Special Collections & Archives

Snapshot from the Archives: May Day at Whitelands

The crowning of a new King is nothing new here at Roehampton – we have been doing it since the 1980s! For this summer term’s archives snapshot, we feature the traditional May Day celebrations which have been held at Whitelands College over the last two centuries. Ever since 1881, when the idea was first introduced by John Ruskin, Whitelands has held special May Day celebrations including the election of a student to be their May Monarch (originally a May Queen, but the role became gender neutral following the admission of male students from the mid-1960s onwards; the first male monarch, King Gary, was crowned in 1986).  Whitelands Archives holds a stunning collection of the special gowns and robes worn by many of the May Monarchs, showing how fashions have developed over the years, from the dress designed by pioneering illustrator Kate Greenaway in 1890, to the Kings’ outfits inspired by their African and Indian heritage a century later. You can read more about this tradition, and see photographs of the costumes, on the Whitelands Archives web pages. Photographic portraits of many of the Monarchs are also on display in the corridors of Parkstead House.

A group of Whitelands students dance around the maypole, May Day 1919. 

The May Day celebration is still held at Whitelands on the second Saturday in May, with festive activities such as dancing around a maypole, as seen in the above 1919 photograph and in this YouTube video of students at the 2009 celebrations.

This year, Whitelands College invites all Roehampton students and staff to come and join in the 142nd May Day Festival on the College back lawn on Saturday 13th May 2023. There will be a bouncy castle, large inflatable slide and obstacle course between 1pm and 5pm which is free for all to enjoy. The SETT bar will be open to purchase snacks and drinks, with live processions of past monarchs, Morris dancers and more!

The election of Queen Treya's successor took place in mid-March, and we are happy to announce Marcy Mary Cottrell Claughan has been elected as the 142nd May Queen of Whitelands College. So come along and enjoy the day out with friends as we celebrate the end of another fantastic year and the start of the summer months! Tickets are available from the 26^th April via this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whitelands-may-day-festival-tickets-624338582507.
 

King Kojo, 1997's May Monarch, in his Ghanaian inspired costume.