A major work in progress, with images to also be added. [square brackets] indicate my additional notes in the text. (Round brackets) are brackets written in original quoted texts.
Part 1 - Transcriptions Relating to the Military, Heroes Avenue and WW1
Part 2 - Transcriptions Relating to Queen's Park and Public Trees
For a good many years, Roma's famous Heroes Avenue of bottle trees (and the
subsequent town symbol - the bottle tree) have stood in place without a reasonable
public knowledge of their reason for being. The use of bottle trees within the
avenue and therefore the town in general, and even the existence of the avenue
itself, is a testament to the 'unusual' way council projects have been done
in Roma for the last 135 years.
Much of the information relating to the Avenue's origins has been hidden away
for many years, the original motion in the council minutes has undoubtedly lain
unread for some 80 years, especially as the text of the motion was not published
verbatim in the Western Star newspaper of the time. It was certainly not known
or understood when the cenotaph was built in 1937, and today knowledge has been
based mostly on the short text published in "Champagne Country"
To understand the avenue within the complete picture of Roma, several aspects
need to be understood, these being: The history and use of Queen's Park, the
planting of trees by council throughout time, and the military association and
patriotism of Roma. Together, these subjects give context to Heroes Avenue.
The time span for this document was set primarily around 1917-1920, which was
the original focus for the formation of Heroes Avenue. However, to establish
the context of the mood of the people and the tools they had to work with, the
time span has pushed back to the formation of the council in 1867. It has also
grown to include the modern day shenanigans of Bevan Stansbie in relation to
the future of the Avenue. The subject has also grown sideways, with details
given to such things as the formation of M Company, Qld Rifles, their drill
hall and rifle ranges, and other little tidbits relating to connections between
Roma, the Military, and WW1. Much of this is drearily uninteresting to the average
reader, but it needs to be publicly available in some form for future reference.
As with all aspects of Roma through time, names change. Queen's Park is no
exception. When the town was first gazetted and subdivided, there were no public
recreation reserves. Public entertainment, consisting of horse racing and the
odd bout of boxing, took place along the creek line. This was shortly remedied
with the next crop of subdivisions, and a recreation reserve and school reserve
were set aside in Hawthorne St, between George & Bungil St. The horse track
was officially set up south of town. The portion of Hawthorne Street butting
onto Bungil St was filled by a set of yards which was to remain in place for
a long time.
In today's terms, the recreation reserve is the western half of the Cultural
Centre site, the school reserve was the eastern half. To differentiate it from
the other recreation reserves also created, it was termed the central recreation
reserve. From early on, it was the scene of the majority of the towns public
entertainment. In 1893, the central recreation reserve and the school reserve
were amalgamated, and Hawthorne St closed off. Further improvements were the
bitumening of both the tennis courts and cricket pitch.
On it was built a grandstand, band stand, a large bicycle track, a cricket pitch
and tennis and croquet courts and a ticket booth. The block was very well used,
complaints being registered about the cyclists using it while church services
were on, and it was consistently booked by community groups holding public gatherings,
such as the Hibernian Societies foot races, Women's Auxiliary flower shows,
and so on. The governor was also entertained here when he visited. Later on,
the public baths were built on it, in the north east corner where the Guide
Huts now stand. The pool still remains, filled in and buried.
No direct mention is made in council minutes of the central recreation reserve
being renamed. From the change of reference in the council minutes, it appears
to happen around the death of Queen Victoria.
Developments in recent times were the Roma Central Pre School [1970], the Council
Cultural Centre [1984] including general site redevelopment. A football oval
at the northern end, which was called Beetson oval, after the football player
Arthur [Artie] Beetson, was removed, the tennis courts on the south west corner
were removed while those on the eastern boundary remained, and gardens and paths
were put in with a large set of netball courts on the north end of the Cultural
Centre. The site was further redeveloped with the construction of the blue nurses
and senior citizens centre [1985], and then the new tennis clubhouse [1996]
and Council Youth and Recreation Centre [1995] with new carparking.
Today, the area has no particular combined name, each part is referred to on
its own by its function. Additional portions of the park relating directly to
this reports topic, such as memorials and trees, are discussed in detail in
the following sections.
Prior to the towns formation in 1863, the general area was lightly treed,
scrubby, and swampy land with a sparse cluster of trees along the creek line.
While it is known that bottle trees appeared in random locations throughout
the future town, they were by no means common enough to be a dominant feature
of the landscape.
