The First Royal Visit to Hamilton

The First Royal Visit to Hamilton. . , When Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, made the first official state visit of British royalty to Canada, Hamilton was the last stop on the tour. The Prince arrived in the afternoon of September 18th, 1860 and was welcomed by thousands of Hamiltonians with a 21 gun salute at the Great Western Railway station on Stuart Street. A procession through the city took the Prince to the head of John Street, where he resided at Arkledun, the estate of hardware merchant Richard Juson. The rest of his entourage occupied nearby Oakbank, the home of grocery merchant William P. McLaren., During the morning of September 19th, Prince Edward visited Hamilton's innovative Central School on Hunter Street West. This was followed by a luncheon and later, a ball, held at the Royal Hotel on James Street North. The highlight of the day was the ceremonial inauguration of the Hamilton Waterworks. Adam Brown, Chairman of the Water Commissioners addressed the crowd and the Prince turned a steam valve to start the pumphouse engines, which were a crowning engineering achievement., The following day, His Royal Highness opened the 15th season of the Agricultural Association of Upper Canada at the new, unique Crystal Palace Exhibition Hall, in today's Victoria Park. In the afternoon, the Prince had lunch with Sir Allan MacNab at Dundurn Castle. History came full circle on November 5th, 2009 when Edward's descendent, Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, great-great-great-granddaughter of Sir Allan MacNab, included Dundurn National Historic Site on their royal tour of Canada., Hamilton Historical Board , City of Hamilton , 2010 ,