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Winterbourne Girls School Silver Jubilee Pageant, Thornton Heath (1935)

Well-choreographed dancing and marching from the pupils of Winterbourne Girls School in Croydon to celebrate George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935.

Amateur film 1935 6 mins Silent

From the collection of:

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Overview

The film, shot from above, shows pupils at Winterbourne Girls School in Thornton Heath mark George V’s Silver Jubilee with a pageant. The children carry banners, dance and march in the playground. Many wear costumes to represent different parts of the empire. It’s a fine permanent record of the school’s elaborate, well-rehearsed celebrations.

Winterbourne Girls School was formed in 1907. According to a diary kept by the headteacher in the 1930s, the jubilee celebrations took place on May 9th and began with a performance of Rudyard Kipling’s “Children’s Song” in the “gaily decorated hall”. Gifts were then distributed to the children from the Mayor in the shape of a beaker featuring a portraits of royals and the Croydon coat of arms. It was followed by speeches, the national anthem and “mass marching by the children to the accompaniment of National Marches.” Museum of Croydon