Leonora Cohen's Suffrage protest at the Tower of London
Date: 01 February 2016
Author: Sarah Okpokam
Throughout its near 1,000 year history, the Tower of London has had many uses; it has served as a palace, an infamous prison, a secure home for the Crown Jewels and in the February of 1913, as a stage for protest.
Walking to the Tower from the underground station with an iron bar hidden beneath her coat Leonora Cohen gained access to the Crown Jewels which were, at the time, on display in the upper Wakefield Tower.
Approaching the intimidating device that housed the coronation regalia, and assumed to be a teacher visiting with a group of school children, she would have attracted little attention.
However, moments later, when she flung the bar into the case containing the insignia of the Order of Merit, she had the attention not only of the Yeoman Warders who placed her under arrest but of the whole city. Around the bar was a message calling for women's voting rights.
On the reverse it read: “Votes for Women. 100 Years of Constitutional Petition, Resolutions, Meetings & Processions have Failed”.
Image: Leonora Cohen © Leeds Museums and Galleries
Jewel House, Tower of London. My Protest to the Government for its refusal to Enfranchise Women, but continues to torture women prisoners – Deeds Not Words. Leonora Cohen.
Leonora Cohen, message wrapped around the iron bar
Image: Leonora’s WSPU Dress © Leeds Museums and Galleries
Who was Leonora Cohen?
Leonora Cohen was a prominent member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). This was the organisation founded by Emmeline Pankhurst who campaigned for women’s suffrage and equality.
Their motto was ‘Deeds not Words’ and used ‘militant tactics’ to further the cause. They split from the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) who believed in peaceful protest.
Leonora Cohen’s home in Harrogate was used as a refuge for women who had been imprisoned for their campaigning. Cohen’s bold attack on the Crown Jewels gained media prominence and was described (somewhat disparagingly) by the London Illustrated News as yet another example of tactics used by ‘wild women’.
Image: The Crown Jewels were displayed in the Wakefield Tower from 1870 until 1967 © Historic Royal Palaces
Arrested at the Tower
Fearing more attacks from the WSPU and against a background of the persistent threat from Irish Republicans, the Tower, Hampton Court and the palaces of Kensington, Kew and Holyrood were all temporarily closed to the public.
Cohen was arrested by the police and charged with causing damage to property exceeding the value of £5, for which the penalty was imprisonment. She represented herself when she was brought before the Thames Police Court, and was able to argue successfully, that the damage she had caused was not up to that value and she was released without charge.
The Tower Suffragette
The commitment of the WSPU and NUWSS and the hard graft of women in factories and on farms meant that in 1918 some women were given the vote, in 1928 women were given voting rights on the same terms as men.
Leonora Cohen remained a committed feminist throughout her life, acting as a voice for British feminist movements in the 1960s and 70s and was able to witness the introduction of the equal pay act in 1970. She died, age 105 in 1978. Her obituary in The Times newspaper fondly referred to her as the ‘Tower suffragette’.
Sarah Okpokam
Tower of London Curatorial Intern
More from our blog
A Short History of the Jewel House at the Tower of London
11 December 2023
Tom Drysdale, Archivist and Curator of Architectural Drawings at the Tower of London, explores the fascinating history of the world-famous Crown Jewels exhibition.
Anthony Salvin: the architect who transformed the Tower of London
16 December 2021
Archivist Tom Drysdale introduces Anthony Salvin, the Victorian architect who began the transformation of the Tower of London, and looks at four drawings that shed a light on his work and legacy.
Excavations at the Tower of London's chapel
21 October 2019
Earlier this year, once-in-a-generation excavation works taking place outside the entrance to the Tower's Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula uncovered amazing finds, which shed new light on the history of the Chapel and what life was like for those who lived at the Tower 500 years ago. Historic Buildings Curator Alfred Hawkins explains the process of archaeological excavations.