At the end of the ceremony the Royal yacht steamed towards Weymouth, and after a rather uncomfortable passage, through a choppy sea and over the bar, in the Royal barge, the Prince landed at the end of the pier. Here the Mayor and Corporation presented an address, which declared that "His Royal Highness had added one more link to the golden chain of favours already conferred by Royalty on this ancient borough." A luncheon was given by Mr. Hambro, the senior member for Weymouth. The streets were gaily decorated, and the people were loud in their loyal and joyful demonstrations. The Royal yacht returned to Osborne late in the evening.
VISIT TO DERBY.
December 17th, 1872.
The tidings that the Prince and Princess of Wales were coming to Derby from Chatsworth, where they were on a visit to the Duke of Devonshire, caused great excitement in the district. Trains brought crowds from Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, and Chesterfield, to swell the populace of Derby.
It was on the 17th of December, 1872, not far from the anniversary of the gloomiest time of the illness of the previous year, that the visit to Derby was made. There were several loyal addresses—from civic, municipal, and other bodies, including one from the Freemasons of Derbyshire. The object of the Royal visit was mainly to present the prizes at the Derby Grammar School, one of the most flourishing of provincial middle-class schools. The procession of carriages passed through streets crowded with people, with brilliant escort of troops, and decorations everywhere on the route. On arriving at the school Lord Belper delivered an address referring to the foundation and history of the institution, and the high scholastic standard aimed at. The Head Master, the Rev. W. Clark, having thanked the Prince and the Princess for coming, added that His Royal Highness had kindly said he would write his name in each of the prize-books in remembrance of the occasion:—
His Royal Highness, on rising, said,—"Mr. Clark, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—I beg you to accept from the Princess, as well as myself, our cordial thanks for the very kind words that have been addressed to us. I can assure you that I have come here with feelings of the greatest pleasure, and we are glad we accepted the kind invitation of the noble duke to visit Chatsworth, and that we have had the pleasure and advantage of visiting the ancient town of Derby. I have had great pleasure in presiding to-day and distributing the prizes to the successful competitors of the Derby school. This school, as you know, is one of the oldest in the kingdom, though I am afraid one of the poorest endowed. Still it has always borne the highest reputation, which I feel convinced it will continue to maintain. To the young men to whom I have had the pleasure of distributing prizes allow me to offer my most hearty congratulations, and I trust they may continue to go on as they are doing now. If they do so they will be successful in whatever profession they enter. I will not detain you longer, but thank you once more for the kind reception you have given us this day, and also tender to the Mayor our cordial thanks for the hearty reception we have received in our progress through Derby."
It may be added that the invitation to Derby was first suggested by the Trustees of the Grammar School, who in their petition, sent to Chatsworth, represented that this school, reputed to be one of the oldest in the kingdom, was also one of the most poorly endowed. This was an appeal which at once secured the goodwill of the Prince. Nor has he forgotten the school. On the 14th of November, 1888, he went to see "the Prince of Wales's Class Rooms," erected as a memorial of his visit in 1872. In response to a petition presented by the captain of the school, the Prince obtained from the Head Master a promise of making November 14 a perpetual holiday in remembrance of this visit.