Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 107 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| HRH PRINCE OF WALES VISITS ROTHERHAM | 1923 | 1923-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent Duration: 33 mins 15 secs Credits: Empire Kinema, Rotherham. Subject: Industry |
| Summary In May, 1923, HRH Prince of Wales visited Rotherham. This film captures the day’s events which include: the opening of a Power Station, a visit to Clifton Park, meeting wounded soldiers, and a visit to the Works of the United Steel Co., Ltd.. |
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Description
In May, 1923, HRH Prince of Wales visited Rotherham. This film captures the day’s events which include: the opening of a Power Station, a visit to Clifton Park, meeting wounded soldiers, and a visit to the Works of the United Steel Co., Ltd..
Title – Official Film: His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to Rotherham, May 28th, 1923
The film begins with the outside of the ‘Empire’ cinema which is showing ‘Mother of Mine,’ starring Betty Blyth, and ‘Sinners,’ starring Alice Brady. The...
In May, 1923, HRH Prince of Wales visited Rotherham. This film captures the day’s events which include: the opening of a Power Station, a visit to Clifton Park, meeting wounded soldiers, and a visit to the Works of the United Steel Co., Ltd..
Title – Official Film: His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to Rotherham, May 28th, 1923
The film begins with the outside of the ‘Empire’ cinema which is showing ‘Mother of Mine,’ starring Betty Blyth, and ‘Sinners,’ starring Alice Brady. The Mayor and Mayoress of Rotherham, a judge, and other dignitaries wait outside the Town Hall for the arrival of the Prince. The Royal entourage comes round the corner, and as the Prince steps out of the car, he is welcomed by the Mayor.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness received at the Town Hall by the Mayor and Mayoress and the Town Clerk. Presentation of the Mayor to His Royal highness, by The rt. Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam
His Royal Highness greets the Mayor.
Intertitle – The Mayor presents to His Royal Highness:- The Mayoress, The Town Clerk, Lt.-Col. S. Rhodes, D.S.O, o/c 5th York and Lancaster Regt. (T).
More greetings.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness inspects a guard of honour of the 5th York and Lancaster Regt. (T) under the command of Lieut. Col. Rhodes.
Prince Edward walks along the lines of soldiers to inspect the troops. This is watched by crowds from the side. As they pass, the entourage following doff their caps, apparently to the soldiers. They make their way into the Town Hall.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness, accompanied by the by the Mayor and Party, depart form the Town Hall to the New Electric Power Station.
The Prince gets into his open top car with the Mayor, and they proceed to open the station. The film shows a long scene of the bustling crowds down a street, many of whom stop to look directly at the camera.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness graciously consents to open the New Power Station and to inspect the Territorial Units, Wounded Soldiers, Boy Scouts and School Children in our Clifton Park.
A large crowd has gathered to see Prince Edward who walks past, doffing his cap.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness received at the Power Station by the Chairman of the Electricity Committee (Alderman D. L. Winter. J.P.). Alderman D. L. Winter presents the Borough Electrical Engineer Mr Edward Cross to His Royal Highness.
The Prince waits for his moment to open the Power Station, which he does by turning a knob while watched by a group of women wearing in fancy hats and standing behind him. They tour the inside of the Power Station.
Intertitle – The Prince starts up the largest turbine in the country. 30,000 KW., 40,000 Horse Power Turbo-alternator.
They are all gathered around the alternator, which the Prince turns using a something resembling a ship’s wheel. He turns a handle, and the crown crest is displayed. A group of people follow, touring around the power plant, seeing its various parts. The Prince leaves the decorated Power Station to waving crowds and gets into his car. There is another long shot of the crowd milling around a cobbled street with tramlines. Vehicles and a horse and cart pass by.
Intertitle – CLIFTON PARK. Councillor W. Brooke, Chairman of the Parks Committee, being presented to His Royal Highness.
After meeting Councillor W. Brooke Prince Edward talks to wounded soldiers in wheel chairs. They are all wearing their war medals. He stops to talk to some locals sitting on a park bench. Next he inspects a line of uniformed women, and then the girl guides, including a small girl in a nurse uniform sitting on a bike. A large procession of school children walks past the large crowd. Crowds line the pathways of the park, waving and cheering as the Prince makes his way on his tour which includes a police escort.
In the town centre, crowds stand on either pavement as a procession walks pas.t. It is headed by a boy scout’s band and followed by the car entourage.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness being received at the entrance to the Works of the United Steel Co., Ltd., by Albert O. Peech, Esq., Chairman of the directors.
The Prince arrives and greets various members of the Company.
Intertitle – Mr Albert Deighton, the General Manager, being presented to His Royal Highness.
The Prince greets more members of the Company.
