Emily Davison brass plaque
Connection to This Location
# Emily Davison and the House of Commons Broom Cupboard On the night of April 2nd, 1911, Emily Wilding Davison made her way through the corridors of the House of Commons and hid herself in a broom cupboard in the Crypt—a small, dark space that would become an unlikely stage for an act of quiet rebe...
Location
House of Parliament
Inscription
In loving memory of Emily Wilding Davison. In this broom cupboard Emily Wilding Davison hid herself illegally, during the night of the 1911 census. She was a brave suffragette campaigning for votes for women at a time when Parliament denied them that right. In this way she was able to record her address, on the night of that census, as being "The House of Commons", thus making her claim to the same political rights as men. Emily Wilding Davison died in June 1913 from injuries sustained when she threw herself under the King's horse at The Derby to draw public attention to the injustice suffered by women. By such means was democracy won for the people of Britain. Notice placed here by Tony Benn MP "I must tell you, Mr Speaker, that I am going to put a plaque in the House. I shall have it made myself and screwed on the door of the broom cupboard in the Crypt."