As the town progressed, what good timber was left was cut for housing, with
good hardwoods imported from places like Miles or Brisbane. This left the town
for the most part fairly tree less, or with very scattered remnants of single
untidy trees, which is a situation which seems to persist in the town proper
up until the 1940's. Air photos up to then indicate a definite lack of greenery,
the 1937 air photo showing the majority of town trees being either in Heroes
Avenue or clustered along the creek and long drain. There was a handful of houses
with treed yards, such as the old timber Catholic Church in Feather St, but
for the most part house blocks were bare.
By the early 1950, trees in yards were becoming the norm, a marked improvement
from the 1930's, and 50 years later in 2002, trees form a significant part of
the view in every street of town, so much so that from the street or the air
many houses are obscured by greenery. The increase of trees is also directly
related to the increase in efficiency of the town water supply system and the
general prosperity of the town. The water supply steadily improved in flow from
the 1920's after the first working bores were in use, and the reticulation spread.
To overcome the lack of greenery, the council had spoken of planting trees probably
as early as the 1870's. In 1886 council was discussing the street trees of the
time, which were Australian White Cedar trees [Melia Azedarach - not to be confused
with the American White Cedar, which is a type of conifer] and most likely planted
some years before. These were very scrappy trees, inclined to drop limbs and
leaves, and as they grew, formed splendid homes for termites. Some councilors
were of the view that with suitable pruning the trees could be trained, but
other councilors felt that a whole new species of tree was required. They appeared
to run with the cedar trees though, for they were advertising in the paper of
the time the fact that they were purchasers of yearly white cedar trees. It
is also true a well tended cedar tree can be quite attractive, and bud fine
white lacy flowers which are well perfumed.
Some planting of cedar trees appears to have been done, for photos upto 1920
show them planted throughout the business section of town, outside the drainage
line of the street. Certainly in later discussions of planting other trees,
the businessmen made it clear they did not like trees in the street, so they
have already had unsatisfactory dealings with them. The trees appear to have
run along McDowall St from at least Hawthorne to Charles St, and also into the
aside streets, and possibly intro Bowen St, for a photo of the ambulance building
on the SW corner of Charles and Bowen St in 1919 shows two cedar trees outside
it.
In early 1900 the council was again investigating the planting of trees in the
streets. Their proposal was to plant bottle trees in McDowall St as far west
as the hospital gates, and in Bowen St from Charles St to Duke St, which was
subsequently carried out, the trees supplied by Mr Searle. The trees appeared
to be so agreeable that within a few months it was resolved to plant bottle
trees in Bowen St from Charles St east to Tiffin St, and in Duke St between
Bowen and McDowall St [ie across the front of the convent]. Council appears
to also be trying to source trees from Tamworth Shire, though what type of trees
is not made clear.
In July 1900 council was receiving correspondence from the Dept of Agriculture,
which recommended certain local trees for planting in streets. It was resolved
to let the mayor take the list and procure the necessary trees. In the same
month there was a £100 grant from the Dept Agriculture, though whether
the two items are connected is not clear.
In August 1900, a tree planting scheme was also conducted in Queen's Park [the
current day Cultural Centre site] to beautify the area, as the bicycle track,
tennis & croquet courts, and the recently constructed grand stand were developing
the block into a feature. What was described as a 6 pointed star, consisting
of 13 trees each, was planted. Three of these were done in the park, with plans
to plant more. The idea was put forward by Ald Miscamble. It appears that these
were pepperina trees for they are mentioned as withering in early 1902. To maintain
the park, a groundsman was employed [in those days employees tendered for their
jobs]. Again, this was the idea of Ald Miscamble. The successful tenderer was
T Davis for a monthly wage of £3 0s 8d, or as he also quoted, 14s per
week. Within a month he had quit, and it appears the job was not re filled immediately.
He also took the job of lamplighter, and again quit soon after.
Someone apparently liked what the council was doing with its trees, for the
council minutes of October 1900 reported that trees were being stolen, and that
the police be requested to investigate the matter.
February 1901 council received a £50 subsidy from the Agricultural Dept
for improvements to Queen's park. After the new elections in mid February, Mr
Davis was again appointed the Queen's Park caretaker at a price of 17s 6d per
week. At the end of 1901 the tennis courts were at last bitumened and the School
of Arts shade awning in Queen's Park was handed over to council for the price
of £8 10s 0d. In 1902 Mr Davis was re appointed Caretaker for 20s per
week, with the added responsibility of looking after the trees in the streets.
With the prospect of Federation in 1901, council resolved to commemorate the
event, calling a town meeting in November 1900 to decide what should be done.
