Egham and the Empire: Legacies of Empire

The impact and legacies of the British Empire is still being felt today, and for many nations that were once imperial territories, the legacy of the British Empire (and others) looms large in the world today.

Ordinary people came into contact with the wider British Empire, even if they did not necessarily realise it at the time. From the nineteenth century onwards the impact of the empire was felt through food, novels, the popular press, magazines, the music hall and even on the High Street. Lavish Royal events only sought to highlight this further. Towns and villages across Britain came into contact with the empire in some way, through ordinary acts like walking through the High Street, listening to the radio, or simply having a cup of tea.

Whole communities regularly celebrated the empire through events such as empire day or visiting the various imperial exhibitions that took place across Britain. Many were defined by spectacle, songs, and costume. Non British subjects of Empire were often negatively stereotyped throughout the 20th century and was often used for the purpose of entertainment, as this photograph demonstrates [1]. A number of organisations also invoked empire in their belief systems, even late into the twentieth century. 

In Egham, and other places around Britain, the consequences of Empire are both hidden and unhidden, but remain an important and often painful history that is now being addressed by scholars and the public alike.