Wikipedia

Women's Coronation Procession

The Women's Coronation Procession was a suffragette march through London, England, on 17 June 1911, just before the Coronation of George V and Mary, demanding women's suffrage in the coronation year. It aimed to draw the attention of both the public and the new king to the campaign for votes for women and show the strength of the movement before an upcoming Conciliation Bill debate in Parliament.[2]

Women's Coronation Procession
Part of first-wave feminism
The 'Prison to Citizenship' pageant
Date17 June 1911
Location
Westminster, London, England. Marchers converged on the Albert Hall, South Kensington.

51°30′03.40″N 00°10′38.77″W / 51.5009444°N 0.1774361°W / 51.5009444; -0.1774361
Caused byFight for women's suffrage
MethodsDemonstrations, marches[1]
Parties
Lead figures

Prime Minister H. H. Asquith[1]

Marches dressed in white during the procession

The march was organised by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), lead by Emmeline Pankhurst. 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."[3] At least 28 women's suffrage focused organisations attended the march[4] and marchers came from across the British Isles and territories of the British Empire (including Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa).[2]

Some 40,000 people marched from Westminster to the Albert Hall in South Kensington.[5][6] Charlotte Despard and Flora Drummond on horseback led the march, which included Marjery Bryce dressed as Joan of Arc and 700 women and girls clothed in white to represent suffragette prisoners. Kate Harvey, Edith Downing and Marion Wallace-Dunlop were among the organisers, and Lolita Roy is believed to have been as well.[1][7] Jane Cobden organised the Indian women's delegation.[8]

Marchers represented occupational organisations including the Actresses Franchise League (AFL).[9] Elsie Hooper and other members of the National Association of Women Pharmacists 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.”[10]

Members of the Actresses Franchise League (AFL) with a banner and sheilds for the procession[9]

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.[11] There was also a contingency of male and female theosophists, marching under the banner of Universal Co-Freemasonry in full Masonic regalia, led by Annie Besant.[12]

Male campaigners for women's votes, including members of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage, supported the march.[12]

Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy watches the procession from a balcony

See also

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References

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Welsh suffragists in traditional dress
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Women's suffrage timeline". The British Library. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "What was the 1911 Suffragette Women's Coronation Procession?". London Museum. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  3. ↑ Saunders, Robert (26 October 2019). "'A Great and Holy War': Religious Routes to Women's Suffrage, 1909–1914*". The English Historical Review. 134 (571): 1471–1502. doi:10.1093/ehr/cez360.
  4. ↑ Rosen, Andrew Will (1972). The Militant Campaign of the Women's Social and Political Union, 1903-1914. University of California. p. 202.
  5. ↑ "Celebrating Elsie Hooper, early pioneer for women pharmacists, on International Women's Day". Pharmaceutical Journal. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.[dead link]
  6. ↑ Atkinson, Diane (7 February 2019). Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-4088-4405-2.
  7. ↑ "Photograph of Indian suffragettes on the Women's Coronation Procession, 17 June 1911 at Museum of London". Museumoflondonprints.com. 17 June 1911. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Indian suffragettes in the Women's Coronation Procession". Museum of London. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  9. 1 2 Atkinson, Diane (1996). The Suffragettes in Pictures. Sutton. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7509-1017-0.
  10. ↑ "Women pharmacists demand the vote". Wellcome Library. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  11. ↑ Saunders, Robert (26 October 2019). "'A Great and Holy War': Religious Routes to Women's Suffrage, 1909–1914*". The English Historical Review. 134 (571): 1471–1502. doi:10.1093/ehr/cez360.
  12. 1 2 Dixon, Joy (2001). Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-8018-6499-2.
  13. ↑ Crawford, Elizabeth (11 February 2018). "The black and Asian women who fought for a vote". BBC News. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
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