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Caprina Fahey (née Gilbert; 13 September 1883 – 26 October 1959) was a British suffragette who was given the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) Hunger Strike Medal "for Valour" in 1914. She was an active member of the WSPU and was imprisoned twice in Holloway Prison. In 2017, the Norfolk Museums Service made a successful appeal for information about her life.
Fahey was born in Capri, Italy and was the daughter of sculptor Alfred Gilbert. Growing up she lived in Italy, Belgium and England. She married twice, divorcing her first husband and retaining custody of their child, which was unusual at the time. Trained as a Massage, she served with the French Red Cross in World War I. She then qualified as a midwife, later moving to Hainford in Norfolk, where she lived with her second husband until her death in 1959.
Fahey would occasionally model for her father. (1985). 9780300036985, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Yale University Press). ISBN 9780300036985 He disapproved of her later activism as a suffragette, commenting in a letter in 1909 "Cappie a thumper of drums or a 'tootler' on Flutes and a banner waver in a rotten Cause!!!!" (1985). 9780300036985, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Yale University Press). ISBN 9780300036985 He later left her out of his will, although she did attend his funeral at Golders Green Crematorium. (1985). 9780300036985, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Yale University Press). ISBN 9780300036985
Fahey served with the French Red Cross as a masseuse during World War I, where she is thought to have met her second husband Edward Knight. Returning to Britain, she then trained as a midwife, qualifying in May 1917, and participated in the Women's Institute. Fahey and Knight moved to Rose Cottage, in Hainford, Norfolk during World War II. Fahey worked as an Air Raid Warden and they hosted at least one evacuee in wartime. They remained living there until Fahey's death.
Fahey was arrested in 1909, along with twenty six other suffragette campaigners who marched from Caxton Hall, Westminster and attempted to enter the House of Commons. She was sentenced for obstruction with Constance Lytton, Daisy Solomon, Rose Lamartine Yates and Sarah Carwin, receiving one month in prison. In November 1910, she was involved in the incident known as Black Friday and arrested again for stone-throwing, being sentenced to two weeks. Both Fahey's sentences were served in Holloway Prison, where she went on hunger strike.
Fahey associated with local Norfolk suffragettes including Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh, Grace Marcon and Miriam Pratt. Fahey was imprisoned with Helen Watts and wrote praising her subsequent 90 hour fast in prison. By 1913, Fahey was asked to be a 'captain', leading one of twenty two groups of suffragette mourners along with Leonora Tyson, Elsa Myers, Eleanor Glidewell, and Dorothea Rock at the funeral procession of Emily Davison.
Caprina Fahey was awarded the WSPU Hunger Strike Medal "for Valour" dated 14 March 1914 when she was arrested under the name Emily Charlton. and also used the name 'Charlotte Hay', Her medal also refers to the date 21 May 1914. It is now held in the Norfolk Museums Service (NMS) archive having been donated by her husband following her death.
In November 2017, the Norfolk Museums Service put out a public call for information on Fahey's life and legacy. The appeal led to more information about her life and a suffragette certificate given to her is now held in the museum. Fahey was also nominated for the Suffrage to Citizenship project organised by the Women's Local Government Society. In 2019, her medal was on display at a Quilters Guild event at Norwich Castle.
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