J. A. Bouvier, 3.11.12

Postcard depicting the Suffragette Mrs Bouvier in a garden with another young woman and a man, possibly her daughter and husband. Handwritten beneath is 'J. A. Bouvier, 3.11.12.' It is possible Mrs Bouvier was also known as Eugénie Bouvier, this name listed on the roll call of Suffragette prisoners.
J.A. Bouvier was the Honorary Secretary of the Lewisham Branch of the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU shop for the branch was located at 72 Tranquil Vale, Blackheath. Mrs Bouvier was first arrested for Suffragette militancy during the 'pantechnicon' raid in February 1908 for which she received a 6 week sentence in prison. The following year the Lewisham branch was one of several London branches responsible for organising the deputation to Prime Minister Asquith on June 29th 1909. Mrs Bouvier was one of the 110 women arrested as a result of the scuffle that broke out between the police and the Suffragettes on the deputation. Sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Holloway she became one of the first Suffragettes to go on hunger strike and refuse to wear prison clothing in protest against not being given the status of political prisoner.
In Sylvia Pankhurst’s book ‘The Suffrage Movement' (1931), Mrs Bouvier is referred to as ‘that brave, persistent Russian’. She had taken a a diploma at St Petersburg University before marrying M. Bouvier, the French Master at Kings College & City of London schools.