So here we have the fateful day for Emily Davison, the Derby, 1913. And the event is recorded, very matter of factly, on the back of this card, where it says that : "At Tattenham Corner a woman rushed on to the course and sustained fatal injuries".
This woman was Emily Davison. We are still not entirely sure what she was doing, but recently several facts have come to light and it has been presumed that she was attempting to catch hold of this horse , Anmer, belonging to His Majesty The King. However something went wrong, bringing her, the horse, and the jockey, Herbert Jones, crashing to the floor. She died four days later, having never regained consciousness. Herbert Jones was also injured, being concussed, and losing consciousness temporarily. He must also have broken his arm, because he wore a sling for a while, though he did ride at Royal Ascot a fortnight later, and he rode Anmer.
There seems no hard feelings from the suffragettes, and he was invited to the funeral of Emily Davison, but did not feel well enough. However he must have regretted that, because later he attended the funeral of Emmeline Pankhurst, and even laid a wreath.
There are many theories as to Emily Davison`s intentions. Some say she wanted to be a martyr. Some say that she was hoping to attach a Suffragette flag, or banner to the horse, or put it around his neck, so that when he was photographed in the press the message would be forever visible. She had a return ticket amongst her possessions, and recently it was discovered that a banner was given to a steward after the race.
In addition, both her and her mother were frequently observed in London`s Hyde Park attempting to catch hold of horses, which afterwards was realised was them practising for the "big day". This makes it even more likely that the accident was caused simply because they did not realise that a racehorse, at gallop, was a far faster animal than a riding horse, which usually was held at canter.
This set is very attractive but the white background is very prone to dirt. It is recorded in our original John Player reference book, RB.17, published in 1950, as
70. 50. DERBY & GRAND NATIONAL WINNERS. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey. Home issue. April 1933
A. Small cards, Backs with descriptive text.
B. Small transfers, backs with inscriptions for use.
Colour variations occur at No. 7 - cap in (a) yellow (b) blue and green (c) green
Our World Tobacco Issues Indexes do not mention this colour change, they both simply say
DERBY & GRAND NATIONAL WINNERS. Sm. Nd. (50)
A. Cards
B. Transfers