Mrs. Leeds 1850-1950: A survey of a Century
Pageant type
Notes
West Yorkshire Federation of Townswomen’s Guilds, Leeds Area Group.
Performances
Place: Civic Theatre (Leeds) (Leeds, Yorkshire, West Riding, England)
Year: None
Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors
Number of performances: 2
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Producer [Pageant Master]: Barrett, L.E.
- Musical Director: Nellie Busby
- Wardrobe Mistress: Cora E. Greaves
- Stage Manager: Olive Clough
- Electrician: Betty Fryer
- Publicity: May Firth and Phyllis Barker
Names of executive committee or equivalent
Officers
- Chairman: Mrs. D.M. Lockett
- Vice Chairman: Mrs. H. Hesling
- Secretary: Mrs. I. Ward
- Deputy Treasurer: Mrs. A. Croskery
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
n/a
Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
n/a
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
- The Pageant was opened on Thursday by the Countess of
Scarborough with the Lady Mayoress of Leeds (Mrs D.V. Vine) and the Mayor of Harrogate
(Mrs M. Fisher, JP). Opened Friday by Mrs R.H. Blackburn.
- A large exhibition foregrounding the
place of women in society since c.1800
Pageant outline
Tableau. Headingley: Education
- 1850 Dames School
- 1900 Elementary School
- The tableau was performed by the Headingley Townswomen's Guild.
Tableau. Alwoodley: Historical Scene
- 1950 School Parade
Tableau. Burley: Industry
Tableau. Chapel Allerton: Local Government
Tableau. Middleton: Social Services
Scene I. Child Welfare 1850-1950
Scene II.
- 1850 Sairey Gamp
- 1900 Children’s Nannie
- 1950 Modern Mother
- Scene III. Prison Reform
- 1850 Elizabeth Fry
- Scene IV. Nursing Services
- 1850 Crimean War
- 1900 Boer War
- 1914 Great War
- 1939 World War II
Tableau. Harrogate: Fashion
- 1850 Wedding Day
- 1900 Wedding Day
- 1950 Wedding Day
Key historical figures mentioned
Fry [née Gurney], Elizabeth (1780–1845) penal reformer and philanthropist
Musical production
n/a
Newspaper coverage of pageant
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer
Book of words
- None found.
Other primary published materials
- Mrs. Leeds 1850-1950: A survey of a Century. Leeds, 1950.
References in secondary literature
n/a
Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Copy of Programme in the British Library
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
The perhaps curiously-named ‘Mrs Leeds’ was not in fact a so-called pageant of pulchritude or beauty pageant which became popular in the inter and post-war periods. Along with the youth pageant Heritage (1946), the pageant was one of the last held in the city. Whilst not mounting any very radical attack on
conventional gender roles, it stands as a particularly emphatic attempt to show
how women had contributed to the modern history of the city. Its message seems
to have been that Leeds would not have become Leeds without the efforts of the
Mrs Leeds of the past. Beginning its story in 1800, the pageant dealt with the
contribution made by women in a number of areas, including education, industry,
and local government. Most attention of all was paid to social services, with
the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry providing the focus of one scene.
Several other pageants were organized by Townswomen's Guilds, including at Weston in Somerset in 1951.
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Mrs. Leeds 1850-1950: A survey of a Century’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1476/