Born in Oswestry, Shropshire in 1867, Henria Helen Leech Williams had grown up in Willaston, Cheshire where her father Henry Williams was a Railway Signal Engineer, and her mother, also named Henria (nee Leech), was a governess and school mistress.  Her siblings also bore distinctive names – including sisters Inez, Ida and Constance and brothers Llewellyn and Owen.

In about 1905 Miss Williams had bought The Cottage, Corbets Tey, which had until 1901 been better known as The George Public House. Her large home comprised an entrance hall, a drawing room with "carved wood mantel & overmantel", a dining room, four bedrooms, an attic and cellar. Outside there were also glasshouses and a stable, while alongside, forming part of the property, was a newly-built two bedroom cottage, which was probably where her coachman lived.

I should first mention that I have a weak heart, and have not the physical power or breath to resist as my wish or spirit would will or like. Therefore, what may not seem extraordinary to some women or people was very much so for me. The police have such strong, large hands, that when they take hold of one by the throat, as I saw one man do - but not to me - or grab one's sides or ribs, which was done to me, they cannot possibly know how terribly at times they are hurting.

One policeman after knocking me about for a considerable time, finally took hold of me with his great strong hand like iron just over my heart. He hurt me so much that at first I had not the voice power to tell him what he was doing. But I knew that unless I made a strong effort to do so he would kill me. So collecting all the power of my being, I commanded him to take his hand off my heart. Yet that policeman would not arrest me and he was the third or fourth who had knocked me about. The two first after pinching my arms, kicking my feet, and squeezing and hurting me in different ways, made me think that at last they had arrested me, but they each one only finally took me to the edge of the thick crowd, and then without mercy forced me into the midst of it, and with the crowd pushing in the opposite direction for a few minutes I doubted if I could keep my consciousness, and my breath had gone long before they finally left me in the crowd… Finally, I was so exhausted that I could not go out again with the last batch that same evening. Although I had no limbs broken, still my arms, sides, and ankles were sore for days afterwards.  But that was not so bad as the inward shaking and exhaustion I felt.

One gentleman on the first day rescued me three times. After the third time, he said to the policeman, who happened to be the same one each time, "Are you going to arrest this lady, or are you going to kill her?"  But he did not arrest me, but he actually left me alone for some time after that."

On January 2, 1911, death took away from your ranks your comrade and my sister. She died while actively engaged in furthering the cause which you have so deep at heart. From our long conversations and correspondence, it is beyond doubt that my sister was fully aware that she was affliction of the heart and the work she was doing was exceedingly dangerous.

Nevertheless, she willingly and zealously persisted in doing whatever she could, and on several occasions expressed herself as quite prepared to make the sacrifice of some years of her natural life… with unmeasured reverence I pen this memoir to one to whose spontaneous bravery I owe my life. Her true heroic nature is borne out also by a little in Corbets Tey about a year ago, and as it has reference to the force of men which is by those in authority often placed in violence against you, the record of the incident is very opportune. Awakened suddenly in the still of the night by the shouts of men in the dark and lonely village street, my sister, on realising that the village constable was being attacked and apparently overpowered, hurriedly dressed, and went forth in the darkness to his assistance. Fortunately, by the time she arrived her services were not required but I know full well that she would rather have suffered death than have left her friend to his fate. This is a type of heroine which the authorities are persecuting at the present time. The constable I know, highly values this deed of bravery, and to his lot fell the duty of rendering the last aid.

The is a heroic spirit of the higher altruism which impels the most timid and retiring of men and women into action against a wrong. It is this spirit and animated Mary Clarke and Henria Williams that inspires and sustains you in facing and hearing the persecution in combating a man made law which violated a moral law of creation. That law, by the way, which operated solely through intimidation, has since been repealed, and so I write as a veteran of some experience. In addressing myself to you I do so also to my sister, because I see that each eliminate herself for the sake of the womanhood and ultimately the manhood of the country.

