Image: © VanishedVictoria
This plinth is all that remains of an ornamental bird bath (also called a bird fountain) presented by Victor Miller to the City of St Kilda for the St Kilda Botanical Gardens in Blessington Street on April 14, 1928.
The bird bath donated by Victor Miller and the Aviary, at the Botanical Gardens.
Image: St Kilda Botanical Gardens: a social snapshot of its first hundred years (1)
The presentation ceremony was reported in the
Prahran Telegraph of April 20, 1928 -
Last Saturday afternoon a pleasant little ceremony took place at the Blessington Street Gardens. Mr. Victor Miller, an enthusiastic member of the Field Naturalists' Club, presented to the council an ornamental bird fountain which has been erected in the gardens. Members of the club - numbering about 40 - assembled, and after the formal presentation, the Mayor (Cr. F. L. Dawkins, J.P.), thanked Mr. Miller for his generous donation. The Mayoress (Mrs. Dawkins) then filled the fountain. Mr. Miller, expressing admiration of the fine aviary in the gardens, then offered to subscribe £10 towards the extension of same. The Mayor promised to bring the matter under the notice of the council. Members of the club then proceeded to plant a number of Australian trees in a specially prepared
bed and in other parts of the gardens. These trees were also donated by Mr. Miller. The Mayoress planted the first tree, a Gippsland Lillipilli, and this was followed by the Mayor planting a Kanuka. Various councillors then followed suit, and altogether quite a pleasant afternoon was spent. The Mayor and Mayoress then invited the president, Mr. Pescott, and members to afternoon tea at the Town Hall, where other speeches were made, and thus terminated a very enjoyable afternoon. Mr. Dickens, of the Horticultural Society, promised to plant a plot in the gardens at a later date. (2)
Victor Henry Miller was born at 84 High Street, St Kilda on November 8, 1875 the ninth child of Jacob and Catherine (nee Streeting) Miller. Jacob was a cabinet maker, furniture dealer and a St Kilda Councillor. Victor was a member of, and also served as President of, the Horticultural Society of Victoria, the Field Naturalists' Club and the Bird Observers' Club and was an executive of the Historical Society of Victoria. He died July 4, 1974 (3). The aviary mentioned in the article had been presented by Mrs Dawkins in 1926.
What has become of Victor Miller's ornamental bird bath?
The plinth remains in the Blessington Street Gardens.
Image: © VanishedVictoria
Image: © VanishedVictoria
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Footnotes
(1) St Kilda Botanical Gardens: a social snapshot of its first hundred years by Patricia Convery
(St Kilda Botanical Gardens, 2014) The source of the image, as listed in the book, is City of Port Phillip Archive.
(2)
Prahran Telegraph of April 20, 1928,
here.
(3) Biographical information - Birth certificate;
The Herald, June 27, 1935,
here and
Walks in Port Phillip: a guide by Meyer Eidelson,
here.
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