First royal visit to Australia – Australian Geographic

Prince Alfred joined the Royal Navy at age 14 and by 1866 had been promoted to captain and commanded HMS Galatea, a steam sailing frigate.
Image credit: Image credit: National Library of Australia.

1867: First royal visit to Australia by Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria.

On 31 October 1867, Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, arrived in Adelaide, South Australia.

As the first member of the British royal family to visit Australia, he attracted huge crowds wherever he went. The tour was marred by riots, farce, tragedy and Australia’s first political assassination attempt, which left the prince wounded at a picnic in Sydney.

In January 1867 H.M.S. Galateawith Prince Alfred at its head, set off from Plymouth on a voyage around the world. The Prince docked at Glenelg, South Africa, on October 31, and crowds lined the road to Adelaide.

As darkness fell, 40,000 gas lamps illuminated the colony’s public facilities, and huge portraits of the prince adorned many of the buildings. Alfred spent three weeks in South Africa and left a very positive impression, saying in a letter to the press: “I noticed in Adelaide the absence of the class of poor and noisy people so numerous in other places.” Given that the South African Parliament had just passed a law banning prison inmates, his comment met with an appreciative audience.

On November 24, the prince arrived in Melbourne to an even more eager public. But tragedy followed.
The front of the Protestant Hall on Stephen Street was decorated for the prince’s visit with an image of William of Orange, the 17th-century English king, defeating Catholic armies at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. This was a provocative gesture given the ongoing tensions between Australian Catholics and Protestants. Crowds of Irish Catholics gathered outside the hall, sang Irish republican songs and threw stones at the building.

As the group dispersed, people in the hall opened windows and opened fire on the crowd. A Catholic boy was killed and a riot broke out.

On November 27, more chaos occurred at a free public banquet that the prince was to attend. Organizers planned to attract 10,000 people, but 40,000 showed up, expecting free food and wine. When the prince left for safety, the angry crowd rushed the barriers and another riot broke out as thousands fought over food and wine.

Complicated by disasters, the royal visit went from bad to worse. There was to be a fireworks display around a model of the Prince’s ship in Bendigo. Galatea. Unfortunately, three boys climbed into the model and set off fireworks. They were trapped inside and burned to death.

Two days later, a ball was planned in a newly built hall called Alfred Hall. Unfortunately, it was a wooden building, lit by gas lamps, and some of the chintz fabrics inside caught fire. The hall burned to the ground.

In March 1868, after months of tireless public speaking, Prince Alfred’s staff requested a less strenuous schedule. The royal tourism committees agreed, but the prince agreed to attend one event – a picnic to raise funds for the construction of a sailors’ home. This was scheduled for 12 March in Clontarf.
on Sydney’s north shore.

Once again, a larger than expected crowd showed up at the scene from the start. While walking after a picnic, a man approached from the crowd, pulled out a pistol and shot the prince in the back at close range. Alfred fell to the ground, screaming, “Oh my God, I’ve been shot… My back is broken.”

The assailant, Henry O’Farrell, an Irish Catholic, was captured by a passerby who snatched his weapon from him as he tried to fire a second shot. A medical examination confirmed that the prince’s injury was not life-threatening and he was escorted back to the boat. The predominantly Protestant crowd nearly lynched O’Farrell on the spot.

Prince Alfred made a full recovery and O’Farrell was found guilty of attempted murder, although he showed signs of mental instability. The prince asked for mercy, but the request was ignored. Alfred sailed for England on 4 April and O’Farrell was hanged at Darlinghurst Prison on 21 April 1868.

Concern for Prince Alfred and the relief he felt when it was learned that he would survive led the public to contribute large sums to funds created to build hospitals in his name.

‘The First Royal Visit is part of the National Museum of Australia’s defining moments in Australian history.mind.