St Kilda Town Hall Gates from the 'Corry' Mansion

In July 1923 it was reported that the St Kilda City Council had  purchased massive wrought iron double entrance gates which were in use at Corry, Sir Lauchlan Mackinnon's house in Toorak, for erection at the entrance to the town hall grounds. (1)  

Sir Lauchlan Mackinnon, was one of the proprietors of The Argus newspaper. Sir Lauchlan was born in Corry, on the Isle of Skye in 1848 and was educated at private schools and in his youth was designated to succeed his cousin Mr Lauchlan Mackinnon then one of the partners in the firm of Wilson and Mackinnon proprietors of "The Argus." With this object he was given a thorough insight into newspaper management and direction beginning at the beginning. He served for some time in the office of "The Times," later in the great publishing house of W.H. Smith and Co, and then for several years in the office of the "Scotsman," Edinburgh. The experience he gained in these establishments was an admirable preparation for more responsible activities, and he was transferred to Melbourne in 1870. (2)

The Herald, December 4, 1925 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243899876

In 1881 Sir Lauchlan became the general manager of The Argus. He retired from that role in 1919 and his son, also called Lauchlan, succeeded him as a partner in the firm of Wilson and Mackinnon and as representative of the family interests in the management of the newspapers. (3) After his retirement, Sir Lauchlan, his wife, Emily, and two daughters, Barbara and Nancy, spent the next two years travelling overseas. They returned to Melbourne in April 1921, but this was a short-lived stay as he decided to move to England, where he died in December 1925.  The move to England prompted the sale of Corry, which was on just over six acres in Heyington Place, and it was put up for auction on March 2, 1922. (4)

Corry, Heyington Place, Toorak

The Australasian, February 18, 1922 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140228145

It did not sell at auction and was later offered for private sale; it appears to have sold in the July and  then turned over quickly as Corry, one of the finest homes in Toorak, was advertised again in December 1922 along with three three magnificent residential allotments fronting Heyington Place and Kooyong Road, which had been sub-divided from the original block. (5)

It is likely that the gates were removed around this time, you can see them on this MMBW plan from 1905, at the entrance to Corry, outside the Lodge. 

Corry, from the 1905 MMBW plan. Click on image to enlarge.

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan. 931, City of Prahran, 1905

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121915

In 1923, the St Kilda Council made the decision to remodel the Town Hall and undertake some landscaping works with the installation of the Corry gates part of this work. This was reported in The Argus in the July - 
St Kilda Town Hall. Plans for Remodelling.
Several months ago it was decided by  the St. Kilda Council to remodel parts of the St Kilda Town Hall and provide a portico entrance. A prize of £75 was offered for the best design for a portico, and one of £50 for the best plans for remodelling, other parts of the building. A committee of the Institute of Architects which judged the designs has awarded both prizes to Messrs. Sale and Keage, architects of Little Collins street. The portico design provides for cars drawing up to the town hall door under the portico, a long ramp providing easy approach. The roof is supported by massive circular columns.

Provision is made for widening the main entrance doors to the building. The municipal offices, which are situated on other side of the main door, will be placed it the west corner of the building the engineers offices being immediately over those of the clerical staff. The present municipal offices will be converted into large cloakrooms and a card-room will also be provided. To give easy access to the municipal offices a new door and stairway will be constructed at the north-east end of the building, and a stairway leading up to the engineer's offices will be provided. The plans also provide for the erection of a now lodge room at the south east corner of the building. The existing stairways will be removed and new ones built, to permit of the entrance vestibule being greatly enlarge. A reception room will be built immediately above the vestibule and between the Council chamber and the major's room. 

Three entrance door to the hall proper will replace the existing door. The council has purchased massive wrought iron double entrance gates which were in use at Corry, Sir Lauchlan Mackinnon's house in Toorak, for erection at the entrance to the town hall grounds. Tenders for the alterations to the town hall will be called shortly, but it is doubtful if the work will be commenced before the close of the dancing season. (6)   A year later in May 1924, The Argus could report that the alterations would be finished in two months. (7)

The only photo I can find of the Corry gates.

The Argus, September 5, 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1985865

The Corry gates were significant enough that  J.B. Cooper write about them in his history of St Kilda - The Council, at this time, bought the massive wrought iron double entrance gates that had been in use at "Corry," the late Sir Lachlan Mackinnon's house, in Toorak. The gates were made by Bayliss of London, and they are wonderful examples of honest craftsmanship, in the difficult work of making wrought iron gates. Viewed from the City Hall's upper windows, as they stand, facing the intersection of Carlisle and High Streets, their fine iron work has the appearance that delicate lace patterns present when held up to the light. They are probably the finest wrought iron gates to be found in Melbourne. Examined closely they appear to be flawless. Even the keys of the gates are of solid British workmanship, with artistic mouldings, the like of which in key making is not seen today. (8)

Fourteen years later, in August 1938, the St Kilda Council adopted an extensive scheme for beautifying the grounds surrounding St. Kilda town hall. (9) To this end, the Council purchased from the trustees of Balaclava Methodist Church 60 feet of land in Carlisle-street, which is now incorporated in the town hall grounds, and this made the size of the grounds 2¾ acres. (10)

The Argus reported on the planned new works - 

St. Kilda Council adopted on Monday a recommendation of its parks and gardens committee that a report prepared by Mr. Linaker, of the Public Works Department, be received, and an accompanying plan in relation to the planting and removal of trees at and around the town hall and in other parts of the municipality, be adopted. The report stated that aspects which had been given particular consideration were convenience, trees suitable for planting and varieties to thrive in the district, modernness, background and screening, brightness and maintenance, and skyline and general balance. The plan provided for the removal of two sets of gates at the town hall in Carlisle street, one at the corner of Carlisle street and Brighton road, and one in Brighton road. (11)

