Flowers Final 28:02:25 - Flipbook - Page 119
a little capital and the money for the fare. But soon after, the brewery turned a corner and began to prosper,
and he remained and made a comfortable fortune, much of which he spent on improving the town. For since
he was not only energetic and able, but also a man of great integrity, he became a natural leader of the
community, to the great benefit of the town. Four times Mayor himself, he brought up his three sons in a strict
tradition of public service and civic pride. One of his greatest achievement was, with his son Charles Edward
Flower, organising and overseeing the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of William Shakespeare in 1864.
He had boundless energy, and once the brewery was well established he threw himself into another cause,
about which, as about slavery, he felt passionately. He was a fine horseman and a great lover of horses, and the
current use of those fashionable forms of torture, the bearing rein and the gag bit angered him past endurance.
He travelled up and down the country, talking, lecturing, persuading, storming, in an attempt to arouse the
public conscience. He published books and pamphlets and also adopted more unorthodox methods of
publicity. For it is told of him that he used to go to Rotten Row, in London's Hyde Park, and there conceal his
huge frame behind a tree, until he saw a carriage coming by with the horses cruelly imprisoned in bearing
reins. Then he would dash out, seize the bearing rein, and drawing out a hunting knife, slash the reins
through. Then he would turn, raising his top hat, to the astonished occupants of the carriage and courteously
but forcibly, deliver them a sharp lecture. Finally he succeeded in his aim, firstly by contriving to persuade
Queen Victoria to command that no more bearing reins or gag bits should be used in the Royal Stables, and
later by contriving to bring about an act of parliament which abolished them by law. He lived to be an old man,
with many acts of public service to his credit; white bearded, magnificently handsome, with courteous manners
and a formidable temper, but beloved. And when he died he had done more than found a brewery and a
family, He had founded a tradition of public service which has been carried on through the generations that
followed him, who have both served the community and spent much of their private fortune for public benefit.
It was his son, Charles Edward Flower, who conceived the idea of an annual Shakespeare Festival at Stratfordupon-Avon and who, despite much opposition and even ridicule, built and endowed the first Shakespeare
Memorial Theatre, which was opened in 1879. Then as now, it was a non-commercial theatre, run as a public
service in honour of Shakespeare and for the benefit of Shakespeare lovers. Artistically, it was a success, and
soon became a national institution. But financially it was not so successful and Charles Flower, who had made
it his life's purpose, had to put his hand even deeper into his pocket. And when he died, being childless, he
left to the theatre all that he had. To his nephew Archie he bequeathed the leadership of the family, of social
and county affairs, and the brewery and the theatre.
Archie was born for the job. The list of fine things that he did for his home-town and county would be tedious,
but the most interesting was the rebuilding of the Shakespeare theatre after its destruction by fire in 1926.
Archie Flower conducted a campaign to raise money, and by 1932 had built, equipped and endowed the finest
modern theatre in existence. In the new building, the Shakespeare season at Stratford has grown from a
national institution to an international one and its presentation of plays is universally acknowledged to set a
standard to the world. This was the life's purpose of Archie Flower and of the present generation, and I
remember him fondly as being, like his forebears, kindly, handsome, humorous, formidable and beloved. I
feel that Australia is full of their kind. As I walk through the streets of Brisbane I wonder if I have not brushed
shoulders with their counterparts. May there not be, here, men who, like them, have the wits and energy to
make money, but who have also a sense of values which leads them to spend it upon the things which are
really worthwhile?"
Hersey Flower
