3-021-745 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Visit of the Prince of Wales to Leeds: the Mayor's Ball at the Townhall, 1868. 'In the evening his Royal Highness [the future King Edward VII] attended a ball given by the Mayor and Mrs. Fairbairn, in the Victoria Hall of the new Town- hall. The preparations were splendid. The interior of the hall, which is very beautiful, had been embellished with costly decorations by London artists. The general furnishing of the apartments intended for the reception and retirement of the Prince had been intrusted to Messrs. Morant, Boyd, and Co., of Bond-street, by whom were employed some of the staff of Messrs. Holland and Sons. Two other Bond-street houses - Messrs. Hunt and Roskell and Messrs. Phillips and Pearce - contributed, one the plate and the other the glass of the supper-tables. A splendid series of crystal chandeliers in the hall and adjoining chambers and corridors was furnished by Messrs. Defries and Sons; and Messrs. Lucking Brothers, of Westbourne-grove, supplied the floral decorations. The Prince was cheered on his arrival. He danced the first set with Mrs. Fairbairn, wife of the Mayor. When he left the hall he was again cheered by the company'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.