FIRST ROYAL VISITOR

Evening Star, Issue 21904, 15 December 1934, Page 11

FIRST ROYAL VISITOR

THE SAILOR DUKE OF EDINBURGH SIXTY-SIX YEARS AGO IMPRESSED WITH THE DOMINION Royalty was personally introduced to .. .New Zealanders for the first time when the Duke of Edinburgh, a sportsman through and through, landed here m . 1869, almost sixty-six years ago. New Zealand, with a population of a quarter of a million, was poor and undeveloped in those days, and one is tempted to contrast some of the conditions that ruled then with those of today. Many of the pioneers travelled . great distances in bullock wagons in order to greet the Royal visitor, and it is interesting to note that until he reached Lyttelton the Duke did not see a railway station in the colony. The New Zealander ' has always been noted for his loyalty and intense devotion to the King and members of the , Royal Family, but it would have been difficult to have equalled the genuine enthusiasm shown then. They could . not shower any particularly lavish hos- : pitality upon Queen Victoria’s second son, but they opened their hearts and ■homes to the sailor Duke. MAORI*WAR RAGING. The country was in the throes of the .Maori War when the Duke of Edinburgh landed. To Kooti, on the east , coast of the North Island, had been causing the settlers great trouble, and Stafford’s “.self-reliant ” policy was in imminent danger of breaking down. The Maori “ King,” though not actively hostile, was suspect, but the Prince had a wonderful reception from the loyal Maoris, who named him “Te Manuhiri Tuarangi ” (the Great White , Crane). The heir of the once formidable Te Ruaparaha, who had no son of his own, presented to the Duke a green- ; stone heirloom, saying: “As my house has gone like the moa, I bequeath the talisman of my fathers to the son of the Queen of England and of New Zealand.” H.M.S. Galatea, Which brought the Duke of Edinburgh to New Zealand, . was, of course, very different from the . steel colossus that arrived at Wellington with the present Royal party. The Galatea arrived unexpectedly at. Auckland. while the Governor was at Kajvau. BIG DAY FOR PORT CHALMERS. The frigate did not come further south than Lyttelton, the Duke coming here in the corvette Blanche. On the morning of Monday, April 26, 1869, Mr Macandrew and his colleagues of the Otago Provincial Council went on the -paddle steamer Wallace,. intending to meet the Duke at Port Chalmers, but as there was no sign of the Blanche, the Wallace stood ten miles to the north. Another paddle _ steamer, the Geelong, was also looking for the ■Blanche. .After getting in touch with her the two small steamers escorted the ■Blanche for a time, but the latter soon P sped away from them, and came up to i • her anchorage at PflH Chalmers alone. ; The wharfage accommodation then con-. | sisted of a jetty, the steps of which had J been carpeted for the occasion, but the Duke evaded them and jumped on the jetty from' the deck’ of' ''the \ ferry steamer Peninsula. ‘ j The mayor and councillors of the port presented an address toVthe Duke on the spot where the band rotunda now stands, and where a similar address was presented to the Prince of Wales more than half a century later. Ned Devinei the greatest whip of the ©ld coaching days, drove the Royal “■ •'coach; the Duke being conveyed to Dunedin via the Upper Junction road.

WELCOMED AT TOWN BOUNDARY, > The civic address was delivered at the town boundary, the Water of Leith, by Mr T; Birch, (mayor) and the Town Council. The. party then drove to the ■Caledonian Ground, in Cumberland street, where , the children’s welcome was tendered and addresses were presented'by the Caledonian" Society and the Chinese residents. In the evening the Duke attended the Princess Theatre (now the St. James Theatre), and saw ‘ Lady Audley’s . Secret,’ which must have just about equalled ‘ East Lynne ’ in popularity with theatregoers. • The Duke must have been a very ; tired man when he retired for the night at Fernhill House. This establishment, now known as Fernhill Club, was then the residence of “ Johnny ” Jones, •who furnished it specially for the Duke. Nest day the Royal visitor was given a sample of what a “ Scotch drizzle ” is like in the Antipodes; but all the arrangements were carried out. The Duke held a levee in the morning in. the Provincial Council, Chambers, attended the Caledonian sports in the afternoon, - and in the evening was present at_ the citizens’ ball. A chronicler of the times stated that he “ cut ” a fine figure in kilts, and danced a Scotch reel. MAN'OF MANY PARTS, On April 28 he drove a team of four bays to the Silverstream races, and saw -Ned Devine’s horse, Captain Scott, win the chief event. In the evening he dined at the Otago Club. The next day was declared to bo a a “regular, soaker,” but this did not deter the Duke from venturing amongst the horses again, and afterwards he went to' the superintendent’s dinner. On April 30 His Royal Highness received addresses at Fernhill House, then visited the horticultural show, and after that rejoined the Blanche at Port Chalmers. The visitor must have been rather an unconventional prince, as during his visit to Auckland he played the principal violinist at the Choral Society’s concert. He was an accomplished musician, and made a hobby of collecting violins. \ The Duke was also an expert at handling horses, and frequently drove teams of four, six, and eight horses about the streets. In Nelson the fourdn-hand bolted whilst the Duke himself was driving, but he brought them under control in masterly fashion. LATER VISITS. When H.jVI.S. Galatea sailed away it was thirty-one/years before the Royal Standard again flew over Government House at Wellington. And what a wonderful transformation, had taken place in the interval 1 After going through a period of intense trade depression the country was enjoying a period of rare prosperity, and there had been great developments in other directions. But there was one thing that had changed; that was the loyalty of the people to the crotvn. althongh many of them had never seen England. The Duke appeared to have been impressed with what he saw on his first visit, as he came twice afterwards, arriving from the Cape in August 1870, and again in December of the same year. On both occasions, at his own request, he was simply received as a man-o’-war captain.

