Coronation dinner menu SS NEW AUSTRALIA

Maker Shaw Savill & Albion Line (British, founded 1882)

Date2 June1953

Object number00019494

NameMenu

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 209 x 127 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mr and Mrs Stephen

Terms

DescriptionMenu for a coronation dinner held on board SS NEW AUSTRALIA at sea on Tuesday 2nd June 1953 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II styled "Elizabeth Regina". The inside front cover contains the Coronation Poem by the poet laureate John Masefield.HistoryThe NEW AUSTRALIA, launched MONARCH OF BERMUDA for the Furness Bermuda Line, was one of the most luxurious of its day. Particularly appealing to wealthly Americans, the ship boasted extravagant accommodation, two pools and impressive travelling speeds. In November 1939, the ship was requisitioned as a troopship by the British Government and returned to the owners in 1947. However, a fire that year during its refit saw it looking to be scraped but instead the British Board of Trade purchased it as a migrant ship and renamed it NEW AUSTRALIA. From 1949 to 1958 Shaw, Savill & Albion operated the vessel from Britain to Australia.SignificanceNEW AUSTRALIA was en route to Australia at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s' coronation. As a British migrant ship, the event was of great significance and was re-layed over the ship's public address system. That evening passengers sat down to a Coronation Dinner.