Mary Chorley née Kimber (1865-1936)
Moorville Cottages, Burley Woodhead
Whilst doing research on the history of Burley Brass Bands, we kept coming across her name.
We've looked a little deeper and discovered she was involved in all manner of social, leisure & welfare issues all over the Wharfedale district, as well as further afield in Leeds & Bradford & where she grew up in Enborne, Berkshire.
We've looked a little deeper and discovered she was involved in all manner of social, leisure & welfare issues all over the Wharfedale district, as well as further afield in Leeds & Bradford & where she grew up in Enborne, Berkshire.
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Summary of the research
Mary Chorley born Mary Kimber 1865, Cope Hall, Enborne, Newbury. Family: Father Charles Kimber - farmer. Grandfather John Kimber - tallow chandler. Middle class, reasonably wealthy, good connections. Cope Hall - small, country estate. Education: likely it was at home initially & then sent to Hillersdon House boarding school in Barnes, London. Becomes a "known" entomologist & botanist - elected Fellow of the (Royal) Entomological Society, London. Employment: possibly an elementary school teacher in Enborne or in London, alongside her numerous other interests - entomology, botany, English country dancing, amateur dramatics, folk songs, traditional games. Marries Harry Sutton Chorley February 1898 in Marylebone, London. Moves to Burley Woodhead in same year. Still a mystery as to how & where Mary & Harry met. Immerses herself in the life of Wharfedale & the district: member of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union; associated with the Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education; 1906 - very likely one of the founders of the Wharfedale Music Festival; Burley District Brass Band; gives talks & lectures on entomology; creates an alpine garden of repute; starts & establishes country dancing at the Wharfedale Music Festival; Burley Woodhead morris dancing team; establishes drama competitions including playwriting at Burley Woodhead; Sept 1927 produces Burley Woodhead pageant involving hundreds of participants; more amateur dramatic playwriting & producing competitions until her death in 1936. |
Mary Chorley née Kimber c1920s. Image courtesy of Burley Archive.
Quick Links:
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The Kimber family of Enborne & Newbury:
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Cope Hall, Enborne, near Newbury, Berkshire.
Believed to have been built in the Tudor period (i.e. between 1485 & 1603).
Demolished sometime in the early 1960s. Heritage Gateway Record for Cope Hall - HER Number MWB15814
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Location Cope Hall, Enborne near Newbury. Image courtesy of Google maps.
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Sarah Kimber (1788-1870) Great Aunt - sister of the first John Kimber below. Lived in Newbury.
The following all residing at Cope Hall, Enborne.
John Kimber (senior) (1790-1870) - Tallow Chandler in the Enborne / Newbury area. (Grandfather).
John Kimber (senior) (1790-1870) - Tallow Chandler in the Enborne / Newbury area. (Grandfather).
1854 - John Kimber senior's sons John Kimber (junior) & Charles Kimber may have inherited the tallow chandling business on John senior's retirement, via a partnership. This partnership, according to the London Gazette, was dissolved in 1854, with John (junior) left in sole control.
(The business may have included a shop in Newbury).
Charles Kimber then becomes a farmer at Wash Farm, Enborne.
(The business may have included a shop in Newbury).
Charles Kimber then becomes a farmer at Wash Farm, Enborne.
Sarah Ann Kimber (b1791) (Grandmother)
John Kimber (junior) (1819-1870) (Uncle)
Charles Kimber (1825-1907) (Father)
Sarah Kimber b1827 (Aunt)
Martha Kimber b1832 (Aunt)
John Kimber (junior) (1819-1870) (Uncle)
Charles Kimber (1825-1907) (Father)
Sarah Kimber b1827 (Aunt)
Martha Kimber b1832 (Aunt)
The Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers is one of the 109 Livery Companies of the City of London. They began in the 1200s as a trade organisation.
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The Tallow Chandlers Company was formed to regulate oils, ointments, lubricants and fat-based preservatives and to manage candle making using tallow (animal fats). Over the next 150 years they expanded in membership and influence, until King Edward IV granted them a coat of arms in 1456, and full livery status in 1462.
