How St Helens celebrated coronations of the past

On the morning of Queen Victoria's coronation on June 28th 1838 many towns let off cannons and fired guns in celebration.

St Helens was no exception as the Liverpool Albion newspaper wrote at the time: "At St Helens the festival was kept with extreme spirit. The day was ushered in at an early hour by the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, guns, &c., and every place was o'er hung with flags and banners free."

But many of those celebratory shooters waking everybody up at an unseemly hour were amateurs letting off rusty old cannons. There are no reports of injuries in St Helens itself. However, in Liverpool one man had his hands blown off and later died.

Queen Victoria was 18-year-old woman at the time of her coronation in 1838 (Image: Image: Stephen Wainwright)

And in Warrington a cannon burst and killed the firer, who – according to the Liverpool Mercury – "left a wife and many children to deplore his loss".

The main celebration in St Helens was a huge procession comprising 20,000 people. Three thousand of the walkers were Sunday school children who were each given a bun, a coronation medal and a copy of the national anthem.

It was also reported that the paupers in the town's workhouses were "regaled with a good and substantial dinner of roast beef, plum pudding, and a pint of ale each".

Some six decades later St Helens was ready to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. That was set to take place on June 26 1902 with many activities planned. But forty-eight hours before his big day, the king was diagnosed with appendicitis and underwent an emergency operation.

And so his coronation in Westminster Abbey was delayed for six weeks but most celebrations organised for the original date still went ahead, with the St Helens Newspaper writing: "Never had the town worn such a gay appearance, with the public buildings, business establishments and private residences most lavishly and, in many cases, artistically and elegantly adorned with bright-coloured bunting and gay flowers which combined to produce a charming effect. The scene at Grange Park on the occasion of the children’s fete was one to be ever remembered, thousands of people flocking thither to join with the children in the festivities."

St Helens had a particular affinity with the wife of the new monarch. In 1865 Alexandra, the then Princess of Wales, visited Ravenhead Glassworks and the town in true Lancashire style subsequently named a coal mine after her! And Alexandra Drive still bears the Danish Queen's name.

Edward II pictured in his coronation robes (Image: Image: Stephen Wainwright)

The coronation celebrations of George V on June 22 1911 were again centred on children, with fetes organised in Thatto Heath Park, Sutton Park, Gaskell Park, Parr Recreation Ground and what was then known as Queen's Recreation Ground. Prizes were awarded for the best dressed business premises and private home.

"St Helens Day of Rejoicing" was the headline to one newspaper's account of the town's marking of George V's coronation on May 12 1937. Decorations in the form of flags, shields and garlands were on a scale never before seen in St Helens.

Thousands of coloured lights were used to illuminate a special trolleybus for the coronation of 1937 (Image: Image: Stephen Wainwright)

Highlights included a procession from the Town Hall to Queen's Recreation Ground, an illuminated trolleybus, children's events in the parks, commemorative tree planting in Taylor Park and Victoria Park and an illuminated "fairy fountain" on the Bickerstaffe Street car park where Century House now stands.

And finally, on June 2 1953 hundreds of street parties were held in St Helens as townsfolk enthusiastically joined in the nationwide celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

To commemorate the coronation of George VI a fairy fountain was constructed on the Bickerstaffe Street car park (Image: Image: Stephen Wainwright)

At Ruskin Drive a remarkable gala took place featuring numerous entertainers and sports figures. These included six Tottenham Hotspur footballers who gave an exhibition of "head to head ball tennis" to commentary from Kenneth Wolstenholme.

A civic procession through the town was also held and the lighting of a chain of bonfires and the setting off of rockets brought the great day to a spectacular close.

Stephen Wainwright's latest book 'The Hidden History Of St Helens Vol 2' is available from the St Helens Book Stop and the World of Glass and online from eBay and Amazon (free delivery). Volume 1 of 'Hidden History' is also still available.