There wasn't, however, unanimous support for this scheme as the following report attests -
Cr. Moroney said he regretted that it was intended to remove the ornamental iron gates on the Brighton-road and Carlisle-street frontages. They were fine specimens of the iron workers' art, and had been an embellishment to the grounds for many years. It would be vandalism to remove them. Even if the hedges and fences were taken away the gates could remain.
Cr. Mitty: they are a relict of the past.
Cr Moroney: Yes. That is why I want remain. I also do not approve of the removal of old and beautiful trees from the grounds. Some of them were planted by distinguished people.
The Mayor (Cr. Dawkins): A number of the old trees will remain, and those removed will be replaced by other trees. (12) 

Hugh Linaker died on October 10, 1938 at the age of 66,  so he did not live to see his plans come to fruition. Mr Linaker's obituary noted that he was regarded as the leading landscape gardener in Victoria. Hugh Linaker, Superintendent of State Parks and Gardens of Victoria had undertaken the landscaping around the Shrine of Remembrance, designed the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, had been engaged by Sir John Monash to advice on the planning  of Yallourn and for many years [was] employed by the Department of Mental Hygiene as head gardener, and in that capacity he designed the grounds and gardens of every mental asylum in the State. (13)

In April 1939, The Age reported that the comprehensive scheme for beautifying the grounds surrounding the structure [Town Hall] is being carried out by the curator (Mr. N. Scovle), under the supervision or the city engineer (Mr. R. T. Kelly) and that  the ornamental cast-iron gates at the Brighton-road and Carlisle-street entrances to the grounds are also to go, but they are to be stored for possible re-erection elsewhere. (14)

The St Kilda Town Hall, c. 1930. You can clearly see where the gates were installed at the apex of the town hall triangular site, facing the intersection of Carlisle street and High street. (15)

The building on the right, along High Street (Brighton Road) is the St Kilda State School.  The building to the top of the Town Hall is the Balaclava Methodist Church, which faces Chapel Street, on the corner of Carlisle Street.

St. Kilda Town Hall, c. 1930. Photographer: Sir W. Raymond Garrett. State Library of Victoria, see full image here http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/278495

What happened to the finest wrought iron gates to be found in Melbourne, as historian Cooper called them? I do not know, but given the time period possibly scrapped and melted down for the War effort. 

Trove list - I have created a list of articles on this topic, you can access it here.

Footnotes
(1) The Argus, July 12, 1923, see here.
(2) The Argus, December 5, 1925, see here.
(3) The Age, October 10, 1934, see here.
(4)  The Argus, December 5, 1925, see here; The Argus, February 25, 1922, see here.
(5) The Argus, March 29, 1922, see here; The Argus, July 8, 1822, see here; The Argus, December 13, 1922, see here.
(6) The Argus, July 12, 1923, see here.
(7) The Argus, May 17, 1924, see here.
(8) Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a city and after 1840 - 1930, v. 2 (St Kilda City Council, 1931), p. 62.
(9) The Age, August 16, 1938, see here.
(10) The Age, April 1, 1939, see here.
(11) The Argus, August 17, 1938, see here.
(12) The Age, August 16, 1938, see here.
(13) Hugh Linaker - death notice The Age, October 11, 1938, see here; Obituary - The Argus, October 12, 1938, see here and The Australasian, October 15, 1938, see here.
(14) The Age, April 1, 1939, see here.

(15) The Argus, September 5, 1923, see here. 

Donkeys on the St Kilda Beach

In January 1905, The Australasian, published a delightful account of a family spending the day at the St Kilda beach, which included the following - 
About 2 o'clock the donkeys come down. They are such dear, little, obstinate creatures, and are about eleven in number; but more are to come from New Zealand, where they are bred. The children are delighted with the novelty. They pet and fondle them, and discover their names engraved on their halters. There is Gipsy, Topsy, Madcap, Murmur, Bland Holt, Seddon, and Napoleon. This last donkey objects to carrying adults or boys, he likes the girls best. It is strange how he knows, instantly a man or boy is wont to get on his back he bucks most viciously, and yet for the girls his temper is angelic. Double-seated wicker saddles are provided for the very little children, and the donkeys look so pretty with a double-freight of chubby babies; on their backs. I am sure they feel their twofold responsibility in carrying such precious burdens. Boys and girls ride straddle-saddle, so there is little fear of a fall. Even if such a catastrophe should happen, it would not be serious on the sand. Boys accompany the riders, whipping the donkeys up, until they break into a fast trot, and judging by the beaming faces of the children, it must be great fun, and well worth a trial. Several timid little girls want a ride badly, but they are afraid unless an elder sister walks beside the donkey to held then on. Then the difficulty is to get them off, as they have enjoyed the ride so much. (1)

Are these Gipsy, Topsy, Madcap, Murmur, Bland Holt, Seddon, and Napoleon?

Donkeys on the St Kilda Beach, dated c. 1906. State Library of Victoria image H33670/4   http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/289402

The donkeys belonged to Mr H. Wright, who had applied to the St Kilda Council in March 1904 for  permission to run donkeys on the beach foreshore for the amusement of children. Below high water mark the council has no jurisdiction, but, subject to supervision, it was decided to offer no opposition, and the application was referred to the public works committee to consider the terms. (2)

The Public Works Committee granted Mr Wright, permissive occupancy of the foreshore, between the baths and Brooke's boat house, for donkey rides, subject to regulations to be drawn up. (3)

In spite of this permission (and possibly because a new application was required each year) Mr Wright applied again to the Council in November 1904 to use a portion of the foreshore for the purpose of giving rides on donkeys to all and sundry. (4) He was granted permission for donkeys being run on the foreshore north of Kenney's baths to a point in line with Mary-street. (5)

Donkeys on the St Kilda Beach

Weekly Times, January 7, 1905 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222539805/23493233#

Gipsy, Topsy, Madcap, Murmur, Bland Holt, Seddon, and Napoleon were very popular with the children, but there was drama in early January of 1905 when the donkeys were attacked. The following letter was written to the Editor of The Argus newspaper -

Sir -This is what happened at half past 4 on Tuesday afternoon on St Kilda beach. A respectable young man is running donkeys, and while some were carrying their human freights two larrikins took from a cart - which they had driven to the water's edge - one or two fierce bulldogs. The collar was removed and the bulldog let go. It deliberately set on to a donkey carrying a little boy. The boy was severely bitten about the legs necessitating hospital dressing, and the donkey was greatly injured, needing the services of a veterinary surgeon. Police assistance was sought in every direction and although the depot was telephoned no police arrived for fully 40 minutes. (6)

Donkeys on the Sands, St Kilda.

