Edward VII’s majestic days in Yorkshire
VICTORIA, QUEEN of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, was born May 24, 1819, and died at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, on Tuesday January 22, 1901. She had reigned
63 and a half years. On the following day The Yorkshire Post commented: ‘ The long, glorious, and beneficent reign of Queen Victoria came to a close at half past six yesterday evening’.
Queen Victoria had nine children – four boys and five girls – with her husband Prince Albert. Their second child and eldest son, Albert Edward, commonly known as ‘ Bertie’, was created Prince of Wales from December 1841 when only one month old. He was proclaimed King Edward VII two days after his mother’s death. This was in the presence of large crowds of enthusiastic Londoners. Having always been at odds with his mother, he was reportedly a reluctant heir. He announced a wish to be styled Edward, stating that the name Albert should stand alone for his father.
In Leeds on Friday, January 25 1901, the proclamation of King Edward VII was made from the Town Hall steps by the Lord Mayor of the city, Alderman F. W. Lawson who was accompanied by other officials. Six trumpeters, four or five steps below the central group, their instruments draped with crape, blew the first of several fanfares and the ceremony commenced. First the Town clerk read an instruction from the Privy Council, followed by the Lord Mayor reading the Proclamation of King. Afterwards he called for cheers for the King, and this was said to be the most impressive part of the ceremony, with hats raised in the air. Hundreds of people attended the ceremony.
There was a double Proclamation of the King at Hull on Monday January 28, 1901 – one at the Town Hall, which stands on the site of the old Manor house of Myton, and another at the equestrian statue of King William III, in the Market Place. From Manor house to Market Place was about a five minutes’ walk, and within the streets between these two historic spots, from gable to gable, was one solid mass of people, with just a narrow gap along the centre, through which the civic procession had to pass.
The coronation of Edward
VII and his wife Alexandra as King and Queen took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Saturday August 9, 1902. The ceremony had been delayed in order for Edward to have his appendix removed. Once he had recovered, celebrations were seen up and down the country and throughout Yorkshire. In Sheffield the Coronation Day’s events were meticulously planned and started with a service at the Parish church. At noon a Royal salute was fired in Norfolk Park by a Battery from the 4th W. Y. Volunteer Artillery. A tea and entertainment was provided for each of the poor of the city, of 60 years of age and upwards. Selections of music were played in a number of parks from 3pm to 8.30 pm. Displays of fireworks began at 9 pm and also took place in a number of parks. Bonfires were lit at 10pm. Oak trees were planted during the day in various parks and principal recreation grounds, commemorative of the Coronation.
By day and by night, the Leeds trams were constant reminders of Coronation Day. The Tramways Committee had given employees a quantity of decorative material, and there were very few cars without their trolly poles swathed in red, white, and blue, and not bedecked with flags and streamers. An additional stimulus was held out to drivers and conductors by the offer of five guineas by an advertising contractor to be divided into prizes for the most tastefully decorated car. The competition produced some very artistic effects. The wife of the
Tramways’ Committee chairman was the judge. The chief interest at Scarborough centred in a civic and military procession to the Parish church, the planting of an oak tree in Valley Park, and a Mayoral luncheon at the Grand Hotel. At York, the river, as may have been predicted, was the scene of considerable animation, being crowded with pleasure boats, for the greater part of the day. At night a procession of decorated and illuminated boats took place. Prizes were given for the best decorated keel boat, best pleasure boat, and best steamer.
Doncaster people welcomed Edward as King, for the first time, at the town’s St Leger meeting, staged over several days, in September 1903. As Prince of Wales he had visited Doncaster races in 1876 - and in later years he was there in 1896 when he had the pleasure of seeing his horse ‘ Persimmon’ pull off the St Leger. For the 1903 event he stayed with Lord Savile at Rufford Abbey, and journeyed each day to and from the Doncaster racecourse, travelling by rail and carriage. To travel in comfort by rail around the country he commissioned the London & North Western Railway to build and fit out a Royal Saloon for him in 1903.
The task of preparing a box on the grandstand for the King had put a good deal of work on the authorities at Doncaster. He enjoyed absolute privacy not even climbing any stairs, but using a special electric lift that had been installed to convey him from the ground floor. His rooms were largely cut off from all the other boxes.
A visit to Yorkshire on Wednesday July 12, 1905 saw the King and Queen in Sheffield to open the University buildings. The Royal couple reached the city at 1pm and were greeted in the station yard by thousands of school children. At the Town Hall, several addresses were presented, and in his replies the
King referred to the necessity of encouraging ‘ the spread of that technical and scientific training which is now more than ever necessary’. The ceremony at the University passed off successfully, with the King, formally declaring the building open, as well as expressing the fervent hope and desire for its long- continued prosperity. The presentation of colours to the 2nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry next took place in Weston Park, and the King subsequently unveiled a tablet at the Parish church in memory of men of the York and Lancaster Regiment who died in South Africa.
Edward VII was on a similar duty in Leeds on July 7, 1908 when, accompanied by the Queen, he opened an extension to the city’s university. He said he greatly admired the new buildings which he understood were not only to provide better accommodation for literary and historical research but also to meet the ever growing needs of scientific study.
In Bertie, A Life of Edward VII
( 2012) Jane Ridley argues that, although Edward was known for much of his life as a playboy, he was also an instinctive diplomat.
Edward VII died on May 6, 1910, aged 68, and there was much outpouring of grief, as well as tribute and affection, throughout the country.
At Withernsea, services were held in the Parish church of St Nicholas, the Chapel- of- Ease, and the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Chapels.
The Withernsea council met at the municipal buildings on Friday May 20, 1910 at 12.45, pm, and the coastguards, the lifeboat men, in service dress, the Rocket Brigade, the Fire Brigade, St John’s Ambulance Brigade, and the Council’s workmen were formed in procession and marched to the old church, where a special service was conducted.
He enjoyed absolute privacy, not climbing stairs, but using an electric lift.