Women's suffrage or the right to vote has a long and chequered history. Women's suffrage is explicitly stated as a right under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and was adopted by the United Nations in 1979.
In medieval France and several other countries voting for city and town assemblies was open to the head of the household. It wasn't until the 18th century where conditional suffrage for women who were registered with professional guilds was granted.
In medieval France and several other countries voting for city and town assemblies was open to the head of the household. It wasn't until the 18th century where conditional suffrage for women who were registered with professional guilds was granted.
The Vote For Women
| The first country in the world to give voting rights to all adult women was New Zealand in 1893. |
| The Great Reform Act of 1832 expressly forbid voting for women by specifically changing the term used from 'person' to 'male'. |
| The 1918 Representation of the People Act enfranchised women over the age of 30 who were either a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register. |
| 1913 - Emily Davison infamously ran in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby. |
| 1906-07 Finland became the first European country to give women the vote. |
| 1756 - Lydia Chapin Taft became the first legal woman voter in colonial America, in the then British ruled colony of Massachusetts. |
Emily Wilding Davison was born in Blackheath, London on 11th October 1872. She studied at Oxford University even though women were not allowed to take degrees at the time. In 1906, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union and in 1909 gave up her job as a teacher to work full-time with the suffragette movement. She was frequently arrested for offences relating to her suffragette work and spent several short periods in prison.
Her worst spell in prison came after an offence of throwing rocks at Lloyd George's carriage resulted in a month of hard labour inside Strangeways, Manchester where she refused food and resisted being force-fed. She attempted to starve herself and was treated harshly by prison warders angered by her actions. Ultimately she successfully sued the Strangeways authorities and received 40 shillings in compensation.
Davison became increasingly militant over the years and in 1913 her infamous act at the Epsom Derby took place. She simply ran out in front of the King's horse on the bend at Tattenham Corner where she was struck by his horse around the base of her skull. She was taken to the on-course medical facility and later transferred to hospital where she never recovered from her coma and subsequently died four days later.
To this day it is unclear just what actions she meant to perform and it is questionable that she actually meant to commit suicide in this fashion to highlight her cause.
Her worst spell in prison came after an offence of throwing rocks at Lloyd George's carriage resulted in a month of hard labour inside Strangeways, Manchester where she refused food and resisted being force-fed. She attempted to starve herself and was treated harshly by prison warders angered by her actions. Ultimately she successfully sued the Strangeways authorities and received 40 shillings in compensation.
Davison became increasingly militant over the years and in 1913 her infamous act at the Epsom Derby took place. She simply ran out in front of the King's horse on the bend at Tattenham Corner where she was struck by his horse around the base of her skull. She was taken to the on-course medical facility and later transferred to hospital where she never recovered from her coma and subsequently died four days later.
To this day it is unclear just what actions she meant to perform and it is questionable that she actually meant to commit suicide in this fashion to highlight her cause.
Emily Davison infamously runs in front of the King's horse at the 1913 Derby.