Image not dated but likely to be c. 1905

 Australian National Maritime Museum image 00001937 

https://collections.sea.museum/objects/48638/donkeys-on-the-sands-at-st-kilda

I have no information as to whether the donkeys were on the beach all year, or just over the Summer season, but as this article from the newspaper in November 1905, tells us 

Numbers of children were disappointed on Monday at St Kilda owing to the absence of the donkeys on the beach. It was not discernible whether it was because the public works department sand trucks are shifting the whole beach between Brook's boathouse and the baths or whether it was owing to some other reason. Anyhow the donkeys were not there and the sand tracks were, whilst it may be added that the beach is gradually disappearing. Will it ever - like the cat - come back again? (7)

On the Sands at St Kilda - lounging adults and children riding donkeys.

Did the Donkeys come back that Summer? I cannot say. I have found other accounts of the donkeys at the the St Kilda Beach, the earliest one from November 1868. In January 1870, The Age advertised that Rowland's stud of Donkeys will be at St Kilda Beach during the week, and at Brighton on Sundays, during the season. (8)  But these donkeys were not popular with everyone as The Herald noted in February 1870- 

Donkey Riding at St. Kilda - A correspondent writes to us anent the "donkey riding nuisance," and says "it ought to be done away with by the authorities." Alluding to yesterday afternoon, our correspondent says : "At one time there were two or three hundred boys on the St. Kilda beach, where a man hired out several donkeys for short rides along the beach. Every time a donkey started a number of these boys would scamper after them, yelling, and shouting, and cheering, to the great annoyance of those who were out for a gentle stroll by the rippling waters of the bay to enjoy the fresh breeze after the confinement of the week." We quite agree with the writer of the above, that what he complains of is a great nuisance, and should be checked. (9)

In January 1871, Mr Rowland  put his stock of donkeys, mules and equipment up for auction which offered a man of small capital the opportunity to enter into a lucrative pursuit. (10)

Mr Rowlands sells his donkeys

The Argus, January 10, 1871 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5840797

After 1871, I could find no reports of donkey rides until Mr H. Wright and his donkeys in 1904 and 1905. 

The next confirmed reports of donkey rides was in December 1923, when the newspapers could announce that one of the traditional delights of English seaside resorts donkey rules for children will be an attraction at St. Kilda this summer. (11) The Herald later reported - 

The week after next, children visiting St. Kilda beach will be able to hire donkeys and ride between Brooke's boathouse and the pavilion tea rooms. This innovation has been sanctioned by the St. Kilda Shore Committee, which has made arrangements with a private proprietor. An offer was also made to provide camels with Oriental trappings, each camel to be led, but the committee would not accept. The beach is too crowded at holiday times it was considered, for camels. The owner of the donkeys intends to seek similar privileges on other beaches, including South Melbourne, Brighton and Sandringham. (12)

Sadly for Mr Joe Gardiner, he was not allowed to provide camel rides on the beach and thus his camels, Mutt and Jeff, had to reside at Coburg.

The Argus, January 26, 1924 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1927133

However,  the hopes of the youngsters for donkey rides were dashed, as The Herald reported -  

Rinderpest in West Australia is responsible for depriving children visiting the St. Kilda foreshore of the rides on donkeys to which they had been looking forward after recent announcements in the press. Mr H. O. Allen, secretary, of the St. Kilda Shore Trust, has been in formed by Mr J. Gardiner, who was given the right to provide the donkeys that he purchased some in Perth, West Australia, but was unable to ship them to Melbourne because of the regulations issued since the outbreak of rinderpest forbidding the transfer of animals likely to carry the disease. (13)

The next reference in the newspapers to donkeys on the beach at St Kilda was in December 1931,  when The Sun News-Pictorial published the following photographs -

Donkeys on the beach at St Kilda.

The Sun News-Pictorial, December 19, 1931 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/276261897

Four years later, The Herald in November 1935 published this cute photograph of a girl having a donkey ride at St Kilda

A donkey ride on the St Kilda Beach

The Herald, November 15, 1935 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244779014

In spite of the donkeys looking cute and children being fond of them, again not everyone was happy for them to be on the beach. This was published in the The Sun News-Pictorial  in December 1935 - 

Denies Donkeys Nuisance On St. Kilda Beach - Replying yesterday to a complaint by a correspondent, that donkeys were allowed to be paraded on the beach at St Kilda, to the inconvenience of bathers, the secretary of the St. Kilda Shore Committee (Cr. Dawkins) denied there was any interference with bathers, or any pollution of the beach. The owner of the donkeys, who charged children a penny a ride, paid to take the animals there. This form of amusement, Cr. Dawkins said, was permitted on every popular beach in the world. (14)

Nothing came of the complaint as the donkeys were still providing entertainment  in January 1936 and a year later in January 1937, when this photograph was published in The Argus.

Kiddies enjoying donkey rides  on the beach at St Kilda.

