Funeral of Queen Victoria (1901)
- Hyde Park
- 1901
Coronation Festivities at Accrington (1902)
The Lancashire town greets Edward VII's big day with a cheery spectacle.
A cleverly positioned camera captures off-guard facial expressions and details of clothing as the procession of clown cyclists, marching bands, Morris dancers and decorated floats pass by. Commissioned and filmed by Accrington-born Albert Wilkinson in late June 1902, it played to packed audiences in the Town Hall. "One big kaleidoscopic fantasy," enthused the Accrington Observer & Times.
The country was gripped with coronation fever when Edward VII came to the throne after the epic 63-year reign of his mother, Queen Victoria. Much of this pageant celebrates pride in local trade and industry (from iron manufacture and mining to chimney-sweeping and confectionery) - with the occasional irreverent twist. Pride in the British Empire is another feature, with many in colonial military uniform and even a group of cyclists dressed as African tribesmen (something that clearly wouldn't be tolerated today).
Tags
The Great and the Good
Royals, military heroes and sportsmen compete in the Edwardian fame game.
Mitchell and Kenyon's films suggest a company that was most at ease filming ordinary people at work and play. But the Edwardian era, just as today, had its public figures who could draw an audience - and audiences were M&K's business.
Edwardian celebrity culture was narrower than today's: headed by the King and other royals, followed by military heroes of the Boer War, politicians and a host of mayors and other local dignitaries. But an increasingly professionalised world of sport was already making its own stars: early signs of the new celebrity order of the later 20th century.
37 videos in this collection
1
Funeral of Queen Victoria (1901)
2
Joseph Chamberlain at Home (1902)
3
Return of Kitchener (1902)
4
The King's Ride in the Isle of Man (1902)
5
Princess Louise at Liverpool (1906)
6
Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N.Hornby (1901)
7
Prince of Siam in Liverpool (1901)
8
Lord Mayor of Cork Arriving For Official Opening of Cork Exhibition (1902)
9
Wigan Coronation Celebrations and Street Scenes (1902)
10
Wigan Mayoral Coronation Procession (1902)
11
Chorley Coronation Processions (1911)
12
Royal Proclamation of Death of Queen Victoria, Blackburn (1901)
13
Police Annual Inspection at Birchfields Park (1901)
14
Coronation Festivities at Accrington (1902)
15
Visit of H.R.H. Princess Louise to Blackburn (1905)
16
St George's Day Procession in Liverpool (1901)
17
Clitheroe Coronation Procession (1911)
18
Royal Visit to Manchester, Owens College (1902)
19
Great Harwood Coronation Celebrations (1911)
20
His Worship the Mayor Leaving Lancaster Town Hall (1902)
21
Arrival of VIP For Official Opening of Cork Exhibition (1902)
22
Lord Roberts Presenting Medals to Boer War Volunteers in Liverpool (1901)
23
Visit of the Duke of Connaught C.I.C. Forces in Ireland and Prince Henry of Prussia to Cork Exhibition (1902)
24
Funeral of the Late Captain of the Mexborough Fire Brigade (1902)
25
Leeds Mayoral Procession For the Coronation Celebrations (1902)
26
Trade Procession at Opening of Cork Exhibition (1902)
27
Funeral Procession in Edinburgh (1901)
28
Oddfellows Procession in St Helens (c.1901)
29
Royal Visit to Bangor (1902)
30
Procession of Firemen, Nelson (c.1902)
31
Hollow Drift Children's Procession, Durham (1902)
32
Birmingham University Procession on Degree Day (1901)
33
Wainwright Conservative Club, Blackpool (c.1906)
34
Royal Visit to Rhyl (1902)
35
Visit of Sir George Cotton at Accrington (1902)
36
Funeral of Canon Morrissey in Burnley (1903)
37