St Osyth Mahala Wood

Who was St Osyth Mahala Wood?

St Osyth Mahala Wood, née Eustace-Smith was an English philanthropist.

St Osyth Eustace-Smith was the daughter of Thomas Eustace Smith JP and Katherine St Osyth Howard of Wormingford, Essex. Her father Thomas was a justice of the peace and Barrister with offices located in North Hill, Colchester. Her mother was Katherine Howard before marriage. Katherine’s mother was called Mahala and came from St. Osyth in Essex,

When she was approximately 26 years old she became secretary of the Colchester branch of "Suffragists". “The Colchester NUWSS society was formed in January 1912 with Miss Eustace Smith as its secretary” appears on p91 of Elizabeth Crawford’s book The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: It is also mentioned in the Essex County Standard on Feb 10th 1912.

The NUWSS was the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. These were the women who campaigned for the vote through non-militant means, so they didn’t resort to the arson attacks and other violent protests as their fellow "suffragettes" did

On 7 June 1918 "The London Gazette" reported Miss St Osyth Mahala Eustace-Smith receiving an OBE for her work as "Hon Secretary, Essex Local War Pensions Committee". She would have been 32 years of age at this time.