Coronation Historical Pageant
Pageant type
Notes
Information drawn from 'Survey of Historical Pageants' undertaken by Mick Wallis; with thanks to Merthyr Tydfil Libraries.
Performances
Place: St John's Hall (Troed-y-rhiw) (Troed-Y-Rhiw, Glamorganshire, Wales)
Year: 1953
Indoors/outdoors: Indoors
Number of performances: 1
Notes
30 May 1953
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Pageant Master: Ferguson, Dr J.
- Pageant Master: Goodall, Mrs C.
Notes
Dr Ferguson was responsible for the first half of the pageant, dealing with the reign of Elizabeth I; Mrs Goodall took charge of the second half, which had for its focus the life of Queen Victoria.
Names of executive committee or equivalent
n/a
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
- James, Rhiannon
- Hughes, Rev. Teifianydd
Notes
Rhiannon James and the Rev. Hughes were, in seems, assisted by others in the writing of the pageant script.
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
n/a
Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
- Coronation of Elizabeth II.
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
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Pageant outline
Reign of Queen Elizabeth
The pageant was divided into two parts; this was the first. It may have had subsidiary scenes. Dr J. Ferguson directed.
Reign of Queen Victoria
This was the second part of the pageant; like the first, it may have had subsidiary scenes. Mrs C. Goodall directed.
Key historical figures mentioned
- Elizabeth I
(1533–1603) queen of England and Ireland
- Victoria
(1819–1901) queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
empress of India
Musical production
n/a
Newspaper coverage of pageant
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Book of words
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Other primary published materials
n/a
References in secondary literature
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Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Merthyr Tydfil Libraries holds material related to this pageant.
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 was an occasion for historical pageantry. Major examples include events in Warwickshire and Lancaster, but smaller-scale village-level pageants also took place. This is an example from Troed-y-rhiw, near Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It was performed on 30 May and focused on the reigns of two famous predecessors of the newly-crowned queen: Elizabeth I and Victoria. Indeed the pageant seems to have been divided into two halves, one of each of the two monarchs so celebrated. Held in a local church hall, the performance was probably quite a small-scale affair, but gives some indication of the significant role played by historical pageants in local festivities to mark what was heralded at the time as 'a new Elizabethan age'.
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Coronation Historical Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1594/