As part of my Family History research, my Grandmother confirmed to me many times that the Blackburn Hall was formerly the ‘Rothwell Empire’; it opened as the Empire in 1913. Each ‘show’ consisted of silent films accompanied by a pianist, together with a ‘turn’ (live act). My Great Grandfather, George Henry Parker became commissionaire at the Empire after ill health forced him to leave colliery work; he was there for many years, and my Grandmother and her sisters as young girls used to help him earn a little family extra money by running a concession stand in the foyer selling sweets in ‘twists’ of paper. Rumour has it that when Queen Victoria visited Rothwell, she was filmed passing the Empire in her carriage and my grandfather could be seen outside the Empire in his full uniform as she passed.
As part of my Family History research, my Grandmother confirmed to me many times that the Blackburn Hall was formerly the ‘Rothwell Empire’; it opened as the Empire in 1913. Each ‘show’ consisted of silent films accompanied by a pianist, together with a ‘turn’ (live act). My Great Grandfather, George Henry Parker became commissionaire at the Empire after ill health forced him to leave colliery work; he was there for many years, and my Grandmother and her sisters as young girls used to help him earn a little family extra money by running a concession stand in the foyer selling sweets in ‘twists’ of paper. Rumour has it that when Queen Victoria visited Rothwell, she was filmed passing the Empire in her carriage and my grandfather could be seen outside the Empire in his full uniform as she passed.