ROYAL VISITORS 1873 - 2005

Event / Tab No. Date of Visit Royal Visitor 1 4th. June 1873 The Prince and Princess of Wales Official opening of Wigan Infirmary 2 18th. May 1898 H.R.H. The Garswood Hall and Southport 3 10th. July 1913 His Majesty King and Queen Mary Royal Tour of Lancashire 4 26th. to 29th. Jan 1921 Princess Marie Louise Winstanley Hall and various YMCA centres in Lancashire 5 6th and 8th July 1921 Prince of Wales Tour of Lancashire 6 5th. Dec. 1922 Princess Helena Victoria Tour involving Liverpool, Wigan and YMCA centres in Lancashire 7 7th. & 13th. Sept 1928 Princess Victoria Private visit to retired royal nures Annie Fletcher and family 8 23rd. Nov. 1932 Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) Tour of Lancashire in support of unemployed 9 18th. Jan 1934 The Tour of Boys Clubs in Lancashire and visit to Mines Rescue Centre in Boothstown 10 18th July 1934 King George V and Queen Mary Tour of Lancashire inc. opening of East Lancs. Road and Mersey Tunnel 11 9th. July 1935 Tour Lancashire to show support to unemployed 12 7th.July 1936 Tour of social service centres in Lancashire and Cheshire 13 30th. July 1937 The Duke of Gloucester Tour of Boys Clubs in Lancashire and Cheshire 14 20th. May 1938 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Tour of Lancashire 15 31st. March 1939 His Majesty King George VI Tour of armaments factories, inc. R. O. F. Euxton 16 2nd May 1940 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Wartime Tour of South Lancashire factories with military/armaments associations. 17 24th April 1941 The Visited Eckersley's Swan Meadow Mill 18 7th March 1945 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Tour of Lancashire 19 28th. March 1950 Princess Margaret Tour of industrial towns in Lancashire 20 21st. Oct.1954 Queen Elizabeth II and Tour of South Lancashire inc. opening ceremony at Wigan Mining and Technical College. 21 24th. June 1959 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Tour inc. Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan Town Hall & Heinz Factory. 22 17th. May 1968 Queen Elizabeth II Tour of Chshire and Lancashire which included visit to the Three Sisters Site in Bryn 23 3rd. March 1977 Duchess of Gloucester Visits to Bolton, Wigan Technical College & opening ceremony at Howe Bridge Sports Centre 24 20th. June 1977 Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh Visit to the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh as part of Tour of North West 25 7th. Dec. 1977 Duke of Kent Visit to Gullick Dobson factory, part of tour of North Western factories. 26 2nd. May 1979 Duke of Edinburgh Tour by helicopter to visit school - part of Duke of Edinburg's Award scheme 27 19th. March 1986 Princess Anne Visits to Tyldesley and Bryn 28 21st. March 1986 Queen Elizabeth II Tour involving opening of Wigan Pier complex, and Manchester Central Exhibition Centre. 29 23rd. April 1986 Prince Charles and Princess Wigan North Western Station (brief stop) en. Route to Skelmersdale 30 1st. December 1989 Princess Anne Tour including visit to Heinz factory, Wymott Prison, Leyland and Oldham Hospital. 31 17th.May 1990 Princess Anne Visit to exhibition at Haydock Park Racecourse followed by Vulcan village and Didsbury 32 12th September 1990 Duchess of Gloucester Visit to new elderly unit at Whelley Hospital 33 28th. September 1990 Princess Anne Visit to Ingersoll Rand factory at Hindley Green. 34 2nd. November 1990 Princess Anne Vist to Shearings engineering depot at Bryn and Wigan Hospice. 35 25th. November 1991 Princess Diana Opening of The Galleries shoping centre, Wigan Town Hall and Magistrates Courts 36 31st July 1992 Duke of Edinburgh Opening of PPG glass fibre factory, Hindley Green 37 17th September 1995 Prince Andrew the Informal visit to play golf at Wigan Golf Club 38 30th. January 1998 Prince Andrew the Duke of York Chief guest at Wigan Golf Club centenary dinner 39 6th. December 2005 Duke of Gloucester Opening of new A & E unit at Wigan Infirmary, Age Concern premises, and visits to two schools 40 Date of visit ?? Prince Charles "Low key" visit to wetlands East of Wigan