Imperial Meeting

The Imperial Meeting is a major annual target shooting competition hosted by the National Rifle Association on the historic Bisley Camp in England.

Imperial Meeting
StatusActive
GenreSporting event
Date(s)July
FrequencyAnnual
VenueNational Shooting Centre
Location(s)Bisley, Surrey, England
CountryUnited Kingdom
Years active163
InauguratedJuly 1860 (1860-07)
AreaWorldwide
Organised byNational Rifle Association
Websitenra.org.uk/imperial

The Meeting lasts for 3 weeks each July, encompassing inter-service military matches; cadet shooting competitions; the Schools Meeting (culminating in the Ashburton Match); Historic Arms; as well as civilian Match Rifle and Target Rifle competitions. The meeting closes with the Sovereign's Prize.

History
Queen Victoria firing the first shot, Wimbledon 1860

The first Imperial Meeting was contested on Wimbledon Common in 1860.[1] The National Rifle Association had been founded the previous year with the express purpose of running such a competition to improve the standard of marksmanship. Queen Victoria fired the first shot and awarded her "Queen's Prize" of £250 (~£38,000 in 2023)[2] to the best individual marksman. Seventeen-year-old Edward Ross of the 7th North Yorkshire Volunteers was the first winner.[3] The meeting was initially open to members of the Volunteers movement, who would have used the issued service rifle of the day, such as the Snider–Enfield and Martini–Henry.[1][4]

Caricature of an Elcho Shield competitor from a society magazine.

The Imperial Meeting quickly gained significance in high society. In 1878, the society biographer and journalist Edward Walford wrote:

These annual gatherings are attended by the élite of fashion, and always include a large number of ladies, who generally evince the greatest interest in the target practice of the various competitors, whether it be for the honour of carrying off the Elcho Shield, the Queen's or the Prince of Wales's Prize, or the shield shot for by our great Public Schools, or the Annual Rifle Match between the Houses of Lords and Commons.[5]

Key matches such as the Elcho were significant social occasions on par with the Boat Race.[6] Shooters and officials were often household names, and featured or even caricatured in society publications such as Vanity Fair.

The association moved from Wimbledon to Bisley Camp in 1890 after housing development around Wimbledon caused concerns about the ongoing ability to safely operate the ranges.[7][8]

Canada House, National Shooting Centre, England

The NRA and the Imperial Meeting heavily influenced the development of shooting sports around the world, particularly in the British Empire. The formation of the National Rifle Association of Australia was prompted in part by a desire amongst regional associations to send an Australian team to compete at Wimbledon.[9] In 1897 the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association built a pavilion on Bisley Camp to accommodate the Canadian national team whilst competing at the meeting.[10]

In the first half of the twentieth century, the meeting was extensively covered by newsreels including Pathé and Movietone, resulting in an unusually rich heritage of archival footage.[11][12][13]

The sport became significantly more civilian-oriented through the second half of the twentieth century. Where competitors had typically shot accurised military surplus rifles such as Lee–Enfields, dedicated target rifles such as the Swing were developed, with the Swing becoming the first rifle not of a military design to win the Queen's Prize.[4] The military models were largely consigned to specific service rifle and historic arms matches.

In 2019, the NRA celebrated the 150th Imperial Meeting (this was 159 years since 1860, as a result of the Meeting's cancellation during the World Wars).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 meeting was postponed. However, wishing to keep intact the record of only being interrupted by two World Wars, a "miniature Imperial" was held in stages through September and October.[14] This included the Queen's Prize, which featured a reduced number of finalists qualifying to allow wider spacing on the firing point.[15]

Programme

The Imperial Meeting officially takes place during two weeks of July, although there is a build-up of other events including inter-services matches through late June, not all of which are run by the NRA.[16]: 331–350 

Typical Imperial Meeting Programme
Pre-Imperial Week 1 "Middle Weekend" Week 2
WTFSaSu MTWTFSaSu MTWTFSa
F-Class
Historic Arms
Match Rifle
Schools
Gallery Rifle
Sporting Rifle
Target Rifle
Pre-Grand Grand Aggregate King's Prize

Match Rifle Imperial
Main article: Match rifle

The match rifle meeting is conducted at ranges between 1000 and 1200 yards during the first week.[16]: 189-  Match rifle is a less restricted form of target rifle, permitting the use of telescopic sights and other advancements. Competitors may shoot prone or supine (lying on their back). The Elcho Shield is contested on the penultimate day (usually First Wednesday),[16]: 198  followed by the Humphry match between Oxford and Cambridge universities on the final day.[16]: 199 

