On 4 June 1913, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison undertook her protest for the cause of votes for women at the Derby. She collided with the King’s horse and was fatally injured, dying four days later.
On the 100th anniversary of this fatal accident, the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art hosted an event to recognise the contribution that Davison made to the cause of votes for women.
Davison regularly protested at Parliament, most famously hiding in Parliament on the night of the 1911 Census so as to record her address in the House of Commons. A number police reports are held by the Parliamentary Archives detailing Davison’s protests.
The event recalled the past through a number of readings. Lawrence Ward, Serjeant at Arms and Inspector Andy Richford read out historic security reports relating to Davison’s parliamentary protests, whilst Elizabeth Crawford, suffrage historian, read an account of the Emily Wilding Davison’s funeral procession from the journal of suffragist Kate Parry Frye.
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The Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art has installed a permanent display about Parliament and Votes for Women. A Women’s Social and Political Union flag and prison medal are displayed together with a National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies pin badge and a bust of the first women MP, Lady Nancy Astor. The display is located off Central Lobby, on the way to the public gallery of the House of Commons.
In 2012, Elizabeth Crawford gave a Parliament Week lecture on Kate Parry Frye and the campaign for Votes for Women. The lecture is available to watch on the UK Parliament YouTube channel.
To learn more about the history of women and the vote visit www.parliament.uk/women.
- Image: Parliamentary Copyright