IN ST MARY'S, W. MELBOURNE

St Mary Star of the Sea is one of the most beautiful and historically significant churches in Australia. The foundation stone of St Mary's was laid in 1882 and the building was completed by 1900. Since 2002 restoration has been ongoing to restore the church to its original splendor. Built with seating for over 1,200 people, it has been described as the largest parish church in Melbourne, in Victoria, or even in Australia.

The church is quite splendid and unusually for churches in Australia, contains a grave, that of Monsignor Matthew Carey (1848-1928). He was a man of extraordinary vision and competence. He was given the distinguished title of Monsignor and was appointed as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1926 by Archbishop Mannix. He was appointed to the parish of West Melbourne in 1898. He oversaw the final stages of construction of the splendid church of St Mary Star of the Sea. He was no doubt involved with the installation of the significant three-manual Fincham organ in the west gallery, as he was very musical and encouraged fine performances of religious music in churches.

This post is part of the Taphophile Tragics meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

CONSERVATORY, FITZROY GARDENS

One of Melbourne's favourite tourist attractions, the Conservatory opened on the 13th of March 1930, and has a history of over 70 years of providing spectacular floral displays. The Building copies the Spanish mission architectural style, measuring 30 x 15 metres and originally costing 4,000 pounds. The Conservatory is a vital part of the City's commitment to excellence in horticulture. There are five separate displays each year. It is used by tourists, schools, families and anyone who wants to capture a moment of floral beauty.

Display 1 - Hydrangea / Fuchsia: November - February

Display 2 - Tuberous Begonia / Gloxinia: February - April
Display 3 - Tropical / Pointsettia: April - July

Display 4 - Cineraria / Cyclamen: July - September

Display 5 - Schizanthus / Calceolaria: September - November

Also in the conservatory are two memorials. One dedicated to Mary Gilbert, the first migrant woman settler in the Port Phillip settlement that was to become Melbourne. A statue by Ailsa O'Connor adds to the tribute. However, for me even more poignant is a simple plaque that commemorates Wilma Saunders, Conservatory Attendant and Fitzroy Gardens Tour Guide between 1999 and 2009...

This post is part of the Taphophile Tragics meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

FLAGSTAFF GARDENS

Flagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, first established in 1862. In 2005 it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by nearby office workers and tourists. The gardens are notable for their archeological, horticultural, historical and social significance to the history of Melbourne.

The gardens are 7.2 hectares (18 acres) of Crown Land bounded by William, La Trobe, King and Dudley streets, managed by the City of Melbourne. The park contains extensive lawns with a variety of mature trees, flowerbeds and native animals including possums. The southern end is characterised by deciduous trees, while the northern end contains mature eucalypts. Avenues of elms shade pathways along with several large Moreton Bay Fig trees. The north corner contains a bowling lawn, rose beds, flower and shrub beds. Along William Street there are tennis courts, which also double as volleyball, handball and netball courts. Electric barbecues nearby provides a popular site for office parties in December.

Scattered about the lawns and gardens are memorials and sculptures that illuminate some of the social significance of the area. Flagstaff Gardens have been classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and is listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the Victorian Heritage Register. At the listing ceremony by the Victorian Heritage Council in April 2004, Council Chair Chris Gallagher said "This listing ensures the much loved trees, landscaping and other individual features are conserved and protected. But it also means the whole site is recognised as an important place for gaining an insight into our historical, archaeological, aesthetic, horticultural and social heritage."

With the establishment of Melbourne in 1835, the first deaths in the colony were buried on high ground between William and King Streets, in what was colloquially called Burial Hill. The hill had panoramic views of the small colony, the Yarra River and Port Phillip.

This post is part of the Taphophile Tragics meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

