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Image Not Available for City of Newport to William G Walkley of Australia award of honorary citizenship
City of Newport to William G Walkley of Australia award of honorary citizenship
Image Not Available for City of Newport to William G Walkley of Australia award of honorary citizenship

City of Newport to William G Walkley of Australia award of honorary citizenship

Date1962
Object number00003072
NameCertificate
MediumPrinted text on paper.
DimensionsOverall: 235 x 300 x 35 mm, 0.328 kg
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
DescriptionWalkley was a financial backer of GRETEL's attempt to win the America's Cup in 1962. All three of the major backers were given honorary citizenship by the Mayor of Newport.HistoryAustralia mounted it's first America's Cup Challenge with the yacht GRETEL in 1962. The New York Times reports: Newport, Rhode Island, 19 September 1962 'Some of the principals in the Australian effort to lift the America's Cup were made honorary citizens of Newport by Mayor Charles A. Hambly at a city hall reception today. They included Sir Frank Packer, William G. Walkley and Thomas J. N. Foley, GRETEL's financial big three'.SignificancePart of a comprehensive archive from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron which mounted Australia's first America's Cup Challenge with the yacht GRETEL.These papers document the 1962 campaign and represent the beginning of Australian challenges that culminated in the 1983 win by AUSTRALIA II.