The Great Exhibition 1851
The Great Exhibition 1851
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was one of the great success stories of the nineteenth century. The idea of holding an international world fair was first suggested by the Society of Arts (now the Royal Society of Arts) in 1845. Their president, Prince Albert, was very enthusiastic but eventually he decided that it should not be organised by the Society. Consequently in 1850 he established a Royal Commission to organise the event, with himself as President.
The exhibition was opened on 1st May 1851 by Queen Victoria in Joseph Paxton’s purpose built “Crystal Palace” in Hyde Park, London. It was the first International World Fair and it grabbed the imagination of the whole country and beyond. During the one hundred and forty one days that the Exhibition was open it was visited by over six million people from all walks of life. There were nearly 14,000 exhibitors from all over the world and more than 100,000 exhibits were shown ranging from raw materials to machines, sculptures, hardware, musical instruments, cloth, pottery, glass etc.
The Great Exhibition saw the development of patent law, the tourist industry and the modern museum as well as encouraging trade and manufacturing. It was so successful financially that the profits were used to purchase a large site in South Kensington, now home to three national museums, Imperial College and the Royal Albert Hall as well as other institutions. The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 still exists to manage its estate and to distribute the profits on its investments in order to “increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry.”
These 6 million visitors represented nearly a fifth of the British population at that time and is still considered today to be the founding vision of a truly "great exhibition"
The Festival of Britain 1951
The Festival of Britain 1951
In 1947 The British Government decided to mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition 1851. A nationwide celebration of Arts, Architecture, Science, Technology and Industrial Design was conceived to allow the country and the world to discover Britain's contribution to world civilisation.
The Government established the Festival Council, a voluntarily serving body of thirty-two men and women, all of them distinguished in some province of the national life to determine how this festival should best be showcased.
King George VI officially opened the Festival of Britain on 3rd May 1951. Arts were displayed in a series of country-wide musical and dramatic performances and special exhibitions. Achievements in architecture were to be presented in "real life" by the display of a new Neighbourhood which was planned to be built and occupied in the Poplar district of London.
The contributions to civilisation made by British advances in Science, Technology and Industrial Design, were given best representation against the background of the actual working world, from which the South Bank Exhibition was conceived.
Alongside the Festival Pavilions on the South Bank, London's skyline was transformed by the Skylon; part zeppelin, part rocket it floated like an up-ended airship above the South Bank. Perched precariously on three 'legs', it was attached to a net of cables; it was unclear whether these supported its gravity-defying architecture, or anchored it to the ground. Skylon mania hit the nation. Commemorative stamps, posters and mugs were avidly collected.
The Festival stretched further afield; 3 miles up the River Thames with an amusement park of fairy tale pavilions, fairground rides and bold, colourful displays in the Festival Pleasure Gardens in Battersea; to Glasgow for the display of Industrial Power through engineering; across the Irish Sea to the "Farm and Factory" exhibition in Belfast and further afield via the Festival Ship Campania, which visited the public along the coasts of Britain during the summer with a small edition of the South Bank story.
Over 8 million people visited the South Bank in 1951, the main site of the Festival of Britain, many more visited all the other exhibits throughout the British Isles. Today, the recently renovated Royal Festival Hall on The Southbank in London is a lasting legacy to the great Festival of Britain 1951.
Send us your memories and photographs of 1951 - the people, the places and life in 1951. We will include an exhibit from 1951 to plot the progress through to 2012.
Angela Kenny, 23rd February 2011.
