Wesley Perrins was a Labour Politician for Birmingham Yardley and a Local Historian of the Black Country in the 20th Century. This is a recording produced by the BBC for a series entitled 'Grass Roots', this was the 4th episode entitled 'A Black Country'. Here Mr. Perrins visits places fond to him as a child while discussing the history and character of the Black Country.
Produced by: BBC Midlands
Directed by: Edmund Marshall
Starring: Wesley Perrins
Cameraman: Stewart A. Farnell
Recordist: Bill Barker
Editor: Edward Le Lorrain
Originally aired: Jan 27th, 1965
UK copyright on Broadcasts is 50 years from date of broadcast, meaning this film has been in the Public Domain since 2015. I have uploaded it here as an archive for educational and entertainment purposes of those with an interest in the topic.
This recording was passed to me by the grandson of Mr. Perrins; Mr. Andrew Bulman, who very kindly has given me permission to share it with you all, and to whom I am most grateful.
As a note on the quality of the recording, I think originally this would have been recorded on Cine Film as evidenced by some of the damage to the film as well as the clicking sound on the audio at times. This then was likely transferred with positive results to VHS, however more errors have crept in. This was then transferred to disc as a .VOB file. To make this read for upload I have then had to rip this from the disc and transcode it to another file format, before opening it in a video editor to try and make minor improvements where possible.
Needless to say, going through so much I think it's amazing that the footage looks and sounds as good as it does. Perhaps a higher quality version can be made if someone can locate the original cine film again so it can be digitised directly, for now, this will have to suffice.
Biography:
Wesley Perrins was born the 21st September 1905 at Balds Lane, Wollescote in Stourbridge to a working class family. His grandfather had been a nailer and was known locally as '"Wise Tummy" because he could read. His father was Councillor Amos Perrins of Stourbridge and his mother was Rose Hannah Jesper.
Mr. Perrins was educated at Wollescote Council School and at the Upper Standard School in Lye.
In July 1932, Perrins married Mary Evans, the daughter of Charles Evans. They had 2 children;
Inga (8 March 1935) and Bryn (18 January 1944) who both pursued successful careers in higher education.
He was elected at the 1945 general election as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley with the Labour party, a position he held until 1950.
He was a members of Worcestershire County Council from 1955 to 1974 and of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party from 1965 to 1965.
When Mr Perrins retired he did the people of the Black Country a further service by taking up a role as a local historian, his works have been cited by many who came after him including the likes of folklorist Jon Raven.
Mr Perrins passed away on the 12th January 1990 at the age of 84.
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Wesley Perrins on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_...
IMDB listing for this documentary:
www.imdb.com/title/tt4176468/...
An interview with Mr Wesley Perrins by the Liverpool University Press:
www.liverpooluniversitypress....
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