The first Kenilworth Carnival
(All information and cuttings come from the newspapers of the day: Kenilworth Advertiser, Leamington Courier, Warwick Advertiser, Coventry Herald)
How Kenilworth’s first Carnival came about, really begins almost a century earlier in Leamington in 1830, when a decision was made to build a new hospital. This became the Warneford, and opened in 1834. Hospitals were financed largely by private donations but local events were held to boost income. One was the Hospital Saturday movement, aimed largely at the working classes to make individual regular small donations, the volume of which could become a sizable donation.
Kenilworth’s Hospital Saturday movement started with a meeting on 9th August 1886, at the two-years-old Mission Room on the corner of Park Hill and Albion Street (now St Barnabas). A Committee was appointed and the first collections were made on 4th September, taken at stands in the main areas, as well as door-to-door calls at houses, and places of businesses.
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The Kenilworth Hospital Saturday movement endured; here is a typical list of subscriptions and payments, published on 12th September 1912:
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The story continues: Kenilworth’s First Carnival (page 2)