The Argus, January 4 1937 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11954036

From February to April 1938, the St Kilda Beach donkeys were for sale, advertised as quiet for children. (15)  

The riding donkeys for sale

The Herald, March 3, 1938, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244591983

Was this the end of donkey rides being held on the beach at St Kilda on a regular basis? I can find no further references to them; the War naturally diverted resources from pleasure to patriotic causes and by the time things returned to 'normal' after the War ended, perhaps donkey rides were considered passé or donkey rides were confined to Parks.

Trove list - I have created a list of articles relating to donkeys on the St Kilda beach, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) The Australasian, January 21, 1905, see here.

(2) The Age, March 16, 1904, see here.

(3) Prahran Telegraph, April 2, 1904, see here.

(4) Prahran Chronicle, November 12, 1904, see here.

(5) Prahran Telegraph, December 24, 1904, see here.

(6) The Argus, January 7, 1905, see here.

(7) Prahran Telegraph, November 18, 1905, see here.

(8) The Argus, November 11, 1868, see here; The Age, January 15, 1870, see here.

(9) The Herald, February 21, 1870, see here.

(10) The Argus, January 10, 1871, see here. 

(11) Prahran Telegraph, December 14, 1923,  see here.

(12) The Herald, December 6, 1923, see here.

(13) The Herald, January 7, 1924, see here.

(14) Sun News-Pictorial, December 4, 1935 see here.

(15) The Herald, March 3, 1938,  see here. 

St Kilda Park State School Great War Honour Board designed by George Dancey

The St Kilda Park Primary School, No.2460,  is located in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. The School opened on August 1, 1882 and a noted alumni is Sir Zelman Cowen (1919-2011), Governor General of Australia (1). The School was designed by Education Department Architect, Henry R. Bastow and the Victorian Heritage database describes it thus -The two storey school building is designed in the Gothic style, which was commonly adopted for larger school buildings from the late 1870s. It is a brown brick building with polychromatic contrasts in black, cream and red brick, set on a bluestone base. Asymmetrically composed on a corner site, it contains an unusual two storey splayed corner element which provides a visual transition between the two facades. Steep slate gable roofs, tall chimneys and a prominent tower provide a picturesque skyline, and pointed and trefoil arches with render label mouldings give a Gothic character. (2). 

St Kilda Park School, c. 1970s. Photographer:  Laurie Burchell. 

State Library of Victoria Image H2006.165/356

Not only is the school itself an elaborate confection of design, but it has a elaborate Great War Honour Board, one of the most glorious school Honour Boards I have seen. It commemorates the 150 past students who served overseas.

St Kilda Park School Honour Board

Image: Isaac Hermann, 2023

The Honour Board, designed by George Dancey and was unveiled by the Minister for Railways, and M.L.A for St Kilda,  Frederick Eggleston (3)  after  the Empire Day celebrations on May 23, 1924. The Herald reported on the event -

Mr Eggleston told the children that if the qualities exhibited by the men whose names appeared on the honor board wore displayed in the civil life  of the community, all its problems, social and political, would be solved. He reminded them of the splendid examples of courage and chivalry set by the Australian fighting forces during the war. Messrs Syme Harris, chairman of the school committee; R. Davey, district inspector; R. H. Trembath, headmaster; B. Ramsay, ex-headmaster, and Cr. Burnett Gray also spoke. The new honor board is a handsome piece of work designed by the late Mr George Dancey, the artist. It was executed in opus sectile by Brooks Robinson Pty. Ltd. The composition is tile-like and assembled in mosaic effect, the colored design being burnt in by a special process. The whole is enclosed in a copper frame. From the children's point of view the best part of the ceremony came this afternoon. Every State school child in the St. Kilda district was entertained at the Palais pictures by the Mayor and councillors and presented with a packet of sweets (4). 

Detail of the St Kilda Park School Honour Board, encased in the copper frame, showing George Dancey's signature. Fecit - 'He made'

Image: Isaac Hermann, 2023

The Honour Board was designed by George Henry Dancey. George was born in London on March 26, 1865 to Joseph and Clara (nee Bursill) Dancey (5).  He trained as an ecclesiastical artist at Clayton and Bell in London, one of England's most prolific stained glass studios in the Victorian and Edwardian eras (6).  Whilst at Clayton and Bell he worked on the stained glass windows for St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, which were then installed by Brooks, Robinson Pty Ltd, who made the St Kilda Park Honour Board (7). After his arrival in Victoria, he married Annie Maria Wills (nee Jenkinson) in 1893. She was the widow of John Wills and they had a daughter Ethel, who had been born in South Africa, where her parents were from.  In 1903,  Ethel married Alek Williams. Williams was an illustrator and cartoonist whose work appeared in the Bulletin, Punch and Smith's Weekly, under the name of Alex Sass. Alex died December 1, 1922 aged 44. George and Annie had the one daughter, Clara, in 1896 and she married Cyril Devenport in 1923. Just three weeks after the death of Alex, another tragedy struck the family when George died at his home at 11 Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda on December 23, 1922 at the age of 58 years old, so he did not get to see see the Honour Board completed. He is buried at the Brighton Cemetery, with his wife Annie, who died in 1934, aged 78 (8).

George Dancey, 1908

Photographers: Johnstone, O'Shannessy & Co. 

State Library of Victoria Image H28902/17

The Prahran Telegraph printed a very informative and touching obituary - 

GEORGE DANCEY'S DEATH. Mural Painter and Cartoonist. Resident of St. Kilda.

Recently there passed away at his home in Beaconsfield parade, St.Kilda, one, George H. Dancey, cartoonist and mural painter. It would be interesting to know what this signifies to the ordinary St. Kilda citizen. It is very certain that he does not realise what a great artist had he had his opportunities and been appreciated as his merits deserved, has been lost to Australia. George Dancey was, unfortunately, a martyr to an art, mural decoration, which is in little demand as yet in this young country, still in the crysalis stage of commercial progress. But it is safe to say that had Mr. Dancey remained in England his fame would have been known throughout the civilised world. 

