Telling time with flowers - Floral Clocks

One of the new attractions at the Royal Melbourne Show in 1930 was the Floral Clock. The Argus was one of the newspapers who reported on this clock - All the works, which are electrically operated, were improvised by the showgrounds staffs with odd material available, including a cream separator and a number of bicycle wheels. The ground of the clock face is a garden bed planted with a carpet of violas, pansies and red and white daisies. The figures around the circumference are picked out in light green exhibition border, and the hands are troughs of earth in which pansies and exhibition border are planted. The seconds hand, by reason of its rapid movement, is the most spectacular part of the setting. It is claimed that this is the only floral clock in the world which has a seconds hand. Mechanism, buried in a pit below the garden bed, chimes the hours and half hours, and at each quarter-hour a set of sprinklers on the circumference waters the plants. An amusing novelty connected with the clock is the "information bureau." By placing the appropriate iron key in a spot, the bell below the bed may be made to give such information as the daily attendance at the show, the number of exhibits, the number of workmen and attendants employed, the rainfall for the last month, and many other statistics (1).

Floral Clock, Royal Agricultural Showgrounds, Ascot Vale.

State Library of Victoria Image H93.228/30

The Clock was a popular exhibit at the Show and in the 1930s the newspapers reported in great detail about the thousands of flowers that were used.  In 1937, for instance, 6,000 flowers were required to plant out the Clock (2).  This report from The Australasian in 1935 is typical of the many detailed reports - The clock, which covers a diameter of about 25ft., has as a central ground work a choice, low-growing, white-flowered sweet alyssum variety Little Dorritt. This is a bushy plant 3in. to 4in. in height, with a spread of 3in. or 6in. A couple of thousand young plants, just commencing to flower, have been used, and are smothered in white bloom. It would be an ideal plant for crazy paving or path edging, for planting as a low bordering plant in borders. Viola papilio in soft lilac blue shades cover the space between the hours, and the hours are worked in a dwarf Pyrethrum, P. excelsior, golden green, a variety of the well-known Golden Feather, which grows slowly and retains its compact low habit. A good strain of pansies, Roggli's Giants, is planted between the hours. The blooms are large, and in rich yellow-brown to purple tonings. Bounding the clock are Anemone Scarlet Emperor, and the violet shaded strains of St. Brigid anemones (3).

The Clock was planted out in the early years by  C. E. Isaac and Sons of Noble Park.  Cyril Everett Isaac established his firm in 1922 and by the 1930s had the largest seedling trade in Victoria (4). Cyril trained as a School Teacher and in February 1911 was appointed the inaugural Secretary of the newly established Victoria State Schools' Horticultural Society; one of its aims was to promote amongst teachers and pupils a genuine love of gardening and flowers (5). He was a Shire of Dandenong Councillor from 1922 until 1931, then 1937 until 1941 and a member of the Legislative Council from 1940 until 1952 (6).

C.E. Isaac's advertisement in the Australian Home Beautiful October 1, 1930, 

featuring the Floral Clock at the Showgrounds.

Digitised on Trove, here.

The Floral Clock was still a feature at the Show in 1940, but I can find no reference to it after that until 1965 when The Age reported that the floral clock, which has been absent from recent Melbourne Royal shows, will return this year as a centrepiece of an enlarged floral display in Centenary Hall (7). The Age also reported on the clocks heart of junk  (the cream separator etc) and said it had been made by the Showgrounds Plumber, Mr Jack Carlton (8). Was the Floral Clock on display at all in the 1940s and 1950s? I cannot tell you.

However, by the 1960s Melburnians had another Floral Clock  - the one in the Queen Victoria Gardens on St Kilda Road. In November 1965, the City of Melbourne Parks and Gardens Committee recommended that Melbourne plant a floral clock as a contribution to the City's 'beautification.' Cr Bren, the chairman of the committee was quoted a saying this will bring us into line with places like Edinburgh - nearly all the world's big cities have floral clocks (9). The cost of the clock was estimated to be £4,100. 

The Floral Clock in the Queen Victoria Gardens, taken in 1967 a few months after it was installed.

Photographer: Brian Ferguson. The report said he went up in one of the 

Council's travel towers to take the photograph.

The Australian Women's Weekly, April 19, 1967  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41853863

Fortuitously for the Council, on March 8, 1966, Mr Gerard Bauer, the President of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Makers, presented the Clock to the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Cr Ian Beaurepaire. It was a gift to mark the Federation's participation in Third International Trade Fair (10).  The Clock was actually displayed at the Trade Fair, which  was held at the Exhibition Buildings from March 5 - March 19, 1966 (11).  After the Fair the Clock was also on display at a  Ball given by the Lord Mayor at the Melbourne Town Hall in the July (12). It was later installed in the Gardens where it was officially 'opened' by Cr Beaurepaire on Friday, November 4, 1966. The weekend before the opening the Clock was attacked by vandals who pulled out seedlings and bent the hands of the clock, however  the damage could be repaired before the opening (13). The Clock is 20 feet in diameter, the long hand is nine feet long and the report in the Women's Weekly in April 1967 said it took 10,000 plants and that it would be replanted three times per annum  (14). The Clock is still a feature of the Gardens.

A postcard of the Melbourne Floral Clock. 

The statue is of King Edward VII. It was erected in 1920 and was 

made by Sir Edgar Bertram McKennal (1863-1931) 

Postcard published by Bartel.

Ballarat also has a floral clock, which was presented by the the Ballarat Begonia Festival to the City. The Clock, which was 20 feet in diameter, had hands 14 feet and 11 feet long and was made in Melbourne (15). It was started by the Mayoress of Ballarat, Mrs Cutts, on March 6, 1954. As is appropriate for a City that owed its existence to gold mining, Mrs Cutts used a gold key to start the Floral Clock, which was located in gardens in Sturt Street (16). March 6, 1954 was  golden day in Ballarat as that was the day that the Queen visited the town, as part of her visit to Australia and New Zealand. The Clock was moved in 1980 to the Botanical Gardens, where it was operating until around 2003 when the hands were damaged by vandals. It was finally repaired in 2017 as as part of the Ballarat Botanical Gardens 160th anniversary celebrations (17).

