Kingston Grammar School Sexcentenary Pageant
Pageant type
Notes
Information drawn from 'Survey of Historical Pageants' undertaken by Mick Wallis; with thanks to Tim Everson of the Kingston Museum and Heritage Service.
Performances
Place: Elmfield House (Kingston Upon Thames) (Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, England)
Year: 1909
Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors
Number of performances: 2
Notes
21 and 24 June 1909.
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Pageant Master: Wallace-Hadrill, F.
- Director of Music: Percy Alderson
Names of executive committee or equivalent
n/a
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
- Black, J.G.
Notes
J.G. Black was an employee of H.M. Record Office.
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
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Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
600th anniversary of Kingston Grammar School.
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
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Pageant outline
Key historical figures mentioned
Elizabeth I (1533–1603) queen of England and Ireland
Musical production
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Newspaper coverage of pageant
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Book of words
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Other primary published materials
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References in secondary literature
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Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Kingston Museum and Heritage Service: Handbook of the pageant and newspaper cuttings.
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
From the outset, historical pageants were popular with schools; this is an example from the Edwardian period. In 1909, Kingston Grammar School celebrated its six hundredth anniversary, and it seems that an important element of the commemorative activities was a pageant, performed outdoors in June 1909 in the grounds of Elmfield House, an eighteenth-century mansion. The content of the pageant seems to have followed the template established by Louis Napoleon Parker at Sherborne in 1905, with recent history largely ignored. As was common in pageants before 1914, the final episode portrayed a visit by Queen Elizabeth I to the locality, in this case in 1561. Considerable attention was paid to historical accuracy: the scriptwriter was J.G. Black of H.M. Record Office.
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Kingston Grammar School Sexcentenary Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1571/