Women's Coronation Procession

Women's Coronation Procession
Women's Coronation Procession
Part of first-wave feminism
	The 'Prison to Citizenship' pageant
Date	17 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
Caused by	Fight for women's suffrage
Methods	Demonstrations, marches
Parties
Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)	Liberal government, 1905–1915
Lead figures
	Emmeline Pankhurst (WSPU) Prime Minister H. H. Asquith

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. The march was organised by the Women's Social and Political Union (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".^[2]

Some 40,000 people marched from Westminster to the Albert Hall in South Kensington.^[3] 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]^[4] Jane Cobden organised the Indian women's delegation.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.”^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Women's suffrage timeline". The British Library. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
^ 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.
^ "Celebrating Elsie Hooper, early pioneer for women pharmacists, on International Women's Day". Pharmaceutical Journal. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "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.
^ "Indian suffragettes in the Women's Coronation Procession". Museum of London. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
^ 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.
^ Dixon, Joy (2001). Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-8018-6499-2.
^ "Women pharmacists demand the vote". Wellcome Library. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
^ Crawford, Elizabeth (11 February 2018). "The black and Asian women who fought for a vote". BBC News. Retrieved 28 January 2025.

[librarytimeline-1] "Women's suffrage timeline". The British Library. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

[2] 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.

[3] "Celebrating Elsie Hooper, early pioneer for women pharmacists, on International Women's Day". Pharmaceutical Journal. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

[4] "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.

[5] "Indian suffragettes in the Women's Coronation Procession". Museum of London. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2013.

[6] 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.

[7] Dixon, Joy (2001). Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-8018-6499-2.

[8] "Women pharmacists demand the vote". Wellcome Library. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2018.

[9] 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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See also

References