I address you as the Army of Freewomen because such I see you to be. There are many grades of us. We live and move on different planes of serfdom, inactivity, and nonentity, you are free women… That which I see as the saddest phase of the whole campaign is the devil-like treatment meted out to you, not by the manhood of the country, but by the few men in authority who, being themselves by nature both bullies and cowards, judge that by persecution and torture they will terrorize and drive you from your purpose…

They have let loose all the forces of hell upon you: whereas in the case of men who fight their selfish wars, they write histories and raise monuments. They are at heart ashamed of their work and hence it is fathered not by one or a few individuals, but cloaked under the name "Crown", "Cabinet", "Government", "Home Office", and the like. Then, too you are faced by boycott of truth of the general Press. I have known of this being done when nations have been led to war against each other.

There is not one divine, ethical or intelligent reason which can be brought against you. You are spreading truth, and some day the whole nation will thank and loud you for the work you have done for them. With all my soul I wish that I could guide your dear of the expenditure of the highest human capacities and talents on men so depraved, and though I know that nothing will move you from the onward march, yet I do pray that those of you who are giving life sacrifices will realise your worth and preserve yourselves for the larger nation, which, though blind and short-sighted, is kind at heart.

We have been informed that Miss Henria Williams whose sacrifice nobly given for the cause of Women's Freedom we so deeply deplore, has left a legacy to our league. Not only are we heartily grateful for this recognition of our work for both militant societies proves that we have always believed, that, however they may differ as to tactics, there is profound sympathy between them in spirit and ultimate aim.

Four witnesses described the barbarous usage to which another woman, Miss H. was subjected. After she had been flung to the ground, shaken and pushed, and had her arms and wrists twisted, she explained, "Help me to the railings". While trying to recover her breath, a policeman seized her head, and rubbed her face against the iron railings. To illustrate the recklessness with which the police seized women (usually by the throat) and flung them backwards to the ground, we would draw attention to two separate cases in which a woman was flung almost under the wheels of a passing motor car…

The intention of terrorising and intimidating the women was carried by many of the police beyond mere violence. Twenty-nine of these statements complain of more or less aggravated acts of indency. Women describe such treatment only with the greatest reluctance, and though the volume of evidence under this head is a considerable, there are other instances which we are not permitted to cite. The following experience is one of the worst, but it is not without parallels.

This victim is a young woman:

"Several times constables and plain-clothes men who were in the crowd passed their arms around me from the back and clutched hold of my breasts in as public manner as possible, and men in the crowd followed their example. I was also pummelled on the chest, and my breast was clutched by one constable from the front… My skirt was lifted up as high as possible, and the constable attempted to lift me off the ground by raising his knee. This he could not do, so he threw me into the crowd and incited the men to treat me as they wished. Consequently, several men who, I believe were policemen in plain clothes, also endeavoured to lift my dress."

In another instance a young girl on her way to the police station under arrest was called a "prostitute" and made to walk several yards while the police held her skirts over her head.

The consequences of these assaults were long-lasting. Fifty statements speak of injuries of which the effects were felt for many days, and in many cases for several weeks. Two deaths occurred before the close of the year among members of the deputation.

We have no evidence which directly connects the death of Mrs Clarke, two days after the release from a month's imprisonment, with her release on November 18. But there is evidence that Miss Henria Williams, who died suddenly of heart failure on January 1, had been used with great brutality, and was aware at the time of the effect upon her heart, which was weak.

I saw Celilia Haig go out with the rest; a tall, strongly built, reserved woman, comfortably situated, who in ordinary circumstances might have gone through life without receiving an insult, much less a blow. She was assaulted with violence and indecency, and died in December 1911, after a painful illness, arising from her injuries. Henria Williams, already suffering from a weak heart, did not recover from the treatment she received that night in the Square, and died on January 1st.

