TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury

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North Island which developed their rules on anniversaries to include the threat of
suspension if any member did not attend the celebrations without a reasonable excuse.?
The Hibernians and Orangemen who celebrated their respective anniversaries had
an important visual component integrated into their celebrations. Each Orange lodge had
their own banners complete with their name and a picture (usually of King William III on
horseback). The music played was usually Irish airs played by a fife and drum band hired
for the occasion as they did not always have their own. The lodge members all wore their
respective regalia of Orange sashes and emblems, which showed their degree and office.
The Royal Black Preceptories wore black regalia indicative of their name. The banners
already referred to must have been very striking since one report of an Orange parade
noted, "The various banners of the lodges, particularly that of No. 13, attracted much
attention, being exceedingly handsome."8 The grandeur of such parades seemed to have
appealed to some colonists as such a colourful spectacle could hardly go unnoticed in a
frontier society such as New Zealand.
The Orangemen in Christchurch, as noted in Table 5, had a consistent tradition of
celebrating The Battle of the Boyne on 12 July.
Table 5: Attendance at Orange Parades/Soirees in Christchurch
on 12 July. 1880-1910.
Year Parade Soiree
1880 650 200
1885 300 400
1890 300 700
1895 * 200
1900 250 *
1910 200 *
* Figures were not available.
Sources: Lyttleton Times, Press, and New Zealand Herald
[n Christchurch on Sunday 12 July 1891, approximately two hundred and eighty marchers
assembled at their Orange Hall in Worcester Street. These marchers were marshalled in the
7Constitution and Laws of the Loyal Orange Institution of New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Star
Office, 1906.
8Press, 13 July 1880. No. 13 refers to the Loyal Orange Lodge in Timaru.