Twist of fate or willing sacrifice? The Davison debate still rages

Suffragette’s death at the 1913 Derby has lost none of its power to shock and provoke, says Alan Tyers

In this centenary year of the 1918 Representation of the People Act that granted some (but not all) women the right to vote, one event in the history of the suffragette movement remains as vivid in the public consciousness as ever. The 1913 Derby will be forever remembered not for the racing but for the actions of Emily Davison. Debate over her motives, and exactly what happened that day, remains as fierce as ever.

The bare facts are these: Davison travelled to Epsom by train, and positioned herself at Tattenham Corner, a few rows back. She had two flags bearing the suffragette colours of violet, white and green tucked inside her dress.

During the Derby itself, she moved to front of the crowd. As the first nine horses went past, she ducked under the rail. She stood on the track, and was sidestepped by one horse. She seemed to grab at, or at least move towards, a couple of others. Then she stepped in front of the King’s horse, Anmer.

Jockey Herbert Jones was thrown from the horse but suffered only cracked ribs. The horse was not seriously harmed and raced at Ascot a fortnight later. But Davison was run down. She died four days later, of a fracture at the base of the skull.

The tragedy drew a huge amount of attention to the suffragette cause but, beyond that, many questions remain unanswered. Michael Church, the official Derby historian, told The

Daily Telegraph: “The incident could have gone three ways. If she had come out five seconds earlier, she’d have brought down half the field and probably been taken to court for manslaughter, for there would have been deaths.

“If she’d have been five seconds later, she would have missed them all and would not even have been a footnote in Derby history.

“As it was, she timed it just right. From the suffragettes’ point of view it is a miracle. She came out under the rail and she has been bowled over. She is the only person who has been killed. You could not script it any better if you were a movie-maker.”

Davison had a ticket for a dance that night, and a return train ticket in her pocket, facts which have caused some to argue that the gesture of bravery was, in fact, misadventure.

Church said that the vast crowds (the Derby was attended by perhaps 400,000 people) would have made it impossible for Davison to have seen the horses coming around the turn. If she was looking for a specific horse, why did she try to grab at the bridle of two others and, as many have suggested, try to drape or pin something to them?

Lucy Fisher, whose book Emily Wilding Davison: The Martyr Suffragette is published next month, is sure that Davison had a clear plan. Political act: Crowds (above left) watch the funeral cortege for Emily Davison, who threw herself in front of the King’s horse (main); Roses are left below a plaque (above) at Epsom

“Watching the footage, I am struck by how calm she is. She does not fling herself. She waits for the first group of horses to pass and then she leaps out at the King’s horse.

“The question of whether she was trying to pin something on a horse is completely outlandish as a suggestion. She was not unaware of the speed horses could run. This is a strange idea that has grown up, as is the thing about the flags pinned to the inside of her coat. They were meant to be found and to clearly identify her as a suffragette. The idea that she was trying to pin a flag or a scarf to the horse is a theory for the birds.”

To understand Davison’s actions, one has to understand her activism and personality, according to Fisher. “She was incredibly single-minded and driven. She rankled her colleagues with her overbearing nature and she fell out with the Pankhursts and the leaders of the Women’s Social and Political Union. She was increasingly ostracised and had become a maverick figure on the fringes of the movement.”

Davison was imprisoned multiple times and went on hunger-strike. She even attacked a vicar whom she had mistaken for David Lloyd George.

“She was also a very pious individual, very religious,” Fisher added. “She was certain of the God-ordained righteousness of the cause and her role in it. She was fixated with Joan of Arc, who was a spiritual figurehead of the entire movement: the quintessential female warrior and Christian martyr.

“It seems to me that she had the intention or the willingness to make this kind of sacrifice and, if it hadn’t happened at the Derby, I think she would have probably tried something else soon afterwards. She had already thrown herself down the stairs in prison and she had described that as a suicide attempt.”

Whether one believes that she was able to identify the King’s horse and throw herself under it, or whether this was an act of political theatre that got out of hand, the impact of Davison’s bravery and daring was undeniable.

The incident took place right in front of the Movietone cameras: this brand-new technology provided the means to spread the movement’s ideas in the most dramatic way with an immediacy and emotional punch that is still shocking when watched today.

Both sides of the argument can agree on the lasting impact of the gesture. “You could see it as spiritual, or a huge coincidence, but whatever it was, it was the iconic moment in the suffragette movement,” said Church. “I think it was a twist of fate that was meant to be.”

‘She was fixated with Joan of Arc, the quintessential female warrior and Christian martyr’