Suffragettes capture The Monument, London

Crowds gathered to witness the capture of the Monument by two suffragettes, Miss Ethel Spark and Mrs Gertrude Shaw - 18th April, 1913. The two Suffragettes managed to slip unnoticed into the Monument, trap the attendants in their office and climb the 311 steps to the top of the column, whereupon they unfurled a purple, white and green flag of the Women's Social and Political Union and tied a banner reading Death or Victory to the railings. They then released hundreds of propaganda flyers onto the street below. Examination of the individuals making up the crowd show them to be primarily working men including a number of Billingsgate Market fish porters (identified by their tarred leather hats)

Apr18 Billingsgate Demo Ethel Gertrude Onlookers Porters Spark Tarred

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