Unusual and sombre footage of much-loved Lancashire priest's funeral.


Funeral of Canon Morrissey in Burnley (1903)








Facts
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Titles |
(Alternative)
Mitchell and Kenyon 325 Funeral of Canon Morrissey in Burnley
(Alternative)
Mitchell and Kenyon 326 Funeral of Canon Morrissey in Burnley
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Production | |
Distribution |
Categories
Actuality Film Black and White Church Funeral Legacy People Priest Procession Short Silent Film St. Mary ShortActuality Film, Black and White, Church, Funeral, Legacy, People, Priest, Procession, Silent Film, St. MaryDescriptions
A different side of Mitchell and Kenyon: all sorrowful solemnity and no cheerful bustle. But like several of their films these scenes of mourners proceeding to Requiem Mass at St Mary of the Assumption movingly testify to Catholicism's strong Lancashire presence. And like all their work, it was good business: screening locally within days, topping an otherwise high-spirited bill.
Canon James Morrissey, who served his entire 27-year priestly life at St Mary's, was said to have commanded great local (and cross-denominational) respect in Burnley. The footage itself seems to corroborate this. Seeing as Canon Morrissey died prematurely, the film's commissioner Albert Wilkinson showed a showman's opportunism in hastily hiring Mitchell and Kenyon's services for these funeral scenes (Wilkinson was himself a sometime M&K cameraman). We know he began showing the film in Burnley with other (mostly M&K) films just eight days after the funeral. What we don't know is whether the print he screened included all the footage you see here, originating from the camera negative, or whether it was in some way edited. Some shots are badly over-exposed by the camera operator, giving a washed-out appearance... perhaps they were cut out of the print screened in 1903?
Source: BFI
M&K 326: Funeral of Cannon Morrissey. Procession of the funeral, well attended with men, women and children and including a brass band. (Synopsis) M&K 325: Funeral procession through the village for Connon Morrissey. Mass crowds pay their respects. Several religious figures address the crowd.
Source: BFI - Collections
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Reviews
A different kind of "Mitchell and Kenyon", is filmed in order to give the priest who died something to be remembered by - and he sure seems like a person that was worth celebrating, at least there was a lot of people who came to mourn - and thus we got this film form it. A bit variety for "procession" films of the time is very welcome and this kind of gives that.