her father about women's suffrage, and joined Emmeline Pankhurst
's Women's Social and Political Union
, becoming an organizer in the South West, and later in Edinburgh
. She was imprisoned three times in 1909 for smashing windows, twice went on hunger-strike, and was force-fed on the last occasion, for which she was awarded a hunger-strike medal by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence
.
, militant suffragist activities ceased. Allen turned down an offer of work with a Needlework
Guild and looked around for a more active occupation. She heard that a number of women were trying to set up a women's police force and, in 1914, she joined Nina Boyle's Women Police Volunteers, which was taken over by Margaret Damer Dawson in 1915 and renamed the Women Police Service (WPS), with Allen as second-in-command. They designed their own uniform and opened training schools in London
and Bristol
. They saw their role as mainly dealing with women and children and rescuing women from vice
and ‘white slavery’. Allen served at Grantham
and Kingston upon Hull
, overseeing the morals of women in the vicinity of army barracks. She went on to police munitions factories which employed large numbers of women. She also worked in London, where ‘khaki fever’ was perceived as a problem. Child welfare work led the WPS to set up a Benevolent Department and a home for mothers and babies. Allen was awarded the OBE for services during the War.
Allen and Margaret Damer Dawson cropped their hair and assumed a severe military appearance, and Allen wore her police uniform in public for the rest of her life. In 1915 Dawson made a will
which left everything to Allen; when Dawson died unexpectedly in 1920, Allen assumed the role of WPS Commandant. After the War, the WPS was expected to disband: the authorities saw no further need of that organization. The Metropolitan Police set up its own women’s division and accused the WPS of masquerading as Metropolitan policewomen. Allen was even arrested in 1921 for wearing a Metropolitan Police
uniform before it was decided that her activities, which included producing dossiers on left-wing activists, were harmless and she should be allowed to continue wearing it.
The WPS changed their name to the Women’s Auxiliary Service (WAS) and, with minor modifications to their uniform, carried on as before, setting up a further training school in Edinburgh. The Government appointed the Baird Committee to investigate the activities of the WAS. Despite no longer being recognized by the authorities, Allen was invited by the Government to travel to Germany
and advise on the policing of the British Army of the Rhine
. This semi-acceptance encouraged her to represent herself overseas as chief of the British women police. She travelled in uniform and was welcomed by police authorities in Europe and in South and North America.
as an Independent Liberal candidate for Westminster
. During the General Strike of 1926 Allen was involved with the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies
and turned her Women's Auxiliary Corps over to the strike-breaking movement.
Allen learned to fly
. She attended international police congresses in Austria
and Germany. She also visited Holland, Hungary
, Czechoslovakia
, Turkey
and Brazil
, advising on the training of police women. She travelled to Egypt
in 1936 on holiday (wearing her uniform), but was received as if sent by the police authorities in Britain. Her interest in vice and white slavery continued to be a preoccupation, and she attended the League of Nations
conference in Geneva
on the traffic in women
. Wherever she went, she was welcomed as the leading British policewoman, and she made contact with police chiefs and political leaders all over Europe.
The Home Office began to take an interest in Allen’s activities in 1927. She was becoming an embarrassment and a nuisance to the Government, partly because of her acceptance abroad as representing the British authorities, and partly because she was mistaken for a Metropolitan police officer at home. Home Office
records covering the period 1927-1934 reveal that she kept dossiers on people she suspected of activities connected with vice and white slavery. She was also suspected of fascist activities
, and articles by or about her in national newspapers increased the Home Office surveillance.
Allen met a number of fascist leaders abroad, including Eoin O'Duffy
in Ireland, Franco
in Spain, Mussolini
in Italy, and Hitler
and Goering in Germany. Although her links to Oswald Mosley
’s British Union of Fascists
were unofficial until 1939, she engaged in various right-wing activities, including the formation of the Women’s Reserve in 1933, which was intended to serve the country in the event of subversive forces taking over. The publicity for the Women’s Reserve reveals her fascist sympathies, and her fear of communism.
