The plan was simple: suffragettes had been told they could not distribute leaflets on the streets. So instead, they were going to drop from the skies campaign leaflets on to the procession of King Edward VII as he made his way in his goldencarriage along The Mall to the opening of Parliament on February 16, 1909.
Muriel Matters (1877"1969), an Australian actress, arrived in London in 1905 looking for theatrical work. She loved her adopted country so much that she remained there for the rest of her life, but arriving from South Australia, where womenhad been voting since 1894, she was appalled at the lack of women's rights in England. She soon became involved with the suffrage organization Women's Freedom League (WFL) to further the cause of women.
Muriel's plan was to fly over London and scatter 56lbs of Women's Freedom League pamphlets over Westminster. The weather that day was rainy and windy, so she was blown off course and ended up in South London in Croydon, but the Votes forWomen airship made worldwide news and helped promote the suffrage movement.
Muriel's airship adventure was also the first powered flight from what later became the London Aerodrome at Hendon, which was to feature prominently in both World Wars, and site of various pioneering aviation experiments, among them thefirst airmail, the first parachute descent from a powered aircraft, the first night flights, and the first aerialdefense of a city.
