Parliament House Cenotaph in Spring Street

In April 1926, The Age reported that Added impressiveness will be given to the Anzac day commemoration ceremony on Sunday, 25th April, by the erection of a cenotaph on the drive in front of Federal Parliament House. The cenotaph was suggested by the commemoration council of the State branch of the Returned Soldiers' League (1).

Building the temporary Cenotaph

The Argus, April 21, 1926 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3746659

The Cenotaph, modelled on the Whitehall Cenotaph in London, was a temporary structure made of wood. It was re-erected each year until 1934 when a new one was constructed as the old one fell to pieces and this new one was given a  special waterproof treatment to save it from the fate of its predecessor. (2). In between Anzac Days the Cenotaph was stored at the Exhibition Building site reportedly either on a waste piece of land or behind the grandstand at the Exhibition Oval (3).

The temporary cenotaph on the steps of Parliament House, 1926.

The building across the street is the Windsor Hotel.

Image: Private collection

ANZAC Day in Melbourne, 1926.

General view of the scene at the Cenotaph, outside Federal Parliament Houses.

The Australasian, May 1, 1926 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141412907

1935 was the last Anzac Day the Cenotaph was installed on the steps of Parliament House, however it was also placed there in January 1936 for the Memorial service held to commemorate the death of King George V. The Anzac Day march in 1936 finished at the Shrine, not the Exhibition Building as in the past, and that year the Cenotaph was installed on the south-east corner of Princes Bridge. This was the last time it was on public display. Another temporary cenotaph was also constructed after the death of King George VI in 1952, and placed on the Parliament House steps.

Placing wreaths on the Cenotaph, 1929

The Argus, 25 April, 1929

What happened the temporary Cenotaph? As The Argus noted - Although it was made only of wood and paint the Cenotaph, which was erected annually for the occasion, symbolised the spirit of Anzac commemoration in Melbourne (4).  Another part of our history, vanished.

Footnotes
(1) The Age, March 31, 1926, read
(2) The Herald, April 23, 1934, read
(3) The Herald, November 10, 1927, read; The Herald, April 21, 1936, read; 
(4) The Argus, April 22, 1938, read.

Anzac Soccer Ashes Trophy rediscovered

Some good news, as reported by the Guardian newspaper in April 2023 -
After vanishing 69 years ago an Australian sporting treasure has been discovered in mint condition in a suburban garage.

The small wooden trophy – housing a silver-plated razor case carried at Gallipoli – was contested by the Socceroos and New Zealand’s All Whites until it mysteriously disappeared in 1954. Inside it are ashes of cigars smoked by the Socceroos captain Alex Gibb and the All Whites skipper George Campbell after the first trans-Tasman match on Australian soil in June 1923.

The Soccer 'Ashes' Trophy

Image: Football Australia 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-25/anzac-soccer-ashes-rediscovered-after-almost-70-years/102263154

The razor case belonged to Private William Fisher, who later became the Secretary of the Queensland Football Association. The trophy was discovered when family members were sorting through the belongings of the late Sydney Storey, who was involved as an administrator in Australian Soccer at a national level from 1922 until 1966.The trophy, made of New Zealand Honeysuckle and Australian Maple, is in perfect condition. 

This good news story gives hope that other important and interesting items that vanished  years ago may one day be rediscovered. 

References

ANZAC Soccer Ashes Trophy recovered. Football Australia, 24 April, 2023, read.
Anzac ‘Soccer Ashes’ trophy found after vanishing for 69 years. The Guardian, 25 April 2023, read.

‘Soccer’s Ashes’: How a suburban garage clean-out solved a 69-year Anzac mystery by Vince Rugari. The Age, April 25, 2023, read. (may be behind a pay-wall)

ANZAC Soccer Ashes trophy rediscovered in suburban garage after almost 70 years by Samantha Lewis. ABC News 25 April, 2023, read

Boer War Soldiers plaque, Peace Memorial Library, Colac

On September 12, 1901 the Peace Memorial Library was opened in Colac, as a permanent memorial when peace is declared in South Africa (1). The War, known as the Second Boer War or the South African War, ended on May 31, 1902.

