W. J. Frecklington

William James Frecklington OAM, MVO, known as "W. J." or "Jim" (born c.1949 in Parkes, NSW, Australia) is a maker of carriages.[1][2]

The Australian State Coach, designed and built by Frecklington

After working in the Arctic he moved to England and was engaged at Windsor Castle and later moved to the Royal Mews in London caring for the Royal ceremonial horses and driving the carriages on ceremonial occasions. He also served as an outrider at Ascot.

In 1977 he was invited to manage the Queen's Silver Jubilee Exhibition during its tour of Australia and following that built a replica of the Edward VII 1902 Landau.

He then went on to build Queen Elizabeth's Australian State Coach which was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of the Australian Bicentennial in 1988.[3]

A new British state coach constructed on Frecklington's initiative, the State Coach Britannia (also known as the Diamond Jubilee State Coach), was first used during the State Opening of Parliament in June 2014.[4]

References
  1. North Heads Sanctuary Foundation
  2. Jim Frecklington coach builder recalls Dubbo-built Australian State Coach for Royals, The Land
  3. The Monarchy Today > Ceremony and symbol > Transport > Carriages Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Tom Rowley (4 June 2014). "Queen's Speech: a timeless new coach, only eight years too late". The Daily Telegraph.
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