By the 1500s, they were looking after London’s trade in a wide range of domestic goods, including sauces, vinegar, soap, cheese and herrings. They were also intimately involved in the service of the City. Their tallow candles played a key role in the compulsory street lighting for the City of London. More on the history of Tallow Chandlers can be found here.
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Image courtesy of The Tallow Chandlers Company
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1862 - Charles Kimber marries Mary Ann Waters (1831-1878?)
1863 - Sarah Kimber (1827-1922?), Mary's aunt, marries Mr. T. W. Fielder (1825?-1919?), of Newbury. 1865 - Mary Kimber born Cope Hall. In some references to her, she is called Miss Minnie Kimber. (Minnie is a 19th & early 20th century variation of the name Mary). 1870 - John Frederick Charles Kimber born - Mary's brother. August 2nd - Her grandfather John Kimber (senior) died, he'd been a Borough Magistrate or J.P. for Newbury as well as a tallow chandler. Also her great aunt, Sarah Kimber dies on the same day as her grandfather. 1871 census - Berkshire
The following all residing at Cope Hall, Enborne: Charles Kimber - Occupation: Farmer Mary Ann Kimber (née Waters) Mary Kimber - scholar - 6 years old. John Frederick Charles Kimber - 1 year old. Plus 5 servants - oldest aged 22, youngest aged 11. |
Connections - family & personal
1861 - Newbury Literary & Scientific Institution - subscribers & members included Mary's grandmother, uncle & her father.
Held lectures & functions, subscribed to scientific & literary publications. National Archives: The Newbury Literary and Scientific Institution was established in 1843 with the object of promoting literature, science and the arts. After a period of occupying temporary premises in Speenhamland and Bartholomew Street the Institution acquired a permanent home at 60 Northbrook Street, Newsbury in 1862. Here it was able to offer its members a library, a museum (the contents of which form the basis of the present Newbury District Museum) and a reading room. The Institution ceased to exist in 1903. |
Mary Chorley née Kimber - Education
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1871 census - Berkshire
Mary Kimber - scholar - 6 years old - presuming at the moment that she's at a local school, but the family could have hired a governess for the early years. 1881 census - Surrey
Aged 16, Mary's a boarder at Hillersdon House Ladies College (est. 1824) at Barnes in London. In the census there are a couple of girls boarding who are aged 9 & 10. It could be that Mary went at the same age. There were 22 scholars in total in that year. "Our Schools & Colleges Volume 2 for Girls" - Lists Oxford & Cambridge University External Examination & Extension Course Centres, includes Hillersdon House, Barnes.
Historic England - Research - Women's History
University The ancient Universities of Oxford (before 1167) and Cambridge (1209) were the only two English universities in existence until the nineteenth century when University College, London (1827) and King's College, London (1829) combined to form the University of London in 1836. In the north of England, the University of Durham had been founded in 1832. But none of these universities accepted women as students. In 1867, Anne Clough inspired the establishment of the North of England Council for Promoting Higher Education for Women which started the movement for university lectures for women. Despite passing university examinations, women were not allowed to be awarded degrees until 1878 at University of London, 1895 at Durham, 1920 at Oxford, and 1948 at Cambridge. |
Our Schools & Colleges - Vol 2 for Girls. Image courtesy of archive.org
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1891 - Oxford University Extension Courses
July 1891 Mary Kimber awarded a Distinguished Prize in Physiography (an alternative name for physical geography).
July 1891 Mary Kimber awarded a Distinguished Prize in Physiography (an alternative name for physical geography).
1891 Oxford University Extension Gazette - Newbury - Mary Kimber - Physiography Distinguished Prize. Image courtesy of archive.org
Illustration of Hillersdon House, Barnes, Surrey. Image courtesy of Barnes & Mortlake History Society.
Hillersdon House Ladies College was run by Miss Eliza Beale, sister of Dorothea Beale of Cheltenham Ladies College fame.