In June 1902, a brass plaque was installed in the front porch of the Library. It had the following inscription This tablet commemorates the death, in the cause of the Empire, of four young men of this district - Edgar Quartus Robertson, Noel Leonard Calvert and Arthur Edward Murphy, who were killed whilst lighting in South Africa, and of Thomas Yates, who died immediately upon his return to Victoria, 1901 (2). The plaque was 27 inches by 21 inches.

The plaque was stolen at the end of July in 1953 (3). The stealing of the plaque commemorating local soldiers is bad enough and shows a lack of respect to the men and their families, but this act contributed to the demolition of the Peace Memorial Library in 1970.  Members of the Colac and District Historical Society petitioned the Council to save the building and although the building was known to be a Peace Memorial, documentation to substantiate this was incomplete. The details of its true identity were preserved in a large brass plaque which, complete with the names of Boer War veterans, was attached to the south wall. Without this evidence the Shire of Colac committed an act of official vandalism and demolished the Peace Memorial Library. (4).

The Peace Memorial Library, Colac, c. 1908.

Photographer: T.R.G. Williams.

State Library of Victoria Image H96.200/1533

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Footnotes
(1) The Age, 13 September 1901, read.
(2) The Age, 17 June, 1902, read.

(3) The Argus, 3 August, 1953, read.
(4) Mcintosh, Ida Forest, Lake and Plain: the history of Colac 1888-1988. City of Colac, 1988, p. 35.

Theft of the Besharin Boy Bronze

On the 29th of May in 1945 The Argus published this report under the headline - Besharin Boy Bronze Stolen from Gallery.
Police are inquiring into the theft of the bronze head of a Besharin Boy,  taken from the textiles room of the National Gallery on Sunday afternoon. The head, which is about 7in high and weighs approximately 8lb, was purchased early last year by the Felton Bequest at a good price for a statuette of this size. The thief could easily have slipped the bronze under his coat while the attendant was out of the room temporarily accommodating the smaller exhibits, said Mr E. N. Dewar, acting secretary, National Gallery, last night...The Besharin Boy bronze (described by Mr G. Allen, head of the sculpture school, Melbourne Technical College, as "a sensitive work of excellent form, showing a deep sculptural sense and a keen appreciation of the East") is the work of Mrs Tina Wentscher, of Milfay av, Kew. Mrs Wentscher, who has been in Australia for five years, studied in Paris, Athens, and Berlin, and spent 10 years in the Far East - in Malaya, China, Indo-China, and Java. She was responsible for the Keith Truscott plaque at the Children's Hospital, and is at present working on a bronze plaque of the late Miss Jessie Webb for the library at the University of Melbourne.

The Besharin Boy

Image: Adelaide News, 7 June 1945

Tina Wentscher (also spelt as Wentcher) was born in Constantinople in 1887 to David and Rebecca Haim. The family later moved to Vienna and later still to Berlin, where in 1914 she married Julius Wentscher. As the article notes, the Wentschers travelled widely and from 1936 until 1940 they lived in Malaya. It was from there that they were sent to Australia as enemy aliens and interned at Tatura from 1940 until 1942. After their release, they settled in Melbourne. 

Mrs Wentcher died in 1974 and her work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, the McClelland Gallery in  Langwarrin and other major collections. 

Ken Scarlett records in his book Australian Sculptors that Tina Wentscher replaced the work at her cost with a pewter version in 1946. Where is the original Besharin Boy Bronze, which was stolen nearly 80 years ago?

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References

• Art Success in Many Lands. The Herald, 7 March 1944, read.
• Besharin Boy Bronze Stolen from Gallery. The Argus, 29 May 1945, read
• S.A.Hunt for Stauette: Stolen in Victoria. Adelaide News, 7 June 1945, read.
• Scarlett, Ken Australian Sculptors. Nelson, 1980.
• Peers Juliet, Wentcher, Tina (1887–1974), Australian Dictionary of Biography. First published in 2002, on-line https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wentcher-tina-11998

Rosemary Statue Victory Park Ascot Vale

On 28 August 2015 a life-sized bronze statue of a woman  was unveiled in Victory Park, Ascot Vale, in honour of the enduring sacrifice made by women who cared for veterans of World War I.  She was named Rosemary, after the traditional emblem of remembrance, the rosemary plant. The statue was commissioned by the group Women Caring for Veterans of War and funded by a Commonwealth Government ANZAC Centenary grant and the Moonee Valley Council.

The original Rosemary statue.