The Floral Clock. Sturt Street Gardens, Ballarat

Photographer: Frank Hurley. State Library of Victoria Image H2014.76/108e

The Queen's visit was also the catalyst for the installation of other floral clocks - Two floral clocks, each with a face 18 ft. in diameter, have been made in London to commemorate the Queen's visit to New Zealand in December. One will be displayed at Auckland, the other at Christchurch (18). 

The Floral Clock, Albert Park, Auckland.

Postcard published by A.H. & A.W. Reed.

I also found a report that in preparation for the Queen's visit to Yallourn - women are working against time in the Town Hall to complete an 18 ft. by 15 ft. floral clock containing more than one million blooms (19).  I have no other information about the Yallourn clock. 

Victoria does not get the credit for the oldest floral clock in Australia - this honour goes to Sydney where on Wednesday, December 19 1928 - Sir Arthur Rickard set going the floral clock which he has presented to Taronga Park Zoo. The clock is situated close to the seals' pool, and seven varieties of plants have been used to make the clock-face and the hands. In all 14,000 plants wore used by Mr A. N. Allen, who carried out the design for the trustees of the park. The clock-face is a replica of that to be seen in Princes-street Gardens, Edinburgh (20).

Floral Clock, Taronga Park Zoo. Note the Harbour Bridge in the background. 

Photographer: Frank Hurley. 

National Library of Australia https://nla.gov.au:443/tarkine/nla.obj-160111046

The Edinburgh Floral Clock in Scotland, mentioned by Cr Brens and the inspiration for the Taronga Park Floral Clock, was first planted in 1903 with up to 40,000 plants in an ornate design reflecting a different theme each summer. The idea came from James McHattie, City Superintendent of Parks and James Ritchie, the Edinburgh clockmaker, using the mechanism of a redundant turret clock. In 1905 a cuckoo which pops out every hour was added (21).  I rather like the idea of cuckoo.

The Floral Clock in Edinburgh, taken in August 1945 by Cyril Hampden Isaac, the son of C.E. Isaac, who first planted out the Showgrounds Floral Clock (22).

Australian War Memorial Image P00687.885

In 1904, a year after the Edinburgh Floral Clock was installed, the World's Fair in St Louis, Missouri, in the United States, was held and a very grand floral clock was on display. The clock was reported on in the Sydney Mail -
Time's fleeting hours are ticked off at the World's Fair at St. Louis on a wonderful chronometer. This is the floral clock which lies on the slope of the hill in front of the main entrance in the north facade of the Palace of Agriculture. The floral clock has a huge dial all of brightly blooming flowers, marking off the numerals and minute spaces. Spread on the side of the hill, it announces to visitors in far-off parts of the enclosure what hour of the day it is.

The dial is 100ft in diameter and the minute hand 50ft in length. The numerals marking the hours are 15ft long. These numerals are all picked out, in bright coloured coleus, a foliage plant of dense growth, which is kept symmetrical by pruning without danger of impairing its growth. Flowers of variegated hue cover the entire face of the clock, and to ensure a perennial bloom the plants are changed frequently. Collections of 12 distinct plants fill the circles surrounding the numerals, each collection being 25ft long and 15ft wide. The hands of the clock are of steel troughs, in which plants are growing.

A thousand incandescent electric lights illuminate the clock at night, the white light bringing out the brilliant hues of the flowers and foliage as vividly by night as by day. The machinery of the clock is housed in an ornamental pavilion at the summit of the hill. The pavilion is glass enclosed, the  movements of the works being visible to visitors. The hours and quarter hours are struck by  a great brass bell in the pavilion, which may be heard throughout the greater part of the fair grounds. In the pavilion is also a large hour-glass of the time of our grandfathers, the evolution of the process of ticking off time being thus shown in contrast with the most modern methods of keeping account of the passing of the hour (23).

Floral clock and north end of Palace of Agriculture, from Ceylon Building, 

St. Louis World's Fair, 1904.

Photographer: Truman Ward Ingersoll

Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/stereo.1s03592

We will finish off this post with this unusual floral clock at Water Works Park, Detroit in Michigan in the United States. It was unusual for two reasons as firstly it was water-powered and secondly it was vertical. This following account of this clock is written by Dan Austin, from the Historic Detroit website, here. 

The clock was unveiled in the park in 1893 and was designed by Elbridge A. “Scrib” Scribner, the superintendent of the park's grounds. Scribner's clock ran on cup-shaped paddlewheels that moved as water flowed. The clock itself was made up of more than 7,000 plants that were held in place by chicken wire. It stood seven-and-a-half feet high and was 10 feet across. The dial was 6 feet in diameter and had numerals made out of alternantheras, a type of shrub. The rest of the clock's face was sempervivum Tectorum, known as common houseleek. In front of the clock sat beds of tulips or begonias.

By the 1930s, however, the clock had become a liability. Park visitors were no longer enraptured by its water-powered wonder. It also stopped keeping accurate time. In 1934, automaker Henry Ford had a fascination with clocks -- not to mention relics of American history -- and bought the floral timepiece to display at his Greenfield Village. The clock was altered, however, replacing the water-powered mechanism with a traditional pendulum-and-weight mechanism. Unlike its days being powered by water, the floral clock had to be wound twice a day. But also unlike the old days, the clock now kept accurate time. The restored clock sat near the Greenfield Village Gatehouse and was dedicated July 4, 1935. Much like it had at Water Works Park, the clock would delight visitors to Greenfield Village for another 39 years.

In 1974, however, the clock started breaking down, and it was decided to retire the old timepiece. In 1989, Greenfield Village returned the clock to the City of Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department, which oversees what was Water Works Park. The clock was moved to the entrance on the island side of the MacArthur Bridge in 1990 (24).

Floral Clock, Water Works Park, Detroit, Michigan, c. 1900-1910.

Library of Congress http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/det.4a22205/

Are floral clocks kitsch or are they an essential and decorative ornament to a big City, as Cr Bren believed in 1965? I like massed plantings of flowers, but with Councils out-sourcing their Parks and Gardens Departments and recent water restrictions floral displays are not as common as they used to be. It is unlikely that we will ever see new floral clocks that require the planting of thousands of seedlings on a regular basis, so we just have to treasure the floral clocks which remain.

Acknowledgement - The title of this post - Telling time with flowers - I wish I could say I thought of it, but it is from The Herald, September 19, 1935, see here.

