Sir Benjamin Stone & the National Photographic Record Association

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Ripon Pageant. "Guild of Woolcombers" Group. 1906'. Museum no. E.1248-2001

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Ripon Pageant. "Guild of Woolcombers" Group. 1906'
Ripon, Yorkshire, England
1906
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1248-2001

A locally produced pageant to commemorate the founding of the monastery in 672 by St Wilfrid. The monastery later became the cathedral. The presence of the Woolcombers' Group in the pageant reflects the historical importance of wool in the local economy.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'May-day Festivities

Sir Benjamin Stone
'May-day Festivities, Knutsford. Crowning the May-Queen. Cheshire. 1902'
Knutsford, Cheshire
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1875-2000

Revived in the early 1860s, the Knutsford May Day celebration is said to originate in the ancient pagan festival of Maia and Flora. This scene shows the May Queen of 1902, Julia Wragg, enthroned and crowned. The boy kneeling in the foreground is the Crown Bearer, who bears the crown on a purple cushion and places it on the May Queen's head.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Helston "Flora Day". The early morning "Furry Dance" through the Town. 1901'. Museum no. E.1888-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Helston "Flora Day". The early morning "Furry Dance" through the Town. 1901'
Helston, Cornwall
1901
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1888-2000

In his book, Stone described this as the 'most curious and interesting remains of the comus, or wandering dance', celebrated annually to mark the return of spring 'to a quaint old horn-pipe tune, repeated so often during the day that the visitor remembers it as long as memory lasts.' Flora Day evolved from a pagan festival and remains an important annual event for the town.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Tissington "Well Dressing". Derbyshire Reading Psalms at the "Coffin" Well. May 11th 1899.' Museum no. E.1957-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Tissington "Well Dressing". Derbyshire Reading Psalms at the "Coffin" Well. May 11th 1899.'
Tissington, Derbyshire, England
1899
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1957-2000

The congregation gathers around a 'coffin' well decorated with flowers arranged in patterns to form texts from the Bible and other motifs. The ceremony takes place on Ascension Day, but it supposedly originates in an annual Roman festival of the spirits of streams.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'A County Funeral. Cheshire. 1902'. Museum no. E.1879-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'A County Funeral. Cheshire. 1902'
Cheshire, England
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1879-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Hock-tide festivities at Hungerford. The Constable (Mr Alexander) and two Tything men with "Tutti" or "Posey" Poles

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Hock-tide festivities at Hungerford. The Constable (Mr Alexander) and two Tything men with "Tutti" or "Posey" Poles, 1902'
Hungerford, Berkshire
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.1760-2000

The festival, which still takes place today, has always been held annually on the second Tuesday after Easter. It is related to the ancient governance of the town and the paying of rents. Among the fees due are a penny from the men and a kiss from the women.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The famed clipt yew trees of Painswick Churchyard. Gloucestershire. 1902'. Museum no. E.2326-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'The famed clipt yew trees of Painswick Churchyard. Gloucestershire. 1902'
Painswick, Gloucestershire
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2326-2000

It is said that no more than 99 yew trees can grow in Painswick churchyard, and that the hundredth will always be pulled out by the devil. A recent count revealed 103 yews.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Equipment of a "Press Gang" party. Official staves

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Equipment of a "Press Gang" party. Official staves, drums, Constable etc. Fordwich, Kent. 1906'
Fordwich, Kent, England
1906
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2940-2000

A press gang was a group of men empowered to coerce people into joining the military or naval services. They are pictured in Fordwich, once a port town and part of the medieval defence system known as the 'Cinque Ports'.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Pensioners of the "Coningsby Hospital". Hereford. Commonly known as the Red Coat Hospital

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Pensioners of the "Coningsby Hospital". Hereford. Commonly known as the Red Coat Hospital, the coats being of bright scarlet colour. 1904'
Hereford, Herefordshire, England
1904
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2433-2000

The almshouses were founded by Sir Thomas Coningsby in 1614 as a refuge for retired soldiers and sailors.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The Wayfarer's Dole. St Cross Hospital

Sir Benjamin Stone
'The Wayfarer's Dole. St Cross Hospital, Winchester. The "Horn of Beer" and "Piece of White Bread" given on knocking at the Porter's Hatchway is one of the last instances of that old time charity which made provision for all comers. 1904'
Winchester, Hampshire, England
1904
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2379-2000

St Cross Hospital, founded in 1132, is England's oldest almshouse. It is still home to twenty-five 'brothers' and the Wayfarer's Dole is still given to travellers. Here, the tradition is being performed for Stone's camera.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The Ancient "Ducking Stool". Fordwich. Kent. 1906'. Museum no. E.2941-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'The Ancient "Ducking Stool". Fordwich. Kent. 1906'
Fordwich, Kent, England
1906
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2941-2000

Ducking stools were used for community punishments. They attached to wheels and taken through the town, or slung from poles and lowered into water. The photograph shows a man in the chair, but usually it was women who underwent this humiliation. The last recorded case in Britain was in 1807.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Iron Stocks. Painswick Gloucestershire 1902'. Museum no. E.2332-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Iron Stocks. Painswick Gloucestershire 1902'
Painswick, Gloucestershire, England
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.2332-2000

The apparatus of law and order features prominently in NPRA photography.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Ancient Custom

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Ancient Custom, St Bartholomew's Churchyard: Twenty one aged widows pick up sixpences, under a bequest from the tombstone of the Testator. 1902'
London
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.3200-2000

