Federation – 1 January 1901 – From Parkes at Tenterfield to the Centennial Park Ceremony and the First Parliament

On New Year's Day 1901, the first day of the twentieth century, six British colonies became one nation, the Commonwealth of Australia. Sydney threw the party. A procession of about 10,000 people wound from the Domain through the city, under ten great arches, out to Centennial Park. There, in a plaster pavilion, Lord Hopetoun was sworn in as Governor-General and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister. It had taken more than a decade of speeches, conventions and referendums to get there, a near-disaster over who should be Prime Minister, and an Act of the British Parliament. Four months later the first federal Parliament opened in Melbourne. Among the first laws it passed was the one that made White Australia official. The new Constitution also said Aboriginal people weren't to be counted.

The inauguration procession in Macquarie Street, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. W. A. Gullick, Government Printer, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

This is the story of how it happened, with a Sydney eye on the big day itself. I've tried to tell the whole of it, the proud bits and the ugly bits, because both are true.

Six Colonies, Six Ways of Doing Things

By the late 1800s Australia was six self-governing British colonies. The National Museum of Australia points out that each had its own laws, its own railway gauge, its own postage stamps and its own tariffs. You paid duty to move goods across the Murray. Defence, immigration and trade were growing worries, and so was a sense of being Australian. Wikipedia notes that by the late 1880s most colonists had been born here, and that the 1872 telegraph between the colonies helped draw them together.

There had been talk of union for decades. Wikipedia traces calls for it back to 1842. The Federal Council of Australasia was set up in 1885 to deal with matters between the colonies, but New South Wales never joined. The NMA says the council dissolved in 1889, and Wikipedia says it never had its own money or a proper executive. The Australian Natives' Association, made up of white men born in Australia, signed up to the cause in 1880 according to the NMA, and became the backbone of the federation leagues.

Not everyone was keen. The smaller colonies feared being run by Sydney and Melbourne. Free-trade New South Wales was suspicious of protectionist Victoria. Queensland worried that national race laws would cut off the Pacific Island labour its cane fields relied on. And the young labour movement thought the whole scheme too conservative, especially the strong Senate.

Parkes at Tenterfield, 1889

Sir Henry Parkes, painted by Tom Roberts in 1893. Tom Roberts, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sir Henry Parkes was the Premier of New South Wales and the grand old man of colonial politics. Wikipedia tells how the Governor, Lord Carrington, goaded him over lunch on 15 June 1889. Parkes boasted that he "could confederate these colonies in twelve months", and Carrington shot back: "Then why don't you do it? It would be a glorious finish to your life."

Parkes went north to Brisbane. On the way home, on 24 October 1889, he stopped at Tenterfield, just south of the Queensland border, and spoke at the School of Arts. His main argument was defence: "one great federal army". He also wanted a convention of leading men from all the colonies to write a constitution for a federal government and a federal parliament. His closing words are the ones that get quoted:

"The opportunity has arisen for the consideration of this great subject and I believe that the time is at hand… when this thing will be done. Indeed, this great thing will have to be done, and to put it off will only tend to make the difficulties which stand in the way, greater."

The Tenterfield School of Arts, where Parkes gave his speech on 24 October 1889. Mattinbgn, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The plaque at Tenterfield marking the Oration. Mattinbgn, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The speech went into newspapers right across the colonies. Parkes earned the name "Father of Federation", though he never saw it through. The NMA notes that he died in 1896.

The Conventions

Melbourne 1890 and Sydney 1891

An informal conference met in Melbourne in February 1890, in a heatwave Wikipedia puts at 39.7°C in the shade. It agreed the time had come to talk properly. The National Australasian Convention followed in Sydney in 1891 with Parkes as president. The NMA says the delegates, New Zealand's among them, settled on the name "Commonwealth of Australia".

The delegates to the National Australasian Convention in Sydney, 1891. State Government Photographer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The draft constitution came out of that convention. Who deserves the credit is still argued over. Over Easter 1891, Queensland's Sir Samuel Griffith reworked a draft by Tasmania's Andrew Inglis Clark aboard the Queensland Government steam yacht Lucinda. Clark was laid up with influenza in Sydney. The old view gave Griffith nearly all the credit, while newer writers lift Clark up. The NMA puts it simply: Griffith is credited with writing it, but it was based on Clark's version. It was a mix of the American model and the British one, which the NMA says got the nickname "Washminster".

Andrew Inglis Clark of Tasmania, whose draft constitution of 1890–91 laid the groundwork. Vandyck Photographers, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Then it all stalled. The draft lapsed in the New South Wales Parliament. The 1890s depression hit, bringing unemployment and strikes, and the new Labor Party wrote federation off as a "fad", in Wikipedia's account.

Corowa and the people's turn

The cause came back from the bush. At a Federation League conference at Corowa in 1893, John Quick proposed that the people should elect the convention themselves and then vote on its constitution at referendums. George Reid, Premier of New South Wales from 1894, got behind the idea, and the premiers agreed to it in 1895.

Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, 1897–98

The cover of the album made for the 1898 Australasian Federal Convention. Unknown, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The elected convention met in Adelaide in 1897, then in Sydney, and finished in Melbourne. It wound up on 17 March 1898 with a bill "To Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia". The 1891 draft was kept, with more democracy added, including a Senate elected directly by the people. After Parkes died, Edmund Barton of Sydney became, in the NMA's words, the de facto leader of the federal campaign.

Charles Kingston of South Australia, president of the 1897–98 convention. 1898 Australasian Federal Convention Album, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

George Reid, Premier of New South Wales from 1894, from the 1898 convention album. 1898 Australasian Federal Convention Album, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Referendums

1898: yes, but not enough

In June 1898 New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania voted on the bill. All four said yes. New South Wales, though, had set a hurdle of at least 80,000 Yes votes, and didn't reach it.

1899: the deal and the second vote

The premiers met early in 1899 and changed the bill to win over New South Wales. The Braddon clause, which gave the states three-quarters of customs revenue, was limited to ten years. The federal capital would be in New South Wales but at least a hundred miles from Sydney. And the rules for breaking a deadlock between the houses were eased. The NMA says that this time New South Wales needed only a simple majority. In the 1899 votes, Yes won in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.

A ribbon from Turner & Henderson of Hunter Street, Sydney, urging a Yes vote in 1899. Turner & Henderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Sydney handbill for Referendum Day, Tuesday 20 June 1899, which slyly advertises the races at Rosebery Park as well. State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Crowds watching the 1899 referendum results go up at the Hotel Australia in Sydney. Unknown, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Brisbane waits for its 1899 referendum results at the Courier building, Queen and Edward Streets. Poulsen, State Library of Queensland, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Referendum night outside the Exchange Hotel, Charters Towers, as catalogued by the State Library of Queensland. Marion Photos, State Library of Queensland, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1900: Western Australia comes in late

Western Australia held out. The NMA says it didn't vote until 31 July 1900, weeks after the Queen had signed the Act. Part of the sweetener was a promise of a railway to the eastern states.

The Act in London, 1900

The colonies were still British, so only the British Parliament could create the new nation. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed on 5 July 1900, and Queen Victoria gave it royal assent on 9 July. It was to take effect on 1 January 1901.

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, passed in London. Superegz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It set up a Parliament of two houses, a Senate and a House of Representatives, plus a Governor-General as the Crown's representative and a High Court. The new Commonwealth got defence, immigration, quarantine, customs, banking and coinage, and the states kept most of the rest. The NMA adds that Parliament would sit in Melbourne until a new capital was built.

The Hopetoun Blunder

Lord Hopetoun, Australia's first Governor-General. Johnstone, O'Shannessy & Co., State Library Victoria, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Queen appointed John Hope, the 7th Earl of Hopetoun, a former Governor of Victoria, as the first Governor-General on 14 July 1900. He reached Australia on 15 December 1900, sick from his trip through India. Wikipedia says it was typhus. He had less than three weeks to find a Prime Minister to run things until the first election.

On 19 December he followed the Canadian precedent and sent for the Premier of the biggest colony, Sir William Lyne of New South Wales. It was a disaster. Lyne had opposed federation until the last minute, and the federalists wouldn't serve under him. Barton wrote to Lyne that it "would be a contradiction of my whole career in relation to federation" to serve under a prime minister who had fought the bill. The Bulletin called Lyne "almost the dullest and most ordinary" of the front-rank politicians.

Sir William Lyne, the New South Wales Premier Hopetoun asked first. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lyne handed back his commission at 10pm on Christmas Eve 1900. An hour later Hopetoun sent for Barton, who already had his team lined up with Alfred Deakin. Lyne swallowed his pride and joined as Minister for Home Affairs. The episode went down in history as the Hopetoun Blunder.

Edmund Barton around 1889, a Sydney barrister who carried the federal cause after Parkes. Unknown photographer, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Barton's ministry was a cabinet of old premiers. George Turner of Victoria was Treasurer, Charles Kingston of South Australia ran Trade and Customs, John Forrest of Western Australia was Postmaster-General, James Dickson of Queensland had Defence, and Lyne had Home Affairs.

The first Federal Executive Council, including Barton's ministry, photographed in early January 1901. Crown Studios, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1 January 1901: Sydney's Big Day

Dressing up the city

Sydney went all out. Buildings, telegraph poles and streets were hung with flags, banners, bunting and triumphal arches. There were ten arches along the procession route according to the Wikipedia article on the film of the day, and several of them celebrated Australian industries like wool. The photographs show a Wheat Arch in Bridge Street and an American arch, among others.

Federation decorations in Bridge Street, Sydney, 1 January 1901. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wheat Arch, looking east up Bridge