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Helen MacRae (floruit 1909–1914) was a British suffragette who won a Hunger Strike Medal from the Women's Social and Political Union, and was one of those who embroidered the Suffragette's Handkerchief whilst in prison.
MacRae left NUWSS to join WPSU and got to know Edith Downing and Emily Davison. Her first four-month prison sentence in 1910, was for breaking windows in Whitehall.
In 1912, MacRae broke the windows of London toyshop, Hamleys in Regent Street, causing damage valued as £200. On 6 March she appeared at Bow Street Court and was bailed by Mrs Cecil Chapman (whose husband was a magistrate at Tower Bridge Court and was sympathetic to the women's cause). was sentenced to two months in Holloway Prison, went on hunger strike and was Force-feeding.She was awarded the WSPU Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour.' An image of her medal is on East Grinstead Museum website.
MacRae's signature was one of those along with 67 others who embroidered their signature in prison on a rough cloth known as The Suffragette Handkerchief'. The cloth was smuggled out by Mary Ann Hilliard and is now held in the collection at Priest House, West Hoathly.
By 1914, sisters Georgie (Georgiana) and Helen MacRae had a house, called Comforts Cottage in Edenbridge, Kent. in which they allowed fellow suffragettes to recover and recuperate 'to be restored by quiet and country air'. One of those who benefitted was Gladys Schütze (also known as 'Henrietta Leslie') who had been hurt at Buckingham Palace protest after she was kicked by a police horse. Leslie/Schütze described MacRae as 'gentle and sweet' and whose interests were "darning, embroidering, cooking, bottling, jam-making' whilst Georgie was more of an outdoorsman and Betty interested in local children and country-dancing.
A collection of MacRae's postcards including image of suffragettes on horse-drawn carriage outside their Clements Inn HQ, and one of Emily Davison, who died under the King's horse at Epsom Derby, and another of Godstone sent by Olive Walton, were also sold.
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