3-021-237 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mr. Disraeli opening the Industrial Exhibition at Halton, Buckinghamshire, 1868. 'The right hon. Gentleman made a skilful and appropriate speech...The proceedings took place on the lawn in front of Halton Manor House, which is the property of Baron Lionel de Rothschild...Nearly five thousand persons were present...The exhibition was set forth in several marquees. Among the contributors were farmers, tradespeople, skilled artisans, labourers, and their wives and daughters, besides many school children and domestic servants. The articles sent were in each case the genuine work of the exhibitor. They included lace, embroidery, Aylesbury silk, specimens of wood and stone carving, rustic seats, garden tables, flower-stands, various specimens of wickerwork and work in straw, rush, willow, or grass, garden tools, decorations for schools and churches, needlework, knitting, netting, and articles of household furniture. There were also stuffed birds and cases of moths, fossils collected from the neighbourhood, groups of artificial flowers, specimens of penmanship and maps, and a variety of useful mechanical contrivances, which showed considerable ingenuity and skill'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.