The meeting resolved to construct a drinking fountain in Queen's Park, to be
erected by subscriptions from the public, which the council would match £
for £, upto a maximum of £50. In a special council meeting on the
28th December 1900, the design and location of the proposed fountain was fixed.
Two options drawn by the Town Clerk [PH Johnson], both cast in concrete, were
put forward. The cheapest, at £100 was chosen. Two sites were also proposed,
one in McDowall St outside the council chambers [current Telstra office site]
or in Queen's Park, which is where it went. Final plans for the fountain were
laid out for inspection on the 1st of March 1901, tenders for its construction
not being called until July. In July a single rail fence was constructed around
the bicycle track by Mr G Lilley for a price of £38.10.0.
The tenders for the fountain were inspected at the August meeting. Only one
tender was made, by Mr AJ Renwick for the price of £99. His work was completed
by the 22nd November 1901, for the Council were to inspect his work before paying
him for his work, as they appeared not to be wholly satisfied. They called in
Mr PH Johnson [The Town Clerk] to the council meeting. He explained that he
had drawn the plans under instruction from the former mayor, and that they had
lain before the council for over 9 months. He had nothing to do with the acceptance
of the tender for the work. Council therefore agreed to pay the contractor.
The fountain was damaged in February 1902, a £10 reward offered for information
leading to the culprit, and a 10 o'clock curfew placed on the park which the
police were to enforce. Also in March 1902, the town reticulation was proposed
to be extended to the fountain, which seems to indicate the water was taken
from a well or bore on site, or a storage tank filled by water carriers. The
water was also extended to troughs in the streets. The tender for laying the
pipes in Queen's Park was accepted in April 1902, from Lister & Hibberd
for the cost of £42 15s 0d.
Council's trees remained a hot collectable item in 1901, for Council was offering
a reward of £10 for any information leading to the arrest of persons removing
or destroying Council's trees. Council was also pruning the remaining trees
they had for they had gotten into an over grown untidy state.
In October 1901 council were pruning the pepperina trees in McDowall St. Ald
Tandevin did not think they were doing the right thing by cutting them, Ald
Rogers agreeing with him, but Ald Conlan and Conroy thought the trees would
turn into better from the pruning. Ald Murphy, acting as meeting chairman, said
that he did not like the pruning of the trees, and that he hoped it would not
happen again.
By 1910 the tree situation appears to gained notice. This may have come about
through the Maranoa Development Association, which I know very little about.
My best guess is they were the business development association of the day,
and were trying to find ways to improve the attractiveness of Roma in general.
By 1915 the discussion on trees seemed to be a common general topic of conversation
on which no particular action was taken. The reason for this appears to be the
problem of the maturing trees and their location. Pictures not long before 1915
show many of the trees in the main street completely lopped, with short branch
stumps hanging off the main trunk. My guess is that the limbs are cut because
of the danger of falling limbs to either the adjoining building, or to traffic.
The mature trees shown in the same pictures are quite tall, about the height
of the top of the rooves of the two storey hotels, with a height of about 3
metres below each tree clear of all branches, probably to keep them out of the
way of wagons, horses and riders.
My assumption is that the trees were nearing the end of their practical life
in this public location, and as time went by and more were cut, an alternative
was talked about. No doubt the trees were also interfering with the power lines,
a relatively new feature of the main street which went underground sometime
between 1927 and 1962.
It is not exactly clear, but except for the main street, it appears that through
time the old cedar trees were replaced by bottle trees upto the 1930's.
1885 was a shaky year for Australia. New South Wales was hiding politically,
afraid of a growing push for Federation, leaving Queensland and Victoria as
political leaders for the time, plus the threat of war over the annexation of
parts of New Guinea by Germany had the British military commander in Australia
in a mood for the reinvigoration of the Defence Forces.
On the 4th March 1885, a new Queensland Volunteer Corp was raised, consisting
of: mounted troops at Brisbane, Gympie, Townsville, Bundaberg and Hughendon;
artillery at Cairns; rifle corps at Brisbane (consisting of the Scottish and
the Brisbane or Moreton Bay rifle corps), Roma, Gladstone and Southport.
The rifle range for these men changed over the course of time. The first range
appears to be out along Timbury Hills, possibly nearer the modern power station
sites. The second was gazetted in 1893 (M51-261) and rescinded in 1903. It extended
from Kieseker's crossing (from the end of McPhie St) east to Short St and was
roughly some 1km east-west, 200m north-south. The third rifle range was gazetted
in 1900 (M51-415) and still stands as the former rifle range running east west
along the ridge line of Timbury Hills. Each rifle range appears to have fallen
to that ever popular scourge of town planning, encroaching unrestrained residential
development.