There were 4 live-in members of staff, including the headmistress teaching English, French & Music. They'd then bring in other professional tutors both male & female to broaden the curriculum to include geography, mathematics, science & an early form of calisthenics, tennis & possibly hockey.
There were 4 live-in members of staff, including the headmistress teaching English, French & Music. They'd then bring in other professional tutors both male & female to broaden the curriculum to include geography, mathematics, science & an early form of calisthenics, tennis & possibly hockey.
Mary Chorley née Kimber - Entomologist & Botanist
c1880 Victorian Amateur Entomologists
1889 - Contributor to "The Young Naturalist - A Magazine of Natural History".
1890 - Elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society (FES) of London. (Would subsequently become the Royal Entomological Society).
1891 - Submissions to "The Entomologist" publication of the FES - its monthly newsletter - Journal of Variation:
The Entomologist – Journal of Variation, Notes on Collecting – 3rd March 1891. Image courtesy of archive.org
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The Young Naturalist - 1889. Image courtesy of archive.org
The Entomologist – Journal of Variation, Notes on Collecting – 21 April 1891 - Gloucester & Newbury. Image courtesy of archive.org
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1892 - Donations to the Conchological Society, Leeds. (est. 1876)
"Fourteen species of shells from Newbury, Berkshire; three from Burghclere, Hampshire & one from Stroud, Gloucestershire."
"Fourteen species of shells from Newbury, Berkshire; three from Burghclere, Hampshire & one from Stroud, Gloucestershire."
1893 - The Entomologist – The Success of A Moth Trap – issue 26 pages 133/4 - images courtesy of archive.org
The Entomologist - The Success of a Moth Trap by Mary Kimber - issue 26, page 133. Image courtesy of archive.org
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The Entomologist – The Success of A Moth Trap by Mary Kimber - issue 26 pages 133/4. Image courtesy of archive.org
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1895 - Presented a 14pp report on the Macro-Lepidoptera collected in her district (Enborne) in the "Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club". (Newbury District Field Club est. 1870).
1898 - July - Journal of Botany Volume 86, page 274 – "plant dianthus deltoids near Wasing on the Hampshire & Berkshire border gathered by Mrs Chorley who gave it to Miss Beales."
1898 Nov - Mary Chorley FFS joins the Yorkshire Naturalists Union.
1904 - one of the permanent members of the General Committee of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union.
1904 - June - Mary Chorley gave a lecture on nature study for Bradford Girls Grammar School (part of the Bradford Exhibition).
1906 - The Victoria History of Berkshire - Section on Natural History - Insects - Lepidoptera - contributions on pages 100 to 114.
1908 - April - Mary Chorley gave a lantern lecture in Burley Woodhead Wesleyan School on the defensive methods of Insects.
1918 - Contributions to the Botanical Society & Exchange Club.
1918 - Contributions to the Botanical Society & Exchange Club.
1967 - Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club, XI: 4 (8/6), "contains a local list of the Macro-Lepidoptera of the district by Air Marshal Sir Robert Saundby. In this he makes comparisons with the last printed local list, which was by Miss Mary Kimber, published in vol IV 1895, by giving the present status of the insect alongside her remarks of seventy-two years ago."
The introduction to Sir Robert Saundby's report gives a glimpse of Mary Chorley nee Kimber's personality:
"Miss Kimber, was a very keen and well-known collector and breeder of butterflies and moths ..... An intelligent & erudite woman, she is said to have caused some remark by her habit of cycling around the district carrying her butterfly-net, and dressed in "bloomers". She thought nothing of being seen vigorously pursuing insects about the country-side, while wearing the same unorthodox garb."
The introduction to Sir Robert Saundby's report gives a glimpse of Mary Chorley nee Kimber's personality:
"Miss Kimber, was a very keen and well-known collector and breeder of butterflies and moths ..... An intelligent & erudite woman, she is said to have caused some remark by her habit of cycling around the district carrying her butterfly-net, and dressed in "bloomers". She thought nothing of being seen vigorously pursuing insects about the country-side, while wearing the same unorthodox garb."
