Many residents attended welcomes to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester on their visit to the district on Tuesday morning and afternoon. In the morning the Duke and Duchess arrived at Brunswick, where they were met by the road board member, Mr. L. J. Duignan. Later, they travelled by train, to Harvey, where they attended a public reception on the recreation ground and a luncheon in the R.S.L. Hall. They inspected the South West Co-op Dairy Farmers Ltd. cheese factory and were conducted on a tour of the closer settled areas around Harvey. At 2.30 p.m. they left by car for Waroona where a reception was held on the Waroona recreation ground. Ideal weather prevailed. In the Royal party were Major General C. H. Millar, chief of the Duke’s staff; Captain E. McGrigor, A.D.C. to the Governor-General; Miss Eileen Phipps, Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess and Mr. R. Doig, secretary to the Premier’s Department.
About 1,000 people turned out in Harvey to see the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in 1946. The people on the far right are Madge Rowley, Barbara Robinson, Leila Ottrey, Mrs Staples holding Fay and two- year-old Ian Staples and sister, Maureen.[1]
Harvey Reception. Arriving at Harvey soon after 11.30 a.m. the Royal party proceeded to the Harvey recreation ground where nearly 1,000 residents including ex-servicemen and women awaited them. The recreation ground and grandstand were bedecked with flags and a loud speaker enabled all present to hear clearly the speeches of welcome and the reply of the Governor-General. In his address of welcome to the Duke, the chairman of the Harvey Road Board (Mr. Jack Lowe) said: “We appreciate the great honour that has been conferred upon us by your visit. We would ask you to convey to your brother, His Majesty King George VI, our loyalty to the throne. The bond between the Mother Country and the Dominions was greatly strengthened during the long war years. Then we were engaged upon a common task against a common enemy. We, in Australia, were inspired by the outstanding example of faith courage and sacrifice shown by the people of Britain. “We feel that this bond of Empire family unity and this inspiring example must greatly influence other nations and, we hope, assist in bringing the world back to the stage of sanity that will enable the people of the world to live in peace and harmony with each other. “We have assembled here the children of the district to welcome you I and to express to you by their presence and loyalty to our beloved King. The returned service men and women have come from all parts of our district to meet you. They are the ones who answered the call of their country during its darkest days and were prepared to sacrifice all for their King and country. They have asked me to express to you their unswerving allegiance to the throne and empire.
“You have this morning travelled through part of our district and we hope you will give us the opportunity of showing you more of our farms, homes and industries. Harvey is the centre of a closely settled irrigation district. Dairying is our chief industry. We supply the metropolis, an area with a large percentage of its fresh milk. Potato, fruit, vegetable growing and fat stock raising form an important part of our many activities in this fertile and productive district. From our extensive jarrah forests timber has found a ready sale in the world’s markets. Our annual income from all these sources is about three-quarters of a million pounds and is increasing annually. “We may feel justly proud of our achievements especially when, during the war years, our agricultural industry was carried on by the fathers and mothers and very young members of the family. The Government is extending the irrigation area and we hope this will give returned servicemen an opportunity to obtain farms in our district. “When you return home we hope you will convey to the people of the country family greetings and assure those of them who have the mind to seek their fortunes in this Continent that a warm welcome awaits them here in Harvey and in Australia from their kinsfolk. Again we bid you welcome.”
Duke’s Reply. Responding, the Duke of Gloucester said: “I thank you for your very kind welcome to your district and for your expression of loyalty to the King, my brother, which I will convey to him. “It gives great pleasure to the Duchess and myself to visit you in your highly productive Countryside and meet so many of your children and those who served Australia in the Navy, Army and Air Force We have been at peace for over a year and it is as important as ever for the Dominions and the Mother Country to work side by side. “I trust that my term of office as Governor-General has served to strengthen even further the strong bonds of Empire. We return home in the near future with many memories of Australia and I will remember what you say about welcoming to Harvey those who wish to come to you from the Old Country. Good bye and good luck.”
