A Tour of Conservative Wards in Southampton

From the collection of

Wessex Film and Sound Archive
Wessex Film and Sound Archive is based in Winchester. Providing the opportunity to see and hear history, the archive contains nearly 40,000 film, video and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, ranging from late Victorian times to the present day. It includes both amateur and professional material, local newsreels, military and maritime subjects, as well as footage produced by individuals, businesses and organisations.

A Tour of Conservative Wards in Southampton


William Craven Ellis' film starts with an exhausting tour of Tory wards in Southampton - with his wife meeting legions of Conservative women. Amid the chatter and frivolity, we also see pekinese dogs dressed as 'babies'. The tour is followed by a fete at Stoneham, where party leader, Stanley Baldwin, puts in an appearance - rallying the loyal crowds despite the weather. The film ends aboard the SS Asconia, seeing off a group of friends on their way to Canada.


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