St. Kilda is fortunate in having two very fine examples of his work in war memorials, which are

to be found in Christ Church, Acland street, (9) and Holy Trinity Church,  Balaclava (10). It is a great pity that he was not commissioned to decorate in fitting manner the St. Kilda Town Hall. It would then have numbered among its visitors art lovers, who would have been further impressed with this beautiful city, and the city fathers might have had the pleasure of boasting of another reason for their pride in the 'Queen City of the Metropolis.' But, alas, the chance has gone by!

As a cartoonist on Melbourne 'Punch' Mr. Dancey was best known to the public. While his inclination was not towards this work, he persistently applied himself to it, for bread and butter reasons, and succeeded. His best cartoons are on nobles lines, seldom found in other work of this nature. After fifteen years study at the Kensington Art School, London, Mr. Dancey was forced by ill-health to come to Australia, some twenty-five years ago, and finding small demand for mural decoration, he became a cartoonist. In his mural painting Mr. Dancey was deeply influenced by Lord Leighton. Several of Mr. Dancey's original cartoons were shown in London about five years ago, when they attracted much attention. 

Among other branches of his art Mr. Dancey devoted himself largely to the designing of stained glass windows, at which he had been engaged for many years. Among his works of a purely decorative nature are two panels, Comedy and Tragedy, which adorn the proscenium slope of Her Majesty's Theatre.

To those who knew him personally the late artist was the most gentle, kindly sympathetic man imaginable, who had a good word for all, especially for those who tried to appreciate his art. For many years he was an invalid, and was attended by a devoted wife, who with a daughter and a stepdaughter, wife of the late Alex. Sass, the cartoonist, he has left behind to mourn his loss. As a result of his long illness and lack of support of his art, the family is not well provided for. The Victorian Artists' Society, it is understood, will hold a gift exhibition, at which the works shown will be presented by the artists and the proceeds will go to the dependents. (11). 

This was not the only time the Prahran Telegraph had bemoaned the lack of recognition and respect for George Dancey's art by the Australian public. This was written after the Honour Board was unveiled - 

The Honour Board at the St. Kilda Park Central School is a specially fine one, being the conception of that very fine artist, the late George Dancy, whose artistic worth was barely recognised in this country, we being apparently not sufficiently cultured to appreciate what a master he was in mural decorative art. In Europe Dancy would have found the fame and the fortune which lack of appreciative knowledge of this form of a great art failed to give to him in his own country. (12).

The Dancey Memorial Exhibition was held in May 1923 and raised for than £500 for the family (13).

Acknowledgment

Thank you to my research colleague, Isaac Hermann, for telling me about this wonderful Honour Board and allowing me to use his photographs, and thus leading me to George Dancey, whom I had not heard of before.

Trove list - I have compiled a short list of newspaper articles relating to this Honour Board and George Dancey, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria edited by Les Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973);

(2) Victorian Heritage Database https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1109 

(3) Sir Frederick William Eggleston (1875-1954) see Australian Dictionary of Biography entry here  https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/eggleston-sir-frederic-william-344

(4) The Herald, May 23, 1924, see here.

(5) Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923, London Metropolitan Archives on Ancestry.com

(6) Clayton and Bell - https://www.visitstainedglass.uk/artist-page/clayton-bell and 

https://www.claytonandbell.org.uk/home 

(7) George's entry in Who’s Who in Australia, 1921-1950, on-line at Ancestry.com, lists his connection to Clayton and Bell.  

Brooks, Robinson Pty Ltd - more information https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01420b.htm 

Who’s Who in Australia, 1921-1950, on-line at Ancestry.com

(8) Victorian Indexes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages; Family notices notices - see my Trove list; and his obituary, as transcribed above. Alex Sass - obituary in Smith's Weekly, here; and Sydney Evening News, here.

(9) Christ Church, Acland Street - read about George's work here. It was unveiled December 11, 1921.

(10) Holy Trinity Church, Balaclava - read about George's work here. It was unveiled August 6, 1922. 

(11) Prahran Telegraph, February 2, 1923, see here.

(12) Prahran Telegraph, May 30 1924, see here.

(13) The Herald, May 26, 1923, see here.

St Kilda's Wax Museum

On Monday, November 23, 1970 the London Wax Museum was officially opened by the Mayor of St Kilda, Cr G. Manning, in the South Pacific Building, Lower Esplanade (now Jacka Boulevard) (1).  The South Pacific was the old St Kilda Baths, completely renovated and re-opened in 1956 (2).The 45 (3) figures on display - replicas of the famous and infamous (4) -  had been sculptured and  modelled by Jack Armytage, of Interwax Ltd, at the time the only company in the Southern Hemisphere producing wax models. Jack also designed the display, the costumes and provided the display bodies - it was only the head and the hands which were created in wax (5).

Jack Armytage with Queen Victoria

The Age, November 20, 1970, p. 21.

In an interview in The Age newspaper of November 20, 1970 Jack explained his entry into the Wax Model world -

It started 15 months ago when I was helping to lay out the wax museum at Surfers' Paradise. They had some trouble with the wax models brought from London and I thought that they could have been made here.

I had a trip around the world looking at wax museums and that convinced me. I hadn't done any sculpture before, or sculpted from life, but I think being in television for years helped me. Jack had previously been the art director of  a Brisbane Television station. 

Each figure, estimated to be worth $1,000 each, took over 200 hours to create, with each hair being individually implanted (6).

An interesting employment opportunity at the Wax Museum

The Age July 8, 1972, p. 71.