Trove list - I have created a list of articles on Trove, connected to Floral Clocks, access it here.

Footnotes
(1) The Argus, September 10, 1930, see here.
(2) The Herald, September 22, 1937, see here.
(3) The Australasian, September 28, 1935, see here.
(4) Dandenong Jubilee Celebrations Souvenir and Official Program, 1933. Digitised at the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/248012

(5) The Leader, February 4, 1911, see here.

(6) Cyril Everett Isaac (1884 - 1965) was born in Brunswick to Abraham and Mary (nee Judd) Isaac. Abraham was a Congregationalist Minister. Cyril married Elizabeth Brown in 1907 and they had seven children - Percival Everett (b. 1908). Cyril Hampden (1910), Edna Myrtle (1911), Arnold Frederick (1913), Ruby Alice (1914), Bernard Miles (1916), Dory Pearl (1917). Cyril enlisted in the A.I.F in June 1917, had the rank of Lieutenant and Returned to Australia in July 1919. Council dates  http://seha.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/dandenong-mayors-and-councillors.pdf  and articles on Trove.   Legislative Council dates and some family information from  https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/re-member/details/24/1312

(7) The Age, September 8, 1965, from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on.

(8) The Age, September 18, 1965, from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on.

(9) The Age, November 25, 1965, from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on.

(10 The Age, March 9, 1966,  from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on.
(11) There is a photo of it here, but I can't use it as it is still in Copyright - https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/796146

(12) The Age, July 14, 1966, from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on.

(13) The Age, November 1, 1966, from newspapers.com, an Ancestry.com add-on

(14) The Australian Women's Weekly, April 19, 1967, see here. 

(15) The Age, December 8, 1953, see here; The Australian Women's Weekly, March 10, 1954, see here

(16) The Herald, March 5, 1954, see here.  Mrs Catherine Cutts (nee Garrett), was the wife of the Ballarat Mayor, Francis John Cutts, who was listed as a painter in the 1954 Electoral Rolls.

(17) Report and photo in the Ballarat Courier, November 23, 2017. I could access it on July 31, 2021 but it is now behind a pay-wall - https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5074176/time-is-ticking-for-ballarat-botanical-gardens-floral-clock/

(18) Weekly Times, October 7, 1953, see here.

(19) The Herald, March 2, 1954, see here.
(20) Sydney Morning Herald, December 20, 1928, see here.

(21) Edinburgh City Council https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/directory-record/1086024/floral-clock

(22) Cyril Hampden Isaac is the son of Cyril Everett Isaac, so it is no wonder that he was interested in the floral clock. I was trying to find a good photo of the clock to use, saw this on the Australian War Memorial website, looked at the photographer's name, and was surprised and thrilled with the connection. Cyril enlisted in the RAAF in February 1941 and was discharged in December 1945. His brothers Arnold and Percy served in the Army in the War

(23) Sydney Mail, September 21, 1904, see here.

(24) https://www.historicdetroit.org/buildings/floral-clock-at-water-works-park

The Heriot family of Williamstown

I came across this wonderful photo of Andrew Heriot's Sail Loft, in Nelson Place, Williamstown. It was taken in 1885. Andrew was a sail maker and a ship's chandler, a Mayor of Williamstown and the father of seven children, three of whom served in World War One, including his daughter Sister Katie Rae Heriot. Sister Heriot served at the Front in France in the First World War and, in 1937, survived the fall of Shanghai. This posting is about the Heriot family, with the focus on Andrew and Katie. 

Interior of Andrew Heriot's Sail Loft, Nelson Place Williamstown, 1885

State Library of Victoria Image H2016.404/57

Andrew Simpson Heriot was born in Peterhead in Scotland, on June 18, 1852 (1). He was the son of George Dalgleish and Jane (nee Martin) Heriot. Jane and their children Sophia (aged 20), Jane (aged 16), Andrew (aged 12), Robert (aged 9), John (aged 7) and James (aged 1) (2) arrived in Melbourne on the Champion of the Seas, on November 17, 1864, George having come out earlier to prepare a home for them (3). It was sad start for their new life in Victoria as little James died just after arrival at the age of 18 months and Jane, the mother, died in December 1864 (4). The family lived at Williamstown, where George was a Shipwright. George Heriot is listed at Cox's Garden, Ferguson Street in the 1875 and 1880 Sands and McDougall Melbourne and Suburban Directories (5). The City of Hobson's Bay Heritage Study says that Cox's Garden was a privately created subdivision and street of modest timber cottages, established by fisherman Samuel George Cox in the early 1850s (6).

Andrew married Catherine Isabel Rae on October 3, 1877 at South Melbourne, the service being conducted by the Reverend John Clark of Williamstown (7). They had seven children, all born at Williamstown - Eva Matilda (born 1878), Andrew Simpson (1880), Katie Rae (1883), Aubrey Martin (1885), Grace Jessie Buchan (1887), Francis William (1890) and Rae (1892) (8). After his arrival, Andrew, with the exception of twelve months spent at sea as a sail maker, has resided in Williamstown since (9). Andrew, Catherine and family lived at Inverugie in Verdon Street. The house was named after Inverugie, which is a small town two miles from Peterhead in Scotland, the birthplace of  Andrew Heriot (10). 

In 1922, in an article in the Williamstown Chronicle,  Andrew claimed to be the senior business man of the city, having been established here since 1871. His first job was the making of a set of sails for the brig Challenger, for which he holds a complimentary letter from the owners, Messrs. Tope and Holten (11).  His business premises were in Nelson Place. There are various street numbers listed in Sands and McDougall Directories, however he was located between Ann and Thompson Street; on the Ann Street side next to the Royal Hotel. The Woolpack Hotel was on the other side of the Royal Hotel, separated by a right-of-way. 

Andrew Heriot's entry in the 1900 Sands and McDougall Melbourne and Suburban Directory.

Andrew Heriot also made sails for the yacht of Lord Brassey, the Victorian Governor. We know this as he wrote a letter to the Williamstown Chronicle in 1934 about this experience. The letter starts with -  Lord Brassey, ex-Governor of Victoria, was a sailor and navigator. "The Sunbeam" was one of the largest and best yachts visiting these southern seas, owned and sailed by His Excellency. The writer did the sailmaking work for the "Sunbeam" whilst it was in Victoria (12).