Questions still to answer: Intrigued to know how & at what age Mary got started collecting butterflies & moths - who helped her to identify the huge variety of species?
Part of the answer to this question might lie in a note at the end of Sir Robert Saundby's study of 1967.
"Since this article was printed, I have come across an old book, "Our Country's Butterflies and Moths" by W. J. Gordon, with 33 coloured plates figuring 823 species of macro-lepidoptera. In Miss Kimber's time this was a leading work of reference and principal means of identification, and her nomenclature suggest that she relied on it to a large extent."
Did she continue collecting after her marriage & move to Burley Woodhead? What happened to her butterfly & moth collection when she died?
Part of the answer to this question might lie in a note at the end of Sir Robert Saundby's study of 1967.
"Since this article was printed, I have come across an old book, "Our Country's Butterflies and Moths" by W. J. Gordon, with 33 coloured plates figuring 823 species of macro-lepidoptera. In Miss Kimber's time this was a leading work of reference and principal means of identification, and her nomenclature suggest that she relied on it to a large extent."
Did she continue collecting after her marriage & move to Burley Woodhead? What happened to her butterfly & moth collection when she died?
Mary Chorley née Kimber - Folk Songs, English Country Dancing & Traditional Games
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1850 - Robert Harris Valpy (d1905) married Jane Fuller Maitland (1822-1894) & they lived at Enborne Lodge, Enborne, approximately a mile from Cope Hall.
1878 - The Folklore Society (FLS) - founded in London to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts and crafts, customs and belief.
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Robert & Jane Valpy nee Fuller Maitland - Kelly's Directory 1897. Image courtesy of archive.org
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1892 - Jun - Royal Berkshire Friendly Society gathering of 200 people - Mary Kimber & Miss Valpy provided the entertainment.
1893 - John Alexander Fuller Maitland (1856 - 1936)(bio - wikipedia) - sister of Jane, co-authored with Lucy Broadwood (1858 - 1929) - "The English County Songs" book.
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1894 & 1898 - The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by Alice Bertha Gomme (1853-1938) – Volumes 1 and 2.
Contributions for Newbury, Enborne & Lewes in Sussex from Mary Kimber. Alice Gomme & her husband G. Laurence Gomme (1853-1916) were part of the group that founded The Folklore Society & were residents of Barnes Common (near Hillersdon House). 
English Folk dancing examples. Image courtesy of archive.org
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Traditional Games of England, Scotland & Ireland by Alice Bertha Gomme. Image courtesy of archive.org
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1898 - Oct - John Frederick Charles Kimber (Mary's brother) marries Gertrude Louisa Williams (1871-1934) in Altrincham (fourth daughter of Sir Edward Leader Williams, The Oaks, Altrincham, Cheshire). Edward Leader Williams was chief designer & engineer of the Manchester Ship Canal & Anderton Boat Lift.
John & Gertrude Kimber had one son Jack Leader Kimber (1900-1975), his birth was registered in Headingley, Leeds.
In the 1901 census John, Gertrude & Jack are still living in Headingley, Leeds in the same area as Harry Chorley's family.
John & Gertrude Kimber had one son Jack Leader Kimber (1900-1975), his birth was registered in Headingley, Leeds.
In the 1901 census John, Gertrude & Jack are still living in Headingley, Leeds in the same area as Harry Chorley's family.
John Frederick Charles Kimber. Image courtesy of Fleur Cook.
Gertrude Louisa Kimber née Williams. Image courtesy of Fleur Cook.
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Jack Leader Kimber. Image courtesy of Fleur Cook.
Jack L Kimber, like his father JFC Kimber was a boarder at Sherborne School, Dorset. He passed the required examinations to read engineering at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, but was called up by the British Army in June 1918.
From 1918 to 1920 he was in the Royal West Surrey Regiment. Fortunately he saw no fighting & was assigned to find billets for officers in France & then in Germany after the armistice. He was discharged from the army as a 2nd Lieutenant.