Schools Imperial
Parker Hale L81 A2 Cadet Target Rifle

The Schools Imperial (or Schools Meeting) is contested during Week 1 by school-based Combined Cadet Forces, using the L81 Cadet Target Rifle (not the SA80-derived L98 Cadet Rifle).[16]: 21  It culminates in the Ashburton Shield Match.[16]: 208–209 

Target Rifle Imperial
Main article: Target rifle shooting

The discipline of target rifle attracts the largest entry of the meeting. The Target Rifle Imperial runs for nine days through Middle Weekend and Week 2, and is attended by international teams from around the world, with a particular emphasis on Commonwealth nations.

Individual competitors have three main blocks of competition -

  • The "Pre-Grand" - an aggregate of matches shot over middle weekend.
  • Grand Aggregate - an aggregate shot second Monday to second Thursday
  • Sovereign's Prize - contested at the end of Week 2, with the Final on the last day (Saturday).

There are a number of significant team matches, including:

  • The MacKinnon - International Teams of 12 firers (1+10 at 900 & 1000yards). British shooters compete for either England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland[16]: 316–317 
  • The Kolapore - International Teams of 8 firers (1+10 at 300, 500 & 600yards). British shooters compete as Great Britain[16]: 316 
  • The National Trophy - Teams of 20 firers from the Home Nations (2+7 at 300, 500 & 600yards).[16]: 318 
  • The Vizianagram - Teams from the House of Commons and House of Lords (2+10 at 500 & 600yards).[16]: 326–327 

Trophies and prize money

The NRA awards a number of trophies over the course of the meeting, including examples donated from across the former British Empire.

See also

References
  1. "The Imperial Meeting". National Rifle Association. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. "U.K. Inflation Rate Calculator". Officaldata.org. Official Data Foundation. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  3. "Roger Fenton (1819-69) Mr Ross Junr., the Winner of the Queen's Prize Jul 1860". Royal Collection Trust. July 1860. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023. Edward Ross was the winner of the Gold Medal for the Queen's Prize at the first meeting of the National Rifle Association. The prize, worth £250, was open only to Volunteers. Ross was a member of the 7th North Yorkshire Volunteers. In 1865, Ross won the Silver Medal for the Queen's Prize.
  4. Brian Glover (presenter) (1986). Bisley - The Queen's Prize (Television production). Bisley Camp: British Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 29:26. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  5. "Putney". Old and New London: Volume 6. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. 1878. pp. 489–503. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014 – via British History Online.
  6. Rosemary Meldrum. "A History of the Elcho Shield". National Rifle Club of Scotland. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  7. "Bisley" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 5. BISLEY, a village of Surrey, England, 3 1/2 m. N.W. of Woking. The ranges of the National Rifle Association were transferred from Wimbledon here in 1890.
  8. Duke of Cambridge (8 August 1887). "The National Rifle Association— Proposed Removal—Wimbledon Common—Observations". Hansard - Parliament.uk. Column 1503: UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 May 2023. I can assure my noble Friend that I entirely agree with him that the National Rifle Association has taken most extraordinary precautions to prevent accidents, and I believe there has been no external accident, ... Wimbledon is really now becoming London. Not only is London growing in that direction, but the villa, and even the town, population are extending in every direction. If the National Rifle Association expect long to remain at Wimbledon I believe they will find themselves very much mistaken, because the neighbourhood must extend and houses must be built;{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. Andrew J. Kilsby. THE RIFLEMEN: A History of the National Rifle Association of Australia 1888-1988 (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  10. "The Macdonald Stewart Pavilion". Historic England. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  11. ""See The Conquering Heroine Comes" Again!". Pathé News. British Pathé. 21 July 1930. Archived from the original (Video) on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  12. "BISLEY - THE QUEEN'S PRIZE" (Video). Movietone News. British MovieTone News. 23 July 1964. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  13. "Uk: Canadian Wins Queen's Prize At Bisley Shooting". Pathé News. British Pathé. 16 July 1966. Archived from the original (Video) on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  14. Andrew Mercer (Winter 2020). Fallon, Colin (ed.). "CEO's Welcome" (PDF). NRA Journal. Future Publishing. XCIX (4): 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  15. Alun Lewis (Winter 2020). Fallon, Colin (ed.). "Conquering Hero - Report Queen's Prize" (PDF). NRA Journal. Future Publishing. XCIX (4): 10–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  16. "NRA Handbook 2023" (PDF). National Rifle Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
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