Image: City of Moonee Valley

Over night on 19 January 2016, Rosemary was stolen, cut off at the ankles, leaving only the feet on the stone plinth. The Moneee Valley Council worked quickly to replace the statue with one made of thicker more robust material and new Rosemary was unveiled 14 March 2017.

All that remained of the Rosemary statute.  

Image: 3AW Breakfast Twitter account

The replacement Rosemary.

Image: City of Moonee Valley

Rosemary is an exquisite statue and stands as a memorial to women everywhere, who cared and still care for service men and women who have been injured both physically and psychologically through war service. It was a callous and disrespectful act to destroy the original. 

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References

• 3AW Rumour File: Heartless thieves cut Ascot Vale tribute at the ankles, 20 January 2016, read 
• Memorial to Women War carers stolen from Ascot Vale Park by Craig Butt. The Age 21 January 2016, read 
• ‘Despicable’ thieves steal tribute statue from Ascot Vale park by Kara Irving. The Herald Sun 21 January 2016, read  
• Replica statue on its way to replace stole Ascot Vale War memorial by Linh Ly. Moonee Valley Leader 25 May, 2016, read 
• Essendon Historical Society newsletter April-May 2018, page 10 read 
• Monument Australia Women Carers of World War One Veterans, read 
• Moonee Valley Family and Local History Blog: Where did Rosemary go? read  

Interestingly, in all the information on the Rosemary statue, the sculptor is not mentioned. We would be interested to know who it was to give them their rightful credit.

Sundial on the bank of the Elwood Canal

In May 2022, a sundial on the bank of the Elwood Canal was stolen from its bluestone plinth. The sundial had been donated to the people of Elwood by local children's author, Celeste Walters.  

Ms Walters donated the sundial and plinth in 2017 after receiving a generous bequest from a friend to encourage learning. “I wasn’t sure what to do until one day I saw a mother and child studying a sundial on an octagonal plinth. This is more than a beautiful monument, I thought - it’s a tool for learning. Until it was stolen, the sundial was studied by Elwood College science students and admired by passers-by.*

In some good news, a replacement sundial was installed on 10 November 2022 and this will hopefully continue to delight children travelling to and from school along the Elwood Canal for decades to come.

The replacement sundial. 

Image: © VanishedVictoria

*Brazen Bronze thefts in Port Phillip. City of Port Phillip media release.
https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/about-the-council/news-and-media/brazen-bronze-thefts-in-port-phillip

Larry Latrobe sculpture

It is thirty years since Pamela Irving's sculpture, Larry Latrobe, was installed on the footpath in Swanston Street.  In August 1992, John Stevens, writing in The Age newspaper described Larry as a slightly larger than life-size bronze dog, a grinning bitzer of a beast, which will be mounted where it will take pedestrians by surprise (1). Larry spent three years watching activity in the City Square (2) until August 1995 when he was stolen, in spite of being tethered to the ground by 30 cm long bolts.

A new Larry was recast by the foundary owner, Peter Kolliner, although Pamela Irving slightly altered the new Larry's colouring to give him an individual look. New Larry was unveiled on 16 September, 1996.  In 2017, due to the Metro Tunnel works Larry was removed from his City Square home and the next year re-located outside the Melbourne Town Hall. 

Larry in the City Square

Image: Pamela Irving's website https://www.pamelairving.com.au/

Larry was based on Pamela Irving's own dog, Lucy, and named for her uncle, Larry. Larry the dog still delights Melburnians, but where is the original Larry?

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Footnotes and Sources
(1) Echoes of art along the Walk by John Stevens. The Age, 15 August 1992, p. 2
(2) Street sculpture finally turns the corner by John Schauble. The Age, 31 July 1994, p. 5

Other references
Larry Latrobe City of Melbourne City Collection https://citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au/larry-latrobe/
Pamela Irving website https://www.pamelairving.com.au/
Viginia Trioli column in The Age, 18 September, 1996, p.17

Southgate Fountain by Robin Boyd

The Southgate Fountain, designed by Robin Boyd. was officially 'turned on' by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brooks, on 1 November 1959. The fountain, reported to have cost £23,000 was given to the City of Melbourne by an anonymous donor, described as a man who has a great love of Melbourne and desires to see its advancement. 

Southgate Fountain. Photographer: Peter Wille.

