Emily Wilding Davison Biography

As a young lady she had defied the odds a male-dominated society imposed on women. She studied at Royal Holloway College and at Oxford University (although at that time women were not allowed to take degree). Anyhow, she graduated with a BA at London University and after this she gained a first class honours degree at Oxford University.

After graduating from London University she obtained a post teaching the children of a family in Berkshire.

Emily joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1906 founded by Emmeline Pankhurst. She became more and more involved in WSPU activities. In June 1908, she was one of the chief stewards at a WSPU demonstration in London.

In 1909. she gave up full-time teaching so that she could devote more of her time to the WSPU. Emily also became involved with the Workers' Educational Association. She was appalled at the lack of real opportunities women had in late Victorian society. She was terribly angered by the stigma attached to all women by being denied the right to vote. At the end of the 19th century, a wealthy female land owner could not vote but many of her male staff could!

The example came from Queen Victoria herself : she was absolutly convinced that women should not involve themselves in politics!!! According to the Suffragettes, the logic of this, was that this denial of the right to vote made them second class citizens! An this angered greatly Emily Wilding Davison.

In March 1909, Emily was arrested (she wanted to hand a petition to the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith). She was found guilty of causing a disturbance and sentenced to one-month imprisonment (for obstruction).

In July 1909 she was in prison again: two months for obstruction (she tried to get into a hall in London where David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was making a speech). She went on hunger strike and after five days she was released.

In September 1909. For obstrue received a sentence of two months for stone throwing. (Emily Davison, Mary Leigh and Constance Lytton were caught throwing stones at a car taking David Lloyd George to a meeting in Newcastle). Once again, she was released after going on hunger strike.

Well to resume it all, her prison record was as follows:

October 20th 1909: One month for stone throwing at Radcliffe near Manchester.
November 19th 1910: One month for breaking windows in the House of Commons.
January 10th 1912: Six months for setting fire to postal boxes at Holloway, London November 30th 1912: Ten days for assaulting a vicar who she mistook to be David Lloyd George.

The scale of her militant acts increased and in December 1911 Emily Davison was convinced that women would not win the vote until the suffragette movement had a martyr and Emmeline Pankhurst believed that it was her experiences in prison that brought Emily Davison to the conclusion that only the ultimate sacrifice would bring any success to the Suffragettes.

Emmeline Pankhurst wrote in "My Own Story" that Emily decided that only the loss of life "would put an end to the intolerable torture of women."

Emily Davison began making plans to commit an act that would give the movement maximum publicity.

In June, 1913, at the most important race of the year, the Derby, Emily ran out on the course and attempted to grab the bridle of Anmer, a horse owned by King George V. The horse hit Emily and the impact fractured her skull and she died without regaining consciousness. However, her actions did not have the desired impact on the general public.

It seems that they were more concerned about the health of the horse and jockey and Davison was condemned as a mentally ill fanatic. She died from the injuries she sustained at the 1913 Derby.

Her funeral was preceded by a large funeral cortege and became one of the iconic events of the suffragette campaign. It took place at St George's Church, Bloomsbury, London, then her coffin was transported by train to Morpeth, Northumberland. There, large crowds gathered to watch as it was taken to the family grave in St Mary's Churchyard.

The monarchy was revered in Britain and any attack on the monarchy was more than just frowned on.

However, at the time of her death, some Suffragettes were concerned at the extreme ideas and plans of Emily Davison. Some thought that she was becoming too extreme in her actions and bringing the movement into disrepute.