Baldwin’s big day with the Dudleys
IN early June 1935 there were two events that took place within days of each other. One hit the headlines and was filmed for Pathe News and shown in cinemas – the other has been consigned to the annals of history, yet both were strangely linked.
The newly-elected Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had been invited to stay at the residence of the Earl of Dudley, Himley Hall, where he made his inaugural speech, laying out his government’s blueprint for the country, economy and more specifically how he intended to deal with the issue of unemployment.
The new government included local politician and future Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (MP for Ladywood) as Chancellor.
The lesser-known issue to do with his visit was reported on 8 June 1935 as an open letter to newspapers:
HIMLEY HALL OXROASTING
Another protest is made by the London Vegetarian Society against public oxroasting ceremonies – this time to Mr. Stanley Baldwin, relative to the oxroasting which is to take place at Himley Park tonight.
The society in a letter to Mr. Baldwin asks him to use his influence to secure the cancellation of the proceedings.
One newspaper the following week expanded on the story, and named the person organising the event.
Champion
The World’s Champion Ox-roaster! In his comparatively private life he is Councillor Harry Johnson, of Rowley Regis. When he goes abroad with an ox roast, he boasts of his world’s championship on his turning wheel and on his business cards.
Vegetarians and Hindus will be disgusted to know that on Saturday the ox he was roasting was his 1,164th. He has roasted as many as 24 in a day. On Jubilee Day he roasted four.
It seems to be a family secret, this ox-roasting business. “My mother was better at it than my father,” said the ox-roaster. “This ox, a two-year-old, weighed 12 cwt (cwt - hundred weight – 610 kilos), live weight.
“It will take a ton of coal to roast him – 15 cwts. (762 kilos) for the original fire and 5 cwts. to replenish it. A roasting takes from four to six hours.”
He held up a carving knife that is four feet long and explained there would be enough meat for 1,000 sandwiches.
On the same day the Staffordshire Sentinel (8 June 1935) leaked the outline of the new Prime Minister’s speech:
MR. BALDWIN’S SPEECH AT HIMLEY HALL
Government Policy to be Outlined
This evening Mr. Baldwin is making his first speech as head of the National Government at a mass demonstration at Himley Park, the seat of the Earl of Dudley. The Prime Minister is expected to deliver an important speech dealing with the future policy of the National Government. His new Cabinet of 22 is the largest the country has seen in peace time since 1914.
The Prime Minister, his wife Lucy, Countess Baldwin, and the new Minister of Labour Mr. Ernest Brown travelled to Himley Hall via Birmingham’s Snow Hill railway station.
The Birmingham Daily Gazette reported on the rally on 10 June 1935:
HIMLEY HALL DEMONSTRATION
Support for National Government
MASS RALLY OF CONSERVATIVE, LIBERAL AND LABOUR SUPPORTERS
It was a happy coincidence that Mr. Baldwin’s first big speech after his appointment as Prime Minister should be at the great port of the National Government at Himley Hall, the seat of the Earl of Dudley. It gave a fillip to the mass rally of Conservative, Liberal, and Labour supporters of the Government which no other happening could have occasioned.
Speeches are usually dull things on a general holiday, even when an important personality is the speaker, but the spontaneity with which the thousands at Himley Hall flocked around the enclosure and the keen attention with which they followed every word that was said emphasised the importance with which the occasion was held.
Applause
When the Earl of Dudley spoke of the Prime Minister’s work there was no restraint in appreciation from the crowd. The “hear hears,” of the men sounded undemonstrative when, in comparison, the ladies clapped their hands at the references to Mrs. Baldwin.
The speech made by Mr. Stanley Baldwin at Himley Hall, and the broadcast plus the statement which he gave later the same evening, make it perfectly clear that there is every intention to secure continuity of policy under the reconstructed Government. This is not surprising, but at the same time it is most reassuring.
There is no desire in the country to see a change of policy at the present time; the Government has the confidence of the electors and will continue to hold it in the future. The new Premier showed that he is fully aware of the difficulties which lie ahead. He realises, as those who are at the nerve-centre of the country’s administration cannot fail to realise, the gravity of the unemployment problem. The decreases in the number of workless have been most creditable, but Mr. Baldwin has rightly vowed that this problem shall be tackled with renewed efforts and renewed intention.
Since 1931, a remarkable change has been wrought in England, and there is the danger that in the comparative security of 1935, people may be prone to forget the dismal outlook which faced them four years ago. If the same policy is pursued during the remainder of this Parliament’s lifetime, and afterwards, there should be no return to the state in which the country found itself in that critical year. During the last four years the Government has piloted a safe course through uncharted seas: it would have been suicidal to have had a change of pilot now. Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues have the confidence of the country, and no administration formed on mere party principles would enjoy that privilege this time.
It is not known if Mr. Baldwin or his wife or any of those gathering at Himley hall partook of the oxroast, or if Mr. Baldwin responded to the letter sent by the London Vegetarian Society.