‘To the school children of Stockton, Thornaby and Norton, with Colonel and Mrs Ropner’s best wishes’. Does anyone have any information about this image?
Image and details courtesy of Tony Hird.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Picture Stockton Archive 
On left of souvenir picture is Redvers Buller of Zulu war fame, he was one of the few who came out of that war with flying colours, fearless, but in boer war he was not the same man, their was a train named after him I remember on this site to do with Stockton.
All the best.
Derek
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Hi Derek, Many thanks for the info, Kind of you to reply.
Best regards,
Tony H
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Putting this card into context – Colonel Robert Ropner had recently won the Parliamentary seat of Stockton for the Unionists beating Alderman Samuel of the Liberals. The election was held at the end of September 1900. It was known as the “Khaki Election” as the second Boer War was underway. The Unionists supported the Army in the fight against the Boers, whereas the Liberals were against the war. The electorate voted in favour of ending the war with a victory, which eventually happened in 1902. So the three portraits, below that of Queen Victoria, are those of three successful officers who made their mark in the Boer War. From left to right they are
General Sir Redvers Buller, Field Marshal Kitchener, and Lt.-General Baden Powell.
Colonel and Mrs Ropner are at the base of the card, either side of their home at Preston Hall.
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Hi Cliff,
Thank you for the information. You seem to have a great knowledge of this period.
Many thanks,
Tony
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Tony, I must admit that did not know all of that information a week ago, I just enjoy doing the research. What I did not mention in my previous note was that this was the Robert Roper who bought the North Shore Shipyard at Stockton in 1888. His family ran the yard until 1925. I do not know if the shipyard ever built any vessels for the Royal Navy, but the two guns barrels shown on the postcard look like those on a battleship.
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Hi Cliff, Thanks again for the new information. I wish I had the patience and the ability to be able to do the research. I wouldn’t know where to start
Many thanks.
Tony H..
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The building at the bottom is of course now the museum in Preston Park, Eaglescliffe.
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Many thanks for your reply. I was wondering if anyone else may have one of these pictures?
Cheers Tony
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