The circus agent was at Wanstead & Woodford’s Queen’s Coronation Celebration

The Borough of Wanstead and Woodford, which was abolished in 1965 and became part of the new London Borough of Redbridge, celebrated the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 in style with a week-long program of events organized by a man who held what his local newspaper called “an interesting job”. .

Starting on Monday, June 1, with free cinemas for school children, a tea and concert for old people, and “a grand midnight matinee with the coronation of the Carnival Queen”, Coronation Day, June 2, included the 64-mile Coronation Cycle Race, “thrilling races on motorbikes on a grass track’ and ended with a ‘spectacular’ fireworks display at Broadmead Recreation Ground.

Events continued until Saturday, June 6, when in the afternoon a carnival parade was held in Coronation Street, followed by a “Grand Military Display” and another “spectacular” fireworks display, “followed by the Grand Finale, including mass singing choir district”.

The man who was ultimately responsible for the coronation celebrations was the organizer Harry Ellison.

Writing in the official programme, he said: “Every village, town and city will be organizing some form of celebration to mark this historic event and I cannot remember the great honor that Wanstead and Woodford County Council have done me in appointing me to organize the celebrations at this wonderful town”.

Harry’s nephew Bill Ellison shared a copy of the program with the Guardian and you can read some extracts from it at the top of this page.

Bill doesn’t know how Harry was appointed to the role, but district officials may have decided he was the right man for the job after he made headlines last year when “five flying elephants came down to earth.”

Harry’s “interesting job” was as a publicity agent for Billy Smart’s circus, and in January 1952 he returned to London Airport on a flight from Siam (now Thailand) with five baby elephants.

The legendary circus owner commissioned Harry to “go to Siam and buy elephants,” and the 7,200-mile journey made history because it was the first attempt by an airline to carry five animals on a single plane.

“I think it’s fair to say that never before have five elephants received so much attention as the ultimate fate of those in question, even famous film stars were at London Airport to meet them on arrival,” he wrote of the extraordinary mission. in his local paper, the Ludlow Advertiser.

Harry’s career on the stage and in show business continued after he became the organizer of the Coronation celebrations. He became manager of the Shanklin Theater on the Isle of Wight in 1955 and was later general manager of Sir Robert Fawcett and the Robert Brothers Circus, but is said to have died of a broken heart in November 1975 after a ten-year-old boy was seriously injured after being attacked by a lion that escaped from one of the shows.