Archive Cine Film Collection: Volume 7 - The Twickenham Charter of Incorporation 1926
VHS Black & White Silent 26.09.1926 11:55
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Summary: An item from the Gaumont Graphic newsreel on the incorporation of Twickenham as a borough.
Title number: 2777
LSA ID: LSA/3644
Description: A news film of the civic events surrounding the award of the Royal Charter and proclamation making Twickenham a borough. Dr. J.R. Leeson, newly appointed as the borough's first mayor oversees the proceedings. Mayor Leeson holds the document of incorporation and gives a speech to an assembled audience. The Town Clerk also reads from the incorporation document and receives cheers from the well wishers. The Mayor, Town Clerk and borough mace bearer then board a smart automobile to leave. In Twickenham, crowds line the streets which are decorated with union flags and bunting. A fully staffed fire engine drives down the road past Frye's Corner followed by a convoy of official cars. Policemen, both on foot and mounted on horses regulate the onlookers. Beside the gates to York House a brass band plays. A camera mounted on a car in the processional convoy records moving shots of the crowds lining the streets, also capturing some of the shop fronts and the police officers marshalling the road. Some remarkable shots show the large degree of attention paid to decking the streets. The convoy also travels through an area of suburban housing and past some advertising hoardings and a line of uniformed schoolboys. At a range of places, including York House, the Mayor, Clerk, mace bearer and others leave their vehicles so that Mr Leeson can again read from the Charter. Some views of York House are from a distance, revealing the facade of the building to be covered with builder's scaffolding. A group of men wearing medals on their suits (presumably veterans of the First World War) cheer and wave to the camera. Everywhere the official party goes, the crowds are large. In the park, celebrations includes couple's ballroom dancing on the grass. At York House the Mayor plants a commemorative oak tree. An incongruous shot in the middle of the film shows a school room full of boys drinking from tea cups at their desks.
Further information: This would appear to be a compilation of film centring on the Gaumont Graphic item 'Twickenham A Borough' but also including other film shot for that item and possibly material of the event shot by others. Some of the incidents featured appear more than once, shot from different cameras. These have been assembled out of sequence, so that the film appears to jump back and forth in time a little. (See another copy of the video at LSA/3625.)
Keywords: Boroughs; Celebrations
Locations: United Kingdom; England; London; Richmond upon Thames; Twickenham
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