The Epsom Derby of 1913.
The front page of the Daily Sketch of 3 June 1913: 'History's most wonderful Derby - First horse disqualified - A 100 to 1 chance wins
- Suffragette nearly killed by King's colt". |
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Emily Wilding Davison - suffragette
Emily Wilding Davison: freedom fighter or terrorist?
Emily Wilding Davison was once a carefree young woman, who loved sport, books and God. Whatever the rights and wrongs of her militant actions, the brutal treatment that she experienced must have taken its toll on her body and her mind.
A timeline of struggle leading up to the "Suffragette Derby"
1870
Queen Victoria wrote in a private letter:
“I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of “Women’s Rights”, with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety. Lady Amberley ought to get a good whipping”.
This letter was written in response to the named and shamed Lady Amberley joining one of the many local suffrage societies that were forming around the country. Such attitudes were common at all levels of society, regardless of gender.
Early suffrage societies believed that leaflets, petitions and debate would encourage people to support the need to give women the vote.
Emily Wilding Davison was once a carefree young woman, who loved sport, books and God. Whatever the rights and wrongs of her militant actions, the brutal treatment that she experienced must have taken its toll on her body and her mind.
A timeline of struggle leading up to the "Suffragette Derby"
1870
Queen Victoria wrote in a private letter:
“I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of “Women’s Rights”, with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety. Lady Amberley ought to get a good whipping”.
This letter was written in response to the named and shamed Lady Amberley joining one of the many local suffrage societies that were forming around the country. Such attitudes were common at all levels of society, regardless of gender.
Early suffrage societies believed that leaflets, petitions and debate would encourage people to support the need to give women the vote.
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1897
The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), “the Suffragists”, was formed, so uniting the many regional groups into one movement. Mrs Millicent Fawcett, who had been involved in peaceful campaigns for the vote since the 1860s, was made president of the organization. 1903 Frustrated by the lack of success of the peaceful reforms put forward by the NUWSS, Mrs Pankhurst creates a more radical party, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). The WSPU members became known as “the Suffragettes”. 1905 Christobel Pankhurst and Annie Kenny were imprisoned for interrupting the election speeches of Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. So began a long campaign of direct action that started with suffragettes heckling, breaking windows and chaining themselves to railings, but escalating to attacks on buildings and sometimes even people. 1909 As more women were sent to prison for their militant activities, the hunger strikes started. While on hunger strike in Strangeways Prison, Manchester, Emily Wilding Davison was force fed. When she barricaded herself into her cell and refused to leave, a hose was put through the window and cold water flooded in. Eventually the door was broken down. Marie Lloyd, the famous star of the music halls, appeared in a performance of the suffrage play, How the vote was won. 1910 In March, Emily Wilding Davison’s employment with the WSPU was terminated. ‘Black Friday’ 18 November. Suffragettes marched to the House of Commons but experienced terrible brutality at the hands of the police in Parliament Square. Much of this violence was said to have been sexual abuse. 1911 In the year of the census, Emily Wilding Davison hid in a cupboard in the Houses of Parliament. The census summary for the ward of St Margaret’s Westminster reads “sole occupant of the Crypt”. Tony Benn had a plaque put up to commemorate her action. 1912 While imprisoned in Holloway, Emily Wilding Davison threw herself down the iron staircase. The netting saved her but she was injured. It was believed to have been a suicide attempt. In October, the Pethick-Lawrences, the husband-and-wife team who had always been such staunch supporters of the Pankhursts and who were the publishers of the Votes for Women newspaper, left the WSPU. They found it hard to accept the increased violence that was sanctioned by the organization. |
1913
The introduction of the Cat and Mouse Act in April stopped force-feeding as hunger strikers were allowed to leave prison in order to recover. However, the authorities required the prisoners to return to gaol once they had regained their strength, re-arresting them and re-imprisoning them for the same offence. Tuesday 3 June: Emily Wilding Davison stood before a statue of Joan of Arc and saluted. She refused to tell a fellow suffragette what she was planning to do at the Derby. Wednesday 4 June: Derby Day. Emily Wilding Davison ran out in front of the King’s horse. She was taken to Epsom Cottage Hospital. A detective stayed with her. Friday 6 June: Emily Wilding Davison operated on, never regained consciousness. Sunday 8 June: Emily Wilding Davison died in the afternoon. Her mother wrote her a letter, which she never read. Monday 9 June: Hurst Park racecourse: buildings set alight that night by suffragettes. Saturday 14 June: Bomb found in the ladies waiting room at Eden Park Railway Station near Beckenham. The clock-work mechanism had stopped and so it didn’t go off. Tuesday 10 June: Inquest into the death of Emily Wilding Davison. Verdict of misadventure returned by Coroner’s jury. Saturday 14 June: Emily Wilding Davison’s body travelled from Epsom to Victoria Station in London. The coffin was part of a lavish procession to King’s Cross Station, stopping at St George’s Church in Bloomsbury for a memorial service. Miss Davison’s body was then taken to her home town of Morpeth on the 17:30 train. Sunday 15 June: Emily Wilding Davison’s body was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s, Morpeth. 
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