A Royal Visit
‘The Faithful City Welcomes its Prince’
In April 1894, the Duke of York,
later King George V, paid a visit to Worcester to lay the
foundation stone of the Victoria Institute. During his visit the
Prince stayed with the Coventry family at Croome.
Here we show you how you can find
out more about this spectacular occasion by looking at items from
within the Croome Collection and the
Worcester City Archives.
The Duke of York (front right) sits
alongside
the Earl of
Coventry for his journey out of Worcester
Please use the links below
to find out more about this event:
1. What is the Victoria
Institute 4.
A letter of thanks
2. Preparations for the big
day
5. A personal insight into the
event
3. A spectacular event – the day
itself
6. Further research
.
What is the Victoria
Institute?
The Victoria Institute was founded as a Worcester City Memorial
to mark the Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. The Duke of
York laid the foundation stone on 3rd April 1894 and
Lady Mary Lygon formally opened the building on 1st
October 1896.
This grand building comprised of:
A public library , a school of art, a museum, a technical school
and an art gallery
Today, the Victoria Institute houses the Worcester City Art
Gallery, Museum and Library. Part of the building has been
converted into private flats.
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Preparations for the big day
In preparation for the visit of Prince George, Worcester
underwent a significant transformation. The street decorations
arranged by the city were on an elaborate scale. The erection of
triumphal arches, cloth covered Venetian masts holding streams of
banners welcoming George, heraldic shields and small flags, baskets
and garlands of flowers, pennants, festoons and illuminations all
met to present the Prince with a wonderful view of Worcester.
The Worcester City Accounts for the year ending March 1895
show that a total of £295 12s. 3d. was spent on the decoration of
streets and for the Front of the Marquee. In addition to the
city-funded decorations, the citizens of the locality readily
responded to a call by the Corporation of Worcester to 'decorate
and illuminate their homes and businesses', as shown in the poster
opposite.
The streets of Worcester are said to have 'been made bright by
attractive displays and the main thoroughfares presented an
unusually gorgeous appearance'.
The Guildhall also underwent repairs and redecoration, totalling
£246 14s. 3d., in anticipation of the reception of the Duke of
York. Valances, garlands, carpets, trophies and statues were all
brought in to create a reception fit for a Prince.
The Council Chamber was emptied of its furniture and converted
into a drawing room for the special use of the Duke, whilst the
Green room was set apart for use by the Coventry family party.
Security was stepped up for the big event, with the city police
being reinforced by 250 officers and constables from the
Worcestershire Constabulary, the Gloucestershire Constabulary and
the Birmingham City Police. Every stage of the event was
meticulously planned to the finest detail, with a printed copy of
the police regulations being issued to officers, ensuring that
everyone knew their role for the day. Streets were kept clear,
vehicular traffic was diverted in a manner that ensured 'no
unnecessary annoyance or friction' was caused and the line of the
route from the Guildhall to the Victoria Institute was lined 'with
Military, standing about six yards apart'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A spectacular event – the day
itself!
The Duke of York arrived in Worcestershire on Monday
2nd April 1894 and resided at Croome for the duration of
his visit. During his stay with the Coventry family, the Duke
planted a tree in the Shrubbery at Croome. He also attended a large
dinner at the Court which was attended by, amongst others, the
Mayor of Worcester and Mrs Williamson, Lord and Lady Cobham, Sir
Edmund and Lady Lechmere, Colonel Temple, Lady Elcho, George
Allsopp and of course the Coventry family. Servants of the Mayor,
who were 'arrayed in the most gorgeous of liveries', waited the
table.
Before the Royal party embarked on the journey into Worcester on
the morning of 3rd April, photographer T. Bennett took a
photograph of the group outside Croome Court (see right).
Carriages containing the Royal party and the Coventry party
reached the City boundary around 11.30am and were met by an escort
of the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars. As the Duke entered the
City the Worcester Artillery Volunteers fired a 21 gun Royal
Salute. The party proceeded along the Bath Road to the Guildhall,
where a band played upon arrival. The Duke entered the Guildhall,
followed by the 9th Earl of Coventry - who served as
Lord Lieutenant of Worcester at this time - the Countess of
Coventry and the Mayor and his wife. It was in the lavishly
decorated Guildhall that the Recorder of Worcester delivered the
Corporation Address to H.R.H.. A copy of this Address can be found
in the printed programme of events of the Royal visit, from the
Worcester City Archives.
From the Guildhall, the party proceeded to the site of the
Victoria Institute on Foregate Street. A special marquee was
constructed to cover the area of the Library Block where the
foundation stone was to be laid, at a cost of £285 12s. 8d. Here,
after further presentations, the Duke deposited a collection of
coins and newspapers from the day into a cavity, which he then
covered by laying the stone in place.
After the stone was laid the party then returned to the
Guildhall where the Mayor hosted a grand luncheon. From here it was
on to a tour of the Royal Porcelain Works and then to Worcester
Cathedral and Deanery. The Duke and his accompanying parties
returned to Croome, along with the Military escort, around
5.30pm.
The Worcester Daily Times newspaper of 3rd April 1894
gives a detailed account of the events that took place, including
information such as the menu and the contents of the speeches
delivered. A copy of this newspaper is available to view on
microfilm at the County hall branch of the Record Office. An
illustrated supplement of Berrow's Worcester Journal (Friday
6th April 1894) containing pictures from the day, is
available on microfilm at the History Centre branch.
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A letter of thanks
After the big event, the future King wrote a letter to George
William, the Earl of Coventry, and his wife Blanche, Countess of
Coventry, to thank them both for the hospitality shown to him
during his time at Croome Court and for the arrangements they made
for his visit to Worcester. His letter states 'I am sure they gave
you a lot of trouble. But I am also sure that nothing could have
gone off more satisfactorily'. The Duke signs off the letter as
'George'.
Lord Coventry sent a reply to the Duke, thanking him for 'the
gracious manner' in which he discharged his duties and for the
honour he conferred upon the family with his visit to Croome.
Coventry ends the letter by telling the Duke that 'there was no
casualty on Tuesday, and only 1 case of drunkenness was reported by
the police'. It seems that the extra police deployed did their job
well!
Both letters are from the Croome collection and are available to
view.
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A personal insight into the
event
The Croome Collection includes a typed copy of an extract from
the diary of Lady Dorothy Coventry (b. 6th February
1872, second daughter of the 9th Earl of Coventry),
relating to the Duke of York's visit to Croome and the events in
Worcester city. This provides a personal view on the two days and
offers some amusing thoughts on the visit. Lady Dorothy comments on
the Duke's tour of the grounds at Croome – 'Then we children and
Beauchamp and Papa of course, accompanied H.R.H. to the
Shrubberies, first going through the stables, none of them knew a
horse from a cow except Lord Hindlip, so that was not much of a
success'. The extract ends with the intriguing comment – 'It was
great fun hearing the people about criticise the Duke.' Such nice
things were said about the Duke elsewhere, it would be interesting
to know what the criticisms were!
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Further research
If you would like to find out more
information on the Duke of York's visit to Worcester or about the
Victoria Institute, the items featured from the Croome Collection
and the Worcester City Archives are available for you to view now.
Please be aware, however, that both of these collections are in the
process of being catalogued. This means that some of the documents
within the collections may have limited access granted to them
whilst they are being catalogued, and that no inventories are
available for the collections yet.
For more information on the collections featured on this page,
please contact the Record Office at:
Email: RecordOffice@worcestershire.gov.uk
Phone: (01905) 766351 / 766355
Write to: Worcestershire Record Office, County Hall, Spetchley
Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP
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