An Unexpected Royal Visit

20 October 2025

Portrait of George II by Thomas Hudson (1744).

On 15 January 1737 – the year being 1736, by use of the old Julian Calendar – King George II (1683-1760) made a sudden and unplanned landing at Lowestoft, on a return journey from the North-western German province of Hanover – where he and his father, George I, were the rulers (as Electors) as well as being monarchs of Great Britain. Both of them made summer journeys, periodically, to spend time in their land of origin, and it was on his return from one of these that George II was forced to put ashore.

He had left for Hanover on 22 May 1736, following the marriage of his older son and heir Frederick on 27 April, and his lengthy stay there was greatly resented in England by all levels of society. Eventually, he left in bad weather at the end of December, with the royal yacht being forced to take refuge in the Dutch port of Helvoetsluys [Hellevoetsluis]. Conditions were so bad that there was common speculation in England as to the vessel’s loss – with not all of it showing concern for the monarch’s safety. Eventually, it became possible to get under way again – but heavy seas and a contracted head-cold of like proportions forced George II to put ashore at Lowestoft. Where, according to Gillingwater (p. 70), “a body of sailors belonging to Lowestoft, dressed in seaman’s jackets”, lifted the boat conveying him from his yacht and carried it ashore through the shallows. The time of this landing is given as 12 noon.

From the beach, he was taken to the home of one of Lowestoft’s leading merchants, John Jex – this being on the site of a later dwelling now numbered as 45 High Street. According to Gillingwater, Jex used his own carriage and acted as coachman (presumably, driving the equipage up Rant Score). His Majesty rested for some two hours in Jex’s house, before being taken on to Harwich by coach. His sudden arrival there caused such flustered reaction among its leading citizens (as to what to do and how to accommodate the King) that it led to the term “all of a harridge/harriage” becoming embedded in the Suffolk dialect (and, no doubt, in the North Essex one as well) to describe a state of confusion or upheaval. George II seems to have spent at least one night in the town, for he arrived at St. James’s Palace, London, on 17 January – still suffering from his cold.

And that’s not the end of the story, because the Lowestoft part has one further detail to reveal. During his time spent recovering in John Jex’s dwelling, His Majesty was obliged to relieve his bladder, and his host was so overcome by the magnitude of entertaining the Monarch that he kept a sample of the royal discharge in a bottle as a souvenir – presumably leaving one of his servants to decant the urine from the chamber pot. The writer has failed to track down the printed source of this particular detail – but, it’s out there somewhere. Even to the point of stating that Jex was accustomed to show the royal urine to people of his acquaintance.

Note on No. 45 High Street

This Grade II listed building is of mid-late 16th century origins, like so much else of the High Street, but was rebuilt during the early 19th century. It is identifiable in Richard Powles’s ink-and-wash view of the area (taken in 1784), but bears no resemblance to the building of today – which has long served as a shop premises. It is the fifth building to the north (left) of Crown Score and has a distinctive curved Dutch gable on its southern side (belonging either to it or to the property immediately next door), seemingly of 17th century origins and which may itself be a re-shaping of the original structure. Two gabled dormer windows (not three, as of today) are present in the roof-space, each of steep profile and comparable with others seen on eight or more of the other houses shown.