Lord Brassey's Yacht "Sunbeam"  1895. Andrew Heriot made sails for this boat.

State Library of Victoria Image H96.160/447

Andrew Heriot was interviewed a number of times in the local newspapers and we learn from these interviews that he was involved in many organizations in the community and as you might expect from a man born in Scotland, activities connected to Presbyterian or Scottish interests.  This was written in October 1927, when the Williamstown Chronicle reported on his Golden Wedding  - About 50 years ago he became Past Chief Ruler of the Williamstown Tent I.O.R.,  and was president of the I.O.R. Cricket Club, and also president of the local blue ribbon movement (13). Being in business in the nautical line, he was appointed as commodore of the Hobson's Bay Yacht Club. Later on he became treasurer of the local Mechanics' Institute, and then president. In connection with the Williamstown Hospital he was associated on the committee, and was president when the present matron was appointed (about 20 years ago). He has also been treasurer of the Excelsior Lodge of Industry, V.C (14). In 1906 he entered public life, being elected as a councillor, and for nine years occupied that position, being the Mayor of Williamstown in 1914-15, at the time of the outbreak of the great war. He has taken an active interest in the Scottish movement as a past president of the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne and last month completed a term as president of the Victorian - Scottish Union, being a representative of the Williamstown Thistle Society on that body. He has been president of the St. Andrew's (Cecil-street) Literary Society, and the family's association with the Cecil-street Presbyterian Church has been continuous (15). Interesting that he was very much involved in Temperance movements and his business in Nelson Place was located next to two Hotels. 

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Cecil Street, Williamstown, taken in 1972 - the church where Andrew and Catherine worshipped. The original Church was built in 1859/1860 and rebuilt and extended in 1870.

Photographer: John T. Collins. State Library of Victoria Image H98.252/5

The Mechanics' Institute, Williamstown, 1870 . Andrew Heriot served as President 

and Secretary of the Institute.

The building was opened in 1860 and over the next 20 or so years single storey extensions were added on both sides of the original building.

Artist: A.C. Cooke; Engraver: W.H.H. The Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers,

March 28, 1870. State Library of Victoria Image IAN28/03/70/60

The report of Mr Heriot's activities mentions that he was a Williamstown Councillor. He was first elected in August 1906 and resigned at the end of his Mayoral term in August 1915. Whilst he was in Office he had some big-picture ideas. In 1906 he moved  a motion that the Council investigate the cost of a tunnel, under the Yarra, to connect Williamstown to the other side  - That this council instructs the surveyor to prepare estimates of a two-tube tunnel, each cylinder for vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and to show separate estimate for completing one tube at a time; and further, that after the particulars are supplied that this council make the necessary arrangements for deputations to meet the Melbourne Harbor Trust, the Federal Government, and the State Parliament, and submit the bridge and tunnel schemes with the view to learn what can be done in the best interests of the district (16). His motion was not supported.

In 1909 the Commonwealth Government was looking for a site for a Commonwealth Dockyard. Williamstown had not been mentioned as a site, however Cr Heriot believed it was an ideal site for six reasons - First - The ground possesses a solid foundation, with deep water to launch into; 2nd., It is the only site within Port Phillip Heads eligible for a dock, that is in close proximity to the railways; 3rd., The average rise and and fall of the tide is only about 2 feet 9inches. (This was highly important as there was not much difference between high and low water mark: no miles of mud to traverse at low tide.) 4th., This is the only side of the Bay where the largest ships of the Australian squadron can lie with safety (the American fleet had found it most serviceable.); 5th., That a large workshops building site was directly available, including, the battery site, military reserve and likewise the Williamstown Cricket Ground-a tremendous area (This could all be utilized for various workshops.); 6th., That the building yards would be a full 30 miles inside Port Phillip Heads, and therefore secure from any enemy's fire outside.  Cr Heriot moved the motion that - That this Council, desires to bring under the notice of the Commonwealth Parliament the splendid sites for ship-building and ship-launching, with deep water at Gellibrand Point, and that here the Government already possessed an Alfred Graving Dock and Patent Slip, and that these ought to be on Government land (17).  His motion was carried unanimously. Williamstown did not become the location of the commonwealth Dockyard - it was established at Cockatoo Island, in Sydney Harbour.

In 1909 the Beach and Foreshore Improvement Committee of the Williamstown Council proposed £14,000 worth of improvements to beautify Williamstown. They were hoping that the State Government would pay for the work. The improvements included  a landscaped walk from Breakwater Pier, along The Esplanade to Victoria Street.  This would have been a very scenic walk, overlooking Port Phillip Bay on the south and east of Williamstown and would cost £4,000. A new pier was also proposed  at a cost of  £8,000 as well as a Band Stand and Rockeries along The Esplanade. Read the full proposal, here. The Williamstown Chronicle reported that Some discussion ensued as to the reasonableness of the proposal, seeing that St. Kilda and Brighton had benefited immensely by means of governmental advances. On a division being taken, Cr Heriot was found the only opponent of  the proposal (18). Perhaps Cr Heriot thought Williamstown was beautiful enough or he felt that money spent on beautification was frivolous. 

Andrew Heriot died October 5, 1934 at the age of 82 and his wife Catherine died March 23, 1944, at the age of 89. They are buried at Williamstown Cemetery, with their daughter Grace who died in 1947 and son Rae who died in 1965 (19).

Three of their children served in World War One - Frank served in the Royal Australian Navy, having enlisted in 1915. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He transferred to the emergency list in 1935 and then served again in World War Two (20). Their youngest son, Rae, was in the transport service during the war as a marine engineer (21).That's how the Williamstown Chronicle described his War service, I can't find an enlistment paper for him, that's all I know. Their daughter Katie Rae served as Nurse in the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service and we will have a look at her life.

Miss Katie Rae Heriot, 1916

The Herald January 4, 1916 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242402940

Because Katie did not serve with the Australian Army Nursing Service, her record at the National Archives of Australia is very brief. The official facts of her service are that she embarked from Melbourne on April 14, 1915 on the Orontes. After serving overseas she embarked on the Runic for Return to Australia on September 23, 1918. Sister Heriot was then employed as a Staff Nurse at the 5th A.G.H, St Kilda road, Melbourne and the 16th A.G.H McLeod and left the McLeod Hospital during late 1919 (22).

