Melbourne, Victoria
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...
, Australia. It surrounds
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries.
Gover ...
Reserve, the home of the
governors of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...
, the
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor bandshell performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct ...
, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the
Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...
.
The park was established in 1854, extending the Domain Parklands further north-west, it covers an area of 36 hectares of lawns and pathways set among non-native and
native Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
mature trees, a mixture of deciduous and evergreens. In the 19th century the Kings Domain was managed by the Director of the Botanic Gardens, so many of the trees were planted by Baron
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...
and later by
William Guilfoyle
William Robert Guilfoyle (8 December 1840 – 25 June 1912) was an English Landscape architecture, landscape gardener and botany, botanist in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, ...
. Around the Domain are scattered memorial statues and sculptures, each with their own story.
Kings Domain is part of a larger group of parklands directly south-east of the city, between St. Kilda Road and the
Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower stre ...
Queen Victoria Gardens
The Queen Victoria Gardens are Melbourne's memorial to Queen Victoria. Located on 4.8 hectares (12 acres) opposite the Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery of Victoria, bounded by St Kilda Road, Alexandra Avenue and Linlithgow Avenue.
Qu ...
Structures & other features
*The
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor bandshell performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct ...
- a world standard,
architecturally
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
significant,
tensile structure
A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and no compression or bending. The term ''tensile'' should not be confused with tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression elements. Tensile ...
and outdoor performance venue. It was officially opened by Prime Minister
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
on 12 February 1959 with an audience of some 30,000 people, and has remained a popular location for Melburnians.
*The
Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...
is one of the largest
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
s in Australia. It was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who died in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, but soon came to be seen as Australia's major memorial to all the 60,000 Australians who served in that war.
*Governor
La Trobe's Cottage
La Trobe's Cottage is a historic cottage in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1839 by the first Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, Charles La Trobe, and his family.
Construction and significance
The cottage w ...
is an historic cottage built in 1839 for the first superintendent of the
Port Phillip
Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...
District of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Charles La Trobe
Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...
, and his family. The cottage was constructed out of prefabricated materials imported from England on five hectares of land at Jolimont. It is one of the few surviving examples still standing of prefabricated houses from this period of history and gives an insight into early colonial domestic architecture and living arrangements. In 1963 the cottage was relocated to the Kings Domain as an historical landmark, and is now located backing on to Dallas Brooks Drive.
*
Government House, Melbourne
Government House is the official residence of the governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. It is located in Kings Domain, Melbourne, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Government House was opened in 1876, on land that had originally been ...
is the office and official residence of the
governor of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...
. It has also been used as the official residence of the
Governor-General of Australia
The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
style, it reflects the extravagant style of the period arising from a booming economy due to the
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...
Hugh Linaker
Hugh Linaker (1872–1938) was a gardener and landscape gardener, who worked on various local and state government projects in the State of Victoria, Australia.
Originally hailing from Ballarat, he was appointed as the Curator of Parks and Gardens ...
in tribute to the European pioneer women of the colony. It features a sunken garden area, with a blue-tiled grotto, which contains a small bronze figure of a woman. The garden was opened in 1935 during the centenary year of the founding of Melbourne.
*The Kings Domain Resting Place is a memorial for the remains of Indigenous People marked by a granite burial rock honouring the Aboriginal People of Victoria, including the local
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbourn ...
. The skeletal remains of 38 Aboriginal People are buried here, after they were handed over to the Aboriginal Community in 1985 by the
Melbourne Museum
The Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history museum located in the Carlton Gardens, Melbourne, Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia.
Located adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building, the museum was opened in 2000 as a project of t ...
under threat of legal action by the
Koorie Heritage Trust
The Koorie Heritage Trust is an Indigenous not-for-profit cultural organisation based in Melbourne. It holds over 100,000 items in its collection from paintings and artefacts through to books, videos and photographs. It has "...a commitment to p ...
. The burial of the remains was performed as a tribute to the people whose long relationship with the land was destroyed with European settlement.
File:Shrine of Rememberence.jpg,
Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...
File:John Monash statue Melbourne.jpg, Sir John Monash statue
Kings Domain Resting Place 1..jpg, Kings Domain Resting Place
File:Thomas Blamey statue Melbourne.jpg, Statue of Sir
Thomas Blamey
Field marshal (Australia), Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, (24 January 1884 – 27 May 1951) was an Australian general of the First World War, First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to attain the rank of field marshal.
Bl ...
File:Edward Dunlop (statue in Melbourne Botantic Gardens).jpg, Statue of "Weary" Dunlop
File:Ac.linlithgow.jpg, Statue of Lord Hopetoun, the Marquess of Linlithgow
*A memorial to Sir
John Monash
General (Australia), General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Brigade (Australia), 13th Infantry Brigade before the war an ...
, as Commander in Chief of the Australian Forces during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, is commemorated in a bronze equestrian statue created by
William Leslie Bowles
William Leslie Bowles (26 February 1885 at Leichhardt, Sydney, Australia – 21 February 1954 at Frankston, Victoria) was an Australian sculptor and medallist.
Education
He started at Kangaroo Point State School, Brisbane. After studyi ...
. It was unveiled by the Governor-General,
William McKell
Sir William John McKell (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947 ...
, on 12 November 1950.
*An interactive sculpture consisting of three bronze bells commemorates the life of
Tilly Aston
Matilda Ann Aston (11 December 1873 – 1 November 1947), better known as Tilly Aston, was a blind Australian writer and teacher, who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers, and later went on to establish the Association for the ...
