| Main Performers | Miss Dorothy Crisp,
Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe MP - speakers,
Arnold Greir - organ |
| Set List | Organ Recital:
Organ Soli, 'Merrie England Selection', German (Arnold Greir),
'Jerusalem', Parry (Arnold Greir),
'Rule Britannia', Arne (Arnold Greir),
'Land of Hope and Glory', Elgar (Arnold Greir),
'Pomp and Circumstance March No.4', Elgar (Arnold Greir) |
| Performance Notes | "COMMUNISTS CAUSE ALBERT HALL UPROAR.
RALLY OF 7,000 HOUSEWIVES.
POLICE EJECT INTERRUPTERS.
Mounted police were called to the Albert Hall last night when pandemonium broke out at a meeting held by the British Housewives' League to protest against the Government's handling of the food and fuel situation. More than 7,000 housewives were present.
Several women fainted and had to be carried out. Hecklers were ejected and several persons were taken away in police vans...
From one of the balconies a banner was unfurled. It bore the words: "The British Housewives' League does not represent the British working-class housewife." The banner was torn down, and floated in shreds to the floor..."
(The Daily Telegraph, 7 June 1947)
"The rally of women organized by the British Housewives' League at the Royal Albert Hall last night developed into what might have been mistaken for a political meeting at the height of the General Election. Communists spread them selves across the upper parts of the Hall and did their best to wreck the meeting, which was called to protest against conditions and to demand a square deal.
The league exists "to provide British housewives with an effective voice in all matters concerning the welfare of themselves and their families."It was to this league, stated to be nearly 100,000 strong, that Mr Shinwell recently referred when he said:"Lord forgive them for they know not what they do."
Rowdy interruptions began as soon as Miss Dorothy Crisp, the first speaker, rose, and pandemonium followed. Paper banners were hung in front of the galleries, and when they fell away they were torn to shreds by the audience. Communist pamphlets drifted down to the arena bearing the words: "Never mind the label on the packet; the stuff inside is a Tory racket." There was noisy competition between sections of people shouting and chanting amid boos and cat-calls.
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe did his best to shout down the opposition. He said that for two years everything that meant comfort and satisfaction in life had grown more scarce and more difficult to get. It was not good enough that the Government should be trying to get a 40 hour week for men at the expense of an 80-hour week for mothers.
Many women who had come from all parts of the country to attend the demonstration went to the House of Commons earlier in the day. They took a petition asking for the appointment of competent Ministers of Food and Fuel."
(The Times, 7 June 1947) |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1947/145),
Photograph (RAHE/3/1947/2) |