Looking back at Royal Coronations and Mississauga
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Front Page, Port Credit Weekly - May 28, 1953
Historic Mississauga, originally known as Toronto Township, was first surveyed in 1806. In the colonial sense, this place has existed for some 217 years. The City of Mississauga, as a corporate entity, is of course 49 years old. But looking back over the breadth of our colonial era history, this place has seen seven coronations of the King and Queens of the United Kingdom. The coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, May 6, will mark the eighth time in our history that residents of this place have marked the coronation of a new monarch. But the occasion is hardly fresh in our collective memories, with the last coronation having taken place some 70 years ago in 1953 with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
For those who are counting, previous coronations over our history were for George IV (1821), William IV (1831), Victoria (1838), Edward VII (1902), George V (1911), George VI (1937) and Elizabeth II (1953). Our list does not include the coronation of Edward VIII (1937) which was cancelled due to his abdication.
Coronation TV Sale Ad - Port Credit Weekly, 1953
For this article, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some historic local newspapers to see how previous coronations were commemorated in historic Mississauga. One of things that is interesting to note is that this will be the first coronation that we can collectively watch live – that is if you want to be up at 4 am EST on Saturday! Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 was televised live in Britain, but due to the limitations of technology at the time, it was not available for broadcast in Canada until much later in the day – following the remarkable journey of the film canasters being flown from England, over the ocean, to Montreal and the CBC:
From Port Credit Weekly - January 29, 1953
The 1937 coronation of George VI was covered in The Port Credit News and the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II was covered extensively in The Port Credit Weekly.
In 1937 some of the local activities included a row of maple trees being planted along Clarkson Road by the Clarkson-Lorne Park Women’s Institute and special coronation services being held by the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Lorne Park. In Port Credit, a Coronation Day parade began at 1 pm on May 11, 1937, at Port Credit High School, with prizes being given for best floats and best costumes. A sporting event to mark the coronation was held at 4 pm at the “Motor Park” in Port Credit. In Erindale a social gathering was held at the Erindale Community Hall by the Erindale Women’s Institute, featuring special lectures on the “The Jewels of the Queen’s Crown” and “Windsor Castle”, followed by a large coronation cake and refreshments. Also, maple trees were planted at several schools, including Riverside Public School in Port Credit and Clarkson Public School in Clarkson to commemorate the coronation.
From Port Credit Weekly - May 21, 1953
Commemorative planting of maple trees was again a local focus with the 1953 coronation, with tree plantings taking place at “most schools in South Peel”. Two “coronation maple trees” were planted in front of Port Credit High School. In addition, at least two of our residents attended the coronation: Lt. Commander Fay Lillian Rutledge of Streetsville was present as part of the contingent of the Royal Canadian Navy in the coronation procession, and Mary McCollum from Port Credit High School was chosen as a top student and sponsored by Rotary to attend the coronation. The date of the coronation – June 2, 1953 – was also observed as a public holiday here, with proclamations made by both Anthony Adamson, Reeve of Toronto Township, and J.C. Saddington, Reeve of Port Credit.
Municipal observance of the coronation focused on a ceremony at the new “Coronation Square” (later renamed Confederation Square) at the site of the new Town Hall in Cooksville, which was also officially opened as part of the coronation festivities. The festivities included a parade, featuring Girl Guides and Boy Scouts, with buses bringing people from Lakeview, Clarkson, Erindale, Lorne Park and Burnhamthorpe to Cooksville. A “coronation tree” was planted by the Honourable T.L. Kennedy.
Headline from Port Credit News - May 11, 1937
In Port Credit, a multifaith service was held outdoors at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Stavebank Road, followed by a coronation wreath laying at the Port Credit War Memorial, and was attended by members of the Port Credit I.O.D.E., Branch 82 of the Royal Canadian Legion, civic officials, Girl Guides, Boy Scouts, and many fraternal and social organizations, and was led by the Port Credit Legion Trumpet Band and the Lorne Scots Pipe Band.
Port Credit News - May 11, 1937
In Streetsville, the 1953 coronation was marked with a parade and divine service held at Streetsville Memorial Park, followed by a sporting day, a garden party hosted by the Order of the Eastern Star at the park pavilion, followed by fireworks in the evening. School children in Streetsville were also given coronation medals, and a maple tree was planted at the local public school.
Perhaps most interesting in terms of newspapers references to the coronations, was the increase of advertising for televisions in 1953 as a way to watch the coronation from home – something we perhaps take for granted today, but in 1953 was very much a new phenomenon.
TV Ad - Port Credit Weekly, May 28, 1953