In Colonel Blathwayt's plantation at Bath Miss Annie Kenney had just placed a cedrus deodara pendula: "In memory of Mary Clarke. Released from Holloway Prison, December 23, 1910. Died December 25, 1910. Miss Kenney also planted a picea pungens glanea pendula. "In memory of Henria Williams, November 18, 1910: died January 2, 1911." A tablet commemorating the occasion is placed by each of the trees; at the foot of the first are the words, "I have paid the price of freedom" and on the second, "She hath done what she could".

Take a walk through Cathcart Cemetery. Pick your way along an overgrown path scythed by a fallen branch. Clamber up behind the Hood mausoleum, with its Philae Temple of Hathor pretensions. Squelch through the mud and mulch, then stop under a spreading horse chestnut tree.

There, you will find a large granite grave: a triple lair with the words He is Risen embossed on the middle panel. The angel on top is only partially visible, trapped behind leaves; smote by a mighty arboreal limb. But position yourself directly below, and you can see she stands undaunted: her face set against the elements, her right arm, cut off at the elbow, raised defiance of mortality.

It's an impressive Victorian tomb in a graveyard full of them. But only in the last few weeks has its full historical significance come to light. Because trace your finger down the weathered names of its occupants – all members of the Williams family – and you come to this: "Their daughter Henria Helen Leech. Born 6th January, 1867, died 2nd January, 1911."

Henria Leech Williams was a suffragette. More than that, she was one of the very few who died in pursuit of the cause. She was one of 300 women who marched to the Houses of Parliament on Black Friday – November 18, 1910 – to demand their voting rights after the collapse of the Conciliation Bill...

Henria has lain in the southside of Glasgow for more than 100 years, unacknowledged even by the Friends of Cathcart Cemetery (of which, for the sake of transparency, I am a member). Her presence there was unearthed by Ian McCracken, who has been researching Scottish connections to the movement for the artist-led organisation Protests and Suffragettes and stumbled across the information via an English website.

The discovery was the source of great excitement, both for the cemetery group and for those invested in the history of radical feminist campaigners. But it raised as many questions as it answered: why was Henria – who lived in London – buried in Glasgow? What links did she have to the city? And how was her quasi-martyrdom marked at the time?

Despite her ailments, Henria threw herself into the suffragette movement. Records show she was held in Bow Street prison on July 9, 1909 – an event likely linked to a mass rush on parliament a fortnight earlier, which saw 108 women arrested, 15 for smashing windows.

Henria Williams, of Ockendon Road, Upminster, chaired a rally in her home on November 28 1908. It was attended by famous faces from the movement, including Violet Tillard, the organising secretary for the Women's Freedom League who was the evening's main speaker.

The Upminster suffragette was also one of hundreds of protestors who demonstrated on Black Friday in 1910 after Prime Minister Asquith indicated there would be no more time for the reading of a bill that would have granted 1,000,000 British women the right to vote.

Henria's recollection of Black Friday was noted in Treatment of the Women's Deputations by the Police, published in 1911.

She said: "One policeman after knocking me about for a considerable time, finally took hold of me with his great strong hand like iron just over my heart."

Upminster historian, Tony Benton, said: "Black Friday was an important step to women getting the vote because the violent way in which they were treated by the police was in the public eye.

"It still took a long time for the Bill to be passed but it was a sign that it all could change."

Born in Shropshire in 1867, Henria Helen Leach Williams grew up in Cheshire where she became a governess and a school mistress.

It was in about 1905 that she moved to The Cottage in Upminster and became a recognisable figure in the area, known for wearing a symbol of the suffragette movement on her clothing.

Tony said: "She was a minor figure in the suffragette movement but a real local personality that people became familiar with."

Henria took part in a series of major suffragette protests and was arrested in 1909 but later released without charge.

But, the affects of Black Friday were enduring for Henria. Two months later she was found by a police officer in the early hours of the morning dead in her home with pills for treating angina in her handbag.

Tony said: "She did have two heart attacks in the 18 months before she died so she was in poor health but I think that shows her dedication to the cause.

"She knew that it would have an impact on her wellbeing but she knew it was important to carry on."