Inside History: Protest. Revolt & Reform

damaged. In mid December, Rosa and another
suffragette were spotted by a bystander who saw them
pouring the black sticky content into a box. In a
response to this sentencing, Rosa went on hunger
strike. It was her treatment when force fed that led to
Rosa’s early release two weeks later. It was said the
people that force-fed her ripped her nostril and broke a
tooth. This was reported in newspapers and after
appeals, Rosa was released and had been given a
Hunger Strike Medal 'Valour'.
Yet again, this treatment did not deter her. 1913 proved
to be another defining year in the fight for women’s
rights. Rosa’s first action in raising awareness was
chaining herself to the gates of Buckingham Palace. It
was here The Suffragette reported that police had
attacked Rosa yet again. It comes to no surprise they
went for her weakness, by tipping her out of her
.
and assisting Christabel Pankhurst’s election campaign
in Smethwick in 1918. 1918 not only brought the end of
the First World War, but it saw the British government
introduce the Representation of the Peoples Act (1918)
which gave the vote to women over 30 - yet this was
defined to women who owned property with a value
greater than £5. It was at this moment Rosa retired
from the militant suffragette campaigning.
She attended Mrs. Pankhurst's funeral and the unveiling
of her statue, located just behind the House of
Commons, in 1930. In 1939 she moved to Weybridge,
Surrey where she lived until her death on September
4th, 1953. A suffragette colleague, Lilian Lenton wrote
an obituary containing the following thought: “Despite
A procession of Suffragettes, dressed in white and bearing wreaths and a banner reading "Fight on and God will give the victory"
during the funeral proccesion of Emily Davison in Morpeth, Northumberland, 13 June 1913. Crowds line the street to watch.
© Crown Copyright: IWM
tricycle. With one report even stating they had
destroyed her tricycle. Despite this event, Rosa took
part in a suffragette demonstration which was a result
of a dark moment in the fight for women’s right to vote.
All 6000 suffragettes were dressed in white, as Rosa
wheeled herself in the procession of Emily Wilding
Davison’s memorial service. On the 4th of June, Emily
Wilding Davison stepped in front of King George V’s
horse at the Epsom Derby, passing away four days later.
In 1914 Emmeline Pankhurst decided for the
suffragettes they would prioritise their efforts to
the war over the campaign for women’s rights. Rosa
supported this, although she was still active in joining
the Women’s Freedom League, the Suffragette
Fellowship, supporting Jill Cragie’s Equal Pay Film Fund
.
her frustrating affliction I have known her always as full
of life and courage, not to mention jollity, not bitter as
she might have been, sustained, I think, by her belief in
reincarnation. She thought of this life as but one of
many. She hoped for and expected better luck next
time, and this, I trust, will be hers.”
Olivia Smith is a public historian working
across a number of different medias
including, T.V, Podcasting and was also
previously an intern with the CWGC
(Commonwealth War Graves Commission).
Twitter: @OliviaSmithHist
36 INSIDE HISTORY