The Suffragettes

Emmeline Pankhurst

‘I stand upon my rights, as a subject of the King, to petition the Prime Minister, and I am firmly resolved to stand here until I am received.’

Emily Davison

Epsom Derby in 1913. Davison died in hospital four days after being knocked down by George V’s horse, Anmer, at Tattenham Corner.

It is a common theory that rather than seeking martyrdom, she had merely attempted to tie the Suffragette’s colours to the horse.

‘Deeds not words’• Beaten by the

police.• Force fed with the

insertion of a tube during hunger strikes in prison.

• ‘Bodyguards’ were necessary to protect Suffragettes such as Pankhurst from further arrest.

Birmingham Women’s Suffrage Society

“The legal subordinationof one sex to anotheris wrong itself,and now one ofthe chief hindrances to humanimprovement”.

‘The Subjection of Women’, 1869.

Attacks and Arson

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

“...I attack this work of art deliberately as a protest against the government’s criminal injustice in denying women the vote, and also against the government’s injustice in imprisoning, forcibly feeding,and drugging suffragist militants...”

- Bertha Ryland

Birmingham Suffragettes

Dr. Mary Sturge Catherine Osler

Birmingham Suffragettes

Elizabeth Cadbury Rhoda Anstey

Julia VarleyWorked in a mill from the age of 12.

Invited by George Cadbury to work for him in Bournville.

In 1909 Varley moved to Birmingham and established a branch of the National Federation of Women Workers.

involved in the Cradley Heath women chainmakers’ strike of 1910 and the Black Country strike of 1913, and later sat on the General Council of the Trade Union Congress.

Lasting Legacy

In February 1907 Varley was involved in a raid on the floor of the House of Commons. Refusing to pay a fine for disturbance and obstruction, she was sentenced to 14 days in prison.

Recruited to the Workers’ Union in 1912.

1931 Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Commemorated in May 2013 in a ceremony at Selly Manor.

“I have worked and lived for the bottom dog and I think he or she

has benefited a tiny bit from what I have done.

I don’t regret a single thing that has happened. Above all, God has

enabled me to live to see the fruits of my labour – a joy denied

to most reformists.”

- Julia Varley

In 1928 all women were given the vote on the same

terms as men.