Unique album presented to the Duke and Duchess of York by the citizens of South Canterbury, New Zealand, during the royal visit in March 1927: with an illuminated address and original watercolours.

Large square quarto, 310 x 280 mm, purple suede over bevelled boards (virtually unrubbed), front board with gilt-tooled decoration and lettering ‘South Canterbury, New Zealand, 16th March 1927’, lower board also decorated in gilt; all edges gilt; silk endpapers; [14] leaves of white card, the first [6] containing an elaborate illuminated address headed ‘To Your Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of York, Timaru N.Z. 16th March 1927’, the last two leaves of the address with the signatures of the fourteen leading civic dignitaries of South Canterbury; followed by [7] leaves each with an original watercolour mounted at centre and with manuscript caption beneath – these are all unsigned topographical views of Mount Cook, Lake Wakatipu, Mitre Peak, Pohutu Geyser (Rotorua), The Dragon’s Mouth (Rotorua), Champagne Cauldron (Rotorua), and Caroline Bay (Timaru), the watercolours in uniform 160 x 110 mm format except the Caroline Bay view which is a 120 x 300 mm folding panorama; and [1] leaf with a Children’s Greeting in calligraphic manuscript, by W. Thomas, Rector of Timaru Boys’ High School; the verso of the rear endpaper has a mounted card with note in manuscript: ‘Designed and illuminated by the Religious of the Sacred Heart at their Convent of the Sacred Heart, Timaru, N.Z.’; tissue guards intact throughout; a unique and stunning album, the illuminated address leaves and the watercolour mounts all exceptionally well preserved.

‘The Duke and Duchess of York, 1927.
Like the Prince of Wales, the next Royal visitors, travelled on HMS Renown. This time it was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George (1895–1952), Duke of York.

The Duke and Duchess of York left England on 6 January 1927 and arrived at Auckland on 22 February. After two days of deep-sea fishing in the Bay of Islands, they returned to Auckland to go by rail and motorcar to Rotorua where the First World War memorial to the Arawas was unveiled. On the way south to Wellington they visited most of the larger North Island towns, with a second rest period when the Royal couple and only a minimum of staff spent two days in trout fishing from a camp at Kowhai Flat, Tokaanu.

At Wellington the Duchess opened the new Karitane Home, which she was to revisit 30 years later on her second tour. Meanwhile the Duke paid an unscheduled visit to workers’ homes in the Hutt Valley and was shown over woollen mills. He showed great interest in factories, several of which he inspected in New Zealand. Following a four-day stay at Wellington, the Duke and Duchess boarded Renown for Picton whence they drove to Nelson. It was here that the Duchess was taken ill with tonsilitis and forced to abandon the remainder of her New Zealand itinerary.

The Duke went on alone, travelling by road and rail to the West Coast and Christchurch where he received the freedom of the city. He also had an excursion further afield and visited the southern lakes. The Dunedin programme included the unveiling of the war memorial and the opening of the Sargood now Dunedin, Art Gallery. The Duke then proceeded to Invercargill and Bluff where he joined the Duchess on Renown, departing for Australia on 22 March. Weather conditions were so bad that the transfer to the visiting battleship had to be made by tug and not through HMS Diomede as planned.

On the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, the Duke and Duchess came to the throne as George VI and Queen Elizabeth.’

‘The Duke and Duchess of York, 1927’, from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/royal-visits/page-5 (accessed 11 Apr 2024)