One hundred years of ‘AngloSaxondom’ in the south - the Children’s Demonstration Pageant of Empire, South Australia 1936

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine

This article examines the Children’s Demonstration Pageant of Empire in South Australia in 1936, presented as part of the state centenary celebrations. It describes how about 13,000 school children gathered in Adelaide to perform choreographed musical and visual displays representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, India, Canada, and Australia. Drawing on participant recollections, the study situates the pageant within interwar political and social understandings of the British Empire and its role, framing the event as both a memorable public spectacle and a retrospective use of empire icons.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Interwar context and South Australia’s centenary

The 1936 Pageant: performances and representations

South Australia’s origins and the Anglo-Saxondom idea

Empire and dominions in early 20th-century Britain

One hundred years of ‘AngloSaxondom’ in the south: the Children’s Demonstration Pageant of Empire, South Australia 1936 Jane Southcott Monash University, Australia Abstract There is a universality to the sight of groups of children celebrating public events. These groups might be large or small but teachers and students put much time and effort into preparing performances for appreciative audiences. These events occur across cultures and countries, are commonplace and expected but also highly memorable to participants and spectators. Sometimes such events gain greater historical significance due to time, place and context. One such example occurred in the years preceding WorldWar 2 in the small but staunchly patriotic State of South Australia. In 1936 13,000 school children gathered in Adelaide to perform a Pageant of Empire as part of the State centenary celebrations. Despite there being rumblings across the globe about the viability of the British Empire or its successor, the Commonwealth, Adelaide was overwhelmed by the spectacle. Miss Inspector Adelaide Meithke brought the production to fruition. The pageant presented choreographed musical displays representing England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The Empire was represented by Indian rajahs, dancing girls, guards, and an elephant, followed by Canadian scenes, then Australian iconic images. The event concluded with the‘Family of Nations’. This article includes participant recollections and is framed by contemporary discussions ofthe place and role of the Empire. This South Australian celebration can be understood as a looking back to what had been, using visual icons, music, dance and a cast of thousands. Key words: school festival, Pageant of Empire, Adelaide Meithke, celebrating public events Australian Journal of Music Education 2014:2,159-83 On 28 December 1836 the first Governor, Captain John Hindmarsh proclaimed the Colony of South Australia. One hundred years later South Australia celebrated its centenary.1 At that time the population of the state was close to 589,000 .2 The Australian colonies had federated in 1901 and by 1936 the nation of Australia was described as “a big slice of the world” in which 84% of its population were Australian-born but 1. State Centenary Committee, Centenary of South Australia 1836- 1936 Programme. (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1936) . 2. Jan Lahmeyer,“populstat”, [http://www.populstat.info/Oceania/](http://www.populstat.info/Oceania/)[ ](http://www.populstat.info/Oceania/)[australp.htm accessed December 24 2012](australp.htm accessed December 24 2012) . 97% of the total population of six and a half millions were of British stock.3 This article focuses on one of the events organised for the South Australian centenary celebrations, a massive Pageant of Empire by thousands of schoolchildren performed at the Adelaide Oval in the state capital, Adelaide. This was to be the last such single-purpose massed demonstration of 3. “With an area of 2,974,581 square miles, Australia is practically equivalent in size to the United States of America, twenty-five times greater than Great Britain and Ireland, three-quarters of the size of all Europe”. Rykstentoonstellung Johannesburg Sep 1936 –Jan 1937 Souvenir Catalogue Empire Exhibition. (Johannesburg: n. p., 1936), 163. school children and was, in some ways, the end of a tradition that had existed in South Australia for decades. The argument is made that South Australia was unique amongst the States due to its origins and its ongoing sense of place and position. This article contextualises the 1936 Centenary Pageant of Empire in the Australian political and social understandings ofthe years between the First and Second World Wars. From its inception, South Australia was unique. It was founded by the South Australian Association of systematic colonizers who envisaged a“fresh colony” different to other colonies that were deemed unsuitable due to the transportation of conv

FAQs

What event does the article focus on in 1936?

It focuses on the Pageant of Empire staged by thousands of schoolchildren at Adelaide Oval as part of South Australia’s centenary celebrations.

How was the British Empire represented in the pageant?

The performance included choreographed musical displays and iconic tableaux representing regions and nations such as England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Indian rulers, Canadian scenes, and Australian imagery.

Why is the 1936 pageant considered historically significant in the article?

The article argues that the event gained historical significance through its time, place, and context, reflecting contemporary discussions of the Empire’s place and role and functioning as an interwar retrospective of what had been.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine