A little over a year ago, we posted a blog about Emily Davison, the suffragette who was killed by the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby. There has always been speculation as to whether Davison’s death was a terrible accident or a planned suicide. You can find our original post here. Recently, new evidence about the incident has come to light and there was an article in the Daily Mail which raises new questions and proposes further theories. We thought you might be interested in these developments and so offer a link to the article here. What is perhaps most surprising is that the entire incident was caught on film, which can be viewed at the end of the article.
I'm very interested in Emily Davison and her sacrifice – intentional or not – in the context of womens' diminishing rights. Thanks for these links. It was so sad watching the video at the bottom of the Mail article.
Joe – It's amazing that there's still so much interest in Emily's story. Perhaps we'll never know the truth, but it's good to know that she remains in people's thoughts.
One must believe that she knew that a galloping race horse could not be turned aside by an upraised hand. Certainly it was known that hunting accidents could easily maim or kill – why would anyone think racing would be different? If she did not intend suicide it must have been because she believed in some magical protection, which would argue some mental imbalance. People are made imbalanced by their sense of oppression, and women are and always have been oppressed – some people feel the weight of centuries personally – some don't have the brains to do so. Emily, whom you have shown in her academic gown, certainly did have those brains, but her intellect was not in control at the time of her death.