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| HRH Prince Alfred, KG, Duke of Edinburgh |
In general, I have tried to limit these blogs to England and
particularly London. But, of course,
during the reign of Queen Victoria, England, and therefore London, was the
centre of one of the largest empires the world had ever known. Events that took place in the far-flung
reaches of the Empire reverberated around the world and what could have had as
profound an effect as a first Royal visit to Australia.
Considering that it was barely more than a decade since a
degree of self-government had been granted to the individual colonies (with the
exception of Western Australia) and that the last convict ship had not yet
arrived in Australia, a visit from a Royal Prince, one of Queen Victoria’s
children, was a momentous event. This
was to be even more the case when, much to the embarrassment of the colony of
New South Wales, an attempt was made on the life of a Royal Prince.
The story is too interesting to be told in only one
blog. This is the first of a series of
three that will discuss the 1867-68 visit of Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, the
second son and the fourth child of Queen Victoria and second in line to the
British throne.
Born on 6 August 1844, at the time of his visit to
Australia, he was intituled Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Alfred indicated, from an
early age, that he wanted to enter the navy and in 1858, at the age of
fourteen, having passed the midshipman’s examination he was appointed in that
rank to HMS Euryalis. Over the next
decade he rose through the ranks, being appointed Captain in 1866 and being
given command of the newly refitted 26-gun wooden screw frigate HMS Galatea in 1867 for a world cruise.
In February, after some time in the Mediterranean he
departed for Brazil and a state visit with the Emperor of that country. This was followed by two months at the Cape,
and on 31 October HMS Galatea, under
the command of the 32-year-old Prince, arrived in Adelaide, South Australia.
His six-month stay in Australia was to be both a triumph and a disaster
frequently overlaid with elements of farce.
Typical of the latter was the controversy which started even
before the Prince’s arrival in the country.
Where was he to land? Much to the
annoyance of those who supported Port Adelaide, by then the principal port in South
Australia, the reception committee decided on Glenelg. It was selected because it had been the site
of the first landing of colonists in South Australia. Then, too, despite
uncertainty as to the date of the Prince’s arrival, there was the question of
the decorations; they
were mean and tawdry, so it was said—unworthy of the city—unfit for the reception of a Prince; King William Street was likened to a rag fair, and every epithet exhaustive of condemnation was heaped upon them.[1]
Eventually the date of the departure from South Africa was
confirmed and plans were made for the arrival of the Prince. Days passed but the ship did not arrive. Finally, on 27 October the signal guns rang
out: bang, bang, fizz. The third of the
three shots meant to herald the sighting of the ship provided a flash without a
bang! Even so, the excitement was intense.
Almost every one turned out into the streets, which wore a more lively and busier appearance than they had done for many a day previous. After wandering about for more than an hour in a most purposeless manner, irritated and excited by all kinds of contradictory rumours, they gradually dispersed with the unpleasant conviction that they had been hoaxed.[2]
Indeed,
they had been hoaxed. But a few days later, when HMS Galatea actually did arrive, it was barely noticed as it
slipped into Holdfast Bay. It was not
until five excursionists from Adelaide rowed out the to ship that Glenelg,
Adelaide and the newspapers were able to confirm that the Prince had arrived.[3]
A long and arduous schedule was
planned for the Prince as everyone sought to engage him in formal and informal
duties. As James Dominick Woods notes,
had the Prince followed his itinerary, he “would have had three weeks of the
hardest labor that ever fell to the lot of a Royal Prince in the pursuit of
amusement.” But needless to say, the proposed schedule “was not adhered to.”[4]
Today, in Australia, there are a number of buildings which
bear the name of Prince Alfred. Some of these, such as Prince Alfred College in
Adelaide, South Australia, are so named in honour of the Prince who, in 1867,
laid the foundation stone for the main building. At the ceremony, the Rev. Mr.
Watsford described the new college as one where “a sound and superior education
will be imparted both to the sons of the members of the Wesleyan Church, and to
all who may desire to avail themselves of its advantages.”[5]
But not all the monuments which bear the Prince’s name
derive from such happy events. The Royal
Prince Alfred Memorial Hospital in Sydney, was erected, as the name suggests,
as a memorial and as a thanksgiving after the Prince survived an attempt on his
life. So, what was Prince Alfred doing in Australia, where did he go, what kind
of reception did he receive, how did the assassination attempt come about? And
what, if any, were the ramifications of the attack?
For more details on Prince Alfred’s stay in South Australia,
download J. D. Woods, A Narrative of the
Visit of H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, K.G., to South Australia, by
clicking here.
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