Emily Davison

Emily Davison was a British suffragette and militant campaigner for women’s voting rights. She died after being struck by King George V’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby.

Connect

1913 Epsom Derby: The annual horse race at Epsom on 4 June 1913, where Emily Davison was struck by Anmer, King George V’s horse. The race became the defining event in accounts of Davison’s life and death.
Women’s Social and Political Union: A British women’s suffrage organization founded in 1903 and led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters. Davison joined the WSPU and became one of its best-known militants.
Sylvia Pankhurst: A British suffragette, socialist, and co-founder of the East London Federation of Suffragettes. Sylvia Pankhurst was a prominent WSPU colleague whose later politics diverged from the organization.
Women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom: The campaign to secure voting rights for women in the United Kingdom, achieved in stages beginning in 1918. Davison’s activism formed part of the broader campaign for women’s voting rights.
Suffragette film theory: The claim that Emily Davison tried to attach a suffragette banner to Anmer at the 1913 Epsom Derby. This interpretation explains the incident as a planned publicity act, but evidence remains disputed.
Anmer: A racehorse owned by King George V that collided with Emily Davison during the 1913 Epsom Derby. The horse’s collision with Davison made the Derby incident fatal.
Emmeline Pankhurst: A British political activist who founded and led the Women’s Social and Political Union. Pankhurst’s organization provided the movement and leadership Davison joined.
Christabel Pankhurst: A British suffragette who co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union with her mother, Emmeline Pankhurst. Christabel Pankhurst helped direct the organization in which Davison campaigned.
Representation of the People Act 1918: A British law that enfranchised some women over thirty and extended the vote to nearly all men over twenty-one. The act was a major, though partial, electoral reform following years of suffrage campaigning.
Emily Davison’s 1911 census return: A census document listing Emily Davison as a resident of the House of Commons on census night in 1911. The unusual entry shows her history of dramatic protest, but does not settle her intention at the Derby.