The Australian State Coach, presented to Her Majesty by the Australian Government on the occasion of the Australian Bicentennial in 1988 and seen here at the opening of British Parliament, was created by W.J. "Jim" Frecklington, who is also the builder of the new State Coach Britannia (seen at right).

Jim Frecklington was born in Parkes in country NSW, Australia. His family ran sheep and cattle on their Peak Hill property. It was there that they acquired a stubborn little Shetland pony which refused to tolerate a rider, so, nothing daunted, Jim, who was aged eight at the time, built a little cart for the pony to pull him around in and so added carriage building and driving to his horse riding skills. It was his first horse drawn project and little did he know then where these skills would eventually lead him. Over the years Jim acquired other carriages and buggies, mostly four wheeled, which he restored as a hobby, but it would be many years before he would build his first real masterpiece.

As an adult, Jim left the family property and Australia for the adventurous life of working in the Arctic, just sixty-seven miles from the Magnetic North Pole. There, for several years, he operated heavy equipment used in the construction of airstrips which were built for transport planes used by oil drilling companies and for passenger jets to utilise in case of an emergency.

From the Polar North, Jim moved to England and, in a career change more in keeping with his early experiences, he was initially engaged at Windsor Castle, looking after the Duke of Edinburgh's four-in-hand team of horses. Later he moved to the Royal Mews in London where he was part of the team that looked after the Royal ceremonial horses of Her Majesty, the Queen. During this time, he also drove the carriages on ceremonial occasions and served as an outrider at Ascot.

Next his adventurous spirit led him to Canada where he worked for a time taking tours through the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Banff to Jasper but he was not forgotten by the Royal Household, and in 1977 he was invited to manage the Queen's Silver Jubilee Exhibition during its tour of Australia. Included in the exhibition were two of perhaps the most famous of the Royal carriages - the Glass Coach and the Edward VIl Landau. Following that exhibition, Jim revived his carriage-building skills and built a replica of the Edward VII 1902 Landau.

Jim is the only person living to have built a State Coach for the British Royal Family and with this new vehicle has created an enduring legacy that will remain part of British heritage for centuries to come. He is also the creator of the Olympic Gold Chariot, used in conjunction with Olympic Torch Relay on its epic tour throughout Australia for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. Conceived as a spectacular mobile monument to the Olympic tradition as well as a permanent work of art, the Gold Chariot embodies all the classical elements of the Olympics from the legendary Gold Chariot of Pelops, through a millennium of stirring sporting contests, to the use of the chariot as a modern icon. At the same time through its construction, design and decoration it carries the Olympic story and ideal into the new millennium. Thus it forms an essential part of the visual imagery and spectacle that lies at the heart of the Olympic tradition..

Jim Frecklington has also been responsible for a number of other artistic initiatives including the unique and beautiful Lamps of Peace. These magnificent lamps are fitted with the finest Irish Crystal panels depicting wonderfully hand-crafted Christian scenes, set into the main panel of each of the four lamps. The scenes depict different stages of The Lord's life and are of The Madonna with Child, The Good Shepherd, The Crucifiction and Michelangelo's Pieta. These were engraved by Master Engraver: Thomas Hayes and they have been on exhibition at the Vatican where they were blessed by the Pope and have also been displayed at Lambeth Palace in London, where they were blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lamps of Peace also pictured here being blessed by Pope John Paul II. In the 1970's he worked for Her Majesty at The Royal Mews in London. Later, for the Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977, he managed the Royal Coaches Exhibition, which created enormous interest throughout Australia at the many venues at which it was displayed.