, a blind
disability activist
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advoca ...
who founded the ''Victorian Association of Braille Writers'', and later went on to establish the ''Association for the Advancement of the Blind''. On the sculpture there is an embedded image of Tilly Aston with text in embossed lettering and in
braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
. The memorial was created by Anton Hasell in 1999.
*A memorial statue of Sir
Thomas Blamey
Field marshal (Australia), Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, (24 January 1884 – 27 May 1951) was an Australian general of the First World War, First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to attain the rank of field marshal.
Bl ...
stands on the corner of Government House Drive and Birdwood Avenue. It was sculptured from granite and bronze by Raymond B. Ewers and presented to the city in February 1960. It recognises Australia's first Field Marshal and his insistence to the British command that Australian forces remain as cohesive units under Australian command.
*South African War Memorial (Memorial to Fallen Soldiers). A central obelisk with a lion on each of four corners is the memorial for the Australians who died in the South African War of 1899–1902 (Boer War) Sculptored by J. Hamilton and erected in 1904 with members of the fifth Victorian Contingent Victorian Mounted Rifles.
*The Walker Fountain was donated by Ron Walker, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1981. It is located on Linlithgow Avenue and consists of a small lake with hundreds of streams of water, including underwater lights.
*A statue of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop is made from bronze, granite and metal spikes from the
Burma-Thailand Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
in 1995 by
Peter Corlett
Peter Corlett OAM (born 1944) is an Australian sculptor, known for his full-figure sculptures cast in bronze, especially his memorial works.
Corlett studied sculpture at RMIT University, Melbourne, from 1961 to 1964. In 1975, he was awarde ...
. Weary Dunlop was known as a courageous leader and compassionate doctor, and showed great leadership while serving as prisoner of war in
Changi Prison
Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.
History First prison
Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside t ...
and on the
Burma-Thailand Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
during
World War 2
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. On the steps leading to the sculpture are the names of other doctors who were also POWs at Changi.
*English Nurse
Edith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Be ...
is remembered in Melbourne with a marble bust erected by public subscription. Cavell helped English and French prisoners escape from Belgium during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and was tried by the Germans and executed on 12 October 1915. The bust was sculpted by Margaret Baskerville, and unveiled in 1926.
*Facing St Kilda Road near the entry to Government House Drive stands a bronze equestrian statue of Lord Hopetoun, more properly called
John Hope, first Marquess of Linlithgow
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, also known as the first
Governor-General of Australia
The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.John Fuller, accompanied by Prime Minister,
Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...
.
File:Aerial perspective of the Sidney Myer Bowl.jpg, Aerial perspective of the Sidney Myer Bowl
File:Victoria Police memorial.jpg, Victoria Police Memorial
File:Australian Turkish Friendship Memorial 1.jpg, Australian Turkish Friendship Memorial
File:Pioneer Women's Memorial.jpg, Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden
File:La Trobe's Cottage 6.jpg,
La Trobe's Cottage
La Trobe's Cottage is a historic cottage in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1839 by the first Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, Charles La Trobe, and his family.
Construction and significance
The cottage w ...
*The King George V Memorial was created by William Leslie Bowles after a public meeting on 6 February 1937 decided to erect a memorial for the late King and launched a public appeal. Construction of the bronze, granite and sandstone sculpture was delayed by
World War 2
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and was completed in 1951.
* A plaque to commemorate
Edward George Honey
Edward George Honey (18 September 1885 – 25 August 1922) was an Australian journalist who suggested the idea of Moment of silence, five minutes of silence in a letter to a London newspaper in May 1919, about 6 months before the first observanc ...
, located on Birdwood Avenue. Honey was a Melbourne-born journalist who campaigned for, and was one of those instrumental in, the adoption of the
Two-minute silence
In the United Kingdom and other countries within the Commonwealth, a two-minute silence is observed as part of Remembrance Day to remember those who lost their lives in conflict. Held each year at 11:00 am on 11 November, the silence coinc ...
on
Armistice Day
Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...
to pause and reflect on those who have lost their lives in war.
*The Australian Turkish Friendship Memorial commissioned by the Victorian RSL's Turkish Sub-branch honours WWI fallen soldiers and is a tribute to Australian-Turkish relations.
*Native Animals: Many native animals live in and visit King's Domain - Brush-tailed and Ring-tailed possums, Tawny Frogmouths, Magpies, Gould's wattled bats, Eastern Freetailed bats and Grey headed flying foxes, Native water rats (Rakali), Kookaburras and several varieties of waterbirds.
2006 Aboriginal Protest Campsite
In March 2006, during the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
, an Aboriginal activist group calling itself "
Black GST
Camp Sovereignty is the name given to an Indigenous Australian protest movement established to publicise the "Black GST" political group. The "GST" reflects the group's aims of ending genocide, acknowledging sovereignty and securing a peace trea ...
" (Genocide, Sovereignty, Treaty) set up a campsite there in protest against Aboriginal living conditions and the absence of a treaty between the original indigenous inhabitants of the area and the present Government. On 11 April 2006, they were granted a further 30 days to keep their fire going, despite a Supreme Court order that they remove their tents by 2pm on 13 April 2006. The aboriginal protesters have since removed their tents, but are now sleeping in a dilapidated caravan parked in an all day car park. The
Melbourne City Council
The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The c ...
has since started fining them $50 per day for overstaying the time limit. Protection (under a Court order) for the fire expired on 10 May 2006 and shortly after midnight on that date, council workers extinguished it.
References
* ''Victorian Heritage List'' Statement of Significance
* ''Kings Domain'' Melbourne City Council webpag