A talk by local historian Louise Deakin on the Suffragettes, given after the Cycle South Brum #ThisBrumGirlCan bike ride

1. The
Suffragettes

2. Emmeline Pankhurst
‘I stand upon my
rights, as a
subject of the
King, to petition
the Prime
Minister, and I
amfirmly
resolved to
stand here until

3. Emily Davison
EpsomDerby in
1913. Davison died
in hospital fourdays
afterbeing 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.

4. ‘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

6. Birmingham Women’s Suffrage
Society
“The legal
subordination
of one sex to
another
is wrong itself,
and now one of
the chief
hindrances to
human
improvement”.
‘TheSubjection
of Women’,

7. Attacks and Arson

8. Birmingham Museum and Art
Gallery
“...I attackthis workof
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...”

9. Birmingham
Suffragettes
Dr. Mary Sturge
Catherine Osler

10. Birmingham Suffragettes
Elizabeth Cadbury Rhoda

11. Julia Varley
Worked in a mill fromthe
age of 12.
Invited by George
Cadbury to workforhimin
Bournville.
In 1909 Varley moved to
Birminghamand
established a branch of the
National Federation of
Women Workers.
involved in the Cradley
Heath women
chainmakers’ strike of
1910 and the Black

12. Lasting
Legacy
In February 1907 Varley
was involved in a raid on
the floorof the House of
Commons. Refusing to pay
a fine fordisturbance and
obstruction, she was
sentenced to 14 days in
prison.
Recruited to the Workers’
Union in 1912.
1931 Officerof the Order
of the British Empire.


13. “I have worked and lived forthe
bottomdog and I thinkhe orshe
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

14. In 1928 all women were
given the vote on the same
terms as men.