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Queen carnival

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A queen carnival was a type of fundraising event that was popular in New Zealand and Australia during the early 20th century. They were particularly common during World War I and in the years after, when they were used to raise funds for returned soldiers. The first such carnival is believed to have been held in Napier, New Zealand, in 1913. The carnivals were not always annual events, and were held in various locations throughout a year.

Queen carnival at Atherton in 1919
Participants in a queen carnival in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1918, including Enid Lyons as "Queen of the Public Service" and a young Errol Flynn (right) as one of her page boys.

1913 Napier Mardi Gras

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The first time the popular election of the Queen of the Carnival was used as fundraiser was at the 1913 Napier Mardi Gras. One report[1] said the contest was for a "Queen of Beauty" and the public would choose from photographs[2] of the entrants with names remaining secret. There were 13 candidates . A vote cost twopence and with 62580 votes cast over £500 was raised.[3]

As the Queen would reign over the revels, wit, personality, majesty and a talent for theatre would be of advantage and the election of Mrs J. A. Rosewarne proved a success, although one newspaper did think the Queen of Carnival should be unmarried.[4] Mrs Rosewarne was also called Napier's Queen of Song[5] and was principal soprano at a pre-festival performance of the Messiah.[6] The Mardi Gras was a triumphant success and the Queen, as part of the theatre of the event, bestowed honours on a number of the Napier burghers and made the organiser of the carnival, John Hopkins, a KCMG or Knight Commander Mardi Gras.[7]

One newspaper devoted a page to pictures of the carnival[8] and a film was made for screening at picture theatres.[9]

Inaugurated by the Napier Thirty Thousand Club[10] to raise money for town beautification, the Mardi Gras became an annual event which John Hopkins continued to organise. The war changed priorities and in 1914 the proceeds went to the Belgian Relief Fund and in 1915 to the Wounded Soldiers Fund. .

The carnival became a model for other Carnivals in New Zealand and John Hopkins was approached to help with the upcoming Wanganui carnival[11]

William Lints

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William Lints (aka William Lintz[12]) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on 14 December 1881. His parents were William and Helen Lints. The family first moved to Australia in 1882 where Lints was educated. In July 1893 the family emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Wanganui. Lints became a hairdresser and married Mabel Daisy Armstrong, the daughter of William and Sarah Armstrong, in 1902. In 1903 he became manager of the Central Hairdressing Saloon in New Plymouth. Lints established his own business, the Antiseptic Hairdressing Saloon in Devon Street East, New Plymouth. He was also a sportsman; instructing and doing gymnastics; playing hockey and water polo; swimming; and skating.[13] As early as 1903, in Whanganui, he became involved in organising activities for the civic organisations he belonged to.[14]

After creating the Queen Carnival concept, which he ran along with a revue called "Fete of nations" in 1914, Lints went on to direct large patriotic musical extravaganzas from 1916 to at least 1941.[15] These included the "Battle of Bullion Hill" in 1916, the "Silver Bullet Cannoncade" in 1917, the revue called variously "Reveille", "Our Reveille", and "Reveille 1924" which ran from 1917 to the 1930s, and a 1941 revue called "Britannia". These revues were performed throughout New Zealand using Lints' own company supplemented by local performers from a variety of disciplines including ballet, opera, bands, and theatre.

Lints died in Wanganui at 91 years of age on 9 September 1973. His wife died in 1946 aged 62. She was born in 1883 in New Zealand.

Origin and purpose

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1951 Burwood School Queen Carnival

Initially the Queen Carnivals were organised by William Lints of New Plymouth to raise funds for a variety of purposes, and during World War I particularly funds for the wounded soldiers returning home.[16] During the inter war period Queen Carnivals were held to raise fund for worthy community causes. Often funding sporting facilities or community buildings and services. The carnivals included elements of talent shows, fancy dress, sport and the sale of local produce, with a focus on electing a queen of the carnival. Votes were cast for each candidate and the winner was pronounced queen in a coronation ceremony at the end of the carnival.[17]

Newspaper reports in 1914 indicated that they had been held in Whanganui and New Plymouth, with Feilding and Tauranga also considering holding them.[18] After the Auckland carnival criticism was laid at Lints over the cost of the event and the lack of money going to the events beneficiaries.[19] The lack of funds raised may have been Lints' initial inexperience as later events were reported as raising thousands of pounds.[20] Certainly Lints received payment for his efforts.

In February 1915 Lints was reported as going to Bathurst and Albury in Australia to organise similar events, but was still in Nelson in March and reported as organising another in Gisborne in April.[21][22] The Australian event occurred later that year. Queen Carnivals were held various towns and cities around the country.

