This film is part of Free

Lieutenant Clive Wilson and Tranby Croft Party (1902)

Celebrations to mark the return of a local hero from the Boer War offer an insight into his wealthy family.

Non-Fiction 1902 8 mins Silent

Overview

The Wilson family owned one of Britain's biggest shipping businesses, which had paid for the building of the large country house Tranby Croft at Anlaby, near Hull, seen in this film. Their local celebrity was enough to justify the commissioning of this film, which is almost a home movie, yet was screened for the public, as well as the family, in April 1902.

In 1890 Tranby Croft had been the scene of a baccarat cheating scandal which fascinated Victorian society because of the involvement of the then Prince of Wales - by this time King Edward VII. Clive Wilson's father, Arthur Wilson, was a friend of the Prince and hosted the party, which all perhaps helps further explain the profile they are given in this film. Tranby Croft is now the site of a school.