Secrets of the Singer Girls (42 page)
Read Secrets of the Singer Girls Online
Authors: Kate Thompson
One landlord responded by attempting to evict a tenant, claiming she was in arrears. When the agent, accompanied by bailiffs, arrived on eviction day, the tenants, wielding placards stating
‘Less Rent, More Repair’, barred their way, and the landlord was forced to make a hasty retreat. This was the biggest rent strike ever seen in the East End and it sent the press
wild.
Buoyed by their success, the tenants of Quinn Square paraded around Bethnal Green with their placards, held daily meetings and picketed the estate office from morning until night. Showing the
kind of stoicism that fared them so well during the Blitz, they refused to be beaten.
Apparently, every time the landlord went into the square – on one occasion even accompanied by a group of Sir Oswald Mosley’s fascists, who attempted to break up the tenants’s
meeting by organized hooliganism – a huge crowd of women and children followed them and booed them out of Russia Lane, pelting them with hot potatoes! And so it was that Kate and her
neighbours scored a resounding victory for the working-class underdogs of Quinn Square. It would take more than an unscrupulous landlord and some bullyboy fascists to scare them into submission.
They may have been housewives in pinnies, but they were made of stern stuff.
The landlords acceded to their demands to lower the rent and carry out repairs, and this case made history, paving the way for success for other Tenants Associations.
Of course I have no way of knowing whether Kate was the one wielding placards and hot potatoes, but a woman I spoke to who knew her is in no doubt. Gladys, aged eighty-eight, is too young to
remember the rent strike, but her memory of Kate as a formidable mother burns bright.
‘Mrs Thompson was best friends with my nan and by God they were tough. They were sturdily built, upright women who always wore black and feathers in their hats. She and my nan stood up for
their rights and weren’t scared of any man. I’m surprised she didn’t strangle that landlord when he tried to take liberties with her.’
A year later, war broke out and Kate and the other residents began the second great fight of their lives.
The dramatic events that took place in Quinn Square perfectly illustrate that you should never underestimate the fighting power of a woman when her home and her family are under threat. Whether
it’s 1938 or 2015, it matters not – a mother will fight tooth and nail to protect the roof over her children’s heads.
Reading about the success of the tenants of Quinn Square in Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives filled me with an enormous sense of awe. The other Kate wasn’t afraid to
stand up to corrupt landlords, fascists marching on her street or the might of the Luftwaffe. My 1940s namesake was indeed a far stronger, finer lady than I. It would appear that a love of a fur
collar is about all we have in common. I wish I had one ounce of her courage and pluck. What a pity therefore that this indomitable woman had to die in such a pitiful and entirely preventable
accident in 1943. That is why I have made a donation in her name to the Tube disaster memorial fund.
This book is a tribute to feisty Kate and to all the remarkable, brave women of the East End.
With sincere thanks to:
Kate Burke and Diane Banks at Diane Banks Associates.
Mollie Moran, author of
Aprons and Silver Spoons: The Heartwarming Memoirs of a 1930s Kitchen Maid
(Penguin, 2013), an amazing character, sadly no longer with us, who
gave me the low-down on what life was really like ‘below stairs’ with great humour and zeal.
Terri Coates, consultant midwife on
Call the Midwife.
Major Kevin Pooley, social historian at the Salvation Army.
Sandra Scotting at the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust.
Joy Puritz, writer and researcher.
Jennifer Daley, historical researcher.
Kathy, Vera and all at the Sundial Centre in Bethnal Green for sharing their memories of Bethnal Green.
Henrietta ‘Minksy’ Keeper for sharing her memories of singing and sewing in Bethnal Green.
Emily Shepherd for her memories of life as a machinist during wartime.
Monica Roberts for her insights into growing up as the illegitimate daughter of a black American GI.
Amy Condon and Kate Williams for proofreading.
Jenny Smith, domestic violence pioneer and author of
The Refuge
(Simon & Schuster, 2014) for her insights into domestic violence.
Staff at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.
Staff at the Imperial War Museum archives.
Library staff at the Bishopsgate Institute.
Books and sources I have found helpful:
BBC Radio 4,
Bandits of the Blitz
, presented by Duncan Campbell.
If You’re Reading This . . . Last Letters From the Front Line
, Siân Price (Pen & Sword Books, 2011).
Nella Last’s War: The Second World War Diaries of ‘Housewife, 49’
, Richard Broad and Suzie Fleming (Sphere, 2006).
‘
Over Here’: The GIs in Wartime Britain
, Juliet Gardiner (Collins & Brown, 1992).
Keep Smiling Through: The Home Front 1939–45
, Susan Briggs (BCA, 1975).
Aprons and Silver Spoons: The Heartwarming Memoirs of a 1930s Kitchen Maid
(Penguin, 2013).
Coming out May 2016
Secrets of the Sewing Circle
, takes us from the vibrant factory floor, deep underground, to the burgeoning community blossoming in the tunnels. You’ll meet new
Trout’s characters, from handsome but frustrated boxer Lucky, to shy orphan Flossy, beautiful but aloof Peggy and salt of-the-earth tea lady Dolly, as they fight for their right to
safety.
As the Blitz reaches its peak and the girls come to feel as if they are living underground, tensions are at breaking point. How will Flossy and Peggy cope as their lives and
destinies are shaped and moved by forces outside their control? Can Lucky prove his worth in the war? Will Flossy ever discover the complex truth of her heritage? And, cooped up below ground,
cheek by jowl, can Dolly manage to contain the explosive secret that binds them all?
First published 2015 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2015 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-8085-9
Copyright © Kate Thompson 2015
Cover design ©
www.blacksheep-uk.com
Models © Colin Thomas
Buildings © Sean Sexton / Getty Images
The right of Kate Thompson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations
and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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