The Principality of Laird’s Corner is a defunct micronation located in the Southern Highlands town of Robertson in New South Wales, Australia.
Sometime around 1985 John Bleeker, owner of the Robertson Pie Shop applied for a building permit to extend his business premises. His application for a permit was denied, and in response, John Bleeker announced that his Pie Shop had seceded and was now located in the Principality of Lairds Corner.
John Bleeker has since passed on, the Pie Shop business was handed over to John’s son, Will Bleeker. Will Bleeker does not maintain the claim of the Principality, a sign declaring that the Pie Shop is also the Principality of Laird’s Corner is all that remains.
Author’s visit…
I had the pleasure of visiting the location of the former Principality of Laird’s Corner on the 28th of December 2009, and meeting the current owner, Will Bleeker.
Will Bleeker described his father as something of an eccentric. His father “just thought he could do what he wanted” and apparently took offense when employees of the local municipality explained there was more to applying for a building permit than submitting a crude drawing of what he intended.
Will Bleeker said that his father posted numerous signs around the shop, commented on local issues, and was something of a curiosity in the local media.
1993 Federal Election Campaign
I asked Will Bleeker about what role the Pie Shop had played in the 1993 federal election campaign. I had previous read this in a profile of the Kiama electorate (in which the Robertson Pie Shop is located):
a failed media stunt in the 1993 election campaign, when Paul Keating was taken to a Robertson pie shop that turned out to be owned by a supporter of the GST.
Will Bleeker says that his father was actually a supporter of the Keating government, and a media stunt where Keating would stop for a Pie at the renowned Pie Shop had been planned. Unfortunately the Keating motorcade went to the wrong town and ended up in a Pie Shop owned by a supporter of the Liberal opposition.
Location
Advertisements
This 2008 schedule for the Robertson Show includes an advertisement (on page 43) for the “Principality of Laird’s Corner: The Robertson Pie Shop”.
Page 62 of the 2009 schedule includes an identical advertisement, indicating that the name “Principality of Laird’s Corner” is still used by the business, at least to their local audience.
Other Sources
This wiki, an index of a microfiche collection of Libertarianism, contains this entry:
JOHN, Prince of Laird’s Corner, near Robertson, NSW, Some declarations, photographs and press clippings of his secession, and rates strike, and “war” against the local council, 19pp, in ON PANARCHY No. XI, in PP 832. – He lived only a short drive from me and even planned to issue his own currency. He would not read, write or talk much about it or his secession. But his shop windows were full of slogans and letter and article copies on it. It was a secession and rate payer’s strike out of a gut feeling & disgust about the injustices practised by the local government against him. If there is such a thing as a pop-secessionist, that was Prince John. He liked his beer and the publicity he thus gained much for his excellent pie shop, run efficiently by his amiable wife. His resistance efforts and publicity efforts paid him! – J.Z.
I am still working on gaining access to or a copy of the relevant part of that collection!
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