The Roma Rifle Corps home base was gazetted as a Defence Force Reserve in 1890,
which was lot 9 on section 4, Charles St, which is where it had stood for many
years. These days the land is now occupied by Roma Glass and Aluminium. Prior
to the military use, it was the School of Arts block.
Up until the Drill Hall was constructed (refer section 4) the Company operated
out of a rented hall, location unknown but possibly the then Masonic or Church
halls in Bungil St, or even the council's Town Hall.
Company M originally operated out of a rented hall. The reason for the Defence
Dept to decide to build their own hall is unclear, but most likely a financial
and traditional one. Tenders for the construction of the Drill Hall were advertised
in the Government Gazette on the 6th September 1888, the plans being supplied
by the Colonial Architect George Connolly and a budget of £515 being set
aside for the project.
Nine tenders were submitted for the construction, ranging in value from £373
to £609.10. The winner was one of the local builders, Thomas Shanahan,
for the sum of £373 for a building of cypress timber construction, or
£450 for hardwood construction, all work to be finished in four months.
The Colonial Architect passed his judgement on the tenders on the 12th October
1888, with building works expected to commence in the next year. The contract
for construction was signed between Shanahan and the Hon. John Murtagh Macrossan,
Secretary for Mines and Works on the 27th of October. Even at this stage the
site for the construction was not finalised.
Shanahan wanted to commence work in November, for he telegrammed the Under Secretary
for Mines and Works as to which block he could deliver the timber to so that
he could commence work. The question was relayed by the Colonial Architect to
Colonel French, whose Brigade Major responded that Mr Shanahan could deliver
his timber to the School Of Arts site, the Reserve having been applied for by
the Government. The gazettal of such not being done until 1890. Shanahan then
queried the location on the block, and gave the opinion of the local officers
on where they would like to situate the hall, which was at the rear of the block.
During construction, Shanahan queried the use of cypress for the flooring, he
being of the opinion that the method chosen to construct the floor was not conducive
to cypress pine, and that it would twist and was too knotty and provide an unsuitable
finish. There was some dispute between the Colonial Architect and the builder
over the final result, the Architect not being happy with the finish. The delay
concerned the local commander, Capt John Fowles, who had a ball organised for
the opening of the shed on the 11th April 1889, and who also apparently did
not want to spend another months rent waiting in their current hall before they
could move in. Shanahan was also in a hurry to move onto other work already
waiting for him. The local Foreman of Works for the Government, George Corney,
inspected the site while going out to the rifle range, and sent his assessment
down to the Under Secretary. Shanahan completed these final works, but Corney
was still not satisfied on his next inspection on the 5th of April. The local
officer was apparently still anxious for his ball to proceed, and Shanahan was
also anxious to move to his next job. Corney telegrammed the Works Office saying
he was still not satisfied, and that if the ball was to proceed, Shanahan would
have to indemnify them against any damages that would occur. This he did, and
the ball was held.
In 1894, the Council voted to repair the fences to the drill hall.
On the 23rd of November 1898 a major wind storm struck Roma, damaging many buildings,
including the drill hall. The caretaker, A Flack, wrote to the Defence Forces
staff engineer, informing them that the hall had been seriously damaged, the
north wall almost collapsing, and two boundary fences were blown over. He had
rectified the problem as best as practical, but feared any further inclement
weather would cause the whole structure to collapse. A note signed by Capt FO
Lewin was also attached. It is unclear if he was a local, or the Staff Engineer.
The Caretaker in April 1899, Colour Sargeant William Bruce wrote to the OIC
of the M Company that some improvements were necessary, being a water closet
and a paling fence and gate to stop the general public from "making a nuisance
of themselves on the Government Reserve during the night." The existing
fence on the north and south boundaries was a paling fence, but the east and
west boundaries were simply wire (most likely plain wire) in bad need of attention.
The council was so concerned that they passed a motion to construct a water
closet and fence and gates for the shed, due to health concerns, if the Defence
Forces failed to do it promptly. No doubt the Council intended to pass the cost
on. The caretaker estimated the cost to be £30. A tender for the work
was submitted by William Edwards for £28.10.0 and by GP Williams for £25.
The fence was constructed in September 1899, but the OIC M Company, Capt FWE
Faithful, wrote to his superiors that the paling fence as constructed was wholly
unsuited for their needs, it being so low that "people can now vault the
fence with the greatest ease and I should suggest that a barbed wire be placed
at any rate on the eastern and western portions of the present fence."
