By NOEL MURPHY
SARTORIAL splendour at City Hall’s taken a turn for the, er, louder since Darryn Lyons took up the mayoralty – and here’s the proof.
For the first time since amalgamation, Geelong’s mayoral robes – past and present – have been unearthed, dusted off and displayed to the public.
Cr Lyons this week posed with six of the historic robes from the City of Greater Geelong and the five former municipalities that merged to create it in 1993.
Geelong Heritage Centre’s Mark Beasley said the robes dated to 1902 or earlier.
A seventh mayoral robe, Geelong’s first and believed made of bear fur, was too delicate to be displayed for a photograph.
Images from the heritage centre’s photographic collection helped indentify the robs, Mr Beasley said.
Cr Lyons was intrigued with the robes’ history.
“They’re in such great condition and the quality is phenomenal,” he said.
“I understand the oldest robe dates back to 1867 and was worn by Mayor Robert de Bruce Johnstone who purchased them to wear when he welcomed Prince Alfred Duke of Edinburgh to Geelong later that year.”
