Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a major park in central London, established by Henry VIII in 1536. It first opened to the public in 1637 and became popular for its May Day parades. The Great Exhibition was held in the park in 1851, and during the nineteenth century it was a platform for free speech and demonstrations. Related BRANCH Articles: Peter Melville Logan, “On Culture: Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy, 1869”; Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70”

Parent Map

Victorian England
Victorian London
Map: Race, Gender, Class, Sex

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.509462518077
Longitude: -0.164973734063

View on the COVE Master Map

Timeline of Events Associated with Hyde Park

Date Event Manage
2 Jul 1866

Hyde Park demonstration

Hyde Park Demonstration of the Major Reform League on 23 July 1866. After the British government banned a meeting organized to press for voting rights, 200,000 people entered the Park and clashed with police and soldiers.

Related Articles

Peter Melville Logan, “On Culture: Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy, 1869″

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″
9 Feb 1907

The Mud March

On Saturday the 9th of February, 1907 a large pro-suffrage march took place. Organized by the NUWSS, over 3,000 women marched from Hyde Park Corner to the Strand. Timed to coincide with the opening of Parliament, the march was meant to drum up public sympathy for a women’s suffrage bill. The march was hindered by terrible weather conditions, with pouring rain soaking the large crowd. Public sympathy was immediate, and the sympathetic press dubbed the event the “Mud March”. Unfortunately, the march proved ineffective, as the bill never came to a vote. It did however, set a precedent of large public marches for women’s rights.

The first source is a transcription of a diary from a young woman present at the Mud March. I could not find a pure scan, but the transcription is quite useful. The second source is a flyer put out by the NUWSS advertising the event. It lists the date and place, as well as some other relevant details.

“Kate Frye's Suffrage Diary: The Mud March, 9 February 1907.” Woman and Her Sphere, Woman and Her Sphere, 18 Feb. 2016, womanandhersphere.com/2012/11/21/kate-fryes-suffrage-diary-the-mud-march-9-february-1907/.

Mud March Poster. 9 Feb. 1907.