82 
THE YORK HISTORIC PAGEANT. 
Mr. JOHN HOLDEN, Mr. J. S. SUTCLIFFE, 
and Mr. W. LEWIS GRANT. 
November 2nd, 1909. 
Mr. Holden opened by giving a brief account of his 
impressions on entering the City of York on the festive day, 
and a detailed description of the organisation of the Pageant.’ 
Credit for the inception of the Pageant was given to Mr. 
George Kirby, Curator of the York Exhibition, who addressed 
a letter to the Yorkshire Herald ” on the subject in April, 
1907. The i’dea was warmly taken up ; it was definitely 
decided to promote a pageant, and Mr. Louis Parker was 
appointed Pageant Master. Of this Pageant Master no 
praise is too great, and \ ork was exceptionally fortunate 
m securing the services of such an ardent and enthusiastic 
worker. In his eloquent address to the citizens of York in 
February, 1908, Mr. Parker explained what a Pageant was, 
what were its ends and justification, and pointed out the 
grave responsibility of such an uridertaking, and the great 
demands it would make upon the people of York of all classes, 
trades, and professions, outlined its organization, estimated 
its cost, and explained its utility. He declared that the 
uses of Pageantry were not financial but educational ; the 
children of York would be shewn the entire history of their 
city, which formed a large fragment of the history of England. 
The Secretary of the Pageant, in reply to Mr. Holden’s 
enquiry, gave some interesting particulars ; the secretarial 
duties entailed two and a half years’ work, arid this with the 
assistance of eight clerks, thirty servitors and one hundred 
stewards ; £5,000 was received as a guarantee against loss • 
the sale of tickets realised £11,605 13s. Od. ; the expenditure 
was £12,000; costumes and properties cost £2,100 and the 
band £850; the performers numbered 3,000 and hundreds 
ol them paid for their own costumes ; every subscriber had 
his money returned, and £800 was divided amongst York 
