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Historical society plans display of Royal memorabilia

By Tim Howard

The Clarence River Historical Society has begun to assemble a special display of its royal artefacts for a special display to honour Queen Elizabeth II following her death on Thursday.

Society president Steve Tranter said the society’s collection at Schaffer House had a standing exhibit of memorabilia associated with the Queen and her family from events such as her coronation, royal visits, weddings and births.

But he said the society’s newspaper and magazine archives contained much more information on the Queen, who visited the region twice in her 70-year reign.

The first of those was in 1954, just a year after her coronation, when the Queen and Prince Phillip, completed a Royal World Tour she began as a princess in 1952.

In Kenya and en route to Australia when the news of her father, King George VI’s death arrived, she finally arrived in Australian February 3, 1954 with more than 1 million of Sydney’s 1.8 million population on the harbour foreshores to greet her.

Her welcome on the North Coast less than a week later was no less enthusiastic, though far less populous.

Unfortunately for the them the Queen was not the only visitor to the region as a large cyclone was heading south as she was heading north to Lismore and Casino, where the Royal visit was to be staged.

These days a trip up the Summerland Way to Casino and Lismore is an hour to 90 minutes in the car.

In 1954 it was a daylong adventure involving ferry crossings and traversing roads not yet up to goat track standard.

Historical society member Hazel Ford penned a story of what it was like in a society newsletter that came out for the celebrations of the Queen’s 60th year on the throne.

She recalled the newspaper headline of the time, Torrential welcome for Queen as 50,000 drenched people from every corner of northern NSW tried to get a glimpse of their new sovereign.

The Queen and her prince had their own troubles.

Originally scheduled to land at Casino, the rain forced a change of destination to the all weather landing strip at Evans Head.

After staying overnight at Lismore’s Gollan Hotel and attending a short ceremony in the city, the Queen’s party left for Casino. Ms Ford said when

the Queen’s motorcade left Lismore for Casino, hundreds of cars, motor bikes and even bicycles followed.

Those people began their journey in pouring rain and by the time they returned conditions had worsened.

“Cruel, pelting rain meant nightmare experiences for most of the hundreds who were compelled to journey by bus and car,” she quoted from contemporary reports.

“The vehicles which entered the GraftonCasino gravel road swept on to a deeply churned mud and slippery surface on which cars skidded from side to side and bound in heart-jerking leaps.”

Travelling back along the Pacific Highway, well before the construction of the Harwood Bridge, created one of the biggest hold ups in history at the Harwood Ferry.

“At 8.30 on Wednesday night cars banked up for five miles at this crossing, an estimated 1000 vehicles, with the ferry running non-stop and shifting about 70 cars an hour,” Ms Ford wrote.

Dignitaries, like the Bishop of Grafton Rt Rev C E Storrs and Mrs Storrs and the Mayor of Grafton John Moorhead and his wife were just as drenched when they were presented to the Queen as the tens of thousands of onlookers.

But it seems from the comments people were overjoyed to catch just a glimpse of the new Queen.

“I think the Queen is beautiful. She is charming and dainty and the Duke handsome,” a Mrs W Thompson of South Grafton put down for posterity.

Ms Ford said you could tell how popular the Queen’s visit had been from the cars parked outside workplaces the next day.

Almost all were covered in mud from their travels and most people had gone straight to work from the Harwood Ferry crossing.

Mr Tranter said accounts such as Ms Ford’s revealed the depth of the feeling local people had for the Royals.

He expected these feeling would be on display during the 10day mourning period for the Queen ahead of her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

Clarence River Historical Society president Steve Tranter looking over some of royal archives

Some of the memorabilia of the Royal Family already on display at Schaeffer House, Grafton.

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