greatwesternrailway

It seems surprising to me that suffragettes would resort to arson. I wondered if the fire was really caused by reactionaries trying to make them look bad but apparently not. Were suffragettes more militant than I realized or were they more militant in Great Britain than the US? Here are a couple short articles in the New York Times dated March 11, 1913 which mention the fire. [1],[2] The date on this photo is currently set to 'some time in 1910. It should probably be set to March 11, 1913, or at least 'some time in 1913'.

Let’s hear it for Mrs. Pankhurst! SUFFRAGETTES TRY TO REACH THE KING 3/10/1910 New York Times … "Mrs. Pankhurst read the petition which it had been desired to present to the King. It declared that the militant movement for votes for women was endangering all forms of public and private property and had brought the administration and the law in to contempt." “All thinking persons”, it went on, “were eagerly and impatiently waiting to see whether the speech from the throne would contain a promise of legislation by which the suffragists’ violence and its consequences could be brought to append. “Votes for women” it continued, “Is the only cure for militancy. The revolting and futile policy of releasing hunger-strikers and re-arresting them, and again releasing them and re-arresting them, would simply bring discredit upon the Ministers responsible for it. Such treatment will never break the spirit of the women, though it will very likely bring about a tragedy, for although the women cannot be defeated they can be killed by persecution. If law and order are to be re-established in this realm, women must have votes.”

Good For Mrs Pankhurst! And, just in case someone is interested, the firm Suttons Seeds is still alive and well. Here is their history on their website www.suttons.co.uk/History.htm -- Seen on your photo stream. (?)

The railway station has its own Wikipedia entry which mentions this incident: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunderton_railway_station

I never knew that suffragists resorted to terrorism. That's something the history books omit.

The name corrected (Mi)lford written on its bow.

The ship's name ends in "-lford" which may make it the PS Milford which was scrapped in 1901.

She was a Great Western Railway ship. One of three paddle steamers ordered from William Simons & Co. of Renfrew in 1873. She was badly damaged in a storm and broken up in 1901. PS Waterford and PS Limerick were sister ships. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway_ships

There's a reverse view, but it's hard to see much as the ship is in the way.

Fabulous old photograph of the paddle steamer!

The vehicle's registration plate begins with the prefix LD. This indicates that the vehicle was registered in London. So this photo was probably taken at Paddington Station.

This is an "AC Sociable" 3 wheeler.