It wasn't just Emily Davison! Sport, suffrage and society in Edwardian Britain

Abstract

The suffragette Emily Davison was killed by King George V's horse during the 1913 Epsom Derby while trying to draw attention to the campaign for women's suffrage. However, this much-publicized and shocking incident was not the only connection between sport and political protest in the early twentieth century. This paper will show how British suffragettes carried out a series of violent acts against sport and sportsmen that were unparalleled in the English-speaking world. At the same time it will demonstrate that female suffragists, like many Edwardian women, took part in a wide variety of sports, suggesting that it was possible to be both a feminist and a sportswoman.