On August 9th 1902 the Archbishop of Canterbury the 80-year-old Frederick Temple, who died only four months later crowned King Edward VII, and Queen Alexander, his wife.
These stately observances were to be held on June 26th, but were postponed indefinitely when the Monarch became seriously ill, and underwent surgery for appendicitis. By early August all was well, and amid age-old pageantry, colour and stately splendour the Coronation was held.
To coincide with the June 26th 1902 Westminster Abbey Regal Ceremony, a special service in St. Mathews Church was planned, the offering was to be donated to the General Hospital.
An evening Garden Party was to follow, and over one thousand school children anticipated receiving Commemorative Medals. Also planned was the replacement of the old and cracked Clarion Bell that had long pealed out the hours of the day by a new bell to be called the ‘Coronation Bell’ in the tower of the Fire Hall.
Sergeant Casey, Corporal Noonan, and Corporal, J. Irving was three members of the Brandon Company, Mounted Rifles, who were the fortunate Candidates selected for Canada’s Coronation Contingent. Representatives from Brandon’s Board of Trade were K. Campbell, A.D. Rankin, and A. Shewan.
The first Bell, the cracked one arrived in Brandon via River Boat, and was to be paid for ‘Cash on Delivery’, but district finances were insufficient to pay. To raise the funds, “people of questionable character were fined, ‘pulled’ and fined again”. “This still had not raised enough funds to cover the Bill, and so for the third and fourth time the ‘Soiled Doves’ were asked to contribute to the treasury.”
By coincidence, that same week of the Coronation, the long awaited Coronation Bell replaced the twenty-year-old time announcer. The weight of the new Bell is four thousand, four hundred pounds, and was made of 77 percent copper, and 23 percent tin, and measures 62 inches across the base.
It was hung in the fire hall tower to proclaim the time, and call for assistance at any emergency, but it was removed later because the weight of it may have collapsed the tower. It presently rests on the floor in #1 Fire Hall on Princess Avenue.
Two months later in October the original Coronation Choir from England sang in Brandon’s Opera House on Ninth Street and Princess Avenue.
Source: Brandon a City by G. F. Barker (1977)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VII_of_the_United_Kingdom