This is a custom that took place annually on Good Friday. Twenty-one elderly widows picked up sixpences from the tomb of the charity's donor and were given a hot-cross bun. Today, children receive buns before the morning service.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Houses of Parliament 1897. Speaker's Chair and Clerks table. House of Commons.'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Houses of Parliament 1897. Speaker's Chair and Clerks table. House of Commons.'
Westminster, London, England
1897
Platinum print
Museum no. E.3813-2000

Here Stone evokes the ritual of parliamentary debate. He used his position as MP for East Birmingham to make an extensive survey of the Houses of Parliament.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Westminster Abbey 1898 The Royal Maundy Ceremony April 7th. Yeoman of the Guard carrying the dish containing alms'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Westminster Abbey 1898 The Royal Maundy Ceremony April 7th. Yeoman of the Guard carrying the dish containing alms'
Westminster, London
1898
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4187-2000

In this ceremony at Westminster Abbey, which goes back at least to the 12th century, the monarch gives a specially minted coin to a group of pensioners on the Thursday before Easter. There is one coin and recipient for each year of the monarch's reign.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The Customs of Corby Pole Fair. Barrier against all Strangers at the entrance to the Village. May 1902'. Museum no. E.4555-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'The Customs of Corby Pole Fair. Barrier against all Strangers at the entrance to the Village. May 1902'
Corby, Northamptonshire, England
1902
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4555-2000

This fair, held in commemoration of a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1585, still takes place every twenty years. The road is barred and tolls exacted from passers-by. Anyone found not to have paid the toll is carried through the fair on a pole and then placed in stocks.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Westminster Abbey 1896 Wax effigy of King Charles II'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Westminster Abbey 1896 Wax effigy of King Charles II'
Westminster, London, England
1896
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4176-2000

Made soon after Charles's death in February 1685, this life-size effigy stood over the king's grave for 150 years. It then moved to the Islip Chapel, where it was photographed by Stone, and is now in the Abbey museum. The figure is dressed in the robes of the Order of the Garter, possibly those of the king himself.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Houses of Parliament 1897 The inner side of Dial. Clock Tower.'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Houses of Parliament 1897 The inner side of Dial. Clock Tower.'
Westminster, London
1897
Platinum print
Museum no. E.3771-2000

This shows a man standing behind the face of the Big Ben clock. Stone used his position as MP for East Birmingham to make an extensive record of the Houses of Parliament.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Visitor Mr Theodore Napier of Edinburgh. Memorial ceremony in remembrance of Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots) at Fotheringay Feb 8th 1909 the 322 anniversary (1586-7) Northamptonshire.'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Visitor Mr Theodore Napier of Edinburgh. Memorial ceremony in remembrance of Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots) at Fotheringay Feb 8th 1909 the 322 anniversary (1586-7) Northamptonshire.'
Fotheringay, Northamptonshire, England
1909
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4575-2000

The anniversary referred to in the title is Mary Stuart's execution by order of Elizabeth I.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The workroom of James Watt

Sir Benjamin Stone
'The workroom of James Watt, at Heathfield Hall, Staffordshire, which is absolutely undisturbed since his death in 1819. 1901'
Handsworth, Staffordshire, England
1901
Platinum print
Museum no. E.5128-2000

James Watt was an engineer and the inventor of steam power. We can tell from the title of this photograph that Stone was interested in preserving an image of this haunting memorial. It was a prescient move. Heathfield Hall, built for Watt in 1787-90, was demolished in 1927 and Watts's belongings went to the Science Museum, where they are displayed today.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Shot Marks of a Military Execution

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Shot Marks of a Military Execution, on North Wall of Trinity Church. Stratford-on-Avon 1900'
Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England
1900
Platinum print
Museum no. E.618-2001

Trinity Church is where Shakespeare was baptised and buried. We don't know if these shot marks really were the result of a military execution, but with the man positioned as he is, they make for an intriguing and disturbing image.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Warwick Pageant "Queen Ethelfleda and Britons" July 1906'. Museum no. E.680-2001

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Warwick Pageant "Queen Ethelfleda and Britons" July 1906'
Warwick, Warwickshire, England
1906
Platinum print
Museum no. E.680-2001

The Warwick Pageant was part of the early 20th-century craze for historical pageants, and it was organised and directed by Louis Napoleon Parker, one of the founders of the form. Today the pageant has been replaced by the Warwick International Festival, which takes place on the castle's 'Pageant Field'.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Rock dwellings. Kinver. Staffordshire. 1895'. Museum no. E.5153-2000

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Rock dwellings. Kinver. Staffordshire. 1895'
Kinver, Staffordshire, England
1895
Platinum print
Museum no. E.5153-2000

Known locally as Holy Austin Rock, probably after a 16th-century hermit who lived nearby, the rock houses date back to at least the 1750s. They are cut from a sandstone ridge. By the time Stone photographed them, only a couple of families still lived in the houses. Today they are restored and open to visitors.

Sir Benjamin Stone, 'Northamptonshire. 1899. Pensioners of Jesus Hospital Rothwell.'

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Northamptonshire. 1899. Pensioners of Jesus Hospital Rothwell.'
Rothwell, Northamptonshire, England
1899
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4606-2000

The hospital was founded by local benefactor, Owen Ragsdale, in 1586 to accommodate elderly and poor men.