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Everyone Shall Have Enough Peas

1925 , Sawston (Cambridgeshire)

Cat no. 1653

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Standing by Sawston War Memorial, a crowd has gathered around the Town Crier as he waves a hand bell. In an open field the bell signals to a large crowd of people of all ages who rush to start gathering peas. Most of the crowd are wearing hats, and carrying baskets, sacks or bags. A small boy and a few others are more interested in the film maker and gaze at the camera. The film maker lingers on a group of young women sitting on the ground in their cloche hats, tan elderly man kneeling and being watched by a crowd, and and an elderly woman. Harvesting over, people parade past the camera with their gathered peas. A group of small children stand around the overflowing baskets.

Keywords

Charity; Gleaning; Traditions; Pea picking; Harvesting

Background Information

In his will dated 4 August 1554, John Huntingdon left his land and property to his wife Joice on condition that two acres be planted annually with white peas for the relief of the poor of Sawston. The story is that Joice had been distressed to see a poor widow jailed for stealing a handful of peas. Peas could be dried for future use, so were a helpful contribution to the poor. The pea picking became an annual custom and John Huntingdon’s Charity continues to provide social funding and support for Sawston people. On comparing two versions of this film, the title screen is the same, but this film at EAFA has some different scenes from the Pathe Super Gazette version published on the British Pathe website https://www.britishpathe.com/video/everyone-shall-have-enough-peas The version at EAFA shows the town crier, and the scenes of the pick pickers are different, and longer in this version. Pathe would have had different edits for the various newsreels. The film was received in EAFA on 35mm nitrate which was copied for preservation.

Manifestations

Everyone Shall Have Enough Peas

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