Queen's Album e-catalogue - Catalog - Page 55
51
Naval Sham Fight under
Commodore Wilson, 12th April, 1881
1881
Glass plate negative [detail]
NSW State Archives
NRS 4481 SH1455
Concerned with potential aggressors, particularly
after the Anglo-Russian crisis of 1877/78, Imperial
Britain flexed its might in Sydney on two occasions
in 1881. On 12 April the Royal Navy—responsible
for the defence of NSW—held a sham fight near
Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. Granted a public holiday,
thousands attended the spectacle. Later, on 6 July,
the Navy’s Detached Squadron anchored in Sydney
Harbour with Queen Victoria’s grandsons George
and Albert on board. The welcome extended to the
young princes—who laid a foundation stone for a
statue of Victoria—was seen as an example of ‘true’
and ‘unchangeable’ loyalty to the Crown.