In 1920, he went to Cambridge University to do his engineering degree & in 1923 joined the graduate scheme of J. S. Fry and Sons (by then part of Cadbury's) in Bristol.
Jack Kimber spent his entire career at J S Fry and Sons & worked his way up to Managing Director. He oversaw the move of the business from the centre of Bristol to a purpose built factory at Somerdale, Keynsham near Bristol. The transfer took 11 years to complete as the numerous production lines were moved from different sites in Bristol.
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Information & images of Mary Chorley's brother, sister-in-law & nephew, kindly provided by Fleur Cook, daughter of Jack L. Kimber.
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1898 - Feb - Mary Kimber marries Harry Sutton Chorley at St. Marks, Hamilton Terrace, in Marylebone, London. Moved to Moorville Cottage, Moor Road, Burley Woodhead in the same year.
1898 - May - John Kimber (junior) - Mary's uncle dies. |
Moorville Cottage - home of Mary & Harry Chorley, Moor Road, Burley Woodhead. Image courtesy of Google
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Mary Chorley née Kimber - Burley Woodhead
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On-going research 1899 to 1936:
1899 - Mary begins voluntary teaching at Burley Woodhead School. Her first lesson on May 9th 1899 was natural history - "the parts in which birds resemble & don't resemble human beings" - taken from Burley Woodhead School's log book in the Burley Archive.
1901 - Harry S. Chorley - 71st Report of the Council of the Leeds Philosophical & Literary Society - annual subscriber.
1902 - Loan Training Fund Committee of the Yorkshire Ladies' Council of Education (YLCE) - organises a 3 day Grand County bazaar at Victoria Hall (Town Hall), Leeds.
1903 - Burley in Wharfedale Charity Gala Association - 1st Annual Gala
1903 - Apr - Yorkshire Ladies' Council of Education (YLCE) - Loan Training Fund committee.
1907 - Harry S. Chorley, president of the Leeds Society of Architects.
1907 - Jul - Burley in Wharfedale Carnival
c1908 - Starts Burley Woodhead folk dance classes.
1908 - Jan - Amateur Dramatics - Mary Chorley with Iris Arnold-Forster.
1908 - Feb - Establishment of Burley Woodhead Girls Club at the Burley Wesleyan School by Mary Chorley. 1908 - Apr - Appears in two plays at Faringdon Corn Exchange - "A Joint Household" & "Compromising Martha" - shares the stage with Miss Iris Arnold-Forster (Greenholme), Miss Pleydell Bouverie (Coleshill House) & Gerald Brown. |
1902 - YLCE - Loan Training Fund - nominations for 1st committee including Mary Chorley. Image courtesy BNA.
The list of ladies nominated for the first committee of the YLCE Loan Training Fund in 1902, reads like a who's who of Yorkshire - Mrs Arnold-Forster, Burley in Wharfedale; Mrs F Steinthal, Ilkley; Mrs Wilkinson, York; Mrs W H Marriott, Mirfield; Mrs Meredith, Bramley; Mrs Kitson Clark, Leeds; Mrs Copson-Peake, Leeds; Mrs Byfield Hall, Wakefield; Miss Annette Kitson, Scarborough; Miss Beatrice Kitson, Leeds; Mrs H S Chorley (Mary Chorley), Burley in Wharfedale; Mrs B P Scattergood, Leeds; Miss Evelyn Montagu, Doncaster; Miss Harker, Pateley Bridge; Mrs D'Arcy Wyvill, Burton Constable and Mrs J F Bruce, Huddersfield. |
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1908 - Oct - Burley Congregational Church Annual Sale of Work - Miss Iris Arnold-Forster, Mary Chorley, Miss Hannam, Miss Hunter.
