We believe this elaborate drilling excercise was performed by the boys of the Reedham Orphanage in Purley in Surrey. It was common for orphans of this period to be trained up for the military or for domestic service, and drilling was seen as a healthy and useful exercise for the youngsters. They seem to have developed it to a high degree and mounted festival performances in the summer and produced special figure drills for the coronation in 1911. Charles Urban filmed these sporting displays by the Reedham orphans on no fewer than nine separate occasions between 1906 and 1914.
Complete film (5:11)
