Mary Raleigh Richardson was born in Belleville, Ontario and moved to Europe in 1898. Here she became involved with the fight for women's suffrage and joined the Women's Social and Political Union. Richardson was arrested nine times for acts including arson, smashing windows, a bombing, and slashing Velazquez's Rokeby Venus painting. While imprisoned she was one of the first women to be force fed and she wrote about this experience. In 1932 she joined the British Union of Facists and was with them until 1936. She died in 1961 in Hastings.