Edith Garrud with her children Owen and Sybil.

A pioneering Suffragette is to be honoured with an Islington People’s Plaque.

Edith Garrud pictured in Punch magazine.

Edith Garrud, who died in 1971, was the western world’s first female martial arts instructor and created the Suffragettes’ protection team, The Bodyguard, to stop their members being arrested.

In 1910, she was pictured in Punch magazine taking on the police single-handed.

She also ran a jiu-jitsui school with her husband William in Seven Sisters Road, Highbury.

The unveiling of the plaque will take place at 1pm on Saturday at 60 Thornhill Square and will be attended by her family.

Leader of Islington Council, Cllr Catherine West, said: “Edith Garrud’s pioneering career and the Suffragettes’ victory on votes for women have contributed to making our society fairer and more inclusive.

“It’s historic contributions like hers that have stamped their mark on our borough and inspired residents to vote in their thousands for their Islington’s People’s Plaques heroes.”

During the Suffragette movement, more than 1,000 women were held in Holloway Prison, where huge demonstrations would take place outside.

Mrs Garrud is one of four to be honoured with plaques this year, along with justice campaigner Jack Kennedy, healthcare founder Florence Keen and figurative painter Cyril Mann.