She met Hitler in 1934 and discussed women police with him. She was captivated by Hitler and expressed her admiration for him in public. Once she had joined the British Union of Fascists, she wrote numerous articles for its newspapers and openly declared herself to be a fascist. A Suspension Order under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914
was made against her when suspicions arose about her contacts with Germany. Her home was searched, and internment was considered, but not implemented. She was suspected of making flights to Germany, and acting as a spy for the Nazis
, but this was never proved.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War Allen joined the Women's Voluntary Service but also became a regular speaker at BUF peace rallies. Outrage followed with Daily Herald
, Daily Mirror and News Chronicle
stories calling for Allen's removal from the WVS, particularly after comments in which she refused to condemn Adolf Hitler
were published. Due to her close connections to Mosley and Barry Domvile
Special Branch
regarded Allen with some suspicion, although they declined to detain her under Defence Regulation 18B
as they saw her as a "crank...trailing round in a ridiculous uniform". Eventually however she was placed under a lesser form of detention, being restricted to within a five mile radius of her Cornwall
home and banned from using cars, bicycles, telephones and the wireless.
Few details of Allen's personal life are available after the Second World War
. She continued to be associated with Mosley and other fascists, including Norah Elam with whom she had shared a lifelong friendship. Both had been members of the WSPU, and as miliant suffragettes had undergone force feeding. They both shared a commitment to animal activism, being staunch anti-vivisectionists and members of the London and Provincial Anti-Vivisection Society. She always had a strong interest in religion, without any particular affiliation. She converted to Roman Catholicism in 1953, and died in a nursing home in Croydon
at the age of 86, attended by her sister, Christine.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
-born British woman who worked for women's rights. She is chiefly noted as one of the founders of the Women's Police Volunteers as well as for her involvement in far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
political activity.
Early years
Allen was born to a well-to-do family in CardiffCardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in 1878, one of the ten children of Thomas Isaac Allen, Chief Superintendent of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
. Mary was close to her sisters, all of whom had a tendency to religious mysticism. She was educated at Princess Helena College
Princess Helena College
Princess Helena College is an independent school for girls located in the small village of Preston near Hitchin in Hertfordshire. It is housed in a Grade II* listed Queen Anne country house, which was redesigned by Edwin Lutyens, at the same time as the gardens were designed by his great friend,...
. She left home in 1908 after a disagreement with her father about women's suffrage, and joined Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
's Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
, becoming an organizer in the South West, and later in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. She was imprisoned three times in 1909 for smashing windows, twice went on hunger-strike, and was force-fed on the last occasion, for which she was awarded a hunger-strike medal by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence was a Britishwomen's rights activist.Her father was a businessman...
.
First World War
At the outbreak of the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, militant suffragist activities ceased. Allen turned down an offer of work with a Needlework
Needlework
Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
Guild and looked around for a more active occupation. She heard that a number of women were trying to set up a women's police force and, in 1914, she joined Nina Boyle's Women Police Volunteers, which was taken over by Margaret Damer Dawson in 1915 and renamed the Women Police Service (WPS), with Allen as second-in-command. They designed their own uniform and opened training schools in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. They saw their role as mainly dealing with women and children and rescuing women from vice
Vice
Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption...
and ‘white slavery’. Allen served at Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
and Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, overseeing the morals of women in the vicinity of army barracks. She went on to police munitions factories which employed large numbers of women. She also worked in London, where ‘khaki fever’ was perceived as a problem. Child welfare work led the WPS to set up a Benevolent Department and a home for mothers and babies. Allen was awarded the OBE for services during the War.
Allen and Margaret Damer Dawson cropped their hair and assumed a severe military appearance, and Allen wore her police uniform in public for the rest of her life. In 1915 Dawson made a will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
which left everything to Allen; when Dawson died unexpectedly in 1920, Allen assumed the role of WPS Commandant. After the War, the WPS was expected to disband: the authorities saw no further need of that organization. The Metropolitan Police set up its own women’s division and accused the WPS of masquerading as Metropolitan policewomen. Allen was even arrested in 1921 for wearing a Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
uniform before it was decided that her activities, which included producing dossiers on left-wing activists, were harmless and she should be allowed to continue wearing it.
The WPS changed their name to the Women’s Auxiliary Service (WAS) and, with minor modifications to their uniform, carried on as before, setting up a further training school in Edinburgh. The Government appointed the Baird Committee to investigate the activities of the WAS. Despite no longer being recognized by the authorities, Allen was invited by the Government to travel to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and advise on the policing of the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
. This semi-acceptance encouraged her to represent herself overseas as chief of the British women police. She travelled in uniform and was welcomed by police authorities in Europe and in South and North America.
Politics
In November 1922 Allen stood unsuccessfully for ParliamentParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as an Independent Liberal candidate for Westminster
Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter....
. During the General Strike of 1926 Allen was involved with the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies
Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies
Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies was a British right-wing movement established in 1925 to provide volunteers in the event of a general strike...
and turned her Women's Auxiliary Corps over to the strike-breaking movement.
