Editing Emily Davison (section)

===Fatal injury at the Derby===
[[File:Emily Davison (Suffragette) killed by King's Horse at Derby (1913).webm|thumb|upright|alt=Between 5:51 and 6:15, the newsreel footage shows Davison stepping onto the course, where she is hit by Anmer.|Newsreel footage of the 1913 Epsom Derby from [[Pathé News]]. The events involving Davison occur between 5:51 and 6:15.]]
On 4 June 1913 Davison obtained two flags bearing the suffragette colours of purple, white and green from the WSPU offices; she then travelled by train to [[Epsom]], Surrey, to attend the [[Epsom Derby|Derby]].{{sfn|Colmore|1988|pp=56–57}} She positioned herself in the [[Infield#Tracks|infield]] at Tattenham Corner, the final bend before the [[home straight]]. At this point in the race, with some of the horses having passed her, she ducked under the guard rail and ran onto the course; she may have held in her hands one of the suffragette flags. She reached up to the reins of Anmer—[[King George&nbsp;V]]'s horse, ridden by [[Herbert Jones (jockey)|Herbert Jones]]—and was hit by the animal, which would have been travelling at around {{convert|35|mi|km}} per hour,{{sfn|Purvis|2013b}}{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=214–215}} four seconds after stepping onto the course.{{sfn|''Secrets of a Suffragette'', 26 May 2013|loc=Event occurs at 35:10–36:06}} Anmer fell in the collision and partly rolled over his jockey, who had his foot momentarily caught in the stirrup.{{sfn|Purvis|2013b}}{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=214–215}} Davison was knocked to the ground unconscious; some reports say she was kicked in the head by Anmer, but the surgeon who operated on Davison stated that "I could find no trace of her having been kicked by a horse".{{sfn|Tanner|2013|p=278}} The event was captured by three newsreel cameras.{{sfn|''Secrets of a Suffragette'', 26 May 2013|loc=Event occurs at 2:10–2:15}} The result of the race was not deemed to be void.{{efn|Craganour, the [[Bookmaker (gambling)|bookmakers]]' favourite, crossed the finishing line first, but a stewards' enquiry led to the horse being placed last and the race being awarded to [[Aboyeur]], a [[Fixed-odds betting#Fractional odds|100/1]] outsider.{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=224, 243–244}}}}
 
[[File:Emily Davison, return ticket.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Second class return part of the ticket, for Epsom to Victoria, number 0315, dated 4 June 1913|The return stub of the ticket Davison used on her journey to Epsom]]
Bystanders rushed onto the track and attempted to aid Davison and Jones until both were taken to the nearby [[Epsom Cottage Hospital]]. Davison was operated on two days later, but she never regained consciousness; while in hospital she was sent hate mail.{{sfn|Morley|Stanley|1988|p=103}}{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=284–285}}{{efn|One letter, signed "An Englishman", read "I am glad that you are in hospital. I hope you suffer torture until you die, you idiot.&nbsp;... I should like the opportunity of starving and beating you to a pulp."{{sfn|Tanner|2013|p=285}}{{sfn|''Secrets of a Suffragette'', 26 May 2013|loc=Event occurs at 42:10–42:40}}}} She died on 8 June, aged 40, from a [[basilar skull fracture|fracture at the base of her skull]].{{sfn|Thorpe|2013}}{{sfn|Morley|Stanley|1988|pp=103–104}} Found in Davison's effects were the two suffragette flags, the return stub of her railway ticket to London, her race card, a ticket to a suffragette dance later that day and a diary with appointments for the following week.{{sfn|"Exhibitions: Emily Wilding Davison Centenary"}}{{sfn|Greer|2013}}{{efn|The presence of a return ticket was seen as evidence that Davison did not mean to commit suicide; research by Crawford showed that on Derby day, only return tickets were available.{{sfn|Crawford|2014|pp=1001–1002}}}} The King and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] were present at the race and made enquiries about the health of both Jones and Davison. The King later recorded in his diary that it was "a most regrettable and scandalous proceeding"; in her journal the Queen described Davison as a "horrid woman".{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=281–282}} Jones suffered a concussion and other injuries; he spent the evening of 4 June in London, before returning home the following day.{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=276–277}} He could recall little of the event: "She seemed to clutch at my horse, and I felt it strike her."{{sfn|"Suffragette and the King's Horse", ''The Manchester Guardian''}} He recovered sufficiently to race Anmer at [[Ascot Racecourse]] two weeks later.{{sfn|Greer|2013}}
 
The inquest into Davison's death took place at Epsom on 10 June; Jones was not well enough to attend.{{sfn|Tanner|2013|p=287}} Davison's half-brother, Captain Henry Davison, gave evidence about his sister, saying that she was "a woman of very strong reasoning faculties, and passionately devoted to the women's movement".{{sfn|"The Suffragist Outrage at the Derby", ''The Times''}} The coroner decided that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, Davison had not committed suicide.{{sfn|"Miss Davison's Death", ''The Manchester Guardian''}} The coroner also decided that, although she had waited until she could see the horses, "from the evidence it was clear that the woman did not make for His Majesty's horse in particular".{{sfn|"Miss Davison's Death", ''The Manchester Guardian''}} The verdict of the court was:
 
<blockquote>that Miss Emily Wilding Davison died of fracture of the base of the skull, caused by being accidentally knocked down by a horse through wilfully rushing on to the racecourse on Epsom Downs during the progress of the race for the Derby; [[Death by misadventure|death was due to misadventure]].{{sfn|"The Suffragist Outrage at the Derby", ''The Times''}}</blockquote>
 