Lints was advertising another carnival in Whanganui in October 1915 for commencement in December 1915.[23] He followed this with a similar event in Nelson in 1916.[24] The focus of these events had now become fund raising for returned soldiers.

It appears that even as early as 1915, individual towns and organisations were putting on their own Queen carnivals.[25] The Queen Carnival tradition has been carried to other countries, including Fiji and Malta.

A time line with various Queen Carnivals

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Date Location Cou-
ntry 		Details
26 December 1913 Napier, New Zealand NZ 13 candidates for queen.
11 March 1914 Virginia Lake, Whanganui NZ 12 candidates for queen, including a Maori lady.[26]
27 August 1915 Dunedin NZ
28 August 1915 Queensland AU Queen Carnivals associated with Queensland Patriotic Day; carnivals held in Brisbane,[27][28] Beaudesert,[29] Boonah,[30] Croydon[31] & Roma.[32]
2 October 1915 Balmain, New South Wales AU Queen Carnival. Miss Edith Butt crowned. Total £1,250 raised in aid of local hospital, Rozelle Band & Civil Ambulance.[33]
9 November 1915 Hobart, Tasmania AU Patriotic Queen Carnival. Miss Millie Jones, Queen of the Citizens crowned. Total £9,510.10 raised.[34]
4 December 1915 Gallipoli TR 9th Field Artillery Battery, 1st AIF, won by "Ranji Randolph"; £43 10s. 6d. raised for Tasmanian Wounded Soldiers' Fund.[35]
1916 Auckland NZ Queens wharf.
1916 Albany[36] AU
1917 Mepanga East[37] NZ
1919 Werribee[38] AU
c. 1919 Atherton[39] AU
1922 Woombye[40] AU
1922 Northcote[41] NZ
1924 New Plymouth NZ Funds for Pukekura Park.[42]
28 August 1924[43] Rongotea NZ Funds for sports grounds.[44]
10 October 1924 Seaford, Victoria AU Fund-raiser for Seaford Football Club (Australian Rules), won by the Queen of Dancing Miss Lillian Edwards [45]
1925 Gisborne NZ Funds to construct a swimming pool.[46]
1925 St Andrews Parish[47] AU
1926 Northland[48] NZ
1929 Birkenhead NZ Funds for the Fire Brigade.
1926 Ballarat[49] AU
1931 Waitua NZ Funds went to building local facilities, including a swimming pool [50]
1934 Ngaio Railway Settlement NZ Settle a debt of £1000 on the Church of England [51]
1935 Christchurch NZ Relief of Distress [52]
1936 Johnsonville, Wellington NZ Johnsonville Catholic parish, to raise funds for convent school[53]
1940 Perth[54] AU
1941 Nelson[55] NZ
1941 Melbourne[56] AU
1944 Vogeltown NZ School hall [57]
1943 Melbourne AU Lord Mayors Allies Day Appeal [58]
1953 Oparure[59] NZ
1954 Bondi[60] AU
1955 Matapihi NZ Maori hostel & 1956 Matapihi Footbridge Appeal [61]
1957 Feilding NZ Civic Centre [62]
1958 Hastings[63] NZ
1965 Paeroa NZ College Gymnasium.[64]
1968 Taumarunui NZ Red Cross[65]
1970 Upper Hutt[66] NZ
1970 Vatukoula[67] FJ
1985 Northern Tasmania AU Football Association [68]
2008 Nadur Gozo Island[69] Malta
2008 Wauchope, New South Wales[70] AU
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  • Bette and the Queen Carnival Turnley, J. - ISBN 978-0-947189-70-9, Random House Australia, 1990

