The Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden is located in

Kings Domain Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and honours the contribution of women settlers to the development of the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. In 1933, plans for the celebrations for the

1934 Centenary of Melbourne The Melbourne Centenary was a 1934 centennial celebration of the founding of the city of Melbourne, Australia. As Victoria reeled from the severe economic and social fracturing of the Great Depression, its Centenary celebrated progress and co ...

began to be made, and a Women's Centenary Council was formed to ensure women's opinions were included. At the first meeting, it was agreed that a memorial garden of remembrance would be created in Kings Domain. A variety of fundraising ventures followed, including producing and selling a commemorative book, and receiving public subscriptions to have a particular woman's name inscribed on a "sheet of remembrance". These sheets were later buried underneath the sundial in the garden. The garden was designed by Hugh Linaker and is a formal, symmetrical garden traversed by a watercourse. This flows into a grotto which contains a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

statue of a woman by the sculptor

Charles Web Gilbert Charles Marsh Webb (Nash) Gilbert (18 March 1867 – 3 October 1925), known professionally as C. Web Gilbert, was a self-taught Australian sculptor renowned both within Australia and abroad. Gilbert was born at Cockatoo, a mining and farming ham ...

. Two plaques in the garden were unveiled at a ceremony on Saturday 8 June 1935 by Lady Huntingfield, the wife of the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

, and Mrs I.H. Moss, the president of the Women's Centenary Council. In 1960, the Quota Club of Melbourne planted a tree in the garden. The garden is today a popular venue for outdoor weddings.

References

{{coord, -37.82512, 144.97608, format=dms, type:landmark_region:AU-VIC, display=title Gardens in Victoria (state) Landmarks in Melbourne Monuments and memorials to pioneer women Monuments and memorials in Melbourne History of women in Australia Women in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) 1935 establishments in Australia