One of the iron bars carried, but not used, by Mrs. Leonora Cohen during her...

It was part of the grate from the house that she was staying in prior to her Suffragette protest at the Tower. This is a reproduction of an iron bar, carried by Mrs. Leonora Cohen during her act of Suffragette protest at the Tower of London on 1st February 1913. Leonora Cohen (from Leeds) was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union. She wanted to conduct a symbolic militant act which was not aimed at private property. She joined a school party visiting the Jewel House and threw an iron bar to smash one of the glass cabinets. Her defence when arrested was that "It is my protest against the treachery of the Government against the working women of Great Britain". Only a week before, Asquith, the Liberal prime minister, had dropped a Reform Bill which might have given some women the vote.