Emily Wilding Davidson – Suffragette

At the May meeting of the Alston Moor Historical Society the speaker was Andy Griffin, a retired teacher, who apart from being a resident of Alston and a member of the Society, is a published writer, poet and supporter of the arts. His talk was based on a subject to which he has devoted a lot of research and scholarship and was entitled ‘Emily Wilding Davidson – Suffragette’. This lady is well known for the fact that, as an act of protest in the cause obtaining votes for women, she brought down the then King’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby. This was part of a series of acts of defiance and demonstrations designed to attract publicity to persuade the Government to change the law and Andy set the social and political climate that prevailed at that time. Whilst this happened less than 100 years ago it is probable that some of the facts are not particularly well known.

An important point for the Historical Society the local interest in that Emily Davidson was a Northumbrian originally from Morpeth, later living in Longhorsley. Emily was very intelligent as a girl and opted to go to University – something was rare and not approved of by many at the time. She studied in London and became involved with the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). It was through this that she met Mrs Pankhurst, the driving force and highest profile person who devoted her life to securing women the right to vote. She became involved in a series of what the authorities would call acts of civil disobedience and was imprisoned many times. Women prisoners were treated very harshly and when Emily went on a hunger strike, she was released to prevent the publicity to be gained for the cause by dying whilst in custody. It became prison the rule to force feed women and this was a very unpleasant procedure, forcing food into the stomach either through mouth or nostril. Emily was force fed 49 times which clearly shows the hardships she was prepared to undergo for the her beliefs.

Support for the suffragette movement was fairly equally divided within the general public and support was not restricted to women and there were a number of prominent men who supported the cause. However one that did not was Prime Minister Asquith who was determined not to give way and broke promises and did everything he could to block any attempt to give women the vote. In 1910 he had agreed that if the Suffragettes observed a truce for the coronation of King George V, he would include a Conciliation Bill in his plans for the next Parliamentary session. When it was obvious that he had no intention of doing this there were serious orchestrated outbreaks of violence and the 22 nd November became known as Black Friday.

There was a real sense of frustration amongst the women and Emily Davidson was instrumental in giving the cause it’s most spectacular moment of publicity. She knew that the Epsom Derby would be attended by the King and Queen and for the first time it was to be recorded on newsreel film. The basic facts of the events that followed are well known, in that Emily ran on to the course into the path of the horses and brought down the Kings horse. The fact that the horse was well backed by the public did nothing to endear the movement and there was a great deal of hostility against her and her action. She was to die from her injuries a few days after the incident. At her funeral 5000 people and 10 brass bands took part and her body was taken by special train, calling at major towns and cities on the way, to Morpeth where she was buried in St. Mary’s Church. 30,000 people attended the burial although the reception was mixed and emotions for and against ran high.

The common belief is, therefore, that she deliberately ran into the path of the King’s horse. However Mr Griffin believes that this is too simplistic an answer and suggests that the following facts should be considered:-

• Running onto a race course and selecting a specific horse as they thunder past is virtually impossible
• Emily Davidson was hiding a banner of the Suffragette tricolour under her coat
• She had bet on the first two races – not the act of somebody intent on committing suicide
• She was in possession of a return train ticket suggesting that she intended to use on her way to her home.

He suggests that her intention might have been to invade the course and display her banner to the cameras which were located at that part of the course. The first batch of horses had passed when she made her move and newsreel footage shows that she actually sways out of the way of a horse. However the King’s horse was a back marker and he thinks it possible that she saw the purple and gold colours of the King’s horse and, on an impulse ran into it i.e. an act possible only by circumstance and not premeditated.

Her death was decreed to be misadventure and because it was not deemed to be suicide she was allowed a Christian burial. The following year (1914) the First World War started and women were to form a very important part of the work force in all manner of vital areas. At the end of the war, in 1918, David Lloyd George became Prime Minister and one of his first acts was to gave women the right to vote.