This year, Stoke-on-Trent will mark – in many different, creative and innovative ways – the 100th anniversary of it being granted city status.
But how did that come about in the first place? And why did it need a King’s intervention?
Well into the 20th century, it was generally assumed that the presence of a cathedral was enough to elevate a town to city status, when, in fact, it actually required a minimum population of 300,000; a “local metropolitan character”; and a good record of local government.
In 1907, the Home Office and King Edward VII agreed on a policy that future applicants would have to meet all three criteria. This policy, which was not made public at the time, had the effect of stemming the number of city creations.
An application from Portsmouth for city status was subsequently refused in 1911 on the grounds of it having of insufficient inhabitants.
In 1919, King George V made an official visit to Leicester to commemorate its contributions to the military during WWI. The borough council had made several applications for city status since 1889, and took the opportunity of the visit to renew its request. Leicester at that time had a population of approximately 230,000 at the previous census, but its petition was granted as an exception to the policy, as it was officially a restoration of a dignity lost in the past.
So, ‘one down’, and ‘one restored’ since 1907 – which then brings us to the application by the County Borough of Stoke for city status in 1925.
The first application for city status was refused by the Home Office because Stoke-on- Trent fell short of the 300,000 inhabitants by just 6,000 people, even after becoming a federation of six towns in 1910.
But a direct approach to King George V from Stoke helped changed that and, on 5 June 1925 due to the King’s direct intervention, Stoke-on-Trent finally achieved city status on the basis of its outstanding importance as the centre of the pottery industry.
Knowing this, there’s a bit of poetic licence (but still a fair degree of truth) in saying that the City of Stoke-on-Trent came into being “by royal appointment” – thanks, mainly, to the fact that “The Potteries” is one of the only places in the world to be named after its main industry.
The crowds turned-out in force on 5 June 1925 to welcome George V and Queen Mary to The Potteries. How do we know? Because a film in the British Film Institute (bfi) national archives shows King George V arriving in Stoke-on-Trent to officially elevate Stoke from a county borough to a city (https://bit.ly/4fg0YlD).
The footage shows the King, wearing a morning suit and a grey top hat, inspecting a guard of honour from the North Staffordshire Regiment, entering the King’s Hall and laying the foundation of an extension to the North Staffordshire Infirmary. At the time, the North Staffordshire Infirmary was reported to be the largest hospital in the UK, outside London.
The motto chosen was “Vis unita fortior,” which means “United strength is stronger”, a reference to the fact that Stoke-on-Trent is actually made-up of six towns – Longton, Fenton, Stoke, Hanley, Burslem and Tunstall – and that the strength of the one city would be greater than the sum of the six towns taken individually.
Stoke-on-Trent, meanwhile, is planning to celebrate its city status in 2025 not simply by looking back with pride on its history and heritage, but also by raising a cup and saucer to its future.
More details about Stoke100 can be found at www.sot100.org.uk
For more information about Stoke-on-Trent as a destination, see www.visitstoke.co.uk