Amongst the models made for the St Kilda Museum were Queen Victoria, King Henry VIII, whose costume alone cost $400; the then Prime Minister, John Gorton; Dame Nellie Melba. Charles Dickens, Dr Christiaan Barnard, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, Princess Anne, Michelangelo, Napoleon, Sir Francis Drake, Madame Tussaud, Rolf Harris, Sir Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli, American Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon, Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse-tung (7).

The manager, John Pittman, surrounded by Benjamin Disraeli, Prince Phillip, Princess Anne, The Queen and Queen Victoria.

The Age January 28, 1975, p. 12

The Museum, owned by New Zealand Company London Wax Museums Ltd was managed by John and Joy Pittman (8). They had no previous experience in the Wax Museum World  - Neither of us had any experience in the world of wax. I worked for an electrical company and Joy had a background in dress making," Mr Pittman said (9).

After 18 months (10) the Museum, also known as the World in Wax,  moved to 32 The Esplanade on the corner of Acland Street to the building erected in 1917, by the  Prahran and Malvern Tramway Trust at the terminus of its line. The building had a long history of use as a cafe - initially the Empire Cafe, then the Green Knoll, and from mid-1940s to 1970 as the function centre known as both Katharina and Catherina (11).

The World in Wax museum, 32 The Esplanade, St Kilda.

Image: Victorian Heritage database https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/66317 

Image enhanced by Isaac Hermann.

The Pittmans operated at 32 The Esplanade, until January 27, 1975, when they had to close as the building was to be demolished and all the models were put into storage.  By this stage 250,000 visitors had viewed the collection. It was not an easy task to find a suitable building to house what was then reported to be 50 wax models, and they had been searching for over a year when they were interviewed by The Age on the day of the closure. The interview reported that they were considering a site in Barkly Street, but it is likely to be some time before the Museum opens again (12).  Some time later they re-opened at 168 Acland Street, corner Barkly Street, in the building which until recently housed the Big Mouth Cafe (13).

Souvenir from London's Wax Museum.

I don't know how long they were at 168 Acland Street, but it seems less than a year. In 2002, the Riverine Herald had an interview with the Pittmans and it was reported that the couple, now in their 80s, bought the London Wax Museum in St Kilda in 1975 and moved its occupants to Echuca in 1976 to open World in Wax Museum on High St.  (14)

This is 'Deadly Earnest'  on display at the Wax Museum.

Life sized guillotine and victim, displayed at the London Wax Museum in St Kilda.

Image: Isaac Hermann

It appears that the Pittmans managed the Museum from its opening until 1975, when they purchased the business and then began looking for a new location, and that the Acland Street location was only ever meant to be a temporary location. This is supported by the fact that the Riverine Herald reported in February 1975 that the Echuca Council was to make a bid to have the Wax Museum set up in Echuca, thus they may have been in talks early on (15).  Secondly, this advertisement, below,  appeared in The Age on October 1, 1975. It is of course possible that R. Inlander was looking for a location for a rival wax museum in 'Melbourne or nearby' but even though I have found no connection yet between Mr Inlander and the Pittmans, I believe that he was advertising on their behalf.

Advertisement for  a  location for a Wax Museum. 

Was it for the St Kilda Museum or a rival museum?

This is likely to be  Rudolf Inlander, listed in the Electoral Roll in the 1970s at Hosken Street, Balwyn North, occupation - dental mechanic.

The Age October 1, 1975. p. 23.

The Riverine Herald article from 2002, was written because the Pittmans were retiring and their manager, John Walton, was taking over the business. At the time of their retirement the Wax Museum displayed 59 models and each figurine can cost anywhere between $8,000 and $10,000 because of the time it takes to make them (16).  An interesting increase in value from the $1,000 per model that Jack Armytage said they were worth in 1970.

The Wax Museum in St Kilda was a short-lived part of St Kilda's rich history as Australia's  premier pleasure resort (17). 

Acknowledgment
I had not heard of the Wax Museum at St Kilda until I was told of it by my fellow historian, Isaac Hermann, when he purchased some souvenir postcards of the Museum, one of which I have reproduced here. Some of this research was done by or in conjunction with Isaac. Thanks, Isaac.

Footnotes
(1) The Age, November 20, 1970, p. 21. Available on newspapers.com

(2) The South Pacific, read the report of official re-opening in The Argus of November 3, 1956, here. However a report in the Australian Jewish Herald of May 18, 1956 said there was a Grand Opening on May 23, 1956, read this report here.

(3) The number of figures on display was listed as 45 in The Age of  November 20 article and 42 in The Age, November 19, 1970, p. 16

(4) Replicas of the famous and infamous was from an advert for the Museum in The Age, December 11, 1972, p. 11. 

(5) The Age, November 20, 1970, p. 21.

(6) The Age, November 20, 1970, p. 21.

(7) The Age, November 20, 1970, p. 21; The Age, November 19, 1970, p. 16; The Age January 28, 1975, p. 12.

(8) The Age, November 19, 1970, p. 16. Available on newspapers.com

(9) Riverine Herald, December 2, 2002, see here. 
(10) The Age January 28, 1975, p. 12. Available on newspapers.com

(11) I will be writing a history of the building shortly, but I have created  a list of articles on Trove on the various businesses which  occupied the building, access it here https://trove.nla.gov.au/list/157656

(12)  The Age January 28, 1975, p. 12.

(13) Isaac Hermann told me about this location. See also here https://www.realestatesource.com.au/big-mouth-shuts-after-27-years-building-re-rents/ and here https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/big-mouth

(14) Riverine Herald, December 2, 2002, see here. 

(15) Riverine Herald, February 2, 2000, see here - The Way we Were - 25 years ago.

(16) Riverine Herald, December 2, 2002, see here. 