• 1838 - Melbourne cemetery was marked out in what is now the Queen Victoria market, and burials continued at that location.
• 1839 - Superintendent Charles La Trobe first included the site as part of the green belt encircling Melbourne which included Batman's Hill, Carlton Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens, Treasury Gardens and the Kings Domain.
• 1840 - a flagstaff was erected on the hill as part of a signalling system between the town and ships in the Port of Melbourne. The flagstaff proved too small and the following year a fifty foot (15 m) flagstaff was erected.11 November
• 1850: site of announcement of Victoria’s Separation from the Colony of New South Wales, resulting in celebrations with a huge bonfire with about 5,000 townspeople in attendance.
• 1853- establishment of the Melbourne cemetery
• 1857 - cutting excavated to ease the gradient of King Street. This created the bluestone retaining wall of the high bank along the western boundary.
• 1857-1863 - A Magnetic Observatory and Weather Station was established by Georg von Neumayer on the hilltop. William John Wills worked here as an assistant before being appointed to the Burke and Wills expedition. The observatory moved to the Kings Domain when the Melbourne Observatory was established, as iron in the buildings surrounding Flagstaff Hill were affecting Neumayer's magnetic observations.1860s - the telegraph supersedes signalling by flags.
• 1862 - West Melbourne residents petition the government to turn the hill into public gardens or recreation reserve. Clement Hodgkinson, the Deputy Surveyor-General in charge of city parks, prepared a plan for the gardens and directed its implementation.The Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens were also designed by him.
• 1871 - Memorial to Melbourne’s pioneers erected.1873 - Gardens permanently reserved
• 1880 - establishment of path network, lawns, trees and flowerbeds.October 9, 1917 - the City of Melbourne was appointed responsible for the Flagstaff Gardens.1918 - children’s playground established, one of the first in Melbourne.23 March 2004 - gardens formally added to the Victorian Heritage Register.

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY - MEDICAL HISTORY MUSEUM 2

When visiting the University of Melbourne Medical Museum recently I was intrigued to see exhibited there a brass plaque commemorating the death in 1910 of a University of Melbourne Medical School student.  He was Canute Henry Clowes (died 1910). The arrow points him out in this detail from a photograph of fifth year medical students in 1910, also on exhibition in the museum.

No degree exists to acknowledge Canute Henry Clowes’ Medical Course. He died soon after the final exams in 1910. There are records of his death at his home in Tylden, Victoria, on the 27th of December 1910, contrary to what the plaque states. He had one more exam to sit that was to be held in March 1911. The Argus newspaper of Melbourne on Wednesday 4 March 1908, carried the notice that Canute Henry Clowes passed a supplementary examination in Anatomy. Remarkably little else can be found about Canute Henry Clowes' life or cause of death on the web...

He is buried in Tylden Cemetery (the photo is from the webpage of the cemetery that you can find here and it lists him as interred in the one of the graves there). The photo of the cemetery is from the website. Tylden is a small country town in central Victoria, Australia in the Shire of Macedon Ranges Local Government Area, 83 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Tylden has a population of 350. Tylden Post Office opened on 7 January 1860.

This post is part of Julie's Taphophile Tragics meme.

SOME MEMORIALS

St Augustine's Catholic Church at 631-651 Bourke Street in the City, was built 1869-1870. The church is set back approximately 20 metres from Bourke Street frontage constructed in decorated Neo-Gothic style of axed bluestone with sandstone dressings. The entrance has Malmsbury stone and is surmounted by a crocketed gable. The exterior has the appearance of a triple nave with the gabled roofs of the aisles and nave springing from the same level. The tower with caps and finials in cut bluestone is the most prominent feature of the Bourke Street frontage . In the interior, the central nave is separated by the aisles with cast iron columns with moulded ribs and the arched cast iron spandrels are filled with ornamental scroll patterns. Above these spandrels an open ivy pattern frieze extends the entire length of the nave on either side. The timber ceiling and closely spaced timber trusses are varnished. The windows include stained glass.

Some intriguing features of the church grounds include several memorials: The anchor, in memory of the Catholic Port Chaplains and volunteers, a pietá in memory of Con Sullivan and two memorial plates one again for Con (Cornelius) Sullivan and one for his wife, Elaine. Besides the strong Irish connection (Sullivan, Ryan and County Kerry) there is no other indication of who these people were and trawling the web didn't seem to help. There was nobody around to ask so next time I am in the area, I shall try to find someone who knows the story!

This post is part of Julie's Taphophile Tragics meme.

WALTER LINDRUM'S GRAVE

Walter Albert Lindrum, OBE (29 August 1898 – 30 July 1960), often known as Wally Lindrum, was an Australian professional player of English billiards who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. He was named Walter Albert to have the initials of the state where he was born - W.A. (Western Australia). He was one of the most successful players ever seen in billiards, with 57 world records to his credit, some of which still stand. Lindrum is also considered amongst Australia's all-time greatest sportspeople.