He also suggested that they consider fitting a rainwater tank, as there was
none at present, there was a definite need for water, and they were currently
paying the price of one shilling per barrel for their needs.
In March 1902, Capt Faithful requested that the drill hall be extended with
two new rooms, the store and orderly room to be ceiled, gas be connected for
lighting, and general maintenance and painting to the existing structure. He
was allotted £50 for the task, but the district architect noted that gas
could not be laid to the building, and that he did not believe the hall was
in urgent need of paint. It is not clear that two new rooms were added either.
Further works were proposed in January 1905, which included a rough sketch plan
of the drill hall as it stood. These new works were landscaping to raise the
ground level in a bid to keep water away from under the hall and allow access
to the hall in the wet, a hitching post for horses, a new coat of paint and
some repairs to the south wall to strengthen it to resist winds. It also included
the ceiling of the orderly room, which was presumably not carried out in 1902.
The cost of works - £40 by the successful tenderer GP Williams.
The drill shed site was proposed for further enhancements with a miniature cartridge
range in May 1907. The details are not entirely clear, but there may have also
been a proposal then to replace the drill hall itself. The estimated cost for
the range was £45. The tendered costs were from £45 to £84,
Mr W Gilbert of Toowoomba winning the contract on price by the large margin
of £21, and probably also because he was in the process of constructing
the exact same thing in Toowoomba. Some modifications were made to the plans,
and a further £16 authorised to be spent on the works.
The hall was again recommended to be painted in July 1908, the Inspector of
Works stating "the paint is powdering off and should have 2 coats, finishing
coat to be in white zinc," for a cost of £17. The Inspector wrote
a fuller report the following month, including tarring of the stumps and other
works to a value of £58.15.00. The tender was gazetted 23rd October 1908
The Drill Hall and water closet was replaced in 1913, the new building being
some 60' x 42', consisting of a main drill hall with 5 offices being roughly
12' square. This building lasted long into recent history, being also a scout
hall. It was burnt down, and the site is now occupied by Roma Glass and Aluminium.
The dealings of the war, enlistment and patriotic committees and councils dealings with the defence dept.
The issue of trees and bottle trees came to the fore in 1917, the year of Roma
Town Council's 50th anniversary. Even in those days the "Roma Coma"
was a force to be reckoned with: the official function to mark the event was
attended by only 25 people, 2 of whom had come from Brisbane, these being were
the state member for the district, former Roma Town Councilor JM Hunter and
his wife.
Throughout the evening a number of speeches were made by various dignitaries
to the assemblage, recounting various tales of Roma's early days. In Hunter's
speech, reference was made to the war raging at the time, and what should be
done to commemorate the brave soldiers who would not return. The mayor [Ald.
Miscamble] also made a speech, stating that he had been thinking along the lines
of Mr Hunter, and felt some trees should be planted in memory of the soldiers,
and not only to the fallen soldiers, but to all those who had enlisted. His
speech closed with a minutes silence in memory of the 19 Roma soldiers who had
died so far in the Great War.
At the next council meeting, the matter was further discussed, and a resolution
passed. "Moved by His Worship the Mayor [Miscamble], sec by Ald Wright:
That this council take into consideration and make arrangements for holding
an Arbour Day in July next for the purpose of planting a tree to commemorate
the life of each Roma boy who has fallen in the present war, after that each
lad who went to the front from Roma, commencing with Roma natives. Carried"
The trees were to be planted the following year, the first twenty seven planted
outside the state school, commemorating the boys and teacher who went to war
and didn't return. Mr Mayfield, the head teacher, had a gallery of all the boys
photos which he called the "Heroes Gallery." There were some 200 photos
in it, and he was very proud to display them.
What is not so certain is the choice for bottle trees. There was quite considerable
discussion at the time about exactly what type of trees were to be planted,
the council going so far as to write to the State Member to get the Botanical
Gardens in Brisbane to offer suggestions. Suggestions from various quarters
were for apple trees, pepeprinas, moreton bay figs and other species. What was
clear at the meetings was that they would not choose bottle trees, they were
simply too messy.
However, the final choice was left to the mayor, Ald Miscamble, and the next
evidence is a note that he had ordered some nice bottle and kurrajong trees
to be planted in the avenue. Why Miscamble chose bottle trees, if his explicit
orders were not to, is not clear until you consider two points which have come
from further research.
Mayors of this time period had almost unrestrained power over the day to day
operations of the council. In effect they were similar to current town clerks,
organising almost everything that had to be done, and making the majority of
decisions on how projects were conducted. The council did have a town clerk
and foreman of works for this period, but we must understand that the mayor
was very often telling these men how to do their job, or setting the goals these
men were to achieve. Councils of the time were often telling their employees
explicitly how to do their job.