Inside the steelworks, the furnace is seen, and the Prince talks to workers lined up outside. They are all dressed in their cloth caps and white cravats. The large entourage continues touring around the factory.
Intertitle – His Royal Highness departs from the Works of the United Steel Co., Ltd.
Led by the Chief Constable, Prince Edward walks down a long gangway. Fields can be seen in the background, and waving crowds look on. Back on the streets of Rotherham, crowds wave and cheer as the camera goes down the cobbled streets and past the shops including that of ‘Ernest Miller.’ The people look at the camera, and some boys follow.
Intertitle – The Prince passing the “Empire” on his way to Wentworth House as the guest of The rt. Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam, K.C.V.O, C.B.E., D.S.O.
Large crowds watch on as Prince Edward speeds through the streets, again showing the ‘Empire’ cinema, with its large sign on top.
The End
Context
The period between the two world wars of the twentieth century saw an upshot of Royal visits to cities and towns across the UK, and a good many were filmed by commissions from the local authorities, wanting to mark the visit of Royalty to their patch. The earliest one of these in the YFA collection is The Visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Sheffield, in May 1918. Among the others are Princess Mary And Viscount Lascelles Visit Halifax (1925), George and Queen Elizabeth visit Hull...
The period between the two world wars of the twentieth century saw an upshot of Royal visits to cities and towns across the UK, and a good many were filmed by commissions from the local authorities, wanting to mark the visit of Royalty to their patch. The earliest one of these in the YFA collection is The Visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Sheffield, in May 1918. Among the others are Princess Mary And Viscount Lascelles Visit Halifax (1925), George and Queen Elizabeth visit Hull (1938), King George V and Queen Mary visiting Leeds in 1933 – see also the Context for Princess Mary's Visit to Malton (1928).
The Prince of Wales was born Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, reflecting their Germanic ancestry of his family, and presumably the desire not to offend anyone! He was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria, and his father took the throne in 1910, becoming George V. As the king's eldest son Edward was heir to the throne. At birth he was Prince Edward of York, becoming Prince of Wales in 1911. In 1917, in order to distance themselves from the German enemy, George V changed the family name to Windsor, after the castle. At the time of this film he would have been 29, still a bachelor. He would already have made many such Royal visits by 1923, although here he only seems to loosen up towards the end of the day. Yet already he had begun to establish himself as of a maverick: something that he was to continue for the rest of his life. His first claim to notoriety came when he started from 1931 to spend a lot of time with American woman Wallis Simpson, married to the shipping tycoon Ernest Simpson. His second was his strong flirtation with the Nazis, shared by Wallis Simpson. In 1934 he made comments suggesting he supported the British Union of Fascists. Yet before this he had expressed blatant racist views from his many trips abroad. Not that this preventing him from becoming a celebrity during the 1920s, and apparently a leader in fashion. When his father died in January, 1936 Edward became king despite the strong opposition to his relationship with Wallis Simpson. After the once already divorcee Wallis Simpson filed for divorce a second time, Edward announced their intention to marry in November. This caused a constitutional crisis (one reason being the opposition of the Church of England), and Edward abdicated in December. This left him free to marry the following March, as the Duke of Windsor, and also for the pair to visit Hitler in October later that year. His pro- Nazi views became an embarrassment – if not a real danger – during the war when he was moved out of harm’s way to the Bahamas. Rotherham, on the contrary, contributed greatly to the war effort when it turned over its steel and engineering production to munitions work – see Chapters in Our Lives - Horton Family (1938-1950). The main focus of this Royal visit, the new power station, on Rawmarsh Road was a development of a municipal power station built 1900, with four steam driven generators provided electricity for the street lighting and the tramways. This early steam powered station was quite environmentally friendly in that it burnt 75 tons of rubbish to control the build-up of garbage – leaving aside the gases thereby produced. The Electric Lighting Act of 1882 enabled local authorities to raise money for power stations and to make build the infrastructure. Powers that were greatly extended to the Board of Trade in the Electric Lighting Act of 1909. But at this time there were no real common standards: a plethora of companies operating with different voltages – see the Context for Stillington, York, and Easingwold (1936-1942). At 30,000 Kw the power station must have seemed quite impressive at the time, but pales compared to the nearest coal-fired power station to Rotherham, and the biggest one in Europe, the Drax Power Station, which produces 3,960 megawatts: over 300 times more powerful. It is difficult to find information on the power station, or what happened to it, although there are a couple of photos at scran. The United Steel Company continued until nationalisation in 1967 when it was merged with Park Gate Iron and Steel Company – see Men of Steel (1948). Before then it spawned its own amateur film groups in Unit VIII and Vixen, set up in the 1950s by Bill Edgar – see Short Stop (1960). References Edward VIII on Wikipedia Rotherham The Unofficial Website,Rotherham History scran |
