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The 1953 Coronation

Although probably not remembered to the same extent as the Royal visit the following year, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2 1953 was remarkable for what it shows about attitudes to the monarchy in the middle of the 20th century.

By Mirboo North Times - 16th July 2003 - Back to News

Overlooked in the rather brief media coverage of the fiftieth anniversary of this event was the extent to which individual communities throughout the then British Empire marked the occasion.

In this Mirboo North was no different from thousands of other communities. The Shire of Mirboo formed a Celebrations Committee, which called a public meeting to determine how the Coronation should be celebrated locally, and a Coronation Celebrations appeal launched.

Coronation Day, June 2, began with a well attended divine service at the Shire Hall. Conducting the service was the Rev W Spencer from St Mary’s and the Rev J de Vries from the Presbyterian Church. During the service Shire President A McPhie gave a brief address "on the significance of the occasion in all our lives."

Beginning at the school, and ending at the recreation reserve, a procession then took place, and it’s clear from the account in the local paper that "many hours of thought and time had gone into" preparation of the floats.

"As well as a grand collection of decorated bicycles, tricycles, carts, horse vehicles," says the account in the June 11 edition of the Gippslander & Mirboo Times, "and quite an effective array of children in fancy costume, there was a most praiseworthy number of floats and tableaux representing many of the township’s organizations and sporting bodies."

"Some of these were most amusing, whilst others, notably the Country Women’s Association and Church of England floats, were instructive representations of the organizations they represented."

On arrival at the recreation reserve, prize winners in various categories were presented with a special medallion by the Shire President. These included Best Decorated Vehicle, Best Trade Display, and Most Humorous Display. This last category was taken out by Jordan and Trease for ‘Ma and Pa Kettle going to the Coronation. ‘

A sports afternoon was then held, "for the children," with each child present at the rec presented with a coronation medal, showing on one side the emblem of the Shire of Mirboo, and on the other a likeness of the Queen. Each child was also given a souvenir Coronation booklet. In addition, there were two tree planting ceremonies, one at the recreation reserve, another at the swimming pool. Cr. McPhie planted a Scarlet Oak tree at the rec, while Mr S. W. Milner, President of the Baths Committee, planted a flowering cherry tree.

Later a bonfire was held "on the parking allotment opposite the Shire Hall…hundreds of people thronged around the huge blaze, and for some time the sky was brightened not only by the firelight, but by the traceried designs of exploding fireworks."

An eventful day was ended with a ball at the Shire Hall attended by a "huge crowd seeking to prolong their day of celebrations and rejoicing as far as possible into the night." It was during the ball that the "only objectionable feature of the whole day" took place. A small group of younger revellers "let their enthusiasm get well out of hand." Their main crime seems to have been to not listen to an entertainer brought from Melbourne for the occasion.

A more significant voice of dissent was provided by R L Davies, teacher, Darlimurla resident, and father of the former Member for Gippsland West, Susan. Even here, the dissent only went so far as to question how the Coronation should be celebrated. In a letter to the editor in the month before the coronation, Mr Davies called for "projects which have lasting value." He described the proposed Coronation celebrations as a waste of money. Using the figure £400 as a guide, he pointed out that this amount of money would build a meeting hall for the Scouts and Guides, add substantially to the kindergarten building fund, or provide scholarships for twenty school children for a year.

This resulted in a number of letters to the editor in response, probably the most interesting of which was written by A. Moir. "Decorations and fireworks would create an impression of excitement and splendour which children would always connect with the Queen’s Coronation," he writes. "Let us forget the needy organizations in Mirboo North for the moment and spend recklessly on a never to be forgotten display, which may pay us dividends in the future, in fostering true loyalty to our Gracious Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth!"

Mr Davis received no support for his stance in the newspaper. While the figure of £400 he suggested was a bit off the mark- the actual amount raised by the Coronation Celebrations Appeal was £281/8/- - this does not take into account the money contributed by the Shire of Mirboo for such things as the special medallions so generously given out to the children of the shire.

It seems that locals could not get enough about the Coronation. Extensive coverage, for instance was given to letters written by sisters Mary and Ruth Austin to their parents, Mr and Mrs Les Austin of Mirboo North. They were in London the day of the Coronation, and their letters convey great enthusiasm for the event. Describing it as "one of the grandest days of my life," Mary Austin in one letter goes into great detail in explaining a day which did not finish for her until 2.30 am. "The crowd nearly went crazy when the procession was about to start," she writes, and later, "we gave Mr Menzies a great coo-ee as he passed and his head was half way out the carriage as he went by."

Within a month locals were able to see a documentary of the event. Announcement of the local screening of "A Queen is Crowned" (with commentary by Sir Laurence Olivier) was accompanied by the announcement that "owing to the record crowds which are attending this film throughout the world, children will be charged full price" at the Saturday night screening, one of three scheduled locally. Patrons also had the opportunity to purchase ‘Special Coronation Books’ for 2/3

Later in the year, the Royal Melbourne Show for 1953 was renamed the Royal Melbourne Coronation Show.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com