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| header            = Front pages from publications sympathetic to the suffragette cause
| width             = <!-- Image 1 -->
| image1            = Daily Sketch front page, 9 June 1913.jpg
| width1            = 116
| alt1              = Front page of the Daily Sketch with a photograph of Davison, and the headline "First Martyr for Votes for Women"
| caption1          = The ''[[Daily Sketch]]'', 9 June 1913
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2            = "The Suffragette", 13 June 1913 - Emily Davison memorial edition.jpg
| width2            = 117
| alt2              = Front page of The Suffragette showing an drawing of Davison depicted as an angel. The headline reads "In Honour and in Loving, Reverent Memory of Emily Wilding Davison. She Died for Women."
| caption2          = ''[[The Suffragette (newspaper)|The Suffragette]]'', 13 June 1913
}}
Davison's purpose in attending the Derby and walking onto the course is unclear. She did not discuss her plans with anyone or leave a note.{{sfn|Gullickson|2008|p=473}}{{sfn|Brown|2013}} Several theories have been suggested, including that she intended to cross the track, believing that all horses had passed; that she wanted to pull down the King's horse; that she was trying to attach one of the WSPU flags to a horse; or that she intended to throw herself in front of one of the horses.{{sfn|Thorpe|2013}} The historian Elizabeth Crawford considers that "subsequent explanations of&nbsp;... [Davison's] action have created a tangle of fictions, false deductions, hearsay, conjecture, misrepresentation and theory".{{sfn|Crawford|2014|p=1000}}
 
In 2013 a [[Channel 4]] documentary used forensic examiners who digitised the original [[nitrate film]] from the three cameras present. The film was digitally cleaned and examined. Their examination suggests that Davison intended to throw a suffragette flag around the neck of a horse or attach it to the horse's [[bridle]].{{efn|[[Carolyn Collette]], a literary critic who has studied Davison's writing, observes that there have long been stories of Davison practising at grabbing bridles of horses, but these are all unconfirmed.{{sfn|Collette|2013|p=21}}}} A flag was gathered from the course; this was put up for auction and, as at 2021, it hangs in the [[Houses of Parliament]].{{sfn|Thorpe|2013}} Michael Tanner, the horse-racing historian and author of a history of the 1913 Derby, doubts the authenticity of the item. [[Sotheby's]], the auction house that sold it, describe it as a sash that was "reputed" to have been worn by Davison. The seller stated that her father, Richard Pittway Burton, was the Clerk of the Course at Epsom; Tanner's search of records shows Burton was listed as a dock labourer two weeks prior to the Derby. The official Clerk of the Course on the day of the Derby was Henry Mayson Dorling.{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=344–345}} When the police listed Davison's possessions, they itemised the two flags provided by the WSPU, both folded up and pinned to the inside of her jacket. They measured 44.5 by 27 inches (113 × 69&nbsp;cm); the sash displayed at the Houses of Parliament measures 82 by 12 inches (210 × 30&nbsp;cm).{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=278–279}}
 
Tanner considers that Davison's choice of the King's horse was "pure happenstance", as her position on the corner would have left her with a limited view.{{sfn|Tanner|2013|pp=289–290}} Examination of the newsreels by the forensic team employed by the Channel 4 documentary determined that Davison was closer to the start of the bend than had been previously assumed, and would have had a better view of the oncoming horses.{{sfn|''Secrets of a Suffragette'', 26 May 2013|loc=Event occurs at 35:10–36:06}}{{sfn|Thorpe|2013}}
 
The contemporary news media were largely unsympathetic to Davison,{{sfn|Tanner|2013|p=282}} and many publications "questioned her sanity and characterised her actions as suicidal".{{sfn|Gullickson|2016|p=10}} ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' said it had "pity for the dementia which led an unfortunate woman to seek a grotesque and meaningless kind of 'martyrdom{{'"}},{{sfn|"The Distracting Derby", ''The Pall Mall Gazette''}} while ''[[The Daily Express]]'' described Davison as "A well-known malignant suffragette, &nbsp;... [who] has a long record of convictions for complicity in suffragette outrages."{{sfn|"The Derby of Disasters", ''Daily Express''}} The journalist for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' observed that "Deep in the hearts of every onlooker was a feeling of fierce resentment with the miserable woman";{{sfn|Tanner|2013|p=282}} the unnamed writer in ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'' opined that "It was quite evident that her condition was serious; otherwise many of the crowd would have fulfilled their evident desire to lynch her."{{sfn|"Woman's Mad Attack on the King's Derby Horse", ''The Daily Mirror''}}
 
The WSPU were quick to describe her as a martyr, part of a campaign to identify her as such.{{sfn|Purvis|2013a|p=358}}{{sfn|Gullickson|2008|p=462}} ''The Suffragette'' newspaper marked Davison's death by issuing a copy showing a female angel with raised arms standing in front of the guard rail of a racecourse.{{sfn|"In Honour and Loving Memory of Emily Wilding Davison", ''The Suffragette''}} The paper's editorial stated that "Davison has proved that there are in the twentieth-century people who are willing to lay down their lives for an ideal".{{sfn|"The Supreme Sacrifice", ''The Suffragette''}} Religious phraseology was used in the issue to describe her act, including "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends", which Gullickson reports as being repeated several times in subsequent discussions of the events.{{sfn|Gullickson|2008|p=474}} A year after the Derby, ''The Suffragette'' included "The Price of Liberty", an essay by Davison. In it, she had written "To lay down life for friends, that is glorious, selfless, inspiring! But to re-enact the tragedy of Calvary for generations yet unborn, that is the last consummate sacrifice of the Militant".{{sfn|Davison|1914|p=129}}