References

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  1. ^ New Zealand Times| volume=XXXVII| issue=8555, 18 October 1913, Page 12
  2. ^ Free-Lance| volume=XIV| issue=703, 20 December 1913, Page 7
  3. ^ Wanganui Herald| volume=XLIX| issue=14189, 13 January 1914, Page 5
  4. ^ Free Lance| volume=XIV| issue=702, 13 December 1913, Page 5
  5. ^ Marlborough Express| volume=XLIX| issue=56, 8 March 1915, Page 8
  6. ^ Gisborne Times| volume=XXXVII| issue=3521, 22 December 1913, Page 9
  7. ^ New Zealand Times| volume=XXXVII| issue=8614, 27 December 1913, Page 5
  8. ^ Free-Lance, 10 January 1914, Page 15
  9. ^ Wanganui Chronicle, 10 January 1914, Page 8
  10. ^ Dominion| volume=7| issue=1866, 27 September 1913, Page 13
  11. ^ Wanganui Chronicle| issue=19983, 13 January 1914, Page 4
  12. ^ Matriarchs: a generation of New Zealand women talk to Judith Fyfe, Judith Fyfe, Penguin Books, 1990, ISBN 0140116699, 9780140116694
  13. ^ The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts], Hairdressers, Tobacconists, Etc, page 99
  14. ^ Friendly Societies Picnic and Sports, Wanganui Herald| volume=XXXVII| issue=10837, 2 January 1903, Page 4
  15. ^ Advertisements, Evening Post| volume=CXXXI| issue=108, 9 May 1941, Page 2
  16. ^ Book: Sites of Gender: Women, Men and Modernity in Southern Dunedin, 1890-1939.
  17. ^ A carnival queen, Colonist| volume=LVI| issue=13519, 13 July 1914, Page 6
  18. ^ Poverty Bay Herald| volume=XLI| issue=13380, 14 May 1914, Page 3
  19. ^ Patriotism and philanthropy, NZ Truth, 2 January 1915, Page 5
  20. ^ Patriotic Society, Evening Post| volume=XCIII| issue=122, 23 May 1917, Page 10
  21. ^ Queen of Carnival, Colonist| volume=LVII| issue=13600, 1 February 1915, Page 4
  22. ^ Advertisements, Poverty Bay Herald| volume=XLII| issue=13655, 10 April 1915, Page 1
  23. ^ Advertisements, Wanganui Chronicle| volume=LX| issue=20488, 30 October 1915, Page 7
  24. ^ News of the day, Colonist| volume=LVII| issue=14148, 10 April 1916, Page 4
  25. ^ Thames Queen Carnival, Thames Star| volume=XLX| issue=14956, 27 November 1915, Page 4
  26. ^ Wanganui Items, Hawera & Normanby Star| volume=XLVI, 11 March 1914, Page 7
  27. ^ "Carnival Queens (Photographs)". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  28. ^ "Carnival Queens (Crowning Ceremony)". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  29. ^ "Country Efforts, Beaudesert". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  30. ^ "Country Movements, Boonah". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  31. ^ "Croydon Patriotic Day". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  32. ^ "Country Efforts, Roma". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  33. ^ "Balmain Queen Carnival". 1915. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  34. ^ "(Tasmania) Queen Carnival". 1915. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  35. ^ "Queens in the Trenches". 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  36. ^ "Report of Queen Carnival function". 1916. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  37. ^ "Queen Carnival Mepanga East". 1917. Archived from the original on 12 August 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  38. ^ "Queen Carnival Werribee". 1919. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  39. ^ "Queen Carnival in Atherton, ca.1919". Archived from the original on 19 August 2000. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  40. ^ "Queen Carnival Woombye". 1922. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  41. ^ "Northcote Queen Carnival". 1922. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  42. ^ "AWNS-19240320-37-01". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  43. ^ "RONGOTEA QUEEN CARNIVAL". Manawatu Herald. 30 August 1924. p. 2. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  44. ^ "AWNS-19240320-37-01". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  45. ^ "Queen Competition, Seaford". 1924. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  46. ^ "Queen Carnival Gisborne – tepid pools". 1925. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  47. ^ "St Andrews Queen Carnival". 1925. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  48. ^ "Queen Carnival Northland". 1926. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  49. ^ "Queen Carnival Ballarat". 1926. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  50. ^ "Queen carnival at Waiuta". 1935. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  51. ^ "Queen carnival". The New Zealand Railways Magazine. 1934. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  52. ^ "Queen Carnival Christchurch – Relief of Distress". 1935. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  53. ^ "[untitled]". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 October 1936. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  54. ^ "Patriotic Queen Carnival". 1940. Retrieved 29 November 2008.[dead link]
  55. ^ "Queen Carnival Nelson". 1941. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  56. ^ "Queen Carnival Melbourne". 1941. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  57. ^ "Queen Carnival Vogeltown – School hall". 1944. Archived from the original on 25 July 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  58. ^ "Queen Carnival Melbourne – Lord Mayors Allies Day Appeal". 1943. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  59. ^ "Queen Carnival Oparure". 1953. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  60. ^ "Queen Carnival at Bondi". 1954. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  61. ^ "Queen Carnival Matapihi – Maori hostel & 1956 Matapihi Footbridge Appeal". 1955. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  62. ^ "Queen Carnival Feilding – Civic Centre". 1957. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  63. ^ "Queen Carnival Hastings". 1958. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  64. ^ "Queen Carnival Paeroa – College Gymnasium". 1965. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  65. ^ "Queen Carnival Taumarunui – Red Cross". 1968. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  66. ^ "Queen Carnival Upper Hutt". 1970. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  67. ^ "Queen Carnival Vatukoula". 1970. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  68. ^ "Queen Carnival Northern Tasmania – Football Association". 1985. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  69. ^ "Queen Carnival Nadur Gozo Island, Malta". 2008. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  70. ^ "Carnival Queen says thank you". 2008. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
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