Boater Hat of Archibald PRYOR
Accessories
Inventory number
2026.4.29.2.AC.HT.C1919.GB
Author:
Ernest Cecil DEVEREUX (British, Slough 1854 - 1936 Eton)
Description
Boater hat made of braided straw, featuring a metal badge and ribbon hatband. The hat has an oval-shaped brim and a flat, box-like crown, both entirely formed from tightly woven straw. A cream ribbon forms a hatband around the crown, edged with cord, bearing the name “Defiance” in script which gives a three-dimensional effect. At the center front, there is a metal badge in the shape of two crossed oars. The hat includes fabric flowers beneath the metal badge.
The interior bears a hatter’s mark, along with a leather sweatband where the hat would rest against the wearer’s head.
This hat would have been worn at Eton College during the annual Procession of the Boats, held on the school’s Parents’ Day, also known as the Fourth of June. Founded in 1440 by Henry VI, Eton is one of the most well known private schools in the world, with many prime ministers and members of the royal family having been educated there, including Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Fourth of June celebration commemorates the birthday of King George III, a notable patron of the school. During the Procession of the Boats, the leading crews from the top four years row in eighteenth-century-style uniforms, wearing boater hats inscribed with the names of their boats on the hatbands and decorated with fresh flowers.
Archibald Selwyn PRYOR (1902–1944), owner of the boater hat, was an English reverend from a well-connected upper-class family. He was the son of Robert Selwyn PRYOR (1855–1928), a London merchant, and Margaret NORMAN (1866–1935), and had nine siblings. His paternal grandfather, Robert Pryor (1812–1899), was a barrister who served as High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.
On his mother’s side, the Norman family had long-standing connections to British banking and business. His maternal grandfather, Charles Lloyd NORMAN (1833–1889), was a banker and accomplished cricketer at Eton and Cambridge, and uncle to Maurice BONHAM CARTER, making Pryor a second cousin once removed of Helena BONHAM CARTER.
His maternal grandmother, Julia Hay NORMAN, was the daughter of Julia Margaret CAMERON, the well known Victorian portrait photographer, and Charles Hay CAMERON. Through this matrilineal branch, Pryor was a first cousin twice removed of Virginia WOOLF and Vanessa BELL.
Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Pryor entered the clergy. He married Elizabeth Gulielma LISTER, a painter, in 1933, and they had six children. During the Second World War, he served as a Fourth Class Chaplain in the British Army. Archibald took part in the D-Day campaign in Normandy and was later present at Caen. He died there on 3 August 1944, at the age of 42.
Materials
Straw
Metal badge
Silk ribbon
leather
Origin
circa 1919
Great Britain, Eton
Dimensions
Width : 10 cm
Length : 30 cm
Height : 36 cm
Related object
Boater Hat of Archibald PRYOR