Allen learned to fly
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
. She attended international police congresses in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany. She also visited Holland, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, advising on the training of police women. She travelled to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1936 on holiday (wearing her uniform), but was received as if sent by the police authorities in Britain. Her interest in vice and white slavery continued to be a preoccupation, and she attended the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
conference in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
on the traffic in women
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
. Wherever she went, she was welcomed as the leading British policewoman, and she made contact with police chiefs and political leaders all over Europe.
The Home Office began to take an interest in Allen’s activities in 1927. She was becoming an embarrassment and a nuisance to the Government, partly because of her acceptance abroad as representing the British authorities, and partly because she was mistaken for a Metropolitan police officer at home. Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
records covering the period 1927-1934 reveal that she kept dossiers on people she suspected of activities connected with vice and white slavery. She was also suspected of fascist activities
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, and articles by or about her in national newspapers increased the Home Office surveillance.
Allen met a number of fascist leaders abroad, including Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
in Ireland, Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
in Spain, Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
in Italy, and Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Goering in Germany. Although her links to Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
’s British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
were unofficial until 1939, she engaged in various right-wing activities, including the formation of the Women’s Reserve in 1933, which was intended to serve the country in the event of subversive forces taking over. The publicity for the Women’s Reserve reveals her fascist sympathies, and her fear of communism.
She met Hitler in 1934 and discussed women police with him. She was captivated by Hitler and expressed her admiration for him in public. Once she had joined the British Union of Fascists, she wrote numerous articles for its newspapers and openly declared herself to be a fascist. A Suspension Order under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914
Defence of the Realm Act 1914
The Defence of the Realm Act was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, during the early weeks of World War I. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war period, such as the power to requisition buildings or land needed for the war effort, or to make regulations creating...
was made against her when suspicions arose about her contacts with Germany. Her home was searched, and internment was considered, but not implemented. She was suspected of making flights to Germany, and acting as a spy for the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, but this was never proved.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War Allen joined the Women's Voluntary Service but also became a regular speaker at BUF peace rallies. Outrage followed with Daily Herald
Daily Herald
The Daily Herald was a British newspaper, published in London from 1912 to 1964 . It ceased publication when it was relaunched as The Sun.- Origins :...
, Daily Mirror and News Chronicle
News Chronicle
The News Chronicle was a British daily newspaper. It ceased publication on 17 October 1960, being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Its offices were in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8DP, England.-Daily Chronicle:...
stories calling for Allen's removal from the WVS, particularly after comments in which she refused to condemn Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
were published. Due to her close connections to Mosley and Barry Domvile
Barry Domvile
Admiral Sir Barry Edward Domvile KBE CB CMG was a distinguished Royal Navy officer who turned into a leading British Pro-German anti-Semite in the years before the Second World War....
Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
regarded Allen with some suspicion, although they declined to detain her under Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was the most famous of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during World War II. The complete technical reference name for this rule was: Regulation 18B of the Defence Regulations 1939. It allowed for the internment of...
as they saw her as a "crank...trailing round in a ridiculous uniform". Eventually however she was placed under a lesser form of detention, being restricted to within a five mile radius of her Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
home and banned from using cars, bicycles, telephones and the wireless.
Personal life
Allen was known as 'Robert' by her close circle of female friends, and she was called 'Sir' by her officers. Her friends and lovers included Margaret Damer Dawson, Isobel Goldingham and Helen Bourn Tagart, all of whom she met in her policing days. She wrote three volumes of autobiography: The Pioneer Policewoman (1925), A Woman at the Crossroads (1934), and Lady in Blue (1936). A Woman at the Crossroads reveals aspects of her life and philosophy but is reticent about her private life. It was written at the time when Allen met Hitler, and her political views are made plain: she was at a crossroads in her life because she was toying with fascism as a solution to the world problems that she perceived. She also wrote numerous articles for newspapers and magazines, and founded The Policewomen’s Review, which ran from 1927 to 1937, to which she was a major contributor.Few details of Allen's personal life are available after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She continued to be associated with Mosley and other fascists, including Norah Elam with whom she had shared a lifelong friendship. Both had been members of the WSPU, and as miliant suffragettes had undergone force feeding. They both shared a commitment to animal activism, being staunch anti-vivisectionists and members of the London and Provincial Anti-Vivisection Society. She always had a strong interest in religion, without any particular affiliation. She converted to Roman Catholicism in 1953, and died in a nursing home in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
at the age of 86, attended by her sister, Christine.