The other point to remember is that bottle trees had been planted before - in
1900. The same time that Miscamble was Mayor in this period.
It is a very tempting to imagine Miscamble imposed his will on his preference
for bottle trees, and so that was what happened. An Avenue of Bottle Trees.
There is no other evidence either way to point to other reasons for the selection,
so the definitive truth will most likely never been known.
The second portion of the planting, to take the number of trees to 75, was conducted
in 1919, with a further 20 planted in 1920. Also in 1920, as part of the war
trophy dispersement, Roma received a cannon as its due: "Notice from
War Trophy Committee, advising that one field gun, No 29, a war trophy. Captured
by the 5th Light horse Regiment, has been forwarded to Roma. After some discussion
it was decided to place the gun in the recreation reserve, as being the best
place for the trophy to be seen by the public."
Later in the year the Repatriation Committee was writing to council to ask when
a monument and Roll Of Honor might be erected to the memories of the soldiers.
The council discussed the matter, and as Ald Crawford had volunteered to pay
for the Roll of Honor, the matter was left in his hands. He expressed his confusion
on how the names for the Roll were to be got, for no one knew how to obtain
them. Reference was made to Mr Mayne, chairman of the Repatriation Committee,
with a suggestion that the list may be in part obtained from him, for he had
much more research to do on the list he had already made.
The Roll of Honor was not presented for a number of years, at least not until
1922. A proper monument was not constructed until 1937, even though council
were arguing over it as early as 1920. It is assumed that up until 1937, the
Federation Monument in Queen's Park was used as the destination for the Anzac
marches, where supposedly the German gun was also displayed. Some years after
1937, the Federation Monument was pushed into the ground and buried, only to
be rediscovered in 1984 with the construction of the new Cultural Centre. The
large concrete base is now displayed with a reworked top and marker.
For a good many years, the German gun disappeared, only to be rescued from disposal
and in private hands for many years. Today, its remnants are displayed outside
the Army Reserve barracks, where there are also two trench mortars who's history
is unknown. It is not clear at this point whether the cannon had been stripped
of it's pieces and wheels long before the 1950's.
The Avenue too lingered for many years in a constant state of neglect, until
interest was renewed with the research of Peter Keegan into the soldiers it
memorialises.
Today the avenue is well thought of for the sentiment it represents, and for
many years the soldiers have again been in people's minds. Perhaps the final
word on the avenue should go to W Miscamble, Mayor in 1918: "On this,
the third anniversary of the landing of the Australasian troops on Galipolli,
this meeting of citizens of Roma and District emphasises the unswerving loyalty
of the people of the State to the Throne and Empire of His Gracious Majesty
the King, and pledges their determination to maintain the partnership of national
sacrifice which has been sealed already by the blood of Australia's bravest
sons. This meeting expresses admiration of the magnificent heroism, self-sacrifice,
and endurance of the sailors and soldiers of Australia and New Zealand, who,
on the First Anzac Day and throughout the Great War, for the maintenance of
justice, liberty, and freedom, have shed immortal lustre on the name of their
country, and voices heartfelt sympathy with those whose love ones laid down
their lives for the Empire, assures the bereaved, and the sailors and soldiers
who have suffered, the undying gratitude of the people who through that sacrifice
retain the blessing of liberty, enhanced by a fuller sense of nationhood and
closer and stronger union with the other portions of the British Dominions,
also urges upon all who are eligible the imperative duty of following the example
of those heroes whose names will lie honored so long as history endures."
The early marches for the Anzac Celebrations appear to have had a number of
destinations in their time. The early marches upto the early 1920's are thought
to have stopped at the market reserve, just east of the Court House, corner
of McDowall and Queen Sts. The only other viable alternatives to this theory
is the Drill Hall in Charles St or the Federation (and also Boer War) Monument
in Queen's Park. Evidence is scant, and only vague references lead us to believe
it was the Market Reserve. Following the construction of the Honor Roll, and
the donation of it to the Council, marches and Armistice Day celebrations culminated
where the Roll was hung, in the Council Chambers. This process was to continue
upto 1938, when the Cenotaph was finally built. It then became the destination
and centre of all military remembrance ceremonies.
The original concept of constructing some memorial to the fallen soldiers of
WW1 goes back to at least the 1st Anniversary Celebrations for Gallipoli. The
committee for the days events wrote to council in March 1916, asking Council
to consider constructing a marker and Honor Roll for the men who fell at Gallipoli.
