Antoinette Louise Clark, or as we now know her, Dame Antoinette Louise Clark, GCVO, completed her medical training, following in the footsteps of her friend, Grace Harwood Stewart. Her experiences during the Martian Invasion shaped her service, and she continued to work with those most in need, particularly the poor, elderly, and infirm of London, as it recovered from the disaster.
She was mentored by her great friend, Dame Elizabeth Cadbury (GCVO), and remained an active member of the suffragist movement.
History was indeed shaped by the momentous events Toni so emotively described in her journal. The suffragists achieved the vote much earlier than they would have, if the #Martians had not invaded. Their role in organising those left ‘below the line’ in 1897, gave them a connection with the ordinary people of London, that cannot be downplayed.
Once they’d achieved the vote, they went on to leap into politics. They’d shown their metal, been tested in fire, and where the government of the day had given up, they’d persevered. London had not forgotten, and in many cases, not forgiven.
Millicent Fawcett became one of the first female MPs, and Elizabeth Cadbury, as we now know, would go on to serve as Britain’s first female prime minister.
Toni herself entered politics after a distinguished medial career, and became Britain’s first female health minister. We owe the current equity of access to care to her determination to see no-one left behind, ever again.
She remained friends with @hgwellsbro until his death, but was occasionally heard to lament his execrable taste in underwear right up to her dying day. Apparently the stripes made a lasting impression.