The Great Exhibition of 1851- whether it was done to enhance internationalism by the Royal family of Britain or was a coy plan to show British superiority over foreign goods, was a booming success that lasted for nearly five months and attracted six million attendees. Queen Victoria had nothing but praises for the exhibition when it opened. She remarked, “This day is one of the greatest and most glorious of our lives… It is a day which makes my heart swell with thankfulness.” As she visited the different segments of the exhibition, she was impressed and wrote, “We saw beautiful china from Minton’s factory and beautiful designs”.
This exhibition was the first of its kind as it not only displayed the native objects, goods from different countries were allotted their sections. Many famous names visited the exhibition like Charles Darwin, people from the Orléanist Royal Family, Charlotte Brontë, Samuel Colt, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, and George Eliot.
If people of today wished to imagine how the exhibition looked like, they need not go further than Charlotte Brontë’s commentary of the exhibition. She wrote, “Whatever human industry has created you find there, from the great compartments filled with railway engines and boilers, with mill machinery in full work, with splendid carriages of all kinds, with harness of every description, to the glass-covered and velvet-spread stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of the goldsmith and silversmith, and the carefully guarded caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. It may be called a bazaar or a fair, but it is such a bazaar or fair as Eastern genii might have created.”
It is speculated that the origins for the size of the exhibit could be traced back to the Paris Exposition of 1849. Furthermore, the idea of the exhibit came from small-scaled exhibitions that were held in London from time to time by the Royal Society of Arts. The exhibitions before this one were all mainly focused on displaying native products hence it was such a pleasant surprise and a victory.
The brilliant minds behind The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations were those of Prince Albert and Henry Cole. The two of them felt that an international cultural fair was the way to compare the British manufactured products with those of other countries. With the ambition combined with Prince Albert’s continuous sponsorship, the government was swayed enough that the first advertisement of the plans was made in 1850 by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition.
The marvel of a structure that was set to be erected in Hyde Park, London was Crystal Palace. It was a design challenge that was taken upon by Joseph Paxton, a head gardener at the Chatsworth estate in Derbyshire. The structure was magnificent, with sunlight filtering in through the glass panes. The structural statistics were remarkable hence they were praised publicly as they were inscribed on the exhibition prize medals. William Makepeace Thackeray, a famous novelist, wrote a poem about the inauguration ceremony of the Crystal Palace:
As though ’there by a wizard’s rod
As the blazing arch of lucid glass
Leaps like a fountain from the grass
To meet the sun.
There was no doubt that each day of the exhibition itself was a success but it did hurt the pride of the British. Prince Albert’s plan of establishing dominance over other countries suffered many obstacles when he realized that British manufacturing goods, while noteworthy, were not remarkable. They could certainly not be called the best because the French were ahead in design whereas the Americans were the master of mass-producing and the Germans had no rival when it came to impressive engineering. This did not sit well with the Prince or the government which spurred on many decisions to improve the scientific and industrial community of the nation.
The profit that was made from the exhibition amounted up to £186,000. Prince Albert announced that the funds were to be used to “increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry”. On his orders, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 was charged with spending the money carefully. The first order of business was the acquisition of 96 acres of land in South Kensington. As Prince Albert hoped to promote research and knowledge in the nation, the Royal Commission built ‘Albertopolis’, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum on that land. These are the museums that still stand tall today and attract thousands of people seeking knowledge of culture, science, and much more.
As part of his expansion plan of advancement in the country, Prince Albert specified to the Royal Commission to focus on various fields. With that spirit, the Royal Commission appropriately used the funds to erect the Royal Colleges of Art and Music; Imperial College, and the Hall of Art and Science (the Royal Albert Hall). Even though the land that the museums were constructed on were bought by the government, the Royal Commission is the main landlord of the region that brims with the British cultural spirit and has considerable power over it.
Prince Albert’s vision was not limited to acquiring and expanding the cultural landscape, he wanted advancement to seep into every crevice of the society. For this very purpose, he envisioned a future where scholarships will be offered to bright and curious minds. His vision came true 30 years after his death. In 1891, the Royal Commission started a series of scholarships and grants to facilitate the researches of young scientists.
It has been a century since the historic start of furthering the research of all kinds in the U.K. and the program is known as Research Fellowships. The Great Exhibition of 1851 often seems like an event of the past but its ripples are still very much in effect as many researchers benefit through the fellowships. Prince Albert’s and the Royal Commissions’ vision and effort have allowed scientists to pursue their passion and work. Many of the scientists who were bestowed the grants went on to revolutionize the world and win Noble prizes. Research Fellowships has seen through and funded the early careers of 13 Noble laureates which include revered names like Paul Dirac and Peter Higgs.
The tens of millions of profit of the exhibit were cleverly utilized and invested which has enabled the Research Fellowships to give out £2 million worth of awards to be granted to Fellows every year.
The exhibition’s long-term effects are irrefutable as it inspired other countries to hold similar international cultural fairs. The 19th century saw an international fair happening each year in different cities like Paris, Dublin, New York, Vienna, and Chicago.
The Crystal Palace Exhibition impacted the world in many areas like art, design, trade, culture, international relations, and more. To this day, the majesty of Crystal Palace is remembered and the ingenuity of the Royal Commission is marveled over. If it were not for the exhibition, internationalism, manufactured product comparisons and international cultural fairs would not have been shaped the way they are today.
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