Australian History
Book Details

Melbourne’s Monuments

Ronald T. Ridley

Informative guide to the provenance and history of Melbourne’s monuments based on two walking tours around the city.

Opinion

‘ . . . an essential reference for anyone planning a walking tour of Melbourne for student. . . I greatly enjoyed this book, and look forward to using it personally and with my students.’
Agora

About this Title

Melbourne’s wide streets and surrounding parks have many public monuments. Standing amidst pleasant gardens or beside busy thoroughfares these statues and memorials are often accepted as part of the scene, and given no more than a casual glance. But each monument has a story to tell, whether it be about the person or event it commemorates, or about the sculptor, designer or donor.

Most of Melbourne’s monuments are within easy walking distance of the city centre, and this book introduces over forty of them, divided into two walking itineraries. For those who do not wish to follow a set route, each statue is clearly identified on the map and a description given.

Captain Cook’s Cottage, the Shrine of Remembrance, statues and fountains in the gardens—all represent a piece of Melbourne’s history and reflect the attitudes of the period. A discovery tour of Melbourne’s monuments thus becomes a much wider exploration of the city’s past and present.

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; The monuments by subject category; the monuments, a chronological list; Map; ITINERARY I From Batman and Fawkner to the Exhibition Building; 1. John Batman; 2. John Pascoe Fawkner; 3. Robert O’Hara Burke and William Jonathan Wills; 4. Sir William Clarke; 5. Robert Burns; 6. John F. Kennedy; 7. Captain Cook’s Cottage; 8. Daniel O’Connell; 9. Justice George Higinbotham; 10. Adam Lindsay Gordon; 11. General Charles Gordon; 12. Edmund Fitzgibbon; 13. Dr Louis Smith; ITINERARY II From the Eight Hour Monument to the Botanic Gardens; 14. The Eight Hour Monument; 15. Francis Ormond; 16. The Driver and Wipers; 17. Sir Redmond Barry; 18. Joan of Arc; 19. St George and the Dragon; 20. John Wesley; 21. Captain Matthew Flinders; 22. Queen Victoria; 23. Lady Janet Clarke’s Rotunda; 24. King Edward VII; 25. King George V; 26. The Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden; 27. Sir Edward (‘Weary’) Dunlop; 28. The Boer War Monuments; 29. Earl of Hopetoun and Marquis of Linlithgow; 30. Field Marshall Sir Thomas Blamey; 31. General Sir John Monash; 32. Nurse Edith Louisa Cavel; 33. The man with the donkey; 34. The Shrine of Remembrance; 35. La Trobe’s Cottage; 36. Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller; 37. The Separation Tree; Index of sculptors and architects

About the Author

Associate Professor Ronald Ridley is Reader in History at the University of Melbourne. His previous publications include The Eagle and the Spade and Jessie Webb.

Book Preview

978-0-522-84727-7