Photos: Bermuda National Trust Holds Auction
The Bermuda National Trust held their annual auction on Saturday, with the Gladys Morrell table fetching $6,000 from the Bermuda Historical Society.
The table was one of some 300 items that were auctioned at the BNT sale this past weekend.
The Gladys Morrell table, a key symbol in the fight to get the vote for women in Bermuda, will go on public display today [March 6] at the Society’s museum in Par-la-Ville Park on Queen Street in Hamilton.
The table fetched $6,000 after Mrs Morrell’s family chose the annual Auction as the venue for its sale, along with other items which had belonged to the civil rights icon.
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As an act of defiance against being denied their voting rights, the Bermuda Suffragettes refused to pay Parish Taxes which resulted in the seizure and subsequent auctioning of furniture belonging to the group.
Remaining steadfast to their cause and refusing to back down, a band of suffragettes and their supporters attended these annual auctions where they bid on, won and returned seized items to their owners.
In Gladys Morrell’s case, it was the same table every year until property owning women were granted the right to vote in 1944.
“The Trust is very fortunate to have a dedicated team of more than 50 volunteers who come together every year to make this event an extraordinary success, which not only raises money for the Trust but brings people together from all walks of life,” Trust Executive Director Bill Zuill said.
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