Thursday, November 17, 2016

Calling all Comic Artists: Pontefract’s Secret Ballot Comic Commission

Wakefield Museums hold in our collection ballot boxes used in the first secret ballot in parliamentary elections.  Putting a cross to a name on a ballot paper is taken for granted today.  The Pontefract by-election in 1872 changed the democratic process and made elections safer and fairer.

Wakefield Council Museum Service has been successful in securing funding from The Speaker’s Art Fund to create a comic telling the story of Pontefract’s secret ballot.
We are looking for an artist to create 12 pages of art work.  The aims of the comic are:

-          To create engaging, humorous interpretation of Pontefract’s Secret ballot. 

-          Create a sense of pride amongst local communities about the role Pontefract has played in shaping modern democracy in Britain.

-          Engage young Pomfretians around the importance of democracy and the development of universal suffrage.

-          Promote the importance of Josephine Butler who, with the formation of her Ladies National Association in 1869, became the first publicly recognised feminist activist in Britain and came to Pontefract in 1872 to campaign to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act.

-          Highlight the importance of the first secret ballot in Parliamentary elections.

The script for the comic will be provided, as will other source material.
Artwork
 
The artwork contained in the 12 pages will be used in a variety of ways including:

-          To create four other pages that will give background information to characters and elements of the story. 

-          To form the basis of graphic interpretation in a new gallery display at Pontefract Museum.

-          As part of learning  materials

-          To create a printed version of the comic (which may be sold by Wakefield Museums).

These elements will be designed and led by Wakefield Museums.

Project budget: up to £3000

This budget covers fee and delivery of the following:

·         12 Pages of comic artwork (inked, lettered and coloured).

·         Rights for Wakefield Council to  use artwork however required (this may include, but is not limited to, gallery interpretation, learning resources, marketing material, online,  retail products)

·         Regular updates of progress to project manager.

All art work is to be signed off by project manager.

Project Timeline: Comic to be completed by

Friday 17 February 2017

How to apply:
If you are interested in submitting a proposal for the commission please provide the following information:

·         Rough sketch thumbnail of double page spread [see below for script & visual references]

·         Examples of previous work

·         Explanation of how you would approach ensuring that the artwork reflects the historical period authentically.

·         Details of two referees

Email to mayaharrison@wakefield.gov.uk  by 5pm on Thursday 8 December 2016. 
 
If you require further information about the project please contact Maya Harrison, mayaharrison@wakefield.gov.uk, 01924 305350.
 
 

Potwallopers and Plumpers Script:

The comic explores the first parliamentary by secret ballot in the summer of 1872 in Pontefract.
Background to the scene

The secret ballot election in Pontefract was a by-election to decide who was the Member of Parliament for Pontefract.
The two candidates in the election were Hugh Childers of the Liberal Party – the incumbent and Lord Pollington a Conservative challenger.

As the election was the first to use the secret ballot system and the high profile nature of the election was exploited by a women’s rights campaigner Josephine Butler and the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. This was the first women organised and led movement in modern British history.
The two pages released follow the efforts of Josephine Butler and her fellow campaigners to hold a meeting to raise awareness of their campaign. The current MP Hugh Childers has tried to stop the group having their own meeting in town by double booking rooms and then insisting that they only have a meeting which he chairs.

They manage to secure a hayloft just outside of town but Childers’ supporters intend to spoil it.
They have been helped by a Mr Stuart (there is no description of him and therefore artistic licence can be afforded).

Page 6:
Panel 1:

Int: Cross section view. Crowd of mainly women queuing into a hayloft and  climbing a ladder from a large room containing hay bales, cross section of floor and a women alighting ladder through a trap door into large loft room, pitched roof. It is dimly lit by oil lamps hung on walls. Behind the trapdoor is a crowd of mainly women. JB and her friend Mrs Wilson are at the end of the room.
Also visible outside but hidden from view of the crowd is a group of four men with aggressive postures and angry faces.

Caption: Outside Pontefract
JB Narration: We had been obliged to go all over town before we found anyone bold enough to grant us a place to meet.

Mr Stuart paid for a room on the outskirts of town; a hayloft with a rather unconventional entrance. However, the place was large enough to hold a good meeting, and it was soon filled.
JB: Welcome ladies….gentlemen…..

Panel two:

Close up of JB and Mrs Wilson. JB has tears in her eyes, Mrs Wilson is sniffling. There are wisps of smoke visible from the floor
JB: Mr Childers is AFRAID to meet us and answer our questions. This election is our chance raise this issue and turn his supporters against him

JB Narration: They were not tears of passion, : Little did we realise that Childers’ party had been at cruel work at our meeting
Panel three:

View of the crowd in front of JB, their eyes are streaming and some are sneezing
Crowd: at Choo….cough etc.