One councillor moved that it should be constructed in Wyndham St, just off the
kerb line. The most likely location intended being just outside the post office.
The Anzac Committee again wrote in 1917 asking for the monument to be constructed,
the location proposed to be the small triangle of land known as the market reserve,
just east of the Court House, on the corner of Queen and McDowall St. The idea
of a monument was again entertained at the 50th Anniversary Celebrations for
Roma in late 1917. The Council's intention at the time was to devise a living
memorial of trees - the subsequent Heroes Avenue - but a parallel project to
build a stone cairn was also re entertained shortly afterward. Stone cairns
are more traditional, and most likely the construction of a stone monument with
a single listing of all the men was almost expected from the populace, even
though the avenue was in place doing the same function.
The next mention of a memorial being proposed was in November 1920, when Chairman
of the local Repatriation Committee, Mr WG Mayne, wrote to council drawing their
attention to the fact that neither a monument nor Roll of Honor had been constructed
yet. Council were again reminded in April 1921, when the Brisbane Committee
who were seeking funds to build the memorial in Anzac Square, Brisbane, wrote
asking for support. Council admitted their tardiness in building a local one,
and wished to keep the funds for such a project locally than to sponsor a Brisbane
monument when there still wasn't one in Roma.
Nothing came of the prompts, and no doubt the omission was a talking point among
ex soldiers at the various meetings of their different organisations. Considering
the spitefulness of some ex soldiers, particularly the hierarchy of the RSSILA
(especially in the 1930's), there must have been some very colourful language
in relation to the council's slowness on this project.
However, council had quite a number of problems through this period in relation
to both continual staff turn over and almost going broke several times which
was taking up a lot of their time. Several mayors faced almost open revolt from
councillors and the public, and the great depression and increasing union militancy
did nothing to leave spare money for projects. Many schemes throughout this
time were fully government funded.
The first genuine attempt to finally build the monument was put forward by the
Roma and District Returned Soldiers Association (R&DRSA) in 1933. It appears
it was their project, with funding and direction via the Repatriation Committee
that finally got the project rolling. The Repatriation Committee appears to
have some over arching power over the R&DRSA on this project which is not
yet clear, possibly due to their financial involvement and the fact the Repatriation
Committee was a federal government body. The Repatriation Committee also over
saw the Soldier's Race Committee, which was a major fund raising organisation
for soldier related projects in town. In the late 1930's this organisation was
very fractured owing to the developing split between the RSSILA and the R&DRSA,
the RSSILA being almost half the committee.
There was no involvement of any other organisation in the cenotaph process,
especially the RSSILA (modern RSL). These men were quite adamant that they would
in no way share any involvement with any other oganisation on any subject, and
rebuffed the R&DRSA, only feigning to consider the idea so that it could
be roundly defeated 39 votes to 1 so that no further discussion on the topic
would be necessary. At the meeting to discuss it, Canon Eva (the Predisent RSSILA)
said that even the motion to consider dealing with the R&DRSA was out of
order (deeply offending Mr GG Ferrier, the mover, in the process), and read
the rules of the RSSILA which said they could not co operate in any way with
any soldier's organisation outside the League except the Limbless Soldier's
and Father's Associations. They could be no clearer. The militancy of the RSSILA
of this period is well known anecdotally from many family histories, including
my own. They were good enough, however, to encourage all returned soldiers to
attend the event, a hollow gesture as most soldiers were almost guaranteed to
show up for such an event. Their stance on this may well have been directly
related to Canon Eva's personality and the way the RSSILA formed after a major
internal split of the R&DRSA in 1937.
The RSSILA then embarked on their own project to build their own hall, shifting
the redundant infants hall from the State School to the current RSL location.
Their project was not completed until after the Cenotaph was built, and served
to create another stir among soldiers - they were adamant there was to be no
bar, (also a council condition) no doubt a concession to the religious influences
of the committee. They also only got it funded by manipulating the Repatriation
Committee, but that's another story.
The preparations for the monument took a number of years to organise, the final
years of the project being conducted by the R&DRSA president AJ Campbell.
The final stages relating to the unveiling of the monument were passed over
to the Repatriation Committee for organising by Mr Mayne, not doubt to their
stature as a federal department who were partly funding the construction. Both
Campbell and Canon Eva were also members of this committee
The first work on the monument took place in October 1937, the base being poured
by Mr W Anderson (the Undertaker) and the granite blocks being erected under
the supervision of Mr AL Petrie (Brisbane Monumental Mason). The inscribed plates
on the monument were covered over, to be kept hidden from the public until the
Memorial was opened on the following Anzac Day, 1938.
