Emily Davison 1872 - 1913

Emily Davison

‘Deeds not words.'

Born in 1872, Emily Wilding Davison was a militant activist who fought for women’s suffrage in Britain.  She was one of a group of women collectively known as Suffragettes.

            The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst.  Emily Davison joined in 1906, after quitting from her job as a teacher.  She soon gained a reputation as a violent campaigner, disrupting meetings, throwing stones at politicians and even arson.  Many of her militant activities were unauthorised and not approved by the WSPU, meaning that she often fell out of favour with the leadership.

            One the night of 2^nd April 1911 when they were conducting the 1911 Census, Emily Davison hid overnight in a cupboard in the chapel of the Palace of Westminster.  She did it just so that she could give the House of Commons as her legitimate place of residence for that night.  It was one of her many ways of trying to gain more publicity for the Suffragette cause.  The Census documents state that she was found hiding in the crypt of the Houses of Parliament.  There is now a plaque commemorating the occasion which was unveiled in 1999.

            During her time in the WSPU, Davison was jailed nine times and often went on hunger strike, leading to her being force-fed a staggering forty-nine times.  She once tried to avoid it by barricading the door to her cell, forcing the prison officers to attempt to flood her out by placing a hosepipe through the window.  Davison was willing to die for her cause, but the door was broken down before the room had been filled.

            In 1912, just as she was nearing the end of a six-month sentence for arson in Holloway Prison, Davison threw herself down a 10metre iron staircase after yet another bout of force-feeding.  Her intentions were to end the suffering endured by her fellow women.  She sustained head and spinal injuries, that would leave her in discomfort for what would be the rest of her short, tempestuous life.

            Emily Davison’s most infamous moment came on 4^th June 1913, the day of the Epsom Derby.  History will remember her, as the woman who got trampled by the horse belonging to King George V.  She ran out from the side-lines and attempted to grab the horses’ bridle.  She had been working alone and no one was aware of her true intentions.  Two WSPU flags were later found in her possession, so it may be possible that she had been planning to attach them to the King’s horse. 

 Davison suffered a fractured skull and numerous internal injuries.  She died four days later in Epsom Cottage Hospital.  Her death was recorded by the coroner as ‘Due to Misadventure.’  She was the only suffragette to risk death for her cause.  Even though the rest of the WSPU and Suffragette movement didn’t always agree with her actions, they still gave her a spectacular funeral procession from Epsom to her memorial in Bloomsbury.  Her gravestone bears the WSPU slogan ‘Deeds not words.’  

Edith Cavell 1865 - 1915

Edith Cavell

“I realise that patriotism is not enough.  I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”

Edith Cavell was born in 1865 in Norwich, England.  Her father was a Vicar and she had been brought up with strong Anglican beliefs. 

            After she finished school, Edith went to work as a governess in a house in Brussels.  She later returned to England and trained as a nurse at the London Hospital between 1900 and 1905.  In 1907, she was made Matron of the newly established nursing school and became a pioneer of modern nursing in Britain.

“I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved.”

            After the outbreak of World War One, Edith Cavell returned to Brussels, where she went above and beyond the call of duty.  Along with several others, she managed to help over two hundred allied wounded soldiers to escape from German occupied Belgium.  They hid them, gave them false papers and helped them to escape over the border and into Britain.  Unfortunately, it was the thank you letters sent by these grateful soldiers that that helped to bring about her conviction.  The Germans were already suspicious of her activities, largely due to her outspoken nature.  She was then betrayed by a man who was later charged by the French as being a collaborator.

            In 1915, Edith Cavell was arrested by the Germans.  She was charged with aiding the escape of allied soldiers into a country that was at war with Germany.  This was enough to convict her of trying to cause harm to the German troops.  She was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.

            During the early hours of 12^th October 1915, Edith Cavell was executed by firing squad.  Her body was buried immediately next to St. Gilles Prison.  After the war, she was then flown back to England for a memorial service at Westminster Abbey.  Edith’s final resting place is in her native Norwich.

            Edith Cavell was only one woman but in the short life that she lived, she managed to show more humanity and courage, than most people ever would. 

“My soul, as I believe, is safe, and I am glad to die for my country.”

Amy Johnson 1903 - 1941

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson was a pioneering English Aviator (or Aviatrix).  She was originally introduced to flying as a hobby and gained her Pilots licence in 1929.  Amy Johnson was also the first British woman to hold a Ground Engineers licence.

            In 1930 she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.  The aircraft she used, a Gypsy Moth named ‘Jason’, can still be seen on display in the Science Museum in London.  She was also awarded a CBE in recognition of her achievements.

