A royal family heirloom
A framed guest register page signed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip during their royal visit to Timaru in 1954, has hung on a wall of the Low family home for decades.
But now the family is looking to rehome the piece. Machelle Holden said her late father, Doug Low, had worked at The Grosvenor about twenty years after the Queen and Prince Phillip toured New Zealand and stopped in Timaru on January 25. Crowds of people gathered at Ashbury Park to greet the royals followed by servicemen paying tribute in a parade along Stafford St.
The monarch had a civic luncheon at The Grosvenor hotel, then rested in one of the rooms in the afternoon, The Grosvenor general manager Charlotte Herd said. She said she had not come across the visitor book from that period. It appeared Low had ripped the page out and in so doing created something of a family heirloom.
Holden said she always remembered the Queen’s signature hanging in the hallway and would love to be able to ask him about it now. Low died in June this year after a prolonged illness.
She does not feel the item belongs to her or her older sister Anita Ramsay, so it may be sold. It is hard to gauge how much it might be worth as prices for items with the Queen’s original signature listed on EBay vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Timaru historian David Jack said it was a shame the signature page was not still part of the visitor book to give it context as the act of removing it had devalued it. ‘‘Theoretically it belongs to The Grosvenor ... It’s better off in a museum.’’
Jack said signed items by famous people usually increased in value.
He used the example of a book signed by Timaru boxer Bob Fitzsimmons which he bought a decade ago for $US200 and sold last year for $US2,500.
South Canterbury Museum curator of documentary history Tony Rippin said the original page would be quite a unique item.
‘‘We can’t value it in monetary terms though as that is something we don’t do. How the item is cared for or preserved is really a decision for the owner, but it seems like she is taking care of it.’’
He said the museum staff were always happy to advise or discuss good practise in caring for family taonga (treasure).
When Holden sorted her late father’s possessions she also came across a signed picture of Fitzsimmons and thought that may be an original, too, but after talking to museum staff she found they had the exact same one.