Vera Wentworth was a militant Suffragette, noted partly for twice assaulting the Prime Minister, Herber Asquith. Born Jessie Spink, Vera previously worked in a shop where she became active in trade unionism. She joined the Women's Social and Political Union in 1908 under her new name, chosen to disassociate her Suffragette activities from her family. She worked for the WSPU in Plymouth.
Vera became a member of The Young Hot Bloods: a group of young Suffragettes, fiercely loyal to Emmeline & Christabel Pankhurst. This secretive group, dedicated to carrying out 'danger duty', met every Saturday at 4.30pm in Alan's Tea Rooms in Oxford Street and were used by the WSPU to lead protests, organise parliamentary demonstrations and harass government ministers.
Vera was imprisoned several times for militancy between 1908 and 1912. In September 1909, together with WSPU colleagues, she harassed the Prime Minister, Asquith, while he was staying in Lympne, Kent for the weekend, even pursuing him to the golf course. Vera served her last term of imprisonment in 1912 for window smashing. Sentenced to 6 months in Holloway she again went on hunger strike and was force-fed.
Vera was also a writer, publishing the books "Three Months in Holloway" and "Should Christian Women Demand the Vote". In 1908 she joined the Women's Writer's League.
On her release Vera achieved her ambition of studying at university by leaving London for St Andrews, where she stayed until 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment as a nurse and served in Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps until 1920.