In November 1918 Lloyd George came to the Black
“WHAT is our task?”the Prime Minister David Lloyd George asked a packed audience in the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, after he rose to his feet amid rapturous applause. “Our task is to make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in.”
Just days after the Armistice had been signed on November 11, 1918, the whole country wondered what the future had in store now that the fighting was over. Hundreds of thousands of brave lads would be arriving back home to claim their place in history and the government’s strategy had to be somewhat balanced in their favour. A political colleague of Lloyd George’s at the time said if he wanted he could have become a dictator for life such was the degree of admiration from the British public. But democracy was paramount and with an election due for the new year Lloyd George came to Wolverhampton to fire the starting gun for the 1919 election.
He was on a national tour collecting accolades along the way, but it was to the Black Country he came on November 22, 1918 and to the Grand Theatre in particular the following day to deliver one of the most celebrated speeches in British political history. Historian and former Bilston local councillor Tom Larkin wants this momentous occasion recognised by the people of Wolverhampton and has researched Lloyd George’s visit from the moment he stepped off the train at Wolverhampton’s Low Level Station.
Cheers
The Prime Minister arrived at Great Western Low-level Station just before 2pm on Friday November 22, 1918. Hundreds of well-wishers had gathered around the front entrance while others managed to squeeze onto the platform to greet his train from London. Amid cheers and cries of ‘He’s a jolly good fellow’ David Lloyd George alighted from his carriage followed by Mrs Lloyd and Mr Davis his private secretary.
Wolverhampton hadn’t witnessed such an outpouring of love and admiration since the historic arrival of Queen Victoria at the same station in late November, 1866, after she had agreed to accept an invitation to unveil a statue of her beloved Prince Consort Albert in Queen Square who had died five years before.
Immediately the mass queues of excited onlookers, many of whom had been waiting patiently for many hours, burst into prolonged cheering. Prime Minister Lloyd George waved in response to this spontaneous warm reception, then Councillor A. G. Jeffs, Mayor of Wolverhampton, welcomed the guests in the name of the borough, as did the town clerk Sir Horatio Bevitt. Following the formal greetings the party left the platform amid further deafening ovations, cheering and acclaim and the distinguished visitors stepped into a car supplied by Sir Charles Manders, at whose house the party would be staying over night. As they got into the car the people broke ranks and rushed forward eager to get as close as possible and a few even cried: ‘Speech! Speech!” But Lloyd George was saving his words for the podium and just smiled and raised his hat. As he left in the car he must have been stunned by the level of support and affection he had received. All the way through Wolverhampton the route was guarded by special police with regular outbreaks of applause by those bystanders who had also waited patiently to see their hero pass by. Lloyd George and his party finally reached the home of Sir Charles Mander at around 5.30pm.
The next day a public meeting had been scheduled to take place at the Grand Theatre at 11am. Special arrangements had been carefully planned under the overall direction of the Chief Constable, and it quickly become clear it would be impossible to accommodate even a fraction of the number of people applying for admission to the thetre, so a coloured ticket policy was adopted such as white, yellow, blue and pink, giving access to different parts of the theatre. All the traffic had been suspended between Queen Square and Victoria Square with the Prime Minister due to travel from The Mount in Tettenhall via Tettenhall Road, Chapel Ash, Darlington Street and Lichfield Street. Residents all along the route had been asked to decorate buildings with bunting, flags and streamers. The format of the meeting was that the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Lieutenant of the County should preside, and at the conclusion a resolution was to be submitteed, thanking the Prime Minister for his address. A welcome to the Prime Minister was also given in the form of a poem by a Thomas Bratt from Portobello.
“Arise ye sons of Wulfrun’s town to greet a statesman of renown.
One of the finest of his day,
Who loves to hear the words fair play.
Born for this cause without a doubt,
To turn the cruel Kaiser out,
And to remove his brutal son
This work he has most nobly done.
Let politics be cast away, Then all your British pluck display.
And give this statesman