State Library of Victoria Image H91.244/2775

The Age newspaper noted that - 

The water jets are automatically controlled. On a still day, time clock mechanisms cause the water to rise and fall in accordance with a regular, slow rhythm. As the wind rises, the higher jets are cut off until, in a gale, the curtains are reduced to a waterfall. The water falls into three cone-shaped bowls - the largest 60 feet in diameter, one below the other, on the sloping laws of Snowden Gardens.

Snowden Gardens were on the west side of Princes Bridge, on the south side of the Yarra River. The unveiling of  the fountain prompted the Chairman of the City Development Association, Mr R.F.G Fogarty to state that he hoped Melbourne would develop into  a 'City of Fountains'. Sadly, this fountain barely survived 25 years. In 1974, the City of Melbourne presented the Snowden Gardens to the State Government to build the Arts Centre Concert Hall (Hamer Hall). 

In December 1975, The Age  reported that the existing fountain in Snowden Gardens would be removed to the other side of the new plateau, beside the concert-hall complex of the centre. The three acre garden 'plateau' was to provide a pedestrian link from the Snowden Gardens to the Arts Centre. This work was expected to commence in March 1976 and this is the likely date that the fountain was dismantled and put into storage, awaiting re-erection on the new site, which never happened. Another Melbourne fountain - vanished. 

Southgate Fountain, c. 1960-1964. Photographer: Mark Strizic.

State Library of Victoria Image H2011.55/1880

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Sources

Council names City Fountain - The Age, 13 August 1959, p.5
Fountain turned on - The Age, 2 November 1959, p. 3.
Land for the People - The Age, 14 March, 1974, p. 14
Arts Centre will get Garden link by Richard Goodwin - The Age, 24 December, 1975, p. 3.
City of Melbourne City Collection has 12 photographs of the construction of Southgate Fountain https://citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au/

Anne Graham Fountain at the Southern Cross Hotel

One of the features of the Plaza at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne was a fountain designed by Anne Graham.  The Age interviewed the artist in May 1962 and reported that the fountain was in the shape of two spiral boomerangs,  50 square yards in area and covered by 1/16th of an inch mosaic tiles in blues and greens. The fountain was constructed by a party of 40 artists, art teachers and students, under the supervision of Anne Graham.  The article also noted that she had studied the art of mosaics at workshops in Italy in 1960, under an Italian Government art scholarship. On her return, Anne had created two mosaics - one in High Street, Malvern of birds in flight and the other in Geelong of the Madonna and Child. 

Anne Marie Graham was born in Austria in 1925 and arrived in Australia with her family as a 13 year old. She studied at the National Gallery of Victoria and the George Bell School  and in the early 1960s lectured in Architecture at Melbourne University. In 2016, when she was 91, a retrospective of her paintings, Anne Marie Graham: A Survey 1956-2016, was held at the Without Pier Gallery in Melbourne.

The Southern Cross Hotel was opened on August 24, 1962 by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. It was built on the site of the old Eastern Market, on the corner of Bourke and Exhibition Streets. The Hotel was closed in April 1995 and completely demolished by 2003. 

What happened to the fountain? Presumably turned to rubble like the rest of the Hotel.

Anne Graham's fountain at the Southern Cross Hotel.

Southern Cross Hotel and Fountain at Dusk. Image: Melbourne in Full Color postcard booklet by Nucolorvue.

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Sources
Melbourne Artist is responsible for Mosaic in New Hotel - The Age, 1 May, 1962, p.8.

Art here is Individual - The Age, 1 December 1960, p.14.

People are Artist's Speciality by Maureen Bang - Australian Women's Weekly, May 14, 1969, p. 12, online here.
At 91, Melbourne artist Anne Marie Graham opens a retrospective by Hannah Francis - Sydney Morning Herald 5 August, 2016, online here 
Anne Marie Graham entry - Australian and New Zealand Art Sales Digest, here 

Harold Alexander Pavilion Signage, Middle Park

The Harold Alexander Pavilion at the Middle Park Life Saving Club was demolished in 2006. The sign, made up if individual orange letters, was removed and put into storage due to the intervention of David Brand, City of Phillip Councillor. David described it in 2006 as a sign of the time, which deserved a new home. The letters have now disappeared. Recently, when interviewed by Vanished Victoria, David said I was pretty pleased I’d saved them, in the face of general indifference. I felt very disappointed when they couldn't find them again.