The reason Katie Heriot had  a file at all was to officially record her service as she was entitled to a War Gratuity. There is a letter in her file stating that Payment of  War Gratuity was made to nurses who were selected in Australia and sent abroad in 1915 by the Department of Defence, at the request of the Imperial Government, to join the Q. A. I.M.N.S. R. Gratuity was paid to those nurses on the same basis as if they were "members of the Forces' within the meaning of the War Gratuities Act, 1920 (23).

We can discover something of the details of Sister Heriot's  war service from newspaper reports - this is from The Herald, January 1916 - For some time Mr A. S. Heriot, formerly mayor of Williamstown, had known that his daughter Miss K. R. Heriot had been selected for special army service, so the news that she had been recommended by Field-Marshal Viscount French for distinguished service did not come as a surprise to her relatives. In October she was right in the thick of the fray, working with a special army corps in close proximity to the firing line in France. She was among the first British nurses to undertake this dangerous duty. Her last letter indicated that she had marching orders to leave France and join a special nursing unit at Lahore Hospital, Calais (24).

The article mentions other Australian Nurses who were also honoured - Margaret Cumming, Madeline Alice Raye, Ada Gabriell and Nan Reay. The newspaper report added - It is worthy of note that the majority of the nurses figuring on the honor list are members of the Royal Victorian Trained Nurses' Association. This is a feather in the cap of the educational side of the movement. By the association all Victorian nurses are trained to a uniform standard of proficiency. Miss Heriot, The Herald noted, was a trainee of the Homoeopathic Hospital, Melbourne. She also had some experience at the Women's Hospital. For a time she was acting matron at the Homoeopathic Hospital, Sydney, and later left for West Australia, where she was associated with the Fremantle Hospital (25). Katie Heriot had successfully passed her final Royal Victorian Trained Nurses' Association examinations in June 1911 (26).

Whilst nursing on the Somme she met a fellow Melburnian, Reverend Doctor Rentoul (27), who was Chaplain General of the Australian Imperial Force, and was visiting Australian soldiers in the trenches. He had an attack of bronchitis and was sent to the hospital and was treated by Sister Heriot. Not surprisingly both being from strong Presbyterian families, they knew people in common, including her cousin Fred Heriot, a Presbyterian Minister. Their encounter in France was reported in the Williamstown Chronicle (28).  The Reverend Doctor was the father of the artist Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and in 1915 he produced a book of poetry, At the sign of the Sword: by four in a family. Two poems were contributed by his wife Annie Isobel Rentoul and Ida provided two illustrations, including the cover. The profits from the sale of the book went to support wounded Australian soldiers. It is digitised at the State Library of Victoria, here.

Sister Heriot also nursed Albert Jacka, Australia's first Victoria Cross recipient in the First World War. She wrote about him in a letter to her mother - We have Captain Jacka, V.C., M.C., M.M., who has been wounded three times. He has a dose of gas this time--not very bad. He is a very unassuming young man, and we are very proud of him. He must be thoroughly fearless (29).

Sister Heriot was welcomed home at a function organised by the Red Cross in December 1918 where she was presented with a handsome jewel case. The Red Cross Hall was crowded with friends and well wishers, she was officially welcomed by the Williamstown Mayor, Cr Dennis. After speeches and a musical program afternoon tea was served by the ladies, and the visitors given an opportunity of meeting Sister Heriot and chatting with her on her wonderful experiences (30).

Katie Heriot married Walter Le Brun on January 21, 1920 at Scots Church, Collins Street (31). He was a Master Mariner (32)  not surprising that she should marry a man with that occupation given the long association her family had to the Sea and sailing. In 1930, Katie left Melbourne for Hong Kong to join her husband, Captain Le Brun, who was engaged in the shipping trade (33). At some time they moved to Shanghai, and were there when the fighting between the Japanese and Chinese troops broke out. Shanghai fell to the Japanese towards the end of 1937 (34). Many Westerners left Shanghai  including Katie Le Brun who was evacuated from Shanghai half an hour before terrific havoc was done by Japanese bombs. She travelled in a ship to Hong Kong with 1,400 women and children and she arrived back in Melbourne in February 1938 (35).

They settled into a house at 210 Punt Road, Prahran. Katie died November 10, 1977, aged 94 and Walter having died the year before on May 6, 1976, aged 88.  Katie was cremated at Springvale and I don't know where Walter's final resting place is (36). What an amazingly, adventurous life she had.

Trove list

I have created a list on Trove connected to Andrew Heriot and his life and work; Katie Rae Heriot and her life and work, as well as other members of the Heriot family. Access it here.

Footnotes
(1) Williamstown Chronicle, June 20, 1931, see here.
(2) George Dalgleish Heriot died August 11, 1893 in South Melbourne at his daughter Sophia's house. He was 72 years old. His wife Jane died at the age of 44 in December 1864. They are buried at Williamstown Cemetery. Of their children: Sophia Hunt Heriot - born c.1844, married Robert Harris Dodd in 1867 and died at her daughter's house in  Watson's Bay, New South Wales at the age of 67 in January1910. Jane Buchan Heriot -  born c. 1848. Married James Taylor in 1868. Died in 1879 aged 32. Their son James, who died as a baby in 1870 is in the same grave as his grandparents, George and Jane.  Andrew was next, then Robert. Robert Maitland Heriot - born c. 1855. Married Martha Mary Wilson in 1883 and died 1918, aged 62. John Martin Heriot - born c. 1857. Married Mary Jane Shewring in 1882 and died 1938 aged 81. John worked for the Victorian Railways, you can read his obituary in the Morwell Advertiser of November 24, 1938, here. James Heriot - born 1883 and died December 1884, aged 18 months.

(3)  Arrival date from The Age, November 20, 1914, see here. The article talks about his 50 years in Williamstown. The quote about George arriving earlier is from the Williamstown Chronicle, June 20 1931, see here.

(4) Williamstown Cemetery records https://www.gmct.com.au/our-locations/williamstown-cemetery

(5) Sands & McDougall at the State Library of Victoria, see here.

(6) Cox's Garden -  https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/15006

(7) Williamstown Chronicle, October 8, 1927, see here.

