Detail
Collection Barnes Brothers
Summary
Brothers John and William Barnes were skilled amateur documentary film-makers, filming in Kent during the 1930s.
| Collection ID | 46 | Reference code | K 971100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Barnes Brothers | ||
| Dates | 1920s - 1970s | ||
| Production | John Barnes and Bill (William) Barnes | ||
| Materials | 16mm FILM 9.5mm VIDEO DIGITAL Standard 8mm Books Ephemera Lantern Ephemera Audio | ||
| Access status | Contact Screen Archive South East for details | ||
Description
Twin brothers John and William Barnes devoted their lives to film, making many films including important documentaries on Kent in the 1930s. The brothers also developed a vast collection of film apparatus, publications, photographs and ephemera relating to the early history of film-making in Britain. Part of their collection of artefacts is now held by Hove Museum, Brighton and Hove.
John Barnes also wrote extensively on pre-cinema and early cinema history. As part of the the collection of Barnes Brothers' films held by the Screen Archive South East, In the Garden of England (1938) is an exceptional record of agricultural life in East Kent as seen through the changing seasons. Other films by the Barnes Brothers include The Wheat Harvest (ca.1935) which also has an agricultural theme and illustrates the annual harvest in East Kent. Their film With the Gypsies in Kent (ca.1939) offers a portrait of a Roma family in Canterbury, Kent, showing the preparation of the caravans for their trip to Canterbury and their entry into the City
Films in this collection:
Showing 1 to 15 of 21 results.
The Fatal Shot
| Date | [ca. 1933] | ID | 1122 |
|---|
An amateur fiction film in which smugglers kidnap a young girl and shoot her dead when she tries to escape from their seafront cave.
Chilham (A Kentish Village)
| Date | [ca. 1934] | ID | 1136 |
|---|
An amateur film with intertitles which lovingly records the historic village of Chilham. The film includes images of the Tudor buildings and narrow cobbled streets, Chilham Church and Chilham Mill on the banks of the River Stour.
Kidnapped. Black Feet Indians
| Date | [ca. 1935] | ID | 1117 |
|---|
Young people produce and star in two amateur fiction films ~Kidnapped~ and ~Black Feet Indians~. Both films are titled - the first also contains intertitles.
[Recruits; Boat Club]
| Date | [ca. 1935] | ID | 1133 |
|---|
Amateur footage of pupils from Canford School in Dorset undertaking extra-curricular activities. The boys are briefly filmed rowing on the River Stour and performing drills as a small regiment in the school's grounds.
Drill Do's and Dont's
| Date | [ca. 1935] | ID | 1135 |
|---|
An amusing amateur training film with intertitles which analyses the merit of the drills being undertaken by Canford School Contingent, OTC Demonstration Platoon. The film was photographed by two of the cadets, and was most probably screened to their peers at a later date.
A Filmic Review No: 1
| Date | [1934 - 1935?] | ID | 1114 |
|---|
A compilation of amateur material which includes footage of some of London's famous landmarks, such as Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, the floats being paraded at Birchington Carnival, Beaulieu Abbey, Cobham's Air Display, Margate's seafront in the height of summer, and Land's End.
Lenham (A Kentish Village)
| Date | [ca. 1936] | ID | 1123 |
|---|
This amateur film with intertitles tours the quiet rural village of Lenham, highlighting its historical landmarks.
O’ Famous Kent
| Date | [ca. 1936] | ID | 1125 |
|---|
The Kentish village of Chilham and its surrounding countryside is captured in this atmospheric film from the Barnes Brothers. Farmworkers are filmed at work in the fields, ploughing the land and collecting the potato harvest; a thatcher works on a roof; a picturesque Tudor village stands quietly; animals graze; and a gentle river meanders by.
A Filmic Review No. 2
| Date | 1934 - 1936 | ID | 1137 |
|---|
A compilation of amateur material which includes footage of The Queen Mary in dock at Southampton prior to her maiden voyage, several boxing matches, a cruise down a river, animals at London Zoo, Corfe Castle, and a vast flotilla of Naval ships at Spithead being reviewed by King George V to mark his Silver Jubilee.
![A still from [The Wheat Harvest] (ca. 1935)](/wp-content/uploads/films/1124/image_a_thumb.jpg "[The Wheat Harvest] (ca. 1935)")
The Wheat Harvest
| Date | [ca. 1935] | ID | 1124 |
|---|
This amateur film with intertitles records the harvesting of wheat, tracing its journey from the field to the mill.
[Intake; Marching Recruits]
| Date | [1935] | ID | 1132 |
|---|
The teenage boys of the Canford School army regiment parade through the school's extensive grounds, before taking the inspection. This is followed by speeches, prizegiving, and a bareback horseriding display.
Here and There [Afternoon Tea with Sickert]
| Date | [ca. 1937] | ID | 13787 |
|---|
Family and friends stroll and take tea in a garden in Kent. Featuring painter and printmaker Walter Richard Sickert and the filmmakers' mother Rose Garlick Barnes.
[Canford School]
| Date | 1936 | ID | 1119 |
|---|
Two pupils of Canford School record events at the public school in Dorset, including sporting events and a fire, as well as images of the surrounding area.
Paris
| Date | [ca. 1937?] | ID | 1127 |
|---|
Amateur film-makers capture images of Paris's iconic buildings and streets during their holiday to Paris in the 1930s. Footage includes views of the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and exterior shots Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur.
The Gem of the Cornish Riviera
| Date | 1936 | ID | 13778 |
|---|
An amateur film with intertitles throughout depicting the fishing industry of St Ives. Specially commended by the Board of the Amateur Cine World.
Showing 1 to 15 of 21 results.