The Death of Queen Elizabeth II

It was a sad day when we awoke last Friday to learn that Queen Elizabeth II had died at the age of 96 years at Balmoral Castle.

Most of us have only ever lived during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, which began on the 6th February 1952. Some of us remember her father, King George VI, who reigned from 11th December 1936 until his death in 1952. There may even be some amongst us who remember the abdication of King Edward VIII who reigned from 20th January 1936 until the 11th December of that same year. A couple of us might also remember King George V, who reigned from 6th May 1910 until his death in 1936.

What the short history, above, shows is that one of Queen Elizabeth II’s greatest achievements was to bring stability to the monarchy: before she ascended to the throne there had already been four monarchs in the twentieth century. The coming weeks will see a lot of talk about her reign and achievements, so we thought we’d have a look into Yass's past and see how the deaths of former monarchs were solemnised in our town.

We start with the death of Queen Victoria (22nd January 1901): “Flags were at once dying half most high, St. Clement’s bell tolled out its solemn sound, and all private functions were at once cancelled”.

King George V 20th January 1936): “There was not sufficient room, much less sufficient seating accommodation, to comfortably house the large crowd which assembled in the Memorial Hall on Tuesday morning, when a combined public memorial service was held for His Late Majesty King George V. The keynote of the service was simplicity and dignity. It was a tribute to the organisation of the function, that the crowd, estimated at over 700, was seated in the hall in time for the Band to play the National Anthem before the two minutes’ silence was observed at noon”.

King George VI (6th February 1952): “In common with all towns and cities in the Commonwealth, Yass observed the two minutes at noon on Friday as a mark of-respect for the late King George VI. About 160 people gathered in front of the Memorial Hall, and at the request of the Mayor (Ald. W. T. Walker) stood in silence following the striking of the town clock at noon. The Mayor said that on behalf of the residents of Yass Municipality a message of condolence with the members of the Royal Family had been forwarded to the Governor General at Canberra.

Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey at 11am on 19th September 19, 2022.

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• History