Pioneer Women's Avenue, Bacchus Marsh

In May 1951, the Bacchus Marsh Express reported on the Outrageous theft from Women's Avenue. -
Approximately 250 heavy bronze nameplates were stolen from the Pioneer Women's Avenue last Monday night on the western approach to Bacchus Marsh. Country Roads Board men camped in the locality noticed the plates missing on Tuesday morning and reported the matter to the Police.

It was a dastardly theft, accomplished under cover of darkness and evidently with a vehicle. The plaques, set in concrete at each tree, had apparently been knocked off their iron pegs with a heavy hammer or axe. As scrap metal, they would be worth perhaps £50, but (if obtainable) might cost £1 each to replace with their inscriptions of names and dates. (1)

Remnant plaques from the Pioneer Women's Avenue, held by the 

Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society.

Image:  Pioneer Women of Bacchus Marsh (see citation at bottom of post)

The Avenue, on the Western Highway, was planted in 1936 which was the centenary year of  Bacchus Marsh, to honour the memory of pioneer women of the Shire. A pioneer woman was defined as one who arrived or was born in the shire of Bacchus Marsh before 31st December, 1869, and it is proposed that one tree, with guard and name plate, be planted for each pioneer woman, so that each has an individual memorial. (2) The Bacchus Marsh Country Women’s Association (CWA) initiated the project. (3) 

During the Bacchus Marsh Centenary celebrations held in October 1936, Lady Huntingfield, the wife of the Governor of Victoria, dedicated the avenue of the English Ash trees to the  memory of the 277 Pioneer Women. (4)

This Avenue was a rare tribute to individual women in a time when men were the usual recipients of civic honours and tributes. Sadly, the name plaques were never recovered and the Avenue itself is no longer there - road widening and drought were responsible for its destruction. This, of course, is not the only avenue of trees which have vanished over the years, some Great War Avenues of Honour have also suffered the same fate. 

In 2008, the Bacchus Marsh CWA placed a monument and rotunda to commemorate the pioneer women of Bacchus Marsh at Stamford Hill near the corner of Main Street and Halletts Way. The women, who were honoured with a tree, have their names engraved on the  monument. (5)     

The Pioneer Women of Bacchus Marsh monument

Photographer: Nancy Alford. Image: Monument Australia  https://www.monumentaustralia.org/themes/landscape/settlement/display/100786-pioneer-women-of-bacchus-marsh 

Sources                                        

(1) Bacchus Marsh Express, May 26, 1951, read here

(2) The Age, February 26, 1936, read here.

(3) Melton Express, September 21, 1935, see here.

(4) Bacchus Marsh Express, October 24, 1936, read here

(5) Ellis, Lachlan Pioneer Women of Bacchus Marsh in the Moorabool News,  February  20, 2022 https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/themooraboolnews/news/pioneer-women-of-bacchus-marsh/

The Melton Express of November 28, 1936 published a comprehensive overview of the project, read it here

In 2015, the Bacchus Marsh Branch of the Country Women's Association of Victoria, published a book on the Avenue - Pioneer Women of Bacchus Marsh: an introduction to the Women of the Bacchus Marsh Pioneer Women's  Avenue. It has biographical details on all the women honoured and it may still be available from the Bacchus Marsh Historical Society https://bmdhs.au/