The Colonial and Indian Visitors

A carte-de-visite commemorating the visit of the Colonial and Indian representatives to Bradford on Friday 6 August 1886. They are seen here on the steps of Bradford Town Hall.

The visitors were in England for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition which ran in South Kensington from 4 May to 20 November. The exhibition was 'intended to stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union,' according to a speech delivered by the Prince of Wales prior to the opening.

Many of the 'Colonial and Indian visitors' were governors, former governors, High Commissioner and Secretaries, judges, army officers, their wives and their families, but there were also many elite Indian guests. Committees organised various excursions for the visitors, including excursions to the manufacturing towns of northern England. Leeds, York, Newcastle and Bradford were visited one week, followed by Manchester, Liverpool and Chester the next week. Some visitors toured as far afield as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. There were also shorter excursions from London, visits to country seats and entertainments in the capital, so that 'the Indian visitors should take away with them a deep and lasting feeling of attachment to the old country' (The Times, 29 April 1886).

Photographed by Joseph Bottomley of Bradford.