In October 1858, a curious report appeared in the Darling Downs
Gazette. It had been sent to the newspaper by a correspondent in Ipswich. According to the letter writer, the rough and
ready township of Ipswich had recently received a visit from a German
aristocrat.[1]
THE PRINCE AND BONIFACE[2]
- A correspondent writing to us from Ipswich says, "I beg to tell you of
an incident that occurred here lately, which is too good to be lost, and not
published. You must know that a Count, or, more properly speaking, a Prince of
Württemberg has been visiting Ipswich.
If the “Prince” was seeking elegant accommodation and superior hospitality,
he was soon disappointed, for the patrons of the public house were well
lubricated.
During his short stay he paid a visit to the north side
of the river, and on his return late in the evening, called at the first
convenient public house in East Street, and ordered supper, but as most of the
inmates were in "a state of beer," or spirituous hilarity, no
attention was paid to the guest, and after waiting a considerable time he at
length went to bed supperless.
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| Patrons of a Colonial Tavern |
Feeling perhaps that his guest would be feeling neglected, the landlord
decided to bring some hospitality to his room.
His rest, however, was soon interrupted by Boniface, who
having sacrificed pretty freely at the shrine of the jolly god[3],
entered the room with a bottle of rum in one hand, and a glass in the other,
pressed the old buffer (he is a grey-headed man) to take a "ball."[4]
It is almost needless to add that the Prince was
obdurate, and Boniface reluctantly retired from the apartment without
accomplishing his object, and highly indignant that his distinguished guest
should refuse to become his boon companion for the night.
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| Colonial Era Hotel |
Understandably, the German nobleman decamped from the hostelry in the
morning, seeking nourishment elsewhere.
At the Crown Inn the landlord assumed he was one of the German immigrant
workers of which there were many arriving in the colony during the 1850s.
On the following morning the Prince shifted his quarters
to the Crown, where the worthy landlord provided him with breakfast at his own
table, mistaking him for an old German shepherd, and thinking that it was quite
good enough from the appearance of his guest, who made no objection to his mode
of entertainment.
The landlord soon realised that his cultured guest was no mere member
of the labouring class.
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| A Real Prince - August of Württemberg 1813-85 |
During the conversation which ensued, the landlord was
much struck with the superb manners and conversation of his visitor, and was
quite astounded in the long run to find that he had had a real live German
Prince for a customer. No doubt the Prince went away impressed with a very
unfavourable idea of the temperance, morality, and civility of the Ipswich publicans."
The purpose of the visit of this European eminence is never revealed
and no further mention is made of him in the press. It is doubtful whether he was really a
“Prince of Württemberg”. Perhaps he was merely an educated German gentleman who
spoke very good English. Stories of events in the Kingdom of Württemberg were appearing in the press at the time.
Or perhaps, the whole story was just a good “yarn” doing the rounds in
Ipswich.
©
K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.
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