A century since women got the vote, the suffragette Emily Davison who leapt in front of King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby, remains a much-misunderstood figure, says Lucy Fisher, whose new biography will be out next week.

Ms Fisher said: “Emily Davison is often portrayed as a radical girl, when she was in fact much more calm. She was not a rash young girl; she was a respectable middle-class governess.

“She was aware of the underdog, not just women, but the problems faced by poorer women even though she was a governess.”

In her book, Lucy Fisher draws from contemporary press reports and the suffragette’s own words, to tell the story of Davison in time to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK.

Ms Fisher’s book ‘Emily Wilding Davison: The Martyr Suffragette’ brings to life the respectable middle-class governess who pivoted to vandalism and violence after joining Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union, a new and aggressive group of suffragettes.

Ms Fisher’s book explores in detail how Davison was born into upper-middle class privilege and lost her family fortune after her father’s death.

Davison, who lived on the Clapham Road, leapt in front of King George V’s horse in June 1913 at the Epsom Derby after taking up the cause of women’s suffrage.

Ms Fisher says: “She was living in Clapham in the house of a friend and she chose somewhere nearby that was popular. It was in her mind that if she leapt in front of the horse, it would be captured by the newsreel cameras”.

“It had always been said by my great aunt that we were related to Emily Davison and from a young age, I was always interested in her and her life.”

Emily Wilding Davison: The Martyr Suffragette” by Lucy Fisher will be available for purchase from 24 July for £12.99.