At the conclusion of his response the Duke and Duchess descended from the dais and mingled with the ex-servicemen and women and the children. While among, the children the Duchess was presented with a bouquet, of gerberas by Lesley Sims. When the Duke and Duchess entered and left the ground the children waved flags and gave three cheers. After walking round the track on the recreation ground the Duke and Duchess visited the cheese factory, where they were met by the general manager of the South-West Co-op. Dairy Farmers Ltd. (Mr. L. M. Bentley), the factory manager (Mr. D. C. Mickle) and Messrs W. Noakes and D. D. Johnstone, directors of the company. Their Royal Highnesses were conducted round the factory where they saw cheese in the making and the process of manufacture was explained to them. Leaving the cheese factory the Royal party left for the R.S.L. Hall, where they were entertained at luncheon by the chairman and members of the Harvey Road Board and their wives. The lunch was an informal affair, the only toast being that of the King. The R.S.L. hall was tastefully decorated with bowers of flowers, both in the lobby and in the main hall, where the tables were beautifully decorated. At the conclusion of the lunch the Duke expressed the wish that he be allowed to take away with him all the oranges left and about a sugar bag full was collected. The Duchess expressed the wish to take a beautiful vase of gladioli with her. After the Royal party had departed on a tour of the irrigation areas prior to proceeding to Waroona an informal lunch was held in the R.S.L. Hall, where road board members waited on the ladies who had catered for the lunch. Great praise was accorded to Mrs C. F. Robinson on her capable handling of the floral decorations and to Mrs. Spurge and her band of willing helpers for their catering arrangements. The ladies were informed that the Duchess had stated that throughout their tour of Western Australia they had not seen such tastefully decorated tables, or such beautiful flowers.
Brunswick Reception. The main street of Brunswick was gay with bunting on the arrival of the Royal party at the railway station. From the station they were driven to the Brunswick Memorial Hall, where the children and ex-service men and women and a large number of residents from neighbouring towns. The address of welcome was given by the Brunswick ward member, Mr. L. J. Duignan, who said: “May it please the Royal Highness to present to you on behalf of the people whom I am privileged to represent of a most cordial welcome to this town of Brunswick Junction. I pledge you through your illustrious brother His Majesty the King, and his devoted wife, our heartfelt and sincere expression of loyalty. Your visit amongst us will forge even stronger the link of unswerving devotion and ardent loyalty that binds us to the Empire. The sons and daughters of the pioneer families, as well as those who made this portion of the State their adopted home, have contributed in an unstinted manner to the preservation of this glorious continent, when the clouds of war hung low over it and I am privileged to inform your Royal Highnesses that we have with us today several ex-members of the fighting forces, who possess outstanding achievements to their credit. In offering our felicitations to you we express the sincere wish that God will grant you length of days and health and strength and abundant grace to adorn the august position you share with your charming wife; that you will be a beacon light in the watch tower of the Empire, to which we are all so proud to belong, ever flooding the entire world with the clear warm light of Christianity. “In the name of all I thank you for honouring us; I welcome you amongst us; I wish you the time honoured wish—ad multos et faustissimos annos.”
The Governor-General in responding said: “I thank you for the loyal welcome you have given to the Duchess and myself. I also thank you for your expressions of loyalty and devotion to the throne which I will convey to the King, my brother. “It gives the Duchess and myself great pleasure to be able to visit the country districts of Western Australia and to see the great developments that have been made in agriculture, dairying and fruit growing in such a short period of time. This country relies to a great extent on the produce of the countryside for its greatness and prosperity and I have seen recently that Western Australia is setting a magnificent example. “My term as Governor-General is nearly over but the Duchess and I will always remember the kindness and loyalty of the people of Western Australia. We wish you all good fortune and prosperity in the future.”
After the reception the Duke and Duchess spoke to a number of ex-servicemen and children, among those presented being Mr. Algernon Clifton who was born in the district in 1857, and the eldest ex-serviceman in the district, Mr. C. F. Kasten, while Shirley Simm presented a bouquet to Miss Phipps. (Harvey-Waroona Mail, 11 October 1946, p. 1.)
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[1] Photo and description – Memories of Harvey Facebook.