The Duke and Duchess of York on the train Toowoomba. Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich.
The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) visited Ipswich ninety years ago on Wednesday 6 April 1927.
The Royal train left Toowoomba that morning, stopping briefly at Gatton and Laidley before arriving at Ipswich Station at 1.00 pm where they were received by the Mayor of Ipswich, Alfred Tully Stephenson.
Royal cars of the Duke of York at F W Johnson Motors petrol bowser (Shell), Ipswich, 1927. Image courtesey of Picture Ipswich.
The Royal cars used to transport the royal couple to Queen’s Park via Nicholas and Brisbane Streets were Crossley (UK) 18/50s. The vehicle on the left in the photo above is a tourer and the one on the right an enclosed limousine.
Framed illuminated “Welcome to the City” address presented to Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of York, during their visit to Ipswich, 1927. Image courtesy of the Whitehead Collection, Picture Ipswich.
The couple received a warm welcome from the people of Ipswich and met returned soldiers, school children and wives and mothers of men who fell in the war.
After spending an hour in Ipswich the Duke and Duchess of York travelled by Royal train to Brisbane.
The couple arrived in Australia on 26 March and were the royal representatives at the opening of the provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927.
The Queensland Times article that appeared in the newspaper the day after remarked that the children saw “the son of the King and the mother of the Princess Betty.”
Information taken from:
Queensland Times, Thu 7 Apr 1927, p. 6. The Royal Visit
The Brisbane Courier, Fri 1 Apr 1927, p. 17 The Royal Visit
Crossley Cars in the 1920s http://www.crossley-motors.org.uk/history/1920.html
Ipswich’s Royal Timeline posted 19/6/2012 in By the Bremer Blog http://blog.library.ipswich.qld.gov.au/lh/2012/06/19/ipswichs-royal-timeline/
Royalty and Australian Society: Records relating to the British Monarchy held in Canberra (Guide 5) / Kate Cumming. Published by the National Archives of Australia. http://guides.naa.gov.au/royalty-australian-society/chapter5/index.aspx