Dorothy O'Grady

Dorothy Pamela O'Grady (25 October 189711 October 1985) was the first British woman to be found guilty of treachery in World War II. She was sentenced to death but on appeal the sentence was commuted to 14 years' penal servitude. Biography O'Grady was adopted soon after birth by a British Museum official, George Squire. Her mother died when she was 11 and her father then married his housekeeper who treated her in a vindictive manner. By the age of 13, she was living in a home where young girls were trained for domestic service. In 1918, she was convicted of forging bank-notes and in 1920, while in service in Brighton, she was found guilty of stealing clothing and was sentenced to two years' penal servitude. On her release, she moved back to London where she worked as a prostitute until 1926 when she married a London fireman 19 years older than her, Vincent O'Grady. On his retirement, they moved to Sandown on the Isle of Wight where she ran a boarding house, Osborne Villa. On the outbreak of war in 1939 he was recalled to the London Fire Brigade for wartime service leaving O'Grady behind. Wartime activities The Isle of Wight is immediately opposite France across the English Channel and commands the Solent which is the sea approach to the major ports of Southampton and Britain’s biggest naval base, Portsmouth. Its strategically important coastline was subject to strict restrictions on movement throughout World War II. With her husband away on war service, O'Grady was seen frequenting restricted coastal areas while walking her dog, sometimes at night. Her activities were monitored and her mail intercepted and she was found to be making drawings and detailed maps of the coast. She was then caught in the act of cutting some telegraph wires and arrested.