In 1981 Lindrum was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post, which featured a caricature of him by famed artist Tony Rafty. Lindrum was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the Western Australia Sporting Hall of Champions in 1985. His house in Melbourne at 158 Kerferd Road, Albert Park, is noted for its historical association with him by the Port Phillip Council.

In Melbourne, the Hotel Lindrum on Flinders Street has incorporated much memorabilia associated with Walter Lindrum. The building formerly housed the Lindrum's Billiard Centre run by Walter's niece, Dolly. One of the original tables from the Billiard Centre has been fully restored there by the original manufacturing company. In April 2009, the Hotel Lindrum hosted the Capital Cup, a billiards tournament that, on its 10th Anniversary, honoured the life and history of Walter Lindrum.

On 30 July 1960, at the age of 61, Walter Lindrum suddenly became ill and died while on holiday in Surfers Paradise, Queensland. The cause of death was officially listed as heart failure, but it has alternatively been suggested that he died as a result of food poisoning from a steak and kidney pie. His body was returned to Melbourne, and he was given a state funeral attended by 1,500 people. He was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery, with champion cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman raising the funds for a distinctive monument consisting of a billiards table, complete with balls and cue; more than fifty years after his death the site reportedly remains the most visited grave in this substantial cemetery.

It has been proposed to have a large collection of Lindrum memorabilia including personal and professional effects, newspaper clippings, diagrams of his shots, letters, and photographs moved to a special display in Australia's National Sports Museum.

This post is part of Julie's Taphophile Tragics meme.

JOHN PASCOE FAWKNER'S GRAVE

John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize. Fawkner's party sailed to Port Phillip and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne.

When the Enterprize was ready to leave in August 1835, at the last moment creditors prevented Fawkner from joining the voyage. On board the Enterprize as it departed George Town, were Captain John Lancey, Master Mariner (Fawkner’s representative); George Evans, builder; William Jackson and Robert Marr, carpenters; Evan Evans, servant to George Evans; and Fawkner’s servants, Charles Wyse, ploughman, Thomas Morgan, general servant, James Gilbert, blacksmith and his pregnant wife, Mary, under Captain Peter Hunter. On 15 August 1835, Enterprize entered the Yarra River. After being hauled upstream, she moored at the foot of the present day William Street. On 30 August 1835 the settlers disembarked to build their store and clear land to grow vegetables. The Fawkners arrived in the Port Phillip District, on Friday, 16 October 1835, on the second trip of the Enterprize. Fawkner's diary reads: 'Warped up to the Basin, landed 2 cows, 2 calves and the 2 horses.'

Fawkner was keen to secure his place in history. He opened Melbourne's first hotel on the corner of William St and Flinders Lane. He published the Melbourne Advertiser on 1 January 1838 which was the district's first newspaper. The Advertiser's first nine or ten weekly editions were handwritten in ink. An old wood press and some type were eventually obtained from Launceston and the first printed edition appeared on 5 March 1838. It was to last for a further 17 editions when it was closed down on 23 April 1838 for want of a newspaper license from Sydney. The Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser was commenced on 6 February 1839 by newly licensed John Pascoe Fawkner. It was published daily commencing on 15 May 1845.

John Fawkner and Mrs Eliza Fawkner in 1856 as painted by William Strutt

Fawkner acquired a property in 1839 as one of eleven lots in the subdivision of the Coburg district by the government surveyor, Robert Hoddle. The property was called Pascoeville, and was bounded approximately by the Moonee Ponds Creek, Gaffney Street, Northumberland Road and the western prolongation of Boundary Road. He lived at his farmhouse and at his townhouse in Collingwood between 1840 and 1855. In 1845 he served as a member of the Market Commission in the Town Council.


In 1851 Fawkner was elected to the first Legislative Council of the Port Phillip District (Talbot electorate), and in 1856 he was elected to the first Parliament of the self-governing colony of Victoria, as MLC for Central Province, the seat he held until his death on 4 September 1869. In Melbourne as in Launceston, he made many enemies, before dying as the grand old man of the colony on 4 September 1869 in Smith Street, Collingwood at the age of 77. At his funeral over 200 carriages were present, and 15,000 persons were reported to have lined the streets on his burial day, 8 September 1869. He was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery. He and Eliza did not have any children.

Melbourne General Cemetery is quite enormous...

So it is good to have these handy guides around the place!

This post is part of Julie's Taphophile Tragics meme.