Secrets Of A Suffragette - Emily Davison

Good morning, now I am going to look at a documentary on Emily Davison.  She was a Suffragette who lost her life fighting for the right to vote.  She would go down in history as the woman who threw herself in front of the King’s horse.  The run time for this documentary is 46:52 and is called Claire Balding’s Secrets of a Suffragette.

Emily Davison was a British suffragette who protested for women’s right to vote.  She stepped into history by stepping into the path of the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby.  She was fatally injured.  Claire Balding explores Emily Davison’s story.  Growing up she was told that Emily threw herself in front of the King’s horse and that it was the end of it.  However, Claire was to investigate the real story behind this episode in British History.

Claire kicks off Emily’s story by looking at the video of the incident. She explores the lead-up to this incident even showing the train ticket Emily had in her pocket at the time of her death.  What were Emily’s motives?  Why would she throw herself in front of the King’s horse?  The footage still shocks even today as forensic video examiner looks over the film.  The commentary on the film was very well done.  The examination of the film continues.  The latest in technology is being employed to help learn what happened.

Claire moves on to look at horse racing itself to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Emily’s protest.  She meets up with her father and other members of her family to learn if Emily would be able to deliberately target the King’s horse.  The Balding Family has been involved with horse racing for decades and her father trained a Derby winner.  Her father Ian Balding said that it was not possible for Emily to grab a horse to stop it.  She may have seen the king’s colors but not the horse itself.  There was also no evidence that she intended on killing herself either.  This was a very cool section to watch and I rather liked Claire’s interactions with her family.

Emily Davison went to school and went to a school founded with the express purpose of educating women.  She went to this school but was forced to leave because her father died.  However, she continued to learn on her own and was able to get credentials.  Suffragette women would have gone to school and Emily would have encountered these women during her short stay at this school.  Claire then touches on the Pankhurst family and their impact on the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom.

The Pankhurst’s were advocates of militancy and direct action when it came to gaining the right to vote.  Emily Davison was attracted to this action and joined the suffragettes in 1906.  The women would have bombed and burned their way in order to get the right to vote.  Claire is shocked by the violence.  Emily would have been arrested for storming the House of Commons.  Eventually, it seemed that the women would get the right to vote and the Pankhursts suspended their militancy.  However, it was a ruse and the bill was not brought to the floor of Parliament.  Parliament would have been Emily’s target for this failure and she would have been suspended from Parliament twice.  Claire is taken into the bowls of the Palace of Westminster to learn about the extent of Emily’s protest. 

Suffragette militancy was eventually seen as a threat to society and so Claire explores the files that were kept on the suffragettes.  The contents shock Claire as she learns that the government beefed up the special branch and started surveying the suffragettes.  What do these files contain?  What else does Claire learn about Emily Davison?  Continue to follow this documentary to find out.

I was brought back to an episode of Manor House when I saw this documentary pop up.  One of the episodes mentioned Emily’s protest and death.  Claire’s investigation into Emily’s death was very thoughtful and I found her narration witty at times.  The forensic examination of the video footage was very well done as well.  Over all, this would be a good documentary to show in a high school and college class.