The Harold Alexander Pavilion

Image: Victorian Heritage Database https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/13893

It's not just the loss of the letters, it is the fact that the Pavilion was named to honour and recognise the achievements of Harold Alexander (1902-1964), Town Clerk of the City of South Melbourne from 1936 until his death. Over ten years later, in 2017, the City of Port Phillip named the  forecourt in front of the Emerald Hill Library and Heritage Centre as Harold Alexander Forecourt. A report in the Port Phillip Leader in April 2017 noted Lettering used to adorn the former pavilion in Middle Park has been in storage since its demolition and council officers are confident it can be incorporated into the new forecourt design.

It was a wasted opportunity that the linking of the original memorial to Harold Alexander to the new memorial was not undertaken, with the result the original lettering has now disappeared.

David Brand, left, and fellow councillor Peter Logan, who also fought for the retention of the sign, 

with the letters in 2006.

Image: Divercity: the official newsletter of the City of Port Phillip, April/May 2006

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Sources

• Divercity: the official newsletter of the City of Port Phillip, April/May 2006
• City of Port Phillip Council Meeting Agenda, April 5, 2017, can be accessed here. This includes a short biography of the life and achievements of Harold Alexander.
• City of Port Phillip Council Meeting Minutes April 5, 2017, can be accessed here. 
• Port Phillip Leader, April 12, 2017, can be accessed here.

Edith Cavell bust, St Kilda

This delightful bust of Nurse Edith Cavell once graced the St Kilda Botanical Gardens in Blessington Street.

We have no information when and where it was originally installed, but in October 1986 it was restored and located in the Blessington Street Gardens. Less than seven years it was gone.

Nurse Edith Cavell bust, Blessington Street Gardens

Image: St Kilda Historical Society https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/603efb1a092fbbe37f3e9751

Plaque at the base of the plinth of the Nurse Cavell bust.

Image: St Kilda Historical Society https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/603efb1a092fbbe37f3e9751

An article by Jane Cafarella in The Age on August 18, 1993 on the subject of why there were so few public memorials to women, noted that the Edith Cavell bust in the Blessington Street gardens had been the  victim of vandals. 

The Edith Cavell bust vandalised.

The Age August 18, 1993

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Mooring rings, Elwood Canal

These wrought iron rings look to stem back to the Elwood Swamp Canal's 1889 construction through the lagoon, where not only reclamation was a goal, but securing safe anchorage for small vessels between Brighton and St Kilda was also an essential goal. 

One of the remaining mooring rings

 Image: © VanishedVictoria

The industrial scale of the Canal was primarily designed for navigational purposes, with an early proposal for a deep water lagoon for commercial vessels and barge transport.

'Tinnies' regularly moored in the Canal, though with the lowered height of the two 1967 Country Roads Board Marine Parade bridges, access became difficult. The new St. Kilda Marina nearby was also seen to provide alternative anchorage.

Only 11½  mooring rings remain out of the original 82.

1956: A low tide view of the Elwood Canal anchorage from Marine Parade

Image: Development of the Elster Creek Drainage System / 

 Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, 1979.

 1976: High tide view from Marine Parade

Image: Development of the Elster Creek Drainage System / 

 Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, 1979.

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Hazard signs at Elwood Canal footbridge

These two canal slip hazard signs at either end of the 1970s Elwood Canal mouth footbridge signalled a period where traversing the 'Chinese' or 'Rocking Bridge' was a risky venture, especially when joggers were on it. Often groups of joggers would veer over to the adjoining 'John Cribbes Footbridge' for bicycles only. 

These two safety signs were unique cartoon-like caricatures. They went missing about August 2021.

Up until the bridge's thorough overhaul in March 2022, crossing over it remained a risky proposal especially during frosty, wet or busy periods.

One of the missing signs

Image: © VanishedVictoria

The other missing sign and the bridge

Image: © VanishedVictoria

The bridge was known by some as the 'Chinese Bridge'  and separately by kids as the 'Rocking Bridge'. Chinese because of its traditional arched form, clearly seen in the photo below;  and rocking bridge (from rocking horse)  because it had a terrible swaying that kids enjoyed.

The bridge during refurbishment works, March 2022

Image: © VanishedVictoria

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