Special Collections & Archives: Snapshots from the Archives

Snapshot from the Archives: Making Mischief for May Day (by Gemma Bentley, Whitelands Archivist)

Whitelands College recently held their 143rd May Day festival, bathed in warm sunshine, at which Queen Frankie was crowned in the presence of former May Monarchs spanning the last 70 years. The festival and its rich history have drawn considerable outside interest over the years; last year the collection of May Monarch costumes attracted the attention of Compton Verney House Art Gallery in Warwickshire, which borrowed three sets of  May Day robes and crosses for a special exhibition.  ‘Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain’ was curated by the Museum of British Folklore and the London College of Fashion and was ‘the first of its kind to explore the pivotal role of costume in folk customs thriving across Britain today and the rich tapestry of people bringing them to life’.

At the time the curators said: ‘The May Queen dresses are such an important element of seasonal traditions and it was a thrilling discovery to find out that examples from Whitelands College still exist.’ In fact, we have about one hundred of these very special robes! You can see more examples of them on this Whitelands College Archives page. 

The curators chose the following for display:

Kate Greenaway-designed dress

John Ruskin persuaded children's illustrator Kate Greenaway to design a May Queen dress for Whitelands College, which was then made at the Royal College of Needlework. It is ‘a gown of apple green silk, with cream cashmere tunic, embroidered with pansies’. It was worn by four different queens from 1887 to 1891; the photograph above shows the 1887 May Queen, Margaret.

John Ruskin in fact didn’t like the robes and thought them reminiscent of illustrations of Sir Walter Scott’s character, Madge Wildfire.

1921 – Queen Celia

‘The Junior year voted for their May Queen on May Day morning. We all wore white dresses and the chosen Queen was taken from the Hall to the vice principal’s room to be robed in the dress made ready for her.

As the May Queen’s name was not known until May Day morning the dress had to be fairly adaptable to a large or small person. 

I remember a row of different sizes of white silk shoes for me to try on.  The Queen then processed back to the Hall where she was crowned with a floral crown (mine was cowslips), presented with her cross by a visiting V.I.P., her flowers and Ruskin book. 

The couplet embroidered round my tunic is “SEARCH THE FLOWER PEOPLE THROUGH – THERE IS NO FLOWER FOUND LIKE YOU”. The dress was designed and made by Miss F.M. Smith, vice principal of the College.’ [Memories of May Day by Queen Celia, Whitelands College Archives].

1947 – Queen Audrey

Audrey’s dress, made of parachute cotton and hand printed with flowers and crowns by third-year art students, was designed and sewn by Miss Murton, the Lecturer in Needlework and Handicrafts who made all the May Queen robes from the 1930s to 1957.

In association with the project the Whitelands and Southlands archivists also took part in an oral history interview, sharing stories about the Whitelands May Day tradition and how the event has evolved and continues to evolve. The recording forms part of a mini collection on folk costume and related traditions, and is preserved in the Warwickshire Archives and the Museum of British Folklore.

The original exhibition has this year been recreated at the London College of Fashion under the title ‘Making More Mischief’ and runs until 22 June.

The 1887 and 1947 May Queen robes on display at Compton Verney (on the right). (Photo Credit: © Compton Verney, photography by Jamie Woodley).         

Also in May this year, our Archivists are participating in the local Wandsworth Heritage Festival which runs from 18th May to 9th June. 

On Wednesday 22nd May at  2pm, Kornelia Cepok will give a talk on The Holistic Approach of the Froebel Educational Method and its Impact on Children, with a visit to the Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies here in the Library.  The event is free but booking is required: email archives@roehampton.ac.uk.
On Monday 20th May at 2pm there will be a tour and talk at Whitelands on The Health and Wellbeing of Students at Whitelands College from the 19th to the 21st century. Gilly King will  explore the standards of hygiene, exercise, and wellbeing experienced by Victorian female teacher training students compared to those of today. The event is free but booking is required: email wcarchives@roehampton.ac.uk.

We are also taking part in the Festival with a special display of childhood toys through the ages from Wandsworth borough's archives, which can be seen on the ground floor of the Library.

See the full festival programme here.