I should begin by extending sincere thanks to a select number of individuals.

Bower Ismay’s grandson Michael Manser gave me a lengthy interview and answered any amount of subsequent correspondence; he provided extracts from the diary of Mrs T. H. Ismay. Bower’s great-niece Pauline Matarasso graciously shared her memories. The co-operation of Eustace Loder’s great-great nephew Sir Edmund Loder is similarly acknowledged with deep thanks, in particular for providing extracts from Noble Johnson’s memoir on Eyrefield Lodge. Lady Margaret Loder’s granddaughter Verena Elliott took time to speak with me over the telephone, as did Bertie Jones’s children, John and Thelma. The family of Edwin Piper went out of its way to offer assistance, notably Elizabeth Gayton (who provided material collected by her late mother Jill) and Piper’s nephews Cyril and Roy, who knew him personally. Johnny Reiff’s grandson John Hackett Reiff was another direct link with a leading actor from the Suffragette Derby: he recalled personal conversations with his grandfather during the course of lengthy correspondence. The 5th Earl of Rosebery’s great-granddaughter Jane Kaplan was kind enough to provide relevant entries from his diary for 1913; Bryn Elliott did likewise with PS Frank Bunn’s notebook entry for 4 June 1913; Carolyn Collette provided a copy of her paper on Faire Emelye; and David Boyd sent valuable information on William Saxby and Charles Robinson.

A number of archivists have treated my requests with the utmost courtesy and diligence. Special thanks are extended to two gentlemen across the Atlantic: Allan Carter at America’s National Museum of Racing, who dug out the series of articles about the Reiff brothers; and Louis Cauz, at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Toronto, who provided the data on Anmer’s stud career. Gail Cameron and Sonia Gomes expedited access to the papers of Emily Davison at the Women’s Library; Beverley Cook, at the Museum of London, responded to my queries regarding Emily Davison’s flags with the utmost patience and arranged a private viewing of the museum’s flag. Others who rendered sterling service were the archivists at Eton (Penny Hatfield) and Harrow (Rita Boswell); Royal Holloway College (Vicky Holmes); Trinity College, Cambridge (Jon Smith); St Hugh’s College, Oxford (Amanda Ingram); the Museum of the Northumberland Hussars (Roberta Twinn); and the 12th Lancers at Derby Museum (Mike Galer). Finally, acknowledgement is extended to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle for the permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to quote extracts from the diaries of King George V and Queen Mary.

Similar gratitude goes to the following individuals at Record Offices and Libraries. Jon-Paul Carr at Northamptonshire Studies and all the staff at the Northampton Records Office; Deborah Hopkinson at the Dept of Manuscripts, Nottingham University; John Rylands at the University of Manchester Library; Enid Jarvis of the Spratton Local History Society; Helen Keen at the Surrey History Centre in Woking; Linda Clark at the Epsom & Ewell Local History Centre; Kate Parr at Somerset Studies Library; Jo Patterson at Northumberland Museum Archives and Country Park; Jean Deathridge at the Suffolk Records Office; Terry Bracher and Carol Ashley at Central Library Northampton; Miss S. Worrall at Horsham Library; Sheila Young at Aberdeen Central Library; all those at Morpeth Library and, of course, the army of helpers at Colindale’s National Newspaper Library without whom no researcher could function.

Finally, and above all, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Paul Mathieu, whose account of ‘The Suffragette Derby’ in his 1990 book The Druid’s Lodge Confederacy is second to none. Paul loaned me some of his research papers and read the first draft of my manuscript, making many valuable suggestions and tidying up the text generally. I cannot thank Paul enough for the generous gift of his time and expertise.