Royal Halifax Infirmary Annual Street Procession (1908)

Good people of Halifax defy summer rains to benefit the Infirmary, long before the NHS.

It rained all day in Halifax on 10th July 1908, but the procession to raise funds for the Infirmary went ahead. Tradesmen launched elaborate floats with local organisations like the firemen and nurses. Most intriguing is a madcap minstrel band for the touring 'Casey's Court' sketch show, a comedy franchise that just a year before had briefly attracted the talents of a pre-fame Charles Chaplin.