Beverley 1916: Who is the local policeman? Do you know anything about Corporal Chappell? Who were the ladies fund-raising for the Cottage Hospital?
These are just some of the people who feature in an amazing film, made in Beverley in 1916, which has recently been preserved and digitised by the Yorkshire Film Archive as part of their Filmed and Not Forgotten project to commemorate the First World War.
Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Archive has been able to preserve its small collection of films, made by local film makers, of people and places across the region during the years of WW1. These are not official films, they were made to record local events, and the result is a real mix of people and communities sharing their daily lives – the formal and less formal events – alongside the troops and regiments stationed in Yorkshire at the time.
Now, the Archive needs your help to identify the people who have been captured on the films – and who now peer back at us on the screen 100 years later. One of the films was made in Beverley.
Made in 1916, the film is the work of local film maker Ernest Symmons who set up a cinema in the Picture Playhouse in the Old Corn Exchange on the Saturday Market in Beverley. By filming the crowd, Ernest Symmons hoped to encourage people to come to his cinema and see themselves on the silver screen.
“Finding the names and stories of the people in the films adds a whole new dimension,” said Sue Howard, Director of the Film Archive, “there are many shots of the people of Beverley and we hope that someone might spot a familiar face – perhaps even a grandparent – in the crowd”.
The film features a military race held in May 1916, to entertain the people of Beverley and build links between the military camp and the town. Not only does the film capture all the athletic action, it also shows the crowds enjoying the spectacle. Can anyone recognise these people?
In the coming months, the Yorkshire Film Archive will be organising a series of Filmed and Not Forgotten presentations, before creating a new online exhibition of the films and stories. We hope to be visiting Beverley shortly with one of our presentations.
In the meantime, if you have any information, please visit the Filmed and Not Forgotten Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FilmedandNotForgotten), where YFA have uploaded stills from the Beverley film and are asking for your help with specific questions about the people and places on the film.
Alternatively, contact Martin Watts, Curator of Filmed and Not Forgotten on 01904 876550, or email yfa@yorksj.ac.uk.
