Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 5243 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| ALEXANDRA ROSE DAY IN SHEFFIELD | 1915 | 1915-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 35mm Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent Duration: 5 mins 16 secs Subject: Wartime Politics |
| Summary This is a film of women selling flowers to raise money for the Alexandra Rose Day charitable fund which had recently been set up in 1912. The flowers are sold in various places in Sheffield, including to convalescing soldiers, possibly of the 3rd West Riding Company. |
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Description
This is a film of women selling flowers to raise money for the Alexandra Rose Day charitable fund which had recently been set up in 1912. The flowers are sold in various places in Sheffield, including to convalescing soldiers, possibly of the 3rd West Riding Company.
Title – Alexandra Rose Day, Scenes in Sheffield
Intertitle – Hon. organiser Fredk. Simons Esq.
He poses for the camera, doffing his cap.
Intertitle – And his willing helper, Mrs Fredk. Simons
Simmons also poses for the...
This is a film of women selling flowers to raise money for the Alexandra Rose Day charitable fund which had recently been set up in 1912. The flowers are sold in various places in Sheffield, including to convalescing soldiers, possibly of the 3rd West Riding Company.
Title – Alexandra Rose Day, Scenes in Sheffield
Intertitle – Hon. organiser Fredk. Simons Esq.
He poses for the camera, doffing his cap.
Intertitle – And his willing helper, Mrs Fredk. Simons
Simmons also poses for the camera.
Intertitle – Grand Hotel, Leopold Street, Mrs Simons
Mrs Simons and several other women, all dressed in white, sell flowers in the street. They stand next to a chauffeur-driven car, and there is a crowd of onlookers. They stand to pose for the camera.
Intertitle – Norfolk Street Club, Mrs Bedford
Another group of women dressed in white sell flowers outside the hotel.
Intertitle – Cockaynes Angel Street, Mrs Lawson
A third group of women dressed in white are selling flowers near to a millenary stall, or a draper's shop. Some boys wearing flat caps are watching.
Intertitle – King Street Club, Mrs Tusting Cocking
Another large group of women in white stand selling flowers, joined by other sellers.
Intertitle – Victoria Wesleyan School, Stafford Road.
A fifth group of women, and girls, all dressed in white with baskets of flowers hung around their necks, stand with a vicar. One of the women pins a flower onto the uniform of an army officer. Several more flowers are sold as a horse and cart passes by in the background, followed by cars and a bus. A large group of army officers, some with their arms in a sling, pose with several nurses. The film ends displaying the Union Jack Flag.
Context
This actuality film was made by husband and wife Mr and Mrs Frederick Simons in 1915. Alexandra Rose Day in Sheffield is a charitable event set up to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of Princess Alexandra from Denmark to the UK in 1862. The first Alexandra Rose day was celebrated on 26 June, 1912 on the fiftieth anniversary of her arrival to the United Kingdom and has been celebrated annually ever since. The event varies, but it is always celebrated in June. The film looks to be...
This actuality film was made by husband and wife Mr and Mrs Frederick Simons in 1915. Alexandra Rose Day in Sheffield is a charitable event set up to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of Princess Alexandra from Denmark to the UK in 1862. The first Alexandra Rose day was celebrated on 26 June, 1912 on the fiftieth anniversary of her arrival to the United Kingdom and has been celebrated annually ever since. The event varies, but it is always celebrated in June. The film looks to be actuality footage, not shot with a professional audience in mind or as part of a cine club, yet it differs from the aesthetic of a “home movie” by focusing on how the event is celebrated across Sheffield rather than how it is celebrated within a small group or reflecting on one specific celebration of the day. Simons shows several celebrations from across Sheffield, listing who and where are featured in each clip with transition title slides.
Princess Alexandra was chosen to wed Edward VII the Prince of Wales, and the heir apparent of Queen Victoria, eighteen months prior to their wedding in 1863 though due to tensions between the Germans and the Danes. She was not the monarchy’s first choice of bride, given that the majority of the British monarchy was related to Germans and Alexandra was Danish. Despite this however, the couple married March 10th 1863 and remained wed until Edward’s death in 1910. Alexandra defined herself as a public figure during her years in the UK and became quite the spectacle for the British public. She is said to have enjoyed public appearances at Hospitals with particular interest to the London Hospital, where she met Joseph Merrick “the Elephant Man” among other patients. Princess Alexandra would often take on these royal duties in place of her mother in law Queen Victoria who, at that stage in her life, found the duties to be tiresome. Alexandra was known for her charitable and good willed character which is celebrated with Alexandra Rose Day. As well as her charitable efforts the former Queen was the President of a branch of the Naval Nursing Staff which was named Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service in her honour, making her continued connection to health services noteworthy. Alexandra Rose Day began in 1912 and was confined to London in its first year. The Queen had requested that the celebration of the fifty years of her being a part of Britain should give back to the community and not simply host a parade or something of a similar nature to celebrate her. She asked that the people of London sold roses, her favourite flower, in order to raise money for her favourite charities, specifically for the Hospitals in London which she had favoured. This idea came from an experience she had with a Danish priest who had himself sold flowers to raise money for his church. The roses for Alexandra Day were made by disabled members of the community who already made paper flowers for display in the winter months for the Queen. The day was a huge success in its first year making the equivalent of £3.2M (to 2014 value of the pound) for the local Hospital charity. This success allowed the charity to spread further afield in the coming years as seen in the footage (which is shot in Sheffield) and has continued to do so for over one hundred years. Today there is the added tradition of the Prime Minister launching the day by purchasing the first rose. The charity’s most recent aims are to help parents and their children to eat healthier and to get their required amount of fruit and veg for the day by providing less advantaged families in London with food stamps and vouchers so that they can buy fresh fruit and veg. Their aims are to tackle food poverty and make it that eating well is not secluded to the wealthy but an option for all. In the film the women and girls featured (one of which is Mrs Simons) selling the roses are all dressed in white traditional dresses, which became associated with the day and its traditions, and noticeably stand out from the rest of the community. They appear very cheerful and are each equipped with their own basket of flowers to share and sell to the community. There were no set prices on the flowers so members of the community could privately give as little or as largely as they wished and still receive their flower to show their participation. The women volunteers look to bring cheer to the crowd, especially to a group of soldiers (possibly from the 3rd West Riding Company) who reflect the cheer despite being less than a year into wartime and injured. There was an increased amount of soldiers in Sheffield at this time given that the Wesleyan Church became a Military Hospital just weeks into wartime meaning the injured would be sent to the area to recover. This Rose Day event in the city was busier and more important in this year than the years before because of this. The money raised was going towards Hospitals such as the Military one in Sheffield so community involvement was higher than in previous years and spirits were high. There is a fairly patriotic feel to the film, which ends with a shot of the Union Jack, which is understandable given the wartime context. The fact that the celebration day was still able to go ahead despite the war shows a very positive atmosphere to the community and demonstrates the persistence of good will in times of struggle. References: http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-alexandra-rose-day-in-sheffield-1915/ http://www.alexandrarosecharities.org.uk/ourhistory.html http://www.alexandrarosecharities.org.uk/ http://www.gogmsite.net/queen-alexandra/1912-queen-alexandra-on-ale.html http://www.alexandrarosecharities.org.uk/our-work http://windowstoworldhistory.weebly.com/queen-alexandra-of-great-britain---queen-victorias-daughter-in-law-berties-patient-wife-and-her-own-person.html |