Suva was reached on' April 22. The Fijians made a great fuss over the visit, going to a lot of trouble to show the Prince their ceremonies and their dances. Edward enjoyed the fun to the full. But perhaps his best time there was when, .in the evening, after he had given his, dinner to the celebrities, he put on shorts and a sweater and sat at the bottom of the starboard ladder as the happiest of the quarterdeck fishing party. NEW ZEALAND, AHOY! The big ship got going again next morning. At 6 o’clock she set out for Auckland, which she reached on April 26. The Prime Minister (Mr W. F. Massey) headed the welcome, and the citizens not only gave the Prince, but the officers and men, a really good time. A run to Rotorua was one of the chief entertainments. The Renown left on May 3 for Gisborne, and anchored there early tiie next day. The Prince went from Auckland by train, so as to visit Wanganui and other places. An incident at Palmerston North was the presentation to the Prince of the colours carried by the Third Foot Guards at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801, when they were led by Colonel Dalrymple. The presentation was made by Mrs .1.. H. Hankins, who was a direct descendant of Colonel Dalrymple. The battleship reached Napier an hour before the Prince’s train arrived there. The dais erected for the presentation of addresses' at Napier is said to have been the most artistic seen on the tour. A very heavy sea was rolling into the bay whilst the ship lay there. PRINCE’S GREAT SPEECH. At Wellington, which was reached on the evening of May 5, the weather was better than previously, but windy. Mr Massey made a good speech at tbs luncheon next day in Parliament Buildings, but the official record states that he was quite put in the shade by the Prince. On other occasions,, wrote a chronicler with the Royal party on the tour, though Edward’s voice never actually broke, he was obviously nervous. On this occasion he spoke fluently for nearly half an hour to one of the most difficult audiences in the world, the majority present being old parliamentarians, who knew the talking business from end to end. Cook Strait was crossed on the evening of May 10, and the party spent the night at Picton. From there the Prince went overland to Christchurch, whilst the Renown steamed to Lyttelton. Captain Thorpe was highly praised for his expert handling of the Renown when berthing her. Some of her officers afterward said that Christchurch gave them a better time than either Auckland or Wellington. There

CIVIC RECEPTION. On Tuesday there was the civic reception in the Octagon, on a beautifully fine day. A thousand schoolgirls, mustered on the Cathedral steps, not only saw what went on, but heard some of the speeches, In the afternoon the Prince visited the hospital and Port Chalmers, and in the evening attended a reception in the Drill Hall, afterwards going to the Woman’s Club ball. On the Wednesday there was a school children's demonstration at Tahuna Park, also a military display under the direction of Major Lampen. Then a football match at Carisbrook, at which a team of returned soldiers defeated a representative Otago fifteen. A visit to the Montecillo Convalescent Homo was also squeezed into the days arrangements. In the evening the reception by. the returned soldiers at the Drill Hall was followed by the ball given by the Overseas Club. The departure from Dunedin for Invercargill on Thursday morning was preceded by all kinds of friendly acts. It was observed with pleasure that the Prince specially thanked Mr C. J. Beecroft (steward of the Fernhill Club) for his treatment at that place; and as showing His Royal Highness’s thoughtfulness it may bo mentioned that his very last words on the Dunedin railway platform were to the mayor; “Please say good-bye to your mother for me.”