Tory Historian missed this anniversary by less than half an hour but it is still worth mentioning as a remarkable event in British history. One hundred years ago yesterday, April 27, 1909, a number of suffragettes chained themselves to the statues in St Stephen's Hall in the Palace of Westminster. (Hmm, those were the days when, despite the fear of Fenian outrages, access to the Palace was unrestricted.)
The documents related to the event and to the detaching of the women from the statues (Lord Falkland's spur was slightly damaged) are in the Parliamentary archives and can be seen on the website together with the transcript. Oh the joys of electronic technology.
Alice Spencer Stanley, Countess of Derby
4 days ago
But worth noting that it was not the suffragettes who gained the vote, but the efforts of women during WW I. Incidentally Emmeline Pankhurst became a Conservative canadidate and her statue was unveiled by Stanley Baldwin, who completed the tasl of giving an equalt franchise to women.