Winston Churchill's visit to Burnley, 1927

iBase ID

274575

Reference identifier

EBU20171206006

Title

Winston Churchill's visit to Burnley, 1927

Place

Burnley

Personal names

Winston Churchill, Ian Fairbairn, Cynthia Arbuthnot, Gerald Arbuthnot, Arthur Henderson, Esmee Bethell, Samuel Finburgh

General notes

Winston Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer,  having already spent two days visiting Oldham and Manchester, addressed a public meeting at the Palace Theatre, Burnley,  at 2.30 on Saturday, 5th February 1927, chaired by Mr. Ian Fairbairn, prospective Conservative candidate for Burnley.

On 9th February 1927, the Burnley News, no supporter of the Conservatives, dismissed his hour long speech in a small paragraph as being disappointing and mostly a denunciation of socialism. The Conservative supporting Burnley Express covered the event in great detail, reporting  the speech in full with this photo, identifying, Front L-R:  Mr. Braddock (Conservative Agent), Winston Churchill, S. Finburgh, (M.P. North Salford), Ian Fairbairn. This photo shows him leaving the Savoy Cafe, Manchester Rd., Burnley after lunching with some 60 local Conservatives.

2000 people were said to have attended the meeting, Stalls and Circle  cost 1s and 6d respectively, pit and gallery were free.  In conclusion, Churchill thanked the vast audience for the patient hearing they had given him, and "his political opponents for their courteous behaviour, and said that foolish interruptions were a real offence and affront to democracy", being a reference to heckling coming from the gallery during the speech. The National Anthem was then sung to end the proceedings.

The Savoy lunch had been sponsored by Ian Fairbairn, husband of Cynthia, daughter of former M.P. Gerald Arbuthnot.  They later divorced.  He was a former soldier, injured in WW1, and an Olympic rower.  He had contested the 1924 election, losing to Labour's Arthur Henderson, and lost to Henderson again in 1929, despite increasing his share of the vote.  He then concentrated on a successful career in finance, joining M&G  and pioneering the Unit Trust Industry. His second wife, Esmee Bethell was killed in the Blitz, and in her memory Fairbairn established the Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust, now a leading UK charity.

Samuel Finburgh, Conservative M.P. for Salford 1924-29, born in Russia in 1867, was a Manchester Calico Printer, and a most distinguished member of the Jewish Community in Manchester/Salford. He died in 1935.

The fourth man named, W. Braddock, from Padiham, became Burnley Conservative Agent in August 1924, and left in December 1927 to become Agent at Loughborough.

Winston Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer, having already spent two days visiting Oldham and Manchester, addressed a public meeting at the Palace Theatre, Burnley, at 2.30 on Saturday, 5th February 1927, chaired by Mr. Ian Fairbairn, prospective Conservative candidate for Burnley.

On 9th February 1927, the Burnley News, no supporter of the Conservatives, dismissed his hour long speech in a small paragraph as being disappointing and mostly a denunciation of socialism. The Conservative supporting Burnley Express covered the event in great detail, reporting the speech in full with this photo, identifying, Front L-R: Mr. Braddock (Conservative Agent), Winston Churchill, S. Finburgh, (M.P. North Salford), Ian Fairbairn. This photo shows him leaving the Savoy Cafe, Manchester Rd., Burnley after lunching with some 60 local Conservatives.

2000 people were said to have attended the meeting, Stalls and Circle cost 1s and 6d respectively, pit and gallery were free. In conclusion, Churchill thanked the vast audience for the patient hearing they had given him, and "his political opponents for their courteous behaviour, and said that foolish interruptions were a real offence and affront to democracy", being a reference to heckling coming from the gallery during the speech. The National Anthem was then sung to end the proceedings.

The Savoy lunch had been sponsored by Ian Fairbairn, husband of Cynthia, daughter of former M.P. Gerald Arbuthnot. They later divorced. He was a former soldier, injured in WW1, and an Olympic rower. He had contested the 1924 election, losing to Labour's Arthur Henderson, and lost to Henderson again in 1929, despite increasing his share of the vote. He then concentrated on a successful career in finance, joining M&G and pioneering the Unit Trust Industry. His second wife, Esmee Bethell was killed in the Blitz, and in her memory Fairbairn established the Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust, now a leading UK charity.

Samuel Finburgh, Conservative M.P. for Salford 1924-29, born in Russia in 1867, was a Manchester Calico Printer, and a most distinguished member of the Jewish Community in Manchester/Salford. He died in 1935.

The fourth man named, W. Braddock, from Padiham, became Burnley Conservative Agent in August 1924, and left in December 1927 to become Agent at Loughborough.

Medium

Photographic print

Colour

Monochrome

Original image size

14 x 9.5

Year of image

1927

Enter year in yyyy format

Locator

P14

Mario Map link

MARIO Map

Collection link

Web link