Harrow Freedom Award
Stanley R. Millar
Category
Manuscripts and documents
Date
Nov 1955
Materials
Mahogany, Silk, Vellum, Velvet
Measurements
215 mm (Width); 75 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Harrow
Order this imageCollection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1101032
Summary
Harrow Freedom Award. Illuminated vellum scroll, backed with blue silk, signed by Stanley R. Millar as Mayor, November 1955, in a mahogany box, lined with blue velvet. Formerly part of the Heirloom Collection.
Full description
Churchill’s admittance into Harrow School was due to his name rather than his academic qualities. He entered the lowest class possible and stayed there three times as long as any other boys had. He didn’t make it into the Upper School as he would not study the classics. In later life he returned annually for the Harrow ‘Songs’, which have been a unifying force in Harrow life since John Farmer wrote the first one as Head of Music in 1864. The autumn ‘Songs’ have been renamed as ‘Churchill Songs’ in Sir Winston’s honour. Churchill received the Freedom Award in person at Harrow Town Hall. The Times on 25 November 1955 reported, “Citizens of Harrow, with people who work there, lined the streets yesterday to greet Sir Winston Churchill when he visited the borough to be admitted as its first honorary freeman. … The Mayor, inviting the guest of honour to sign the first page of the freemen’s roll and the distinguished visitors’ book, remarked that scrolls on such occasions were usually presented in caskets of conventional design. “But you, Sir”, he added, “are not a conventional person, and therefore we trust that presenting you with the freedom scroll contained within a cut crystal casket, skilfully executed – and in record time – by craftsmen working in the borough, we shall have divined your tastes. …” In his speech WSC recalled the first time he came to Harrow, 70 years before, to take the school entrance exam. The report includes a photograph of WSC reading the scroll. In the evening he visited Harrow School for “Songs”. There is 2-minute (silent) British Pathé film of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill arriving at Kodak Hall through the crowds for the ceremony.
Marks and inscriptions
Signed by Stanley R. Millar as Mayor, November 1955
Makers and roles
Stanley R. Millar, signatory