The Women's Coronation Procession was a suffragette march through London, England, on 17 June 1911, just before

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

's coronation, demanding

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in the coronation year. The march was organised by the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...

(WSPU). It was "the largest women’s suffrage march ever held in Britain and one of the few to draw together the full range of suffrage organisations". Some 40,000 people marched from Westminster to the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

Charlotte Despard Charlotte Despard (née French; 15 June 1844 – 10 November 1939) was an Anglo-Irish suffragist, socialist, pacifist, Sinn Féin activist, and novelist. She was a founding member of the Women's Freedom League, Women's Peace Crusade, and the ...

and

Flora Drummond Flora McKinnon Drummond (née Gibson) (born 4 August 1878, Manchester – died 17 January 1949, Carradale), was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading Women's Rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'wit ...

on horseback led the march, which included Marjery Bryce dressed as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

and 700 women and girls clothed in white to represent suffragette prisoners.

Kate Harvey Kate Harvey (13 November 1862 – 29 April 1946) was an English suffragist, physiotherapist, and charity worker. Profoundly deaf and widowed at a young age, she operated a home for women and children, and then later for disabled children. She p ...

, Edith Downing and Marion Wallace-Dunlop were among the organisers, and

Lolita Roy Lolita Roy (born in 1865), also known as Mrs. P. L. Roy, was an Indian social reformer and suffragist who played an active role in the social life of Indians in London, as well as in campaigns for women's suffrage in Britain and India. She was d ...

is believed to have been as well.

Jane Cobden Emma Jane Catherine Cobden (28 April 1851 – 7 July 1947), known as Jane Cobden, was a British Liberal politician who was active in many radical causes. A daughter of the Victorian reformer and statesman Richard Cobden, she was an earl ...

organised the Indian women's delegation. The presence of a substantial number of marchers, both clergymen and lay women, under the banner of the Church League for Women's Suffrage was remarked upon by the ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

''. Elsie Hooper and other members of the

National Association of Women Pharmacists The National Association of Women Pharmacists was founded in London on 15 June 1905, following discussions between Margaret Elizabeth Buchanan and Isabella Skinner Clarke. Early meetings were held at Clarke's home. Membership was restricted to thos ...

joined the march. In June 1911 the '' Chemist and Druggist'' carried photographs of women pharmacists in the march and reported "Miss Elsie Hooper, B.Sc., was in the Science Section, and several other women pharmacists did the two-and-a-half hours’ march.”

References

{{Suffrage June 1911 events Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom 1913 in the United Kingdom Parades in the United Kingdom 1911 in London Protest marches 1911 in women's history

See also

References