Unfortunately, the preview of the monument by the R&DRSA revealed that one
name was missing (Gavin). The monument inscription also says it is erected to
the memory of the 93 men from the district, when in fact there were 94 listed
in the Avenue. This was pointed out to Mayne, but never corrected. Modern investigation
of the monument also reveals several misspelled names, such as Kupper (Kupfer),
and names out of alphabetical order.
Considering Mr WG Mayne was putting together a complete plan of the Avenue,
it is quite curious he (or Petrie if it was a transcription fault, though this
is unlikely) made the mistakes on the monument. It certainly does not support
any theory Mayne was the absolute authority on the men of the Avenue. Consider
also that there was no proposal to memorialise any other soldiers from further
research. The full list of 94 men was already known by mid 1920, when the last
trees in the avenue were proposed to be planted, and prior to Mr Mayne asking
Council to get a wriggle on and finish the Honor Roll. They were of course to
turn to him for aid in the Roll of Honour shortly after, so in theory he did
research all soldier's from Roma & District. However, as the Roll of Honour
was probably handed over by Alderman Crawford in the early 1920's (probably
1922 or 1923), all research had most likely been concluded by then. One must
assume Mayne conducted no research post the 1920 planting of trees, or he made
no issue of his research with additional names. That he wouldn't mention additional
soldiers to be included on the cenotaph is highly unlikely, and we are left
with the conclusion he conducted no great research at all past the planting
of trees in 1920.
We know that the AIF records were extremely poor, and for a great period of
time very difficult to sort. It has not been until the digital age that records
have been easy to search and therefore easy to locate soldiers. Perhaps Mayne
did the best with what he had in the early 1920's, which was not much, and conducted
no further research.
To return to the cenotaph, organisation for the unveiling proceeded under Mr
Mayne's direction, with suggestions from the R&DRSA. The Governor, Sir Leslie
Wilson, had declined to open it due to other commitments, and WM Hughes had
also declined due to commitments in Sydney for Anzac Day. Billy Hughes had associations
with Roma, working at Basset's Winery and other places in the district before
moving to the big smoke and a political career. Eventually Lt Col Sir Donald
Cameron, KCMG, DSO, VD, accepted the invitation to unveil the memorial.
In the meantime, the R&DRSA completed the works around the cenotaph, being
the paths, edging and garden works. All up the project to build the cenotaph
had cost £400. The council chipped in by gravelling the footpath in front
of it, which was probably also necessary to get to the Federation Monument/fountain.
In preparation for the unveiling, a program for the day was published in the
paper.
The days events abandoned the usual practice of laying wreaths at the Roll of
Honor in the council chambers in McDowall St. Wreaths were laid instead in the
cemetery at 9AM on the headstones of dead soldiers, the headstones being recently
installed by the R&DRSA in another project.
Religious services were then conducted during the morning, a speech being given
by Sir Donald Cameron on the example of the soldier and the donkey at Gallipoli.
This speech is to be found in the appendix.
The unveiling at 3:30PM was preceded by a march of 120 soldiers plus band which
progressed directly to the new cenotaph where WG Mayne welcomed them.
Rousing speeches for the day were delivered by Mayne and the visiting dignitary
- Sir Donald Cameron. Following the speeches the memorial was unveiled and the
ceremony was over. Both these speeches are to be found in the appendix.
Mayne's speech is notable for mentioning the support of the RSSILA, who never
positively discussed the project in any of their meetings for which there are
records, and who vehemently refused to deal with the main instigator, the R&DRSA.
However, some of the RSSILA members also made up Mayne's committee (including
Canon Eva who was also present at the unveiling - added religious pressure?),
so perhaps he was being over generous. Mayne had many very strange recollections
that day totally unrelated to actual history. Politically he must have walked
a very fine tight rope.
The days events were closed by a dinner in the Hibernian Hall.
There was much debate nationally at the time of the 1937/38 Anzac Days being
conducted with religious services within the Anzac Ceremonies, particularly
with the Melbourne service. Eventually the soldiers won out and the churches
had to content themselves with holding their own services in their churches
later in the morning with their congregation, rather than having the whole Anzac
Day ceremony as their audience. Many soldiers felt it unnecessary to mix religious
and war time services, and were particularly wary of getting involved in a Catholic/Presbyterian
argument on who should officiate. They were quite adamant though that the churches
should conduct their own service in their church, and not abandon any idea of
remembering soldiers on Anzac Day.
The story of Bevan Stansbie and the evolution of Heroes Avenue