Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, first toured Australia as the Duchess of Cornwell and York with her husband in 1927.  Tours of Australia were planned for 1949 and 1952, but plans for both visits were cancelled due to the ill health of her husband, King George VI.

The Queen Mother finally visited Australia between 14 February to March 7 in 1958.  During this tour she made a short visit to Strathfield Municipality to visit the new Housing Commission project area of Strathfield South. The focus of Queen Mother’s tour was on community activities such as surf carnivals, rodeos, race meetings and garden parties, rather than elaborate State banquets and functions as noted in a press statement issued on 11 November 1957 by Sir Allen Brown, the Director-General of the Queen Mothers’ visit:

 ‘We set out to arrange a program which would allow Her Majesty to make a real ‘meet the people’ visit.  This is what Her Majesty wants.  Because of the shortness of her visit – which although it has been extended, it is most unfortunately not long enough to allow a visit to Tasmania – Her Majesty asked that in her engagements she might mingle with and talk to people as much as possible’[i].

 The Queen Mother visit proved to be exceptionally popular with the people of Sydney.  The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 25 February 1958 that ‘Wild Scenes in Sydney as women jostle police in bid to see Queen Mother’.  The Bankstown Torch 27 February 1958 reported that ‘amidst scenes of unprecedented enthusiasm’ and ‘enormous crowds lined both sides of the Hume Highway from Chullora to Lansdowne’ catch a glimpse of the Queen Mother on her way to inspect housing at Villawood. 

Queen Mother was scheduled to visit some of the new NSW Government housing projects in Sydney, which included Villawood, Dundas Valley and Strathfield South.  On 24 February 1958 she visited Strathfield South. The Queen Mother’s visit to Strathfield South involved a drive from the Hume Highway through Mintaro Avenue, Noble Avenue, High Street and Amaroo Ave, then back onto the Hume Highway at approximately 10.40am.  Part of her tour included driving past the new Strathfield Library in Edwards Park [High St], the site of Library had previously been dedicated by the Housing Commission of NSW. 

Her visit to Strathfield South was not of long duration and consisted of a drive through the streets and a wave for the gathering crowds, however the visit was considered important enough by Strathfield Council to make preparations to welcome royalty to Strathfield. 

Queen Mother visit to Sydney as featured on the cover of the Western Suburbs Hospital Annual Report 1958

Letter to Strathfield Council from NSW Premier’s Department January 1958

Strathfield Council promptly made a request to the NSW Premier’s Department for the Queen Mother to perform a dedication ceremony in Strathfield.  The Council stated that it was considering erecting a water fountain in Strathfield Square to honour returned servicemen and women and proposed that the Queen Mother could ‘turn the first sod of a Memorial Fountain’ which shall be known as the ‘Elizabeth Memorial to Servicemen and Servicewomen’.  Given that the Queen Mother’s schedule had been determined well in advance of this request, the request could not be accommodated.  

To celebrate the Queen Mother’s visit, Strathfield Council initiated a program of works including the erection of a calico sign from the north-east corner to south east corner of Liverpool Rd and the Boulevarde with wording ‘The Citizens of Strathfield welcome Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother’.  The wording on the sign required the approval of the NSW Premier’s Department who suggested the insertion of the words ‘Her Majesty’ but the sign remained as suggested originally by the Council at the cost of £25, being the less expensive option. 

To ensure that Strathfield was prepared for the Queen Mother’s visit, Council initiated a program of works including the temporary erected of flag poles in the grounds of South Strathfield Branch Library grounds and at Strathfield Square, the laying of gardens outside the Branch Library in High St and the planting of shrubs in the island at intersection of Mintaro and Noble Avenues.  Invitations were also issued to South Strathfield Public School and Lady Gowrie Legacy Home in Jersey Road.

The Queen Mother’s visit to Strathfield, though short, was not without incident.  The vibration and wind pressure on the Coronation Parade banner welcoming the Queen Mother was so severe that it shook the telegraph pole and brought down wires along Coronation Parade blowing all the fuses causing damage of £41.2.5. In January 1959, Strathfield Council settled £20 for damage of overhead mains on Coronation Parade, denying liability but eventually making settlement[ii].

The other local item with links to the Queen Mother is the Coronation Arch at Plymouth St, near the crossroads at Liverpool Rd and Coronation Parade, Enfield.  The Coronation Arch was built during the Great Depression to commemorate the Coronation of King George VI, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in 1937. It is one of the few suburban park structures built during the Great Depression under State Government work relief schemes, which were designed to support capital works and alleviate unemployment.  The Arch is only one of three remaining Enfield Municipal Council [whose western ward was amalgamated with Strathfield Council in 1949] buildings still standing; the others being the former Enfield Council Chambers and Enfield Swimming Pool in Henley Park.  

The name of the road, formerly called Punchbowl Rd, was also changed to Coronation Parade in 1937.

 Reference

 ‘Elizabeth, wife of George VI and Queen Mother’, National Archives of Australia research guide of Royalty and Australian Society, section 10: Elizabeth the Queen Mother.  Obtained from www.naa.gov.au August 2003

Jackett, G., Footsteps in the Sands of Time: A history of Western Suburbs Hospital, 1986, Western Suburbs Hospital Croydon.

Jones, C., Coronation Arch Information Sheet, 2001

‘Queen Mother at Bankstown’, Bankstown Torch, 27 February 1958

Strathfield Council files – Royal Visits.

Sydney Morning Herald 24 February 1958

Written by Cathy Jones 2006. This article is subject to copyright.  Permission must be obtained for use or reproduction of material.