(17) This term is from St Kilda by the Sea, published by the Prahran Telegraph, 1913-1916, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/185325

The St Kilda War Trophy - a long range German Gun

In late 1919 the  Commonwealth War Trophies Committee was established and its role was to distribute 'war trophies' which had been captured during the Great War.  A War Trophy Committee was established in each State and they determined how the guns would be distributed. In Victoria, some of the trophies were retained by the Government for a State War Museum and trophies were also allocated to each Citizen Force Light Horse and Infantry Unit. The remaining trophies were allotted to towns; Melbourne and inner suburbs, such as St Kilda were regarded as one unit of allocation (1) The Lord Mayor of Melbourne convenened a meeting of mayors of suburbs within the metropolitan area and the allocations were decided (2). 

St Kilda was first offered in August 1921 a Trench Mortar (3), which they were not happy with. Correspondence between the local member, William Watt, M.P., and an unnamed staff member in Home & Territories stated that St Kilda feels that its undoubtedly fine war record has not been suitably recognised (4). There was some sympathy for this position within the Victorian Committee who thought that St Kilda had special claims by reason of its population and  its position as a leading metropolitan seaside resort (5). 

After the initial allocation to Victoria another four or five guns became available from a shipment presented to Australia from the French Government and after passionate advocacy on Mr Watt's part on behalf of the St Kilda Council they were allocated a 8-inch Howitzer (6). However, in June 1922 Mr Watt received a letter from the Director of the Australian War Museum offering the City a 6-inch gun, though the gun is of smaller calibre than the howitzer, it is considerably larger, and in fact is the largest gun available for distribution in the metropolitan area (7). The gun itself was the largest type conveyed by the Germans with road traction, it weighed 11½  tons, was 30 feet long and it could reportedly throw a 120 pound shell from St Kilda to Mordialloc (8). 

The War Trophy Gun, looking over St Kilda Pier. It is views like this that led the Victorian War Trophy Committee to recognise St Kilda as a leading metropolitan seaside resort. 

Visible at the end of St. Kilda Pier is the Colonial naval ship Childers Conning Tower,

with its RMYS Great War commemorative plaque. 

The Pier from Alfred Square, St Kilda. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co., 

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/4925

In August 1922, the St Kilda Town Clerk formally accepted this offer of the 6-inch gun. The  appointed Trustees were Cr Joseph Hewison, Cr George Renfrey and Cr Burnett Gray (9). The gun was placed on display in Alfred Square, the same park where the St Kilda Boer War Memorial was unveiled on March 12, 1905 (10).  It wasn't the only gun at Alfred Square there was also this gun, pictured below. I do not know the fate of this gun.

An older gun in Alfred Square, St Kilda Esplande, Melbourne in 1919. The gun was featured in a series of photos under the headline Old Guns in Parks and Gardens.

The Australasian, March 15, 1919 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/140220075#

On June 23, 1923 this 150 mm Long Range High Angle Gun, No. 103 (as the gun was officially named) was formally handed over  to the City of St Kilda by William Watt, M.P., in a ceremony in Albert Square. Mr Watt was reported as saying it was doubtful if any city in Australia had such a fine record for war efforts or for the number of its citizens who had enlisted as St Kilda. The gun was captured on 8th August, 1918, at one of the most dramatic and decisive moments of the war, three months before the final overthrow of the Germans. At this time the Australians were the spearhead of the Allied forces (11). 

It is interesting that he gives the date of capture, because in October 1922 the Director of the Australian War Museum wrote to the St Kilda Town Clerk  that owing to the unit failing to record the place and date of capture it is regretted that a full history cannot be furnished other than it was captured by the Australian Corps on the Western Front during the final offensive in 1918 (12). 

Workmen placing St. Kildas war trophy - a long-range German gun captured by the Australians - in position in Alfred Square, on the Esplanade today

The Herald, June 20. 1923 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244025654

Other speeches on the day were also reported Mr. Eggleston, M.L.A., member for St.Kilda and a returned soldier, who unveiled a plate on the gun, said it was doubtful if Australians recognised sufficently the great efforts of their men at the front. The gun would serve as a memorial to future generations, and make them realise the horrors of war, and that every peaceful means should be exhausted before war was sought. Cr. Cummings, in receiving the gun on behalf of the City, said it would serve to remind the present generation of those who had returned and of its promises to care for those who had been left by those who would never return (13). 

The War Trophy Gun on the right, looking towards another memorial, the Carlo Catani 

Memorial Clock Tower and the St Kilda Baths.

View from Alfred Square, St Kilda. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co.,

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/602

In spite of the enthusiastic efforts that the St Kilda Council went to, to obtain their War Trophy, there wasn't universal approval of this acquistion. The Prahan Telegraph was quite scathing -  In the meanwhile people are making rude remarks about the hideous gun which is scrapped in the Town Hall gardens, pointing its lean grey-hound barrel towards Carlisle street. This devilish instrument of man's inhumanity to man awaits its transference to Alfred Square, where it is to be placed to please the St. Kilda jingoes who shouted so hard to the other fellow to go to the war, but who themselves went no further than the St. Kilda pier to wave adieus to the troop transports. Such war trophies, the guns, are in their right place when retained in the war museum, but they are not in keeping with the amenities of the St. Kilda shorefront, where one does not desire to find a Moloch pendant of the heathen god of war, the most accursed of all cursed, gods that man ever capitalised or personified (14). 

The Prahran Telegraph later reported on the 'handing over' ceremony, under the headline Gun Gush - One speaker said the gun would serve to remind those who had relatives killed in the war that those honoured ones were not forgotten. We fail to understand what that apparently intendened pious observation means. If the gun reminds the relatives of the fallen, or anything, it reminds them that they have lost loved ones in a war, the true inwardness yet of which is not yet understood by the masses. Another speaker looked at the gun differently. He said the gun would serve as  a perpetual reminder of the horror and hatefulness of war. How it will do that, we do not know. There is no evidence of the horror and hatefulness of the war in the gun itself. It is simply a rusting piece of steel disfiguring Alfred Place, and quite out of place with the amenties of St Kilda's beautiful sea front.......Possibly after seeing miles of wooden white crosses in Picardy, recording the deaths of gallant Australian boys, we have less stomach to digest these flag-waving ceremonies, and less patience to hear jingoistic talk about war trophies far too often placed in the wrong places by men who talk, but who do not realise the hatefulness of war implements in abodes of peace (15). 

