Queen’s 1953 visit captured for posterity

The images were taken by Royal Naval photographer Raymond White on the Queen’s arrival at Lisahally Docks in July 1953 as part of her Coronation visit to the city of Londonderry.

He was the only photographer present and the photographs have never been seen by the public.

The images have been digitised and now form part of the BT Portrait of a City project to create the largest digital community archive ever assembled from one city.

Kirsty Osborn of the BT Portrait of a City team said the photographs were a hugely valuable addition to the archive.

“We have been presented with so many amazing images, but to uncover photographs of the Queen visiting the city which had never been seen by anyone other than the photographer and his family is just incredible.

“These images will from a very important part of the overall digital archive, painting a picture of the city’s past in a way that has never been done before.

“We are extremely grateful to Raymond White for contacting us and donating his amazing pictures to the archive. Being able to view these photographs of the Queen for the first time will bring pleasure to a great many people.”

Queen Elizabeth II made a three-day trip to Northern Ireland in July 1953 following her Coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June. She visited Belfast, Lisburn and Ballymena before ending her visit with a tour of the north coast by rail.

The final stretch of that journey took her to the port of Lisahally where she boarded the HMS Rocket for a 30-minute trip up the River Foyle into the centre of the city.

Raymond White’s pictures capture the Queen as she disembarked from the train onto a platform especially built for the occasion.

The photographs have remained in Mr White’s private collection for 60 years and have not been seen by the public until he offered them to the BT Portrait of a City project.

“When I took the photo of the Queen standing right in front of me I remember thinking, ‘I wonder what I’ve got’. You don’t know. You take the picture and until it is developed you can’t say,” he recalled.

“I had to spend 17 and a half minutes developing it so it wouldn’t increase the grain size on the negative and in that 17 and a half minutes wait until I could see it, I went through hell.

“The pictures were never published and never seen by the public. I kept them all in an album at home. What Derry has with these pictures now is something that will remain in history.”

Culture Company chairman Martin Bradley said discovery of the photographs on the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s visit demonstrated clearly the importance of the BT Portrait of a City programme.

“It is remarkable that these pictures of the Queen in our city have existed for so many years and no-one here has ever had the chance to see them before. Now that they have been added to the archive, they are freely available for everyone.

“These wonderful images are a treasure trove for lovers of history and paint a picture of a bygone era in our city.”