Tessie Reynolds
{{Short description|Pioneer English female cyclist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tessie Reynolds
| image = Tessie Reynolds 02.jpg
| image_size = 290px
| alt = 1800s photo of a woman on a man's bicycle
| caption =
| birth_name = Teresa Reynolds
| birth_date = 20 August 1877Mrs. Teresa Main, wife of Montague S. Main, in Barnet, Hertfordshire; 1939 England and Wales RegisterEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915
| birth_place = Newport, Isle of Wight, England1911 England Census1901 England Census
| death_date = {{dda|1954|7|13|1876|8|20|df=y}}
| death_place = Barnet, Hertfordshire, England
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation = Traffic safety officer
| years_active =
| known_for = London–Brighton cycle ride
| notable_works =
| spouse = {{marriage|Montague Salisbury Main|1908}}
}}
Teresa "Tessie" Reynolds (20 August 1877 – 13 July 1954) was an English cyclist who in 1893 set a record for cycling from Brighton to London and back in 8 hours 30 minutes. She was aged sixteen at the time and dressed in "rational" clothing: pantaloons, a shirt, and coat. The outfit, which was likely made for her by her sister, led to significant publicity and her ride came to be regarded as a milestone for women's rights and sports. The record was broken in 1894 and Reynolds went on to be a London traffic safety officer.
Biography
{{Quote box
|quote = "Every wheelman who has managed to retain a belief in the innate modesty and sense of becomingness in the opposite sex, will hear with real pain, not unmixed with disgust, of what we will call a lamentable incident that took place on the Brighton road early last Sunday"
|source =— Cycling magazine's description of the feat
|width=400px
|align = right
}}
Tessie Reynolds was born on the Isle of Wight and grew up in Brighton,{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Taylor|first2=Lou|title=Through the looking glass: a history of dress from 1860 to the present day|date=1989|publisher=BBC Books|isbn=9780563214410|page=57|edition=Illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTyDAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 March 2016}} the eldest of 11 children.{{cite journal|last1=Barlow|first1=Morgan E.|title=Tessie Reynolds – A 'Rational' Activist|journal=Proceedings of the International Cycling History Conference|volume=23|pages=213–217|year=2013}} Her father, Robert James Reynolds, was a gymnastic instructor and cycle agent, who encouraged sports among his children. He was a member of National Cycling Union and Secretary of a cycling club, as well as umpire for professional races. Her mother, Charlotte, ran a boarding house in Kemptown, which specifically catered for cyclists and which Reynolds helped at.{{cite news|title=Fashion and Dress History student wins Young Scholars' Prize|url=http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/study/history-art-design/news/fashion-and-dress-history-student-wins-young-scholars-prize?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=printer-friendly|access-date=24 March 2016|publisher=University of Brighton|date=15 August 2013|archive-date=4 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404182053/http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/study/history-art-design/news/fashion-and-dress-history-student-wins-young-scholars-prize?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=printer-friendly|url-status=dead}} In September 1893, when Reynolds was sixteen years old,{{cite book|last1=Zanetti|first1=Olly|title=Radical Bikes Revolutionary Change|date=5 September 2010|publisher=Huck Magazine|url=http://www.huckmagazine.com/ride/bikes/radical-bikes/|access-date=24 March 2016}} she rode a man's bike {{Convert|120| mi}} from Brighton to LondonThe half way point has been reported as both London Bridge and Hyde Park Corner{{cite book|last1=Hamilton|first1=Ray|title=The Joy of Cycling: For Those Who Love to Ride|date=2013|publisher=Summersdale Publishers LTD|isbn=9780857659927|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbUKCgAAQBAJ|access-date=24 March 2016}} and back, in 8 hours 30 minutes, thereby setting a record.{{cite book|last1=Heijmans|first1=Jeroen|last2=Mallon|first2=Bill|title=Historical Dictionary of Cycling|date=2011|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810871755|page=xix|edition=Illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdXCmwpk-SAC|access-date=24 March 2016}} Her father acted as the time keeper for the ride.
Women's clothes at the time included long dresses and tight corsets, impractical for cycling; so Reynolds instead wore a "rational" outfit of pantaloons "cropped and cinched below the knee", with a shirt and long coat.{{cite book|last1=Penn|first1=Robert|title=It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness On Two Wheels|date=2010|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9780141930893|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-poajoAbq4AC|access-date=24 March 2016}}{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Victoria|title=The Peerless Four: A Novel|date=2013|publisher=Counterpoint|isbn=9781619021778|page=203|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inTGAgAAQBAJ|access-date=24 March 2016}} It is likely that the outfit was made specifically for Reynolds by her sister, Ada, who was a dress maker. The outfit caused outrage, with suggestions that it was inappropriately masculine and that she was cycling in her knickerbockers. The publicity traveled as far as America, and the outfit was promoted by proponents of Victorian dress reform, as Reynolds clearly intended. She was active in promoting dress reform five years prior to the foundation of the local cycling dress reform club and continued to wear the outfit regularly.
Cycling magazine wrote a scathing report on the "scantiness" of the outfit, complaining of loss of modesty and calling the feat a "lamentable incident". Similarly, the Yorkshire Evening Post pointed out that cycling was not a pleasant sight for a man, but that a woman's "abnormal hips" made it worse.{{cite news|title='Womanly Cycling' – Part Two|url=https://thevictoriancyclist.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/womanly-cycling-part-two/|access-date=24 March 2016|date=15 February 2015}} The publicity, despite being negative, helped improve women's rights with the suffragette movement in particular noting it was a big milestone. Further, it helped show that women need not be tied to the street that they grew up in and had a means to travel. Another effect of the publicity was that Reynolds received love letters, including a marriage proposal from a stranger who was apparently significantly older than her. Reynolds and her family took advantage of the celebrity status, with Reynolds promoting a number of female bicycles over the following years, always in rational cycling attire.
The record stood for a year before it was beaten by 42 minutes in September 1894 by E. White from Dover Road Club.{{cite news|title=A Lady makes a record|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000056/18940920/044/0007?noTouch=true|access-date=24 March 2016|work=Freeman's Journal|date=20 September 1894|page=7}} Reynold's ride led her to be noted as a key 19th-century cyclist.{{cite book|editor1-last=Horton|editor1-first=Dave|editor2-last=Rosen|editor2-first=Paul|editor3-last=Cox|editor3-first=Peter|title=Cycling and Society|date=2012|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd|isbn=9781409487364|page=49|edition=Revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4rLT_r2Jf4C|access-date=24 March 2016}} She was denied the possibility of starting a Brighton branch of the national Female Cycling Association when she was 18, supposedly due to her age and "lack of experience", but more likely due to association with her rational outfit.
In 1908, Reynolds married Montague Salisbury MainLondon, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 and moved to Barnet, Hertfordshire (now North London), having three children who all died in childhood. There she became a road safety officer, a role rarely performed by women in London during the 1930s and 1940s. By 1948, her husband also died and she focused her work on accident prevention. Reynolds died in 1954, aged 77, with local papers covering her death.
Notes
{{Commons category|Tessie Reynolds}}
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References
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Category:Sportspeople from Brighton
Category:English female cyclists