THE designated William Street arch for the Prince of Wales' visit on Friday, August 13, 1920 was captured by Bathurst photographer J.J. Kelly. The arch was located opposite King's Parade at the intersection with Russell Street. The Grand Hotel can be seen on the left with the State Savings Bank of New South Wales behind, on the other side of Russell Street.
The impressive Bathurst Town Hall and Council Chambers can be seen on the right in the background. Standing across the arch is a group of Volunteer Aid Detachment girls in white dresses with "Britannia" holding a shield and trident in the middle. Local ladies in their finest, including hat and gloves, along with suited gents and children, turned out for the photo and to see his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The National Advocate reported that: "Bathurst was late for tea last night and all through the visiting Prince. It was unfortunate that cold and threatening weather greeted the Prince on his arrival in Bathurst. The warmness of the welcome, however, made up for the chilliness of the atmosphere."
Prior to the Prince's arrival, the Salvation Army Band, under the directorship of bandmaster A. F. Veale, was in a barricaded-off enclosure in the middle of the roadway. The band kept the crowd entertained with bright selections.
His Royal train swept into the railway station a couple of minutes past five o'clock. Among salvos of enthusiastic cheers, he was escorted to a waiting motorcar. As he was driven through the principal streets, ablaze with life and colour, it was always the same as the crowds of at least 15,000 of his future subjects cheered frantically.
Mayor, Alderman Havenhand, and the town clerk, Mr D.F.W. Veness, who had met the Royal party on the platform, Messrs S. Nicholls and T. Lavelle M.H.Rs., and C. W. Johnston and J.C.L. Fitzpatrick MLAs., with the press representatives, were the only members of the party to emerge from the station and awaiting them were a string of cars which went ahead to the court house.
The decorations were a credit to Bathurst and to those willing workers who had worked so energetically and so earnestly for days. There were two arches - one in Keppel Street and the other in William Street - and they were considered "beautiful and impressive". Mr F. Jennings was the main person responsible for the arches, having supplied a gratuitous abundance of the Australian national flower - golden wattle - and gum tree greenery.
The Royal procession turned into Russell Street, where the Prince mounted the capacious dais in front of the court house, it being surrounded by the leading citizens and representatives of the different war services. The martial strains of the Bathurst District Band were almost drowned out by the wildest cheering as the crowd, now estimated at between 10,000 and 12,000, arrived in Russell Street.
Mayor Havenhand read the address of welcome, and the Prince replied characteristically. The District Band then played the national anthem. Then His Highness inspected the various Boer War and World War One servicemen lined up for the occasion and entered the court house for afternoon tea.
The crowd began to melt away, but the greater proportion remained.
Sergeant Spicer was in charge of police in one section and was very strict, allowing no-one to break through the barricades. One Bathurstian, who had probably paid for the station over and over in railway freightage, was unceremoniously stopped by a strange policeman and could not get to his destination until Inspector Campbell came on the scene. Then the constable was even more polite than he had been brusque.
Mr V. W. Peterson led the Methodist Choir, arranged on lorries in front of the Keppel Street Parsonage, in the singing of Britannia, which the Prince did not forget to acknowledge with a gracious bow.
