Welcoming celebrities

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We, the Mayor and councillors of the city of Perth, desire, on behalf of the citizens, to offer to you a cordial welcome to the capital city of this State.  

Visiting celebrities create great community interest and excitement. Managing such visits on behalf of the community as a whole is a task that falls to various levels of government and there are strict protocols and formalities involved. 

Civic welcome for Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1965. City of Perth

The Town Hall is usually the place where the Perth City Council honours important visitors with a formal ceremonial welcome. Many celebrities have been honoured over the years, from royalty to explorers, statesmen to service personnel. 

The formal part of the proceedings involves a speech of welcome from the Mayor with a response from the visitor. The welcoming speech is a work of art in the form of a handwritten illuminated address, decorated with pictures relevant to the occasion. 

    • Illuminated address welcoming Lord Kitchener to Perth in 1910. Kitchener was then perhaps the most famous man in the British Empire and Western Australia gave him a rock star welcome. City of Perth collection

    In the decade after the Town Hall opened, explorers Sir John Forrest and Ernest Giles were both welcomed formally by the city. In 1874, John Forrest led a six-man exploring party from Geraldton to Adelaide. Two Nyoongar men, Tommy Windich and Tommy Pierre, were valued members of this team. A few days after his return, 120 men gathered for a celebration banquet in the Town Hall, decorated with flags and greenery – ladies were only able to watch from the balcony. There were plenty of speeches, including Tommy Pierre’s – no doubt the first Nyoongar to make a speech in the building. 

    Exploration team, John Forrest’s third expedition 1874. Left to right: Back row: Tommy Pierre, Tommy Windich, James Kennedy, James Sweeney; Front row: Alexander Forrest, John Forrest. State Library of Western Australia 00451D

    In 1875, Ernest Giles arrived in Perth to a spectacular welcome after crossing the Nullarbor Plain with his camels. Crowds gathered around the Town Hall and along Adelaide Terrace as far as the Causeway. Giles and his party were accompanied by a full procession, including a brass band. On arrival at the Town Hall, the camels were stabled in the market place underneath. It was standing room only in the hall itself, as Mr George Shenton, Chairman of the City Council read the welcoming address.  

    Ernest Giles and his party arrive at the Perth Town Hall, 1875
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    Cabinet of Curiosities

    Advertising poster for a pantomime at the Town Hall in 1895. City of Perth Collection.
    Programme from 1921 for a concert to raise funds for the ‘starving children of Central Europe’. City of Perth Collection.
    Daily Newsboy’s cap and bag. Steve Weeks had the Town Hall corner pitch for selling the Daily News in the 1960s. He got a ha’penny for each paper sold for sixpence. Lent by Steve Weeks.
    Programme for a film screening by the Amateur Cine Society in 1949. City of Perth Collection.
    This shovel is said to have been used to turn the first sod on the Town Hall site. City of Perth Collection.
    Advertising postcard showing the Perth Town Hall. This postcard advertised a printing company, Star Press, which operated in Perth through the 1920s and 1930s. SLWA 7197B.
    W.E. Bold’s invitation to a civic luncheon for H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in 1920. This was the future Edward VIII and the visit was to thank Australians for their support during the First World War. Mr Bold was the Town Clerk at the time. City of Perth Collection.
    Costume jewellery like this was worn for formal functions and dances at the Town Hall. Lent by Steve Weeks.
    A collection of toy cars. Hobbies featured in many shows at the Perth Town Hall.
    A civic dinner held in honour of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Adelaide, Mr and Mrs Reginald Walker, Perth Town Hall, 1945. The floral decorations and potted palms probably came from the City of Perth’s Victoria Park Nursery, Trafalgar Road, East Perth. City of Perth Collection.
    From the 1920s to the 1950s, the shops under the Town Hall included tea rooms. CC BY-SA 4.0.
    Medals are often issued to commemorate events. This medal was given by Mayor George Shenton to Perth schoolchildren to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. City of Perth Collection
    An extract from George Grey’s journal, where he describes Nyoongar songs. National Library of South Africa, Capetown.
    A keen audience of young cricketers at a lecture by Arthur Richardson, 22 October 1927. Arthur Richardson was a well-known South Australian cricketer. He came to Perth in 1927 to play and coach for the West Australian team. SLWA 100166PD.
    Lanyard and security pass from the second Perth Fringe Festival 2012. The Town Hall and the derelict Old Treasury Buildings were both venues that year, while the space between them was fenced off for the bar and festival hub.
    A newspaper cutting about retired engineer and model-builder James Lang of Mt Lawley turning to clock making.
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