(8) Andrew and Catherine's children - Eva Matilda Heriot (1878-1950). Eva married Alva Lee Cloyd in the Philippines on January 1, 1910. He was an American from Missouri and working there for their Education Department. They later returned to Australia, where he was also a Presbyterian Minister and conducted the marriage ceremony of Eva's sister Katie. Eva Cloyd died March 16, 1950. Andrew Simpson Heriot (1880-1952), married Mary Elizabeth Barnes in 1904, worked in New South Wales as an estate agent and garage owner. He died October 8, 1952 in NSW.  Katie Rae Heriot (1883-1977).  Aubrey Martin Heriot (1885-1958), married Clara Lillian Margaret Davies in 1913. He was an engineer and died February 12, 1958. Grace Jessie Buchan Heriot (1887-1947), never married, involved with philanthropic work and Temperance causes,  died August 24, 1947 and buried with her parents at Williamstown. Francis William Heriot (1890-1963) the Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, married Elsie May Rickwood in Adelaide on August 17, 1916. Died September 14, 1963 and cremated at Springvale.  Rae Heriot (1892-1965), sometimes called Ray and the only child who does not seem to have a middle name. He had a nervous break-down around 1927, can't find him in the Electoral Rolls, but he  died July 22, 1965 and at the time of death was living in Olinda. He is buried with his parents and sister Grace at Williamstown. Some of this information comes from the report in the Williamstown Chronicle of October 8, 1927 of Andrew and Catherine's Golden Wedding anniversary, see here and Family notices in the papers and the Index to Wills and Probate at the Public Records Office of Victoria.

(9) The Age, November 20, 1914, see here.

(10) Inverugie - You can read about the castle at Inverugie and some of the history of the area here https://www.maybole.org/history/castles/inverugie.htm

(11) Williamstown Chronicle, January 14, 1922, see here.

(12) Williamstown Chronicle, May 19, 1934, see here.

(13) Independent Order of Rechabites - a temperance movement. Blue Ribbon Movement was another Temperance movement. Andrew's daughter, Grace, was took a prominent part in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, according to the Williamstown Chronicle, October 8, 1927, see here.

(14) Excelsior Lodge of Industry was the Williamstown Freemasons Lodge http://www.lodgedevotion.net/devotionnews/masonic-buildings---articles-editorials-and-histories/masonic-buildings/masonic-buildings---williamstown-masonic-centre-2015-09

(15) Williamstown Chronicle, October 8, 1927, see here.

(16) Williamstown Chronicle, October 27, 1906, see here.

(17) Williamstown Chronicle, July 3, 1909, see here.

(18) Williamstown Chronicle, November 13, 1909, see here

(19) Death dates from notices in the newspapers, see my Trove list and Williamstown Cemetery records, see Footnote 4.

(20) Francis William Heriot - read his file at the National Archives of Australia here.

(21) Williamstown Chronicle, October 8, 1927, see here.

(22) Katie Rae Heriot - read her file at the National Archives of Australia, here. A.G.H. - Australian General Hospital.

(23) As per footnote 21.

(24) The Herald, January 4, 1916, see here.

(25) The Herald, January 4, 1916, see here.

(26) Ballarat Star, July 7, 1911, see here.

(27) John Laurence Rentoul (1846-1926). Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, written by Stuart Macintyre, here.

(28) Williamstown Chronicle, April 7, 1917, see here.

(29) Williamstown Chronicle, January 23, 1932, see here.

(30) Williamstown Chronicle, December 14, 1918, see here.

(31) The Australasian, March 6, 1920, see here.

(32) His occupation taken from the Electoral Roll. Walter was in charge of the Edina, when she run aground off Point Gellibrand, Hobson's Bay, on July 9, 1924. The Marine Court of Inquiry cautioned him over the matter. See my Trove list, here, for some relevant articles, the list is in chronological order.

(33) Williamstown Chronicle, July 12, 1930, see here.

(34) I realise this is a  very simplistic view of the fall of Shanghai, but you can read about it on the Warfare History Network, here.

(35) The Argus, February 8, 1938, see here.

(36) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages and Springvale Botanical Cemetery records https://smct.org.au/deceased-search

Sweetwater Creek, Frankston

My friend has two postcards (1) of waterfalls on the Sweetwater Creek in Frankston and they inspired me to do some research into the Creek, which I had never heard of before. This post looks at some historic accounts of the flora and fauna found in the Frankston area and along the Sweetwater Creek, which is now part of a nature reserve (2). Sweetwater Creek  was so named because the water was fresh not salty. The mouth of the creek is at the base of Oliver's Hill. Oliver's Hill is the northern extremity of the Mount Eliza granitic outcrop. Granite is exposed in the bed of the Sweetwater creek at various points in its progress to the sea (3).  Around 1852 fishermen and timber cutters formed a  settlement at the mouth of the creek (4).  James Oliver, who was a fisherman and the namesake of Oliver's Hill, had a cottage on the crest of the hill -  Up till about 1863 the sand had not silted up the small bay below and he was able to haul his boat right into Sweetwater Creek and anchor it there (5). 

This 1854 plan of the town allotments at Frankston shows the Sweet Water Creek and further south, the Salt Water Creek, which is the Kackeraboite Creek. 

Click here to see the entire map at the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/160463

Village of Frankston at Kananook Creek, Mount Eliza, Port Phillip Bay.  Lithographed at the Surveyor General's Office, May 1st 1854, by James B Philp, Victoria Surveyor General's Office

 

In 1902, Clarice Wells wrote this delightful letter to the Mornington Standard about the Sweetwater Creek. Clarice, was the grand-daughter of Henry Cadby Wells, who had arrived in the area in 1859 (6). 

There are a great number of pretty places in Frankston, but the one which most people like best is the gully, or Sweet-water creek. It has pretty rippling water-falls, which are very steep and high. There are also a number of pretty ferns, which are called maiden hair, lady-finger fern, and bird-nest or coral fern. In some places it is very hilly and in others quite flat. There is an old cabin in the gully where an old man has lived for a number of years. The creek runs for miles to the right and to the left out into the open sea. It is a lovely cool place to go for a picnic in summer. It is very nice to hear the birds singing in the green trees. There has also been native bread found in the creek, which was greatly used among the aboriginals in the early days. The gully would be a beautiful place for an artist to paint, either in summer or winter. The wild flowers which grow around the gully are also beautiful (7). 

