Wimbledon: Paraffin, matches and the plot to burn down All England Club
The identity of the woman behind the plot to burn down the All England Cluib remains a mystery
It is just one incident in a year of protests at major sporting events; the latest attempt to win hearts and minds on an issue that divides the country and provokes anger on both sides of the argument.There is one final item in the woman's bag - a piece of paper. On it is written 'No peace until women get the vote'.
By the early 20th century, after 60 years of peaceful protests, handing out pamphlets and making polite requests to government to give women the right to vote, many members of women's suffrage movements were growing tired and frustrated. Between 1912-1914 the suffragettes were the largest threat to domestic peace in the country, with cells across the country.
"Sport is a huge part of English cultural life, if you're going to target things to bring your cause to ordinary people, of course you're going to target sport," says Dr Riddell. Grandstands were a popular target for arson attacks, they were large and the spectacle of one ablaze was certain to attract publicity.
Wimbledon, the south-west London suburb, rather than the tennis championships, had become a hotbed of suffragette activity, long before the attack on the All England Club. Yates needed the help of mounted officers and a police cordon to return home as a mob of anti-suffragettes swirled around her. They tried desperately to identify and imprison any prominent members of the party who they suspected of carrying out bomb and arson attacks. Some of those who were jailed would go on hunger strike to continue their protest and were force-fed.Yates herself had served a month in Holloway for obstruction during a suffragette march on Westminster. She hosted events celebrating the release of other prisoners of the cause.
Back to that night at the All England Club in February 1913 and the woman preparing to burn down one of the Centre Court stands - was she successful?The groundsman, Joseph Parsons, found the woman and, after she attempted to run away but fell over, caught her and reported her to the police before any damage was done. The attack was foiled.
"If Rose was not carrying those acts out herself, she would certainly be aware of who was being sent by the leadership of the WSPU into her territory to carry out these attacks," said Dr Riddell.The identity of the mysterious suffragette will likely never be known, but her plot to set fire to Wimbledon was one incident in a vast operation which spanned many years and dominated discussion.
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