Buckingham Pageant and Bazaar
Pageant type
Performances
Place: Town Hall (Buckingham) (Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England)
Year: 1946
Indoors/outdoors: Indoors
Number of performances: 1
Notes
21 November 1946, evening
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Stage Managers: Mr Webb and Mr Tew
- Curtains: Mr Allen
- Property Assistants: Mr Barratt and Mr
Clayton
- Wardrobe: Mrs Chilvers, Mrs Butler and
Mrs Ireland
Names of executive committee or equivalent
n/a
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
- Taylor, Mrs
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
90 - 110Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
[Presumably in aid of the local Methodist Church]
Linked occasion
n/a
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
The Pageant was preceded by a Bazaar
Pageant outline
Group 1.
Boadicea, St Augustine, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Stephen and Matilda.
Group 2.
King John, Joan of Arc
Group 3.
Wars of the Roses. Princes in the Tower
Group 4.
The wives of Henry VIII. The founding of the Old Latin School
Group 5.
Elizabethan scenes. Including Drake’s game of bowls and Sir Walter Raleigh and Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Mary Queen of Scots.
Group 6.
Court of Charles II. The King is introduced to the beautiful Duchess of Portsmouth. Maypole Scene in the village green, c.1690. Queen Anne
Group 7.
Nelson, Wesley and Queen Victoria with Prince Albert
Key historical figures mentioned
- Boudicca [Boadicea] (d. AD 60/61) queen
of the Iceni [also known as Boudica]
- Augustine [St Augustine] (d. 604) missionary
and archbishop of Canterbury
- Alfred [Ælfred] (848/9–899) king of
the West Saxons and of the Anglo-Saxons [also known as Aelfred, the Great]
- William I [known as William the
Conqueror] (1027/8–1087) king of England and duke of Normandy
- Matilda [Matilda of Boulogne] (c.1103–1152)
queen of England, consort of King Stephen
- Stephen (c.1092–1154) king of England
- John (1167–1216) king of England, and
lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou
- Joan of Arc (1412–1431) Martyr, saint
and military leader
- Edward V (1470–1483) king of England
and lord of Ireland
- Richard, duke of York and duke of
Norfolk (1473–1483) prince
- Anne [Anne of Cleves] (1515–1557) queen
of England, fourth consort of Henry VIII
- Jane [née Jane Seymour] (1508/9–1537)
queen of England, third consort of Henry VIII
- Katherine [Kateryn, Catherine; née
Katherine Parr] (1512–1548) queen of England and Ireland, sixth consort of
Henry VIII
- Katherine [Catherine; née Katherine
Howard] (1518x24–1542) queen of England and Ireland, fifth consort of Henry
VIII
- Anne [Anne Boleyn] (c.1500–1536) queen
of England, second consort of Henry VIII
- Katherine [Catalina, Catherine, Katherine
of Aragon] (1485–1536) queen of England, first consort of Henry VIII
- Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596) pirate,
sea captain, and explorer
- Ralegh, Sir Walter (1554–1618) courtier,
explorer, and author [also known as Raleigh, Sir Walter]
- Hood, Robin (supp. fl. late 12th–13th
cent.) legendary outlaw hero
- Mary [Mary Stewart] (1542–1587) queen
of Scots
- Charles II (1630–1685) king of
England, Scotland, and Ireland
- Kéroualle, Louise Renée de Penancoët de,
suo jure duchess of Portsmouth and suo jure duchess of Aubigny in the French
nobility (1649–1734) royal mistress
- Anne (1665–1714) queen of Great
Britain and Ireland
- Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson
(1758–1805) naval officer
- Wesley [Westley], John (1703–1791) Church
of England clergyman and a founder of Methodism
- Victoria (1819–1901) queen of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and empress of India
- Albert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha] (1819–1861) prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria
Musical production
Pieces included:
- ‘Lamb of God’, John Wesley
- ‘From Oxford Gaol’
- ‘Jerusalem’
- ‘O Garland of Beauty’
- ‘Here I sit now dreaming’
- ‘The English Rose’
Newspaper coverage of pageant
Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press
Book of words
- None known
Other primary published materials
n/a
References in secondary literature
n/a
Archival holdings connected to pageant
n/a
Sources used in preparation of pageant
- German, Edward. Merrie England. London, 1902.
The Pageant included scenes from Edward German’s comic opera Merrie England
Summary
This was one of very few pageants held in the small rural county of Buckinghamshire. Despite the pageant being held under the auspices of the Buckingham Methodists, it seems to have involved many people from the town. Indeed, its opening was the first official duty performed by the Mayoress of Buckingham, Mrs P.J. Small, filling in for her husband, the Mayor, who was playing King John in the pageant. Whilst there is little information about the pageant, which had few ostensible connections to Buckingham, we do know that there were individually demarcated short scenes involving prominent historical persons. The Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press initially applauded the pageant, which it described as ‘brilliantly told’, with ‘some acting deserving high praise’: ‘It was undoubtedly at least one of the biggest and most impressive events of its kind staged in Buckingham and a great credit is due to producer and helpers and all concerned with its presentation.’1 A report the subsequent week was more circumspect, however. Despite commenting that ‘Much of the acting was of a high order and there was some good singing’, the newspaper went on to remark that ‘Audiences are inclined to have formed their own mental pictures as to the appearances and mannerisms of historical characters and when pageants are locally produced, they would inevitably be doomed to disappointment if they expected convincing presentations on every occasion.’2 Nonetheless, the report concluded, ‘At the same time the general effect was impressive and several of the individual characterizations were of exceptional merit, revealing the existence of much talent in Buckingham.’3 In all likelihood, then, the event was a moderate success—and indeed stands as an example of a pageant held in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War.
Footnotes
1. ^ Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press, 23 November 1946, 5.
2. ^ Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press, 30 November 1946, 7.
3. ^ Ibid.
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Buckingham Pageant and Bazaar’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1399/