The beauty of the Sweetwater Creek was recognised in 1906 when an illustration of the falls was included on an illuminated address presented to Mark Young, who was leaving the Frankston district.  Mark Young (8) was the owner of the Pier Hotel in Frankston, a local Councillor and a man of honor and strict integrity - a man whose counsel was of great value, and a man to whom an appeal on behalf of any worthy object was never made in vain. Mr. Young was always to the fore in all matters of public interest; to him we owed the existence of the Frankston Public Park and Mechanics' Institute. It was through the instrumentality of Mr. Young that the Langwarrin military camp was established upon the site it now occupied (9). The illuminated address had been beautifully executed by Mr. W. Laughton, of Melbourne, and handsomely framed by Mr. W. R. Stephens, of Frankston. On the top of the address was depicted an excellent view of the Frankston Pier, whilst the following views were faithfully copied on other portions of the work :-The Swing Bridge, at the rear of the Pier Hotel; Bay-street, and the falls on Sweetwater Creek (10). I wonder where the illuminated address is now. 

Falls, Sweetwater Creek, Frankston.

This postcard was sent in April 1909 (see Footnote 1).

Image: Isaac Hermann

Frankston was the destination for the Botany Class at the Melbourne College of Pharmacy in 1911 and again in 1913. The Mornington Standard reported on the visits - 
On the afternoon of Saturday, September 30th, a considerable portion of the class in botany of the Melbourne College of Pharmacy visited Frankston for the purpose of a study of field botany. Twenty students, including four women students, formed the party. The country round Frankston is stated by botanical authorities to form the best collecting ground in the State. The party was met at the station by Dr Plowman, the Lecturer at the college. ..They first explored the healthy ground between Kars Street and the Hastings road, and afterwards the high ground beyond the extremity of Kars Street. From the highest eminence a magnificent view was obtained of the bay and surrounding country with Mount Macedon and the Dandenong ranges in the distance. It was greatly admired by the visitors, and the whole party was here photographed. A straight line across country to the head waters of Sweetwater creek was then made, and the gully was followed to the coast....the weather was delightful and the field excursion a great success. The main object, viz, the collection and study of wild plants actually in flower, their identification and their reference to their respective natural orders, was fully attained. The number of species was not actually taken, but they were very numerous and were representative of no less than 29 natural orders (11). 

Another group of Botany Students visited Frankston in 1913 and visited the same places and followed the Sweetwater Creek from the head waters to the Bay - they were successful in obtaining many interesting specimens in the streets themselves before arrival at the real collecting grounds. Among them may be mentioned the curious trigger plant, a snow plant, an orchid, and many species of the Lily order, which were found in Wedge-street (12).  The students then continued their work on the hill where the haul of specimens was a particularly good one, including a few special coastal flowers, but the orchids were not so numerous as on the previous occasion when eleven distinct species were obtained (13). 

In 1930, The Age published an article, written under the pen-name of A.L.E., called Wild Life on the Peninsula - Echidna were very numerous, especially on the Mornington Peninsula and along the hillsides and on the moorlands in close proximity to Frankston..... The kangaroo was no longer abundant however its near relation, the wallaby, is not by any means rare, and even along the upper reaches of Sweetwater Creek, near the foot of Mount Eliza, there are some of the finest animals of this class to be found in Australia, but owing to the density of the scrub and bracken fern, it is difficult to obtain a full view of them for photographic purposes (14). 

A.L.E's observations on phalangers were published in The Herald in 1934 - Good news for nature lovers is contained in a letter from A.L.E. (Frankston): flying phalangers, or "squirrels" as they generally are termed, are still to be seen on Mornington Peninsula. "The Dandenongs are not to have it all their own way. During the last seven years I have been interested in the presence of some flying phalangers along that haven for our native fauna, the Sweetwater Creek. Ringtail possums share this locality with the 'fliers.' But, the other day, I was disgusted to find that the house-cat had been visiting trees along the creek, and taking toll of the 'fliers; presumably to let me know that 1 am not the only creature aware of their existence there. For puss placed the pretty little animal - her victim - on the back doormat! "These phalangers were long ago thought to be extinct on the Peninsula. Actually, at present, some of them are making an inspection of the trees in my grounds: no doubt with a view to taking up permanent residence." (15). 

A. L.E was I believe Alfred Leslie Earl, listed in the 1934 Electoral Roll at 'Tower Hill', Frankston. His occupation was Nurseryman. In 1934, under his real name he wrote the following interesting letter to the The Argus - It was stated on Saturday that it was not often that opossums and bees were found in a common lodging place. In the wild country of Sweetwater Creek upper reaches at Frankston it is usual to find above a wild bees hive the nest of the ring-tail opossum and invariably at the groundline or below the hive an ants' nest. Both ants and opossums are passionately fond of honey, but they never attack it while bees remain in possession (16). 

A year later, Mr Earl wrote to The Age about snakes and butcher birds on the Mornington Peninsula - I was much interested in the paragraph referring to copperhead snakes here. That is the type most common along the moorland sandhills. However, there are tiger snakes along the tea-tree, especially in the grey and heavy land. I saw a large one on Davey's Bay-road last summer. Along the high parts of the Overport-road at Mount Eliza some large tigers abound, also on the slopes of Sweetwater Creek. Mention of snakes brings to my mind that I noticed eight Derwent jackasses, or butcher birds, worrying a huge copperhead snake on the Three Chain-road, and ultimately the "butchers" won. They not only killed the snake, but completely severed the head from the trunk (17). 

Marathon Falls, Frankston. 

I presume that these falls are one of the pretty rippling water-falls, which are very steep and high (as Clarice Wells wrote in 1902) on the Sweetwater Creek, but I cannot find any information about them.

This postcard was sent in March 1911 (see Footnote 1)

Image: Isaac Hermann

Water supply for Frankston was an on-going problem until the town was supplied with water from the Beaconsfield Reservoir in 1922 as part of the scheme to supply water to the Flinders Naval base, which had opened in 1920 (18). In 1912 water from the various creeks was sampled and Sweetwater Creek was reported to be very satisfactory, excepting for a slight trace of vegetable matter, which could be accounted for by the water being taken from a pool which had been standing some time (19).

