Royal Visits to Brantford
September 14, 1860
His Royal Highness, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, visited Brantford for one and a half hours in 1860 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, September 14, 1860, p. 3). A crowd of about ten thousand people was on hand to greet him when he arrived at the train station. The royal blue railway sleeper car used for his tour was built at the Brantford shops of the Buffalo, Lake Huron Railway Company. Mayor J. D. Clement and other dignitaries made speeches welcoming the Prince who later attended a luncheon at Kerby House.
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October 1, 1869
Prince Arthur, the third son of Queen Victoria and later the Duke of Connaught, arrived in Brantford from Long Point where he had been duck shooting (Brantford Weekly Expositor, October 1, 1869, p. 2 and Brantford Weekly Expositor, October 8, 1869, p. 2). He was met by the mayor and other dignitaries and traveled to Mohawk Church where he signed the Queen Anne Bible and visited Brant’s tomb. Prince Arthur was given the name the Indian name Kar-a-kon-dye, The Sun Flying, by the Six Nations. He later went to Victoria Park and had lunch at the Commercial Hotel in Brantford before departing for Hamilton.
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September 16, 1879
The Marquis of Lorne, the Governor General of Canada, and his wife, Her Royal Highness, Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, visited Brantford for ninety minutes in 1879 (Brantford Expositor, September 16, 1879, p. 1). After arriving at the Great Western Railway station they went to Victoria Square where various presentations were made by local dignitaries before the royal couple visited the Brantford Young Ladies’ College. At the newly built Lorne Bridge the Marquis of Lorne bestowed his name on the bridge.
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October 14, 1901
The Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary, made a brief visit of twenty-five minutes to Brantford (Brantford Expositor, October 15, 1901, p. 1). All of the ceremonies took place at the Grand Trunk station. Thousands of people, including many school children, lined the area around the station to get a glimpse of the royal couple. Professor Melville Bell, father of Alexander Graham Bell, presented the Duke and Duchess with a silver telephone as a souvenir of their visit and Rev. Mr. Ashton presented the Queen Anne Bible for the royal couple’s signatures. Once the visit was finished the royal train headed off to Paris and Woodstock.
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February 15, 1913
His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught made a brief stopover in Brantford on his way to the Six Nations Reservation (Brantford Expositor, February 15, 1913, p. 1 and Brantford Expositor, February 17, 1915, p. 1). The royal train arrived at the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo station at 10:30 a.m. and after being welcomed by various dignitaries and presenting the silver scout badge to one of the boy scouts in attendance he continued on to the reserve where he had lunch at the home of Dr. Davis. He also stopped at the Mohawk Church and the Mohawk Institute before leaving on the train for Toronto at 2:20 p.m.
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May 9, 1914
The Duke of Connaught, accompanied by his daughter Princess Patricia, made his third visit to Brantford (Brantford Expositor, May 9, 1914, p. 1 and Brantford Expositor, May 11, 1914, p. 1). Father and daughter were greeted at the Grand Trunk station where the Duke inspected the Dufferin Rifles’ guard of honour and the boy scouts. They then traveled to Agricultural Park where a baseball game was in progress, the Bell Homestead, and Mohawk Church where Princess Patricia signed the Queen Anne Bible. The Duke and his daughter had afternoon tea at the Brantford Golf and Country Club before returning to the train station to depart Brantford.
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October 20, 1919
Edward, the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, visited Brantford in 1919, arriving at the Grand Trunk Railway station at about 1:30 p.m. and departing at 6:30 p.m. (Brantford Expositor, October 20, 1919, p. 1 and Brantford Expositor, October 21, 1919, p. 3). During his time in Brantford he went to the Armouries where he inspected the veterans and presented some war medals. He also visited the Bell Memorial, the Mohawk Church where he signed the Queen Anne Bible, and Victoria Park where he was made a Chief of the Six Nations, Da-yon-hem-se-ia (Dawn of the Day).
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June 7, 1939
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrived at the C.N.R. station where thousands of people waited to catch a glimpse of the royal couple (Brantford Expositor, June 7, 1939, p. 1). They spent about twenty-five minutes in Brantford during which time they were welcomed by Mayor R. J. Waterous and William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada. The royal couple signed the City of Brantford’s visitor register and the Queen Anne Bible and visited with veterans near the barricades. The King and Queen received a silver telephone as a souvenir of their visit to the Telephone City.
October 14, 1951
Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, later Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, arrived in Brantford on the royal train at 6:14 p.m. and departed at 6:50 p.m. (Brantford Expositor, October 15, 1951, p. 1). Originally their visit to the city was only going to be a brief ten-minute stop. The royal couple was driven to Victoria Park for the official civic reception with thousands of people lining the route. They both signed the official City of Brantford register and the Queen Anne Bible. Mayor Winter read the civic address of welcome and presented an ivory telephone to the royal couple as a memento of their visit to Brantford.
July 2, 1959
Queen Elizabeth II visited Brantford for a second time in 1959 (Brantford Expositor, July 2, 1959, p. 1). Prince Philip had gone to London, Ontario for the day. She arrived by train at 1:45 p.m. and took a tour of the city before returning to the train station. The grandstand at the C.N.R. station, with over 800 seats, was full of citizens eager to catch a glimpse of the Queen. Mayor Hogarth escorted her on the tour and introduced her to various local dignitaries. She signed the City of Brantford guest book and the Queen Anne Bible.
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June 29, 1973
On June 29, 1973 Queen Elizabeth II passed through Brantford at 5:00 p.m. during a train trip of southern Ontario (Brantford Expositor, June 29, 1973, p. 1). Even though the train did not stop and it was a windy, rainy day, there was a crowd of approximately 3,000 people lining the platform at the station trying to get a glimpse of the Queen.
October 1, 1984
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Brantford once again in 1984 (Brantford Expositor, October 1, 1984, p. 1). They arrived by plane at the Brantford airport at approximately 3:25 p.m. and left by motorcade for Toronto at 4:40 p.m. The royal couple visited the Mohawk Chapel where they were greeted by Six Nations Chief Wellington Staats. The Queen unveiled a plaque, written in English, French, and Mohawk, recognizing Ontario’s first Protestant church as a national historic site, took a tour of the chapel and signed the Queen Anne Bible. She was presented with a large oil painting of the Mohawk Chapel by Chief Staats.
June 28, 1997
Queen Elizabeth II visited Brantford in 1997 while Prince Philip was in Manitoba (Brantford Expositor, June 30, 1997, p. 1). She had lunch at the Old School Restaurant with forty-two young achievers from across Ontario. The Queen then traveled to the Bell Homestead where she spent about thirty minutes meeting local dignitaries, touring the site, and chatting with some of the many people who lined up to see her. Queen Elizabeth unveiled a new plaque which officially designated the Homestead as a national historic site. After signing the Homestead’s guest book she was presented with an antique daffodil telephone as a souvenir of her visit. She later left by motorcade for Toronto.
