SALFORDS HISTORIC BLACK LION PUB HONOURED WITH PLAQUE

Founded as the 'United Kingdom Van Dwellers Protection Association' in 1889, it went on to become known as the Showmen's Guild in 1917 and recognised as the trade association for the travelling funfair business. The Guild represents the business at both local and national levels to this very day, some 128 years after its launch.

Its chaplain and first General Secretary was the Reverend Thomas Horne who was based in Didsbury, Manchester, and the Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales Section of the Showmen’s Guild played a prominent role in these early years. The Showmen’s Guild was formally registered in 1917.

The plaque was presented by the Salford Trades Union Council and expertly fitted by the irrepressible George Tapp under the ever watchful gaze of ladder holding health and safety expert John 'Deffo' Catterall, with Paul Kelly also in attendance to aid and assist.

Photos by John Catterall & Paul Kelly

A Brief History

Between 1884 and 1891, evangelist George Smith referred to members of the itinerant community in Britain as ‘the dregs of society’ and proposed legislation to restrict the movement and lifestyle of the people. He was successful in bringing about restrictions on the movement of barge–dwellers, known as Bargees in 1884. In 1888, he introduced the Moveable Dwellings Bill into Parliament. This bill would force the registration of all moveable dwellings and compulsory school attendance. It also sought to empower local councils to enter and inspect dwellings and regulate so-called ‘moral irregularities’. These proposals aroused so much anger and hostility that Smith was chased out of Birmingham, and had to be given police protection in Leicester and Northampton!

In 1889, the leading Showmen of the day gathered at a meeting held in the Black Lion Hotel in Salford. From this and other gatherings, the Van Dwellers’ Protection Association was born, to safeguard and protect the interests of fairground people. The fairground community arranged public meetings across the country, distributed information pamphlets and collected petitions to Parliament. In the first year, a membership fund received donations from over 500 Showmen to fight George Smith’s Bill.

For more information please see the website linked bellow.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfca/researchandarticles/historyshowmensguild

The plaques official unveiling will take place at the Salford TUC Unity in the Community May Day rally on May 1st.