            Amy Johnson and her co-pilot, Jack Humphreys, became the first people to fly from London to Moscow in one day in July 1931.  The flight had taken them about 21 hours.  From Moscow they continued across Siberia into Tokyo, setting a record time for flying from Britain to Japan.

            In 1932 she married Jim Mollison, who was to become her new co-pilot.  That same year she also set the record for solo flight from London to Cape Town.  Johnson and Mollison were both injured in 1933 when they crashed down in Conneticut, USA, after running out of fuel flying from South Wales to the United States.

            The couple took part in the MacRobertson Air Race from Britain to Australia in 1934.  After setting a record time from Britain to India, they were unfortunately forced to retire in Allahabad due to engine trouble.  Johnson’s last record breaking flight was from Britain to South Africa in 1936.  She overturned a glider in 1938 but was not seriously hurt.  It was however, the end of her marriage and she was divorced from Jim Mollison that same year.

            During the Second World War, the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was set up to transport Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft around the country.  Amy Johnson joined the ATA in 1940 and rose to the rank of First Officer.  It was on 5^th January 1941, whilst making a routine flight for the AXA, that Johnson went off course in bad weather and had to bail out of her aircraft.  Her plane crashed down in the Thames Estuary and so did Amy Johnson.  Despite the valiant efforts of one man, who tragically lost his own life trying to save her, Amy Johnson was drowned and her body never recovered.  She became the first member of the ATA to die in service.         

Hannah Snell 1723-1792

Hannah Snell

Hannah Snell was born in Worcester, England in 1723.  She married for the first time in 1744, but her husband ran off and left her before the birth of their child, who sadly died at the age of seven months.  Hannah decided to go off in search of her missing husband.  She borrowed a suit from her brother-in-law, John Gray, and assumed his name to give her the freedom to travel.  Her efforts turned out to be in vain, as she later learnt that her husband had been executed for murder.

            It was whilst she was disguised as a man that Hannah was first enlisted in the Royal Marines in 1747.  She went to service in India, and was involved in the battle of Devicotta in 1749 and was present at the siege of Pondicherry.  She was wounded many times during battle but managed to keep her true gender a secret by tending to her own wounds.  She may also have had help from a sympathetic Indian nurse.

            Hannah returned to Britain in 1750, where she finally disclosed her true identity to the Duke of Cumberland, who was head of the military at the time, in order to petition for her army pension.  Even though she had been a woman in disguise, her military service was officially recognised by the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and she was honourably discharged from the army and granted her full pension.

            Between the years 1759-1772, Hannah re-married twice and had another two children.  Unfortunately, she later developed signs of insanity and in 1791, her mental condition became considerably worse.  She was admitted to Bethlem (Bedlam) Hospital, where she died in 1792.

            Hannah Snell was one of the first female members of the British Army, even if it was in disguise, and she was buried alongside the other soldiers at Chelsea Hospital in London.

Angela Burdett-Coutts 1814-1906

Angela Burdett-Coutts

Angela Burdett-Coutts was one of the wealthiest women in Victorian England.  As a single woman with money of her own, she was able to spend her time and fortune on pursuing many philanthropic projects. 

            One of her more successful ventures was the ‘ragged’ schools that she helped set up in order for the countries poor to better their prospects.  Miss Burdett-Coutts believed that every child in England, no matter how poor their background may be, had the right to at least a basic education.  She also helped to fund better housing for some of the poorer people who were struggling to survive in the squalid conditions of London’s East End.

            In 1847, with the help of Mr Charles Dickens, she set up Urania Cottage in order to help rehabilitate the ‘fallen women’ of the East End.  It gave them a chance to learn the trade of silk-weaving, very popular in the area at the time, so that they may at least have the chance for more respectable employment.

            Miss Burdett-Coutts was a firm supporter of cancer research at what was then Brompton Cancer Hospital, (now known as London’s Royal Marsden Hospital).  She was also president of the RSPCA when the meetings were first held to establish the NSPCC.

            During the Crimean War, Angela helped to support the families of soldiers who were away fighting.  She also sent over a linen drier to aid Florence Nightingale in her work.  A device that she had herself designed for use in the hospital laundry.

            Angela Burdett-Coutts became a Baroness in 1871, when she was also given the freedom of the cities of both London and Edinburgh.

            It was rumoured that she once proposed to the Duke of Wellington, who was a close friend.  Whether this was true or not, she certainly managed to shock ‘polite society’ at the age of 67, when she married her 29-year-old secretary.