Published at 19:29, Thursday, 04 March 2010

HARRINGTON was trying to raise its profile back in November 1889.

The townsfolk wanted to showcase their industrial capabilities – nothing unusual about that.

But they were also keen to let the rest of the area know that their town also had a number of highly talented artists, of various sorts, within its boundaries.

Talking the talk was easy, but they also had to prove that they could walk the walk. So it was decided to hold an Industrial and Fine Art Exhibition.

What better way to provide a showcase for all the various talented individuals in the area?

The event was organised by the Harrington Literary Association in co-operation with Harrington Model Yacht Club. It seems that the Literary Association had hit a sticky patch and was looking for ways to boost its membership; E McNally headed the ad-hoc committee which organised the event.

To secure maximum publicity for such an event, it does help, then as now, to get a ‘name’ to take an interest in the proceedings. The organisers persuaded Sir James Bain to come down from Glasgow to open the exhibition, which was held in Harrington Temperance Institute.

He was accompanied on the platform for the ceremony by an assortment of local worthies. Speeches were made, they always were on such occasions. There was no cursory “I declare this exhibition open” in Victorian days, anyone attending such an event had to have stamina.

The Rev AF Curwen, Rector of Harrington, introduced the guest to the crowd. He stressed the importance of linking art with industry, absolutely essential if Britain was to compete with foreign manufacturers who, for whatever reason, had acquired a reputation for being artistic. He was also certain that such an exhibition could help to persuade the labouring classes that the wealthy were taking an interest in them.

He felt that Labour and capital should never quarrel.

It was a pretty political speech – for a clergyman.

Sir James Bain didn’t really need much of an introduction. He had been connected, as an employer, with the area for the previous 25 years. He told his audience that, given that the entries were drawn from such a small area, the exhibition was the equal to any exhibition he had ever seen. He also put in a plea for industrial harmony, hoping that employers and workers could work together for the common good.

He was especially impressed with a model engine, created by a local youth, which showed great engineering ability. He didn’t name the creator of this engine, but, from scanning the list of winners, it was probably AF Young from Harrington.

Some familiar names crop up in the list of winners, not all of them from Harrington. The St Bees artist John D Kenworthy came first, out of 16 entries, in the ‘Pencil, chalk or drawing’ class, but Thomas Bushby only came second to Keswick’s JW Oddy in the ‘Water colour painting’ class. Both oil painting classes were won by Wigton’s JB Towerson. But there doesn’t appear to be a listing of the paintings that were entered into the exhibition. Or, and this is my usual question, what happened to them all.

John and Richard Williamson, not too surprisingly, won prizes for their model boats and yachts. So what happened to them? It’s the same with the rather large model yachts which were raced by members of the Model Yacht Club. I wonder how many of them are stored away in attics or garages even after all these years.

The exhibition attracted over 500 entries, 272 of which came from Harrington but also on view were various loan items and collections. Such items were always of interest back in Victorian times. We, courtesy of TV and travel, are aware of many of the wonders of the natural and scientific world but this wasn’t the case for most of the population in earlier years. Again we can only guess what wondrous miscellaneous items were lent to the exhibition.

I haven’t mentioned the various women’s and girls’ classes – crewel work, patchwork, needlework, knitting, etc. Or the Miscellaneous class, won by William Craig who entered a cork model of Harrington Church.

Beekeeping was obviously popular at the time. In the Apiarian class, first prize went to “Harrington Co-operative Society” for the “Largest and Most Interesting Collection.” Intriguing!

Most people agreed that the exhibition had been a great success but did it really put Harrington on the cultural map? Or breathe life into its Literary Association? Anyone know?

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk