Museum Event: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Jujitsu Suffragette
26th January 2013
Drop in between 2pm and 5pm
“Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Jujitsu Suffragette” - Victorian England seemed to be a dangerous place. Public concern about street crime was being fuelled by exaggerated stories in the newspapers about “garrotting” gangs and Jack the Ripper; while fiction was populated with characters like Spring-Heeled Jack, Bill Sykes and Mr. Hyde.
And, unlike his historical predecessors, a gentleman could no longer carry a sword. So how was a man to defend himself?
When the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes struggled with his arch enemy Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls he credits the martial art of “Baritsu” for his escape. And this, like the amazing slow-motion fight sequences in the recent Sherlock Holmes movies, was inspired by the very real Victorian martial-art of Bartitsu.
Its creator, Edward Barton-Wright studied Jujutsu while working in Japan. When he returned to England in 1898 he combined this with English boxing , French stick fighting and Savate (a type of kickboxing favoured by French sailors) to create one of the first modern martial arts.
Following Barton-Wright’s instruction a man would be ready to defend himself using whatever he had to hand, from his coat to a bicycle.
But not just men, one of his first pupils was a woman called Edith Garrud who in 1907 appeared in an early martial arts film, Ju-jutsu Downs the Footpads.
And as Victorian England gave way to the 20th Century, Edith started to run classes for women; the forerunner of the self-defence classes taken by hundreds of women each year in Britain. But she is most remembered for training “The Bodyguard”, a unit of thirty militant Suffragettes who fought in widely reported hand-to-hand skirmishes with the Police.
At Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse on the afternoon of 26th January we will be unfolding the stories of Edward Barton-Wright and Edith Garrud, and giving a very physical demonstration of how they were able to defend themselves.
This event is being presented by a group of historians and re-enactors who recently took part in a gathering at the museum and following that gave their support to us by offering to give this presentation free of charge. As someone who has been involved in living history for many years, I can say that this is one of the most quirky and unusual presentations I’ve ever come across and promises to be fascinating.
This is a public event and included in the usual admission price, and is free to all Friends of Weaver Hall Museum. The demonstrations will take place in the Board of Guardians room throughout the afternoon, so drop in whatever time you wish between 2pm and 5pm. Hopefully we’ll see some of you there.
Contact the museum on 01606 271640 or
email cheshiremuseums@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk for more details.