I mentioned at the start of this post that the mouth of the Creek silted up. This seemed to have been a continual problem and was 'solved' on occasions by allowing the removal of sand from the mouth. Thus in January 1928 it was reported that sand was being taken from the mouth of Sweetwater Creek and that the councillors were pleased to have it removed to open the creek up (20).  This created its own problems and three months later in  April it was reported from a Council meeting that  those who were supposed to secure sand from there were taking it from further along the beach. On the motion of Crs. Bradbury and Montague it was decided to notify contractors that no more sand must be removed from the beach (21). 

By February 1931 the same issue was reported Cr. Keast said at last meeting of the shire council that he had received several complaints from ratepayers of the removal of sand from the foreshore at the foot of Oliver's Hill. He asked if it was removed with the permission of the engineer. Mr. Ham said permits were issued for the removal of sand from the mouth of Sweetwater Creek. A royalty of 1/ a load was paid. Cr. Keast said he was afraid that those removing sand did not confine themselves to the area defined by the council. The foreshore was being stripped until rocks only remained (22).  The next month it was reported that the Shire Engineer had inspected the mouth of the Sweetwater Creek and it was badly blocked so he advised that the removal of sand should continue (23). This issue resolved itself a few days later in  a dramatic manner when there was a  rain and wind storm and local flooding.  The most severe damage was done on Mornington road, where Sweetwater Creek flows beneath the road to the sea. Debris carried down the creek by the flood waters choked the large culverts, causing the water to back up the creek and rise to such a height that a landslide was caused. Hundreds of cubic feet of earth slid into the creek. When the pressure of water became so great that it broke through the force of the flow carried some of the huge concrete pipes of which the culvert was constructed and large sections of concrete kerbing and channelling from the roadway out into the sea. So much of the roadway collapsed that only sufficient room for two cars to pass was left (24).

Location of Sweetwater Creek, Frankston. The map is from the 1950s. 

Today's map of Frankston, Seaford, Mt. Eliza, Carrum Downs, Baxter, Karringal. 

Published by the Regional Publicity Service.

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/114788

Not only was the Sweetwater Creek rich in flora and fauna but it also possibly contained other riches. In 1949 the Frankston Standard was discussing local gold finds and they reported that Mr. W. P. Mason, well known and experienced pioneer of Frankston and the Peninsula told this paper this week, that he is certain there is a large gold reef that will be discovered eventually on the Peninsula near Frankston, and that there is little doubt that it will be a rich one. "Tubba Rubba may be the most likely spot, said Mr. Mason, but good gold colours were obtained very close to Frankston in the Sweetwater Creek, and gullies near the sea front (25). The Tubba Rubba Diggings were near Dromana.

Is there gold in Sweetwater Creek? I don't know but there are riches to be found in the natural beauty and ecology of Sweetwater Creek Nature Reserve (26). 

Trove List

I have created  a list of newspaper articles on Trove relating to Sweetwater Creek, access it here.

Footnotes

(1)  Thanks to Isaac Hermann for the images of the postcards. The postcards were sent in 1909 and 1911

The letter on the back of the Falls, Sweetwater Creek postcard

Postmarked Frankston, dated April 16, 1909, sent to Mrs J. Fordyce, 191 Kerford Road, Albert Park. Dear Dearie (?), We are just off for a picnic. It is a glorious day. We will be home Monday evening. Love from A.G. How wonderful is this? Did they go to Sweetwater Creek Falls for their picnic? The 1909 Electoral Rolls show Joseph and Elizabeth Fordyce living at 191 Kerford Road. Joseph was an Accountant.

The letter on the back of the Marathon Falls postcard

Postmarked Auburn, March 9, 1911, sent to Mr W. A. Crook, Citizens Chambers, 285 Collins Street, City. Dear Gus, Just a line to tell you we won't be home tonight. Will you ring up and see if Aunt R could have you and Stan tonight, as we can't go Sat. If she can, will you let Stan know. Hope it won't rain. A.F.  Walter Augustus Crook is listed in the 1909 Electoral Roll at 249 Auburn Road, Auburn, occupation Estate Agent. At the same address was a Mary Alice Forster and a William Mark Forster. I believe that it was Alice Forster  who wrote this card.

(2)  https://www.sweetwatercreek.org.au/

(3) Steel, Gwenyth Frankston: an outline of the district's early history (1977), p. 13.

(4) Steel, op. cit., p. 28

(5) Steel, op. cit., p. 16

(6) Edith Emily Susan Clarice Wells was born in 1889  to Octavius and Mary Ann (nee Davey) Wells. She married George Alfred Oakley in 1912 and she died in 1950. You can read her father's obituary in the Frankston & Somerville Standard of July 12, 1935, here. You can read the obituary of her grandfather, Henry Cadby Wells, in the Mornington & Dromana Standard of December 12, 1908, here.

(7) Mornington Standard, November 8, 1902, see here.

(8) Mark Young - read about him here on the Kingston Local History website  https://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/articles/224

(9)  Mornington Standard, December 15, 1906, see here.

(10) Mornington Standard, December 15, 1906, see here.

(11) Mornington Standard, October 7, 1911, see here.

(12) Mornington Standard, November 8, 1913, see here.

(13) Mornington Standard, November 8, 1913, see here.

(14) The Age November 8, 1930, see here.

(15) The Herald, July 3, 1934, see here.

(16) The Argus, January 17, 1934, see here. The Age has his name listed as A. E. Earl, but I believe this is a mistake and it is Alfred Leslie Earl. 

(17) The Age, February 19, 1935, see here.

(18) The Argus, April 19, 1922 see here and The Argus, October 24, 1922, see here.

(19) Mornington Standard, July 27, 1912, see here.

(20) Frankston & Somerville Standard, January 13, 1928, see here.

(21) Frankston & Somerville Standard, April 20, 1928, see here.

(22) Frankston & Somerville Standard, February 21, 1931, see here.

(23) Frankston & Somerville Standard, March 21, 1931, see here.

(24) Frankston & Somerville Standard, March 28, 1931, see here.

(25) Frankston Standard, October 13, 1949, see here.

(26) https://www.sweetwatercreek.org.au/

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.