Record Street

When Record Street was laid out it coincided with the Diamond Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria in 1897. Queen Victoria had, in the previous year, achieved the record of being the longest reigning monarch in British and Scottish history. It was in fact her 59^th year, but she decided to delay celebrations until the following year to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee.

The colonial secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, proposed a festival to include all self-governing dominions and colonies. Of course New Zealand was represented by our premiere Richard "King Dick" Seddon. There was a jubilee procession of troops from all over the commonwealth, headed by the Canadian Mounted Contingent, to St Pauls on 22 June 1897.

There is some film footage in the New Zealand Film Archive showing Seddon and the Queensland Premier waving as the New Zealand Mounted Rifles enter St Pauls.

There was a service of thanksgiving held outside the cathedral with the Queen sitting in her carriage wearing her, now familiar, black mourning dress with white lace trim.

Victoria went on to rule for 63 years and 216 days. Our current Queen Elizabeth II passed this mark in 2015 and is now the longest- reigning and oldest-living British monarch. 

But for the record, the lasting memorial in New Plymouth to Queen Victoria achieving what was once the record for the longest reign of a British monarch, is a quiet street in Fitzroy simply named Record.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.