1908 - Nov - Formation of the Wharfedale Folk Dance Association. 1908 - Nov - Visit to Ilkley Town Hall by the London Esperance Club (Folk Dancing). 1909 - Burley Annual Charity Gala & Burley Minstrel Troupe.
c1910 - Revives the Burley & District Brass Band with William Warburton as conductor. c1911 - Establishes Burley Woodhead Scout Troop with Mr Greaves as Scout Master. 1911 - Mar - Burley Woodhead concert at the Burley Woodhead Wesleyan School. 1911 - May - Wharfedale Musical Festival. 1911 - Jun - Coronation celebrations. 1911 - Jun - Charity Carnival at Guiseley. |
Faringdon Corn Exchange. Image courtesy of Faringdon.org
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1911 - Jul - Chorleys hire a chauffeur. Possibly William Warburton conductor of Burley & District Brass Band.
1911 - Jul - Fund-raising for the National Schools, Burley in Wharfedale & Burley Woodhead.
1911 - Jul - Fund-raising for the National Schools, Burley in Wharfedale & Burley Woodhead.
c1912 - The Chorleys allow the Burley & District Brass Band to use a barn on their property as a rehearsal room.
1914 - Mar - Annual soiree of the Ilkley University Extension Society - Ilkley Puppet Players produced Bernard Myall's translation of Maurice Maeterlink's play "Ariane & Barbe Bleue".
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1916 - Aug - Yorkshire Post letter requesting cornets for men fighting in the trenches.
1919 - Jan - Prize Giving - Royal Society Arts and the Faculty Teachers in Commerce examinations - Leeds.
c1920 Lends William Warburton £500 to establish Warburton Brothers Garage on Main Street, Burley in Wharfedale.
c1921 - Employs Henry C. Smith as chauffeur & general handyman.
1921 - Apr - Wharfedale Musical Festival. The Burley Woodhead choir, sang George Eathbone’s "Alow and Aloft,” under the conductorship of Mrs. Mary Chorley. Also Burley Woodhead school wins the Action Song (section A) with "Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron" & the Choral Societies from small villages Burley Woodhead - under the conductorship of Mrs. Chorley, sang Coleridge Taylor's “Viking Song”.
1922 - Apr - Wharfedale Music Festival extends to 4 days.
Burley Woodhead School – country & morris dances and singing games. Burley Woodhead Girls’ Club – singing. Greenholme & St Mary’s Girls’ Club - singing. 1923 - Mar - Wharfedale Musical Festival. Cecil Sharp (1859 - 1924) adjudicator for country dances, the sword dance, and the singing games.
1923 - Sept - Burley in Wharfedale Players - A Midsummer's Night Dream at the Lecture Hall.
1924 - Apr - Wharfedale Musical Festival. Burley in Wharfedale Brownies and Burley in Wharfedale Guides - country dances. Adjudicated by Miss Maud Karpeles secretary of the English Folk Dance Society.
1925 - May - 19th Wharfedale Musical Festival. 1926 - May - Wharfedale Musical Festival - Greenholme & St Mary's Girls Club 1926 - July - Presentation of silver instruments to members of the Burley & District Brass Band. 1926 - Dec - 4 nights of Chamber Drama held at Moorville Cottages, home of Mary Chorley. "Two little sketches, specially suitable for house performance, were written by Mrs. Chorley .... Involved personal friends & village enthusiasts." - Yorkshire Post.
1927 - Jan - Chamber Drama competition at Burley Woodhead.
1927 - Mar - Applied for stage play licence for the Fellowship Room. A barn converted into a theatre at Burley Woodhead. 1927 - May - Wharfedale Musical Festival - Folk Dancing - Burley in Wharfedale Guides team, Greenholme & St Mary's Club, Burley Woodhead Folk Dancers, Burley in Wharfedale Mixed Team, Burley in Wharfedale Men's Team & Burley Woodhead Sword Dancers.
"Burley Woodhead has become known as one of the centres of the revival of folk dancing". - Shipley Times & Express 1927 - Sept - Burley Woodhead pageant - Wharfedale Down The Ages. Included recitals by the Burton Leonard Prize Shakespearean Company and the junior members of the Burley-in-Wharfedale Women's Institute. Also a massed country (or folk) dance festival with demonstrations by the Leeds, Hartshead & Burley Woodhead Morris teams.
