Subscribe today using voucher code SUMMER22 for an extended free trial

This film is part of Free

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected

        Trafalgar Square Riot

        A suffragette demonstration led by Sylvia Pankhurst ends in chaos as police prevent a march on Downing Street.

        Non-Fiction 1913 1 mins Silent

        Overview

        This PathΓ© newsreel captures the aftermath of a demonstration by the Women's Social and Political Union in Trafalgar Square on 27 July 1913. Led by militant suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst, the event triggered a riot in Whitehall when Pankhurst, according to the Times, "concluded a violent harangue by suggesting that the crowd should go in a body to the residence of the Prime Minister". Despite the efforts of her personal 'bodyguard' to keep police at bay, Pankhurst was among 33 men and women arrested; on arrival at the police station she smashed several windows in protest.

        Sylvia Pankhurst had been out of prison on license before the demonstration but this had expired; she attended in disguise, appearing on the plinth of Nelson's Column and delivering her speech before detectives could re-arrest her.