Visit of Earl Roberts and Viscount Kitchener to Receive the Freedom of the City, Liverpool (1902)

Liverpool
1902
Silent
2m

Two Boer War heroes receive the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.

The early 1900s were a proud and confident time for the city of Liverpool, with plenty of reasons to celebrate local and national achievements. This huge civic parade marked the visit to the city of Boer War heroes Earl Frederick Roberts and Viscount Horatio Kitchener. Vast numbers assembled to witness these two military celebrities being awarded the 'freedom of the city'.

The new electric tram seen in the background was designed and built to mark the coronation of Edward VII in August 1902. For the first time, developments in electrical engineering were giving the working classes alternative public forms of transportation to the horse-drawn cart. The new tramway, linking Liverpool with much of Lancashire, is lavishly decorated and on display for all to see, and symbolises the city's municipal pride as it entered the Edwardian era.

Back from the War

Britain's troops return from war in South Africa to a rapturous welcome - despite more ambivalent public attitudes to the Boer War itself.

A few adventurous film companies journeyed to South Africa to capture (mostly heavily sanitised) film documents of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Mitchell and Kenyon, like most others, stayed at home, choosing instead to film reconstructed or dramatised war stories. But as they visited towns and cities across the North, M&K also captured the jubilation that greeted homecoming troops.

There's no sign here of public misgivings about what had been a brutal and hard-won war, nor any hint of disrespect for the military commanders who appear in several films. Instead, the overwhelming focus is the ranks of ordinary soldiers, and the collective joy and relief for their safe return.