1928 Mar - Drama competition - short play writing & production, at Burley Woodhead Fellowship Room. 6 plays in total were produced, they were "Brains" by Charles A. Booker (solicitor's clerk), "Moorside Farm" by Mary Chorley, "Check" by Mr. Jack Scott and Mr. Nelson Bell (gamekeeper), "Shipmates" by Henry C. Smith (chauffeur), "Slip" by Mary Chorley and "A Dramatic Interlude" by Miss D. Fox.
The competition winner was "Shipmates" by Henry C. Smith. 1928 - May - Wharfedale Folk Dancing Festival at Ilkley. Honourable secretary Mary Chorley. Burley Woodhead Country Dancers, Burley in Wharfedale Brownies.
1928 - Jul - Open Gardens in aid of the District Nursing Association.
1928 - Nov - Wharfedale Drama Competition for New Writers. Included plays by Miss Edith Taylor, Charles Booker, Mary Chorley and Henry C. Smith.
1928 - Dec - Fancy dress event of the Wharfedale Folk Dance Association. Mrs Mary Chorley president of the Association, was attired in an old-time country costume "Betty and her Ducks".
1929 - Mar - Wharfedale Drama Competition - 13 plays were entered. Included: "The Lovely Virtue" by Miss Gill from Bradford; "The Cream of the Jest" by Mr A. H. Ashworth from Leeds; "Starshine" by Mary Chorley.
1929 - May - Wharfedale Folk Dance Festival at Ilkley - Hon. Sec. Mary Chorley. 1929 - Oct/Nov - Wharfedale Drama Competition. 1930 - Jan/Feb/Mar - Wharfedale Drama Competition - 30 entries 1930 - May - Wharfedale Folk Dance Festival - Hon. Sec. Mary Chorley. Maud Karpeles adjudicated. 1930 - Jun - Bradford Playgoers Society (est. 1912) held summer meeting at Fellowship Room, Burley Woodhead. 3 one-act plays were read. 1930 - Jul - Open Gardens 1930 - Nov/Dec - Wharfedale Drama Competition. Winner Yorkshire dialect play "The Tartoppius" written by Alice May Lee. 1931 - May - Wharfedale Drama Competition. 1931 - Open Gardens on behalf of the Queen's Institute of District Nursing & West Riding Nursing Association. 1931 - Oct - Leeds Baby Welcome Clinic - play-writing competition. Theme instructing mothers on baby welfare. 1931 - Nov - Wharfedale Drama Competition. 1932 - Jun - Burley in Wharfedale Folk Dance Festival at West Lodge, Burley in Wharfedale. Arranged by the Wharfedale & District Branch of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. There was a four-hour programme, and 300 dancers took part. 20 teams including the Flamborough Sword Dance team.
1933 - Jun - Open Gardens
1934 - Jul - Open Gardens 1934 - Oct - Village Drama movement conference. 1934 - Nov - Japanese Fair at Otley 1935 - Silver Jubilee celebrations of King George V & Queen Mary. 1935 - Aug - Guiseley St. Oswalds Festival. 1936 - Feb - National Festival of Community Drama. 1936 - Sept - Mary Chorley dies suddenly at the age of 71. |
Letter by Mary Chorley to Yorkshire Post. Published 19th August 1916. Image courtesy of the BNA.
Burley Woodhead Sword Dance Team c1927. Image courtesy of Burley Archive.
1927 Burley Woodhead Pageant - possible site. Image courtesy of Google.
Rehearsing pageant on Burley Moor by Burley Woodhead Sword Dancers, Sept 1927. Image courtesy of BNA.
Burley Woodhead Players in "Check" at the Fellowship Room in March 1928. Image courtesy of Burley Archive.
Amateur Drama - article from Wharfedale & Airedale Observer 27th April 1935. Image courtesy of BNA.
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