British Film Institute

Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White (born in Portstewart, County Antrim, in 1835) was awarded the British Army's highest honour, the Victoria Cross, for his personal heroism in the 1879 Battle of Charasia in India during the Afghan War (1878-80). He was knighted in 1886 for his service in Burma, and appointed commander in chief in India in 1893 and governor Gibraltar in 1900.

At the time of his death, on 24 June 1912, he was best remembered as the 'gallant defender of Ladysmith' during its 118-day siege by Boer forces in the second Boer War (1899-1902), and it is in this way that Topical Budget, with characteristically fulsome patriotism, represents him here. Sir George was accorded a full state funeral, and Topical Budget's camera, from its vantage point at what appears to be a corner of Birdcage Walk close to Buckingham Palace, records the procession passing by, led by the Queen's Guards and culminating in the garlanded coffin itself, drawn by seven horses and with mounted escort. An impressive crowd has turned out to mark the solemn occasion.

Mark Duguid

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