Mrs H. D. Matta photographed with the gun in 1925.

Museums Victoria Image https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/773105

The gun remained at Alfred Square on display and formed a background to family photos and postcards and then it was back in the news in 1942 -  St. Kilda council is in a quandary as to what to do with the German 9.5 gun, a relic of the last war, which has been a conspicuous object in Alfred-square on the Esplanade for many years. It was recently offered to the defence authorities, who declined it "with thanks," and an offer of it to a firm for sale as scrap metal was not accepted. It was stated that it would cost £30 to remove it from its concrete emplacement. It was pointed out by one councillor that the presence of the gun in the square might constitute a grave menace to the neighborhood as hostile aircraft might regard it was part of the anti-aircraft defence. Moreover, it constituted an obstacle to the approach to slit trenches in the event of a raid (16).   

A report two weeks later said When the gun was offered a fortnight ago to the Minister for Munitions (Mr Makin) by the St. Kilda Council, the Minister suggested that the gun would be of more value to the war effort if it was used for training purposes instead of being used as scrap. It was reported at last night's meeting of the council that the Commanding-Officer of the 1/2 Medium Training Regiment at Puckapunyal had asked for the gun to train the troops, and it will be given to him (17)

However, for some reason the gun was never sent to Puckpunyal and we learn more of its history from Retrieving the Cultural Biography of a Gun by David Pearson and Graham Connah. Their article was published in the Journal of Conflict Archaelogy in Janaury 2013.  They write some time after July 1968 it was disposed of by the council and was rescued by a private purchaser whilst on its way to the scrap yard.  It is now at the Caribbean Gardens and Market at Scoresby, in Melbourne (18). 

Caribbean Gardens closed down in 2020. We do not know what the owners of Caribbean Gardens plan to do with the gun. 

The gun at Caribbean Gardens.

Image: Pakenham Modellers Group Facebook page, posted July 3 2019. 

This is the Group's website http://www.vinwragg.com/pmg/new/

The original plaque is also at Caribbean Gardens, which was unveiled on June 23, 1923 

by Mr. Eggleston, M.L.A., member for St.Kilda and a returned soldier. It may not be appropriate (or logistically possible) for the gun to return to St Kilda but it would be nice if the plaque could find a home in Alfred Square, as part of an interpretive panel or display. 

Image: Pakenham Modellers Group Facebook page, posted July 3 2019. 

This is the Group's website http://www.vinwragg.com/pmg/new/

Acknowledgments
I was made aware of the St Kilda War Trophy Gun by my research colleague, Isaac Hermann. His friend, David Clerehan, had informed him of Caribbean Gardens' closure and the pending situation with the gun and this led to this research, some of which was also done by or in conjunction with Isaac. Thank you, David and Isaac.  It was Kay Rowan, Local History Librarian at the City of Port Phillip who made us aware that the gun was not moved to Puckpunyal in 1942. Kay supplied the article Retrieving the Cultural Biography of a Gun by David Pearson and Graham Connah. Thank you, Kay.

Trove list
I have created a list of articles connected to the St Kilda War Trophy Gun, access it here.

Footnotes
(1) National Archives of Australia Series AWM 194 - Allotment of 1914-1918 War trophies St Kilda.
This is a 26 page file containing various correspondence from the St Kilda Council, William Watt the local Member of Parliament, copies of correspondence to and from the Victorian Committee to the Director of the Australian War Museum regarding St Kilda's request for a War Trophy and similar. You can see the file here https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2798268
(2) Ibid
(3) Ibid
(4) Ibid
(5) Ibid
(6) Ibid
(7) Ibid
(8) The Age June 25, 1923, see here and The Argus June 25, 1923, see here.
(9) National Archives of Australia Series AWM 194 - Allotment of 1914-1918 War trophies St Kilda.
(10) I have written about the St Kilda Boer War Memorial here    http://carlocatani.blogspot.com/2020/01/fathers-and-sons-mateship-and-monuments.html
(11) The Age, June 25, 1923, see here.
(12) National Archives of Australia Series AWM 194 - Allotment of 1914-1918 War trophies St Kilda.
(13) The Age, June 25, 1923, see here.
(14) Prahran Telegraph, June 1, 1923, see here.
(15) Prahran Telegraph, June 29, 1923, see here.
(16) The Age, April 9, 1942, see here.
(17) The Herald, April 21, 1942, see here.
(18) Retrieving the Cultural Biography of a Gun by David Pearson and Graham Connah in Journal of Conflict Archaelogy V.8, No. 1, Janaury 2013, pp 41-73. The quote is from page 65. This is the full quote, with their sources listed - The treatment of Gun 135 was also much superior to that of the only other surviving gun of this type in Australia (Gun 103) which is now in a deteriorated condition. This was initially presented to the municipality of St Kilda, in Melbourne, but some time after July 1968 it was disposed of by the council and was rescued by a private purchaser whilst on its way to the scrap yard (AWM194 Melbourne 29; AWM262 103 St Kilda; City of Port Phillip Archives, St Kilda trophy gun 06/012/0011; The Argus, 25 June 1923: 12; Prahran Telegraph, 29 June 1923: 6; St Kilda Municipal Council Minutes, 15 and 29 July 1968; Billet, 1999: 56, 58–59, 85; Caribbean Gardens, 2011). It is now at the Caribbean Gardens and Market at Scoresby, in Melbourne.