Piece Hall Sing

The Piece Hall Sing – Aka Sunday School Jubilee Sing, Sunday School Sing – was a local singing festival introduced on 14th September 1831 – with an attendance of 14,431 – in celebration of the jubilee of local Sunday school movement with choirs and bands.

14 Sings were held at 5-yearly intervals between 1831 and 1890. These were held during Whit week in May at the Piece Hall.

• In 1852, 21,570 teachers and scholars assembled for the Sing
• In 1861, around 27,561 teachers and scholars from 87 Sunday schools were present
• In 1863, there was a special Sing with an attendance of 20,000 when the Prince of Wales came to the town to open Halifax Town Hall
• The last Sing was held at the Piece Hall in 1890. Thomas Wadsworth was the conductor. The Halifax Courier reported that there were 30,985 taking part, and these came from 93 Nonconformist Sunday Schools. There were no Anglican scholars. The scholars included:
  • 5923 Wesleyan
  • 3678 United Methodist Free Church
  • 3366 Methodist New Connexion
  • 2245 Primitive Methodists
  • 6472 Congregationalists
  • 2593 Baptists
  • 320 from Northgate End Unitarian Chapel

  For this last Sing, the balconies of the Piece Hall were crowded with spectators, others stood on Beacon Hill and neighbouring slopes, and points of vantage everywhere were occupied

See Sarah Ann Barker, Abel Dean, Joseph Seed, Daniel Sugden and Sunday Sing

Page Ref: MMP62

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