JB: perhaps we can now have a proper debate about this INHUMANE act….cough……cough
Somebody out of frame: Pepper?...there is pepper all over the floor

Panel 4: Aggressive men are now downstairs setting light to the hay bales, smoke is billowing up through the floor boards
Angry man: Smoke ‘em out

Crowd (through the floor): Smoke! Fire! Get out!
JB: everyone remain calm

Page7
Panel 1:

Head after head of men with countenances full of fury appearing through the trapdoor. Lead by men dressed as gentlemen, one pointing at JB
Gentleman: ?!!%$£$£

Panel 2:
Smash of a window by stones thrown from the outside….glass scatters over JB and Mrs Wilson

Panel 3:
Gentleman and JB face off

Gentleman: We’ve had enough of your talk (something along the lines of immoral and unladylike talk)
JB: You can tell Mr Childers that this kind of behaviour will not diminish our resolve

JB Narration: few of these men were Yorkshire people
Panel 4:

Policemen pop heads through trapdoor – they have a cynical smile
Policeman: evening all

JB: at last…constable please kindly remove these men from the premises….where are you going?
Panel 5:

Policemen leave
Policeman: we are only here for election matters so we will be on our way

Panel 6:
The mob move in and women start to flee down the ladder. Mr Stuart confronts them and get into a tussle

Mr Stuart: Get out of here!
JB: Come Mrs Wilson….it’s us they want the rest will be safe…

Panel 7:
JB and Mrs Wilson jump through the trapdoor

Tell Mr Childers this is far….FAR!... from over (as they are leaping)
 
Visual References:
Hugh Childers
 
 
 

Josephine Butler in 1876


Victorian Policeman in 1874



 
Victorian Gentlemen
 
 

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Playmakers

Playmakers exhibition runs , Wakefield Museum, 26th November 2016- 1st July 2017

Did you know that the football that won England the World Cup in 1966 was made in Horbury? Or that Steffi Graf and John McEnroe played their tennis with a state of the art Horbury-developed racket?


A Slazenger Challenge football for the 1966 World Cup and some of the tools used to make it
Dunlop Max 200G tennis racket used by Steffi Graf at Eastbourne in 1985
On loan from Jim Warner
 
For more than a century, Horbury was a centre of high tech, high quality sports manufacturing, home in its heyday to possibly the largest sports equipment factory in the world. Our upcoming exhibition at Wakefield Museum celebrates this important local industry. Playmakers will tell the story of how a local saddler’s apprentice became the chairman of a leading international company.

 


 
In 1870, William Sykes used all his life savings to buy his own saddlery. After 10 years in business, he turned his leather working skills to making footballs. The Victorian era was a golden age for sport with more and more people participating and professional governing bodies forming. Sykes was quick to tap into this captive market and expanded into making goods for a wide range of different sports. William Sykes Ltd went from strength to strength and was soon selling equipment all over the world and supplying major tournaments like the FA Cup.
Front cover of the House of Sykes, a promotional booklet produced to celebrate the company’s proud history
 
The William Sykes Ltd factory at Albion Mill, Horbury
William Sykes Ltd eventually merged with rival firms, Slazenger and Dunlop but Horbury remained the centre of production and innovation until the factory’s closure in 1986. In 1978 the Mayor of Wakefield opened a new Research and Development centre where many pioneering technologies and products were masterminded, including a new golf ball and revolutionary injection-moulded tennis racket.
To explore the full story, visit the Playmakers exhibition and follow our giant timeline charting all the key milestones in the history of William Sykes Ltd and Dunlop Slazenger. Along the way, you’ll see historic equipment and iconic products, and meet famous sports stars who used Horbury goods. You’ll also be able to try your hand at recreating a classic Sykes football and have the chance to live out your sporting dreams: why not don a 1966 England kit or dress up as John McEnroe and have your picture taken with your adoring fans? Don’t forget to share your snaps with us on Facebook and Twitter!
We’ve chosen a few star objects from the exhibition to whet your appetite. Visit Wakefield Museum from 26th November to see these and much more!
 
Bowls and carrying case, William Sykes Ltd, early 20th Century
 
Billiards balls, William Sykes Ltd, early 20th Century
 

Boxing gloves, William Sykes Ltd, 1930s
On loan from Miles Smith
Snow shoes for the military, Second World War
 

Don Bradman Autograph cricket bat, William Sykes Ltd/Slazenger, 1940s

Quiver of arrows, Slazenger, 1959
On loan from Roger Byard
 

 

Playmakers


Our display team are working hard to install the next exhibition at Wakefield Museum :



The exhibition opens on 26 November....

Check back soon to find out what's going on display!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Commemorating World War 1

It is coming up 98 years since the armistice of World War One.

Here at Wakefield Museum we have a variety of objects on display that tell the various stories about people, places and events surrounding World War One.  There is now also a new downloadable teachers' pack to support schools by providing information about some of the objects in the collections. The pack can be found here.

There were many families affected by World War One, not just those who lost loved ones but also the people who survived and returned.  One gentleman who returned home to Wakefield was George Kellett. Relatives of George donated his diary, written in 1918, whilst a soldier in France and Belgium. With agreement from the family the museum have used social media to share the George's thoughts. To see what life was like for one Wakefield man see @WW1_Diary on Twitter.
 
George Kellett's 1918 diary is now in the museum collection
Sadly there were many who did not return home. Students from Kettlethorpe High School earlier this year researched and developed work on two such men. Their work is on display at the museum and further information can be seen in the previous blog post found here.

Students from Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield Museum with their thought-provoking display
 

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Pontefract Museum main gallery redisplay

Earlier this year Pontefract Museum received some funding to redisplay some of the main gallery.  It looks fantastic (if we do say so ourselves!!).

If you haven't had chance to visit, why not make plans this weekend? 

The museum is open 10.30-4.30 on Saturdays, with free entry.

Learn about Pontefract's sweet history....



Get creative, and dress up....




Enjoy the amazing objects



We are really proud of the new display, we hope you enjoy them


When you've finished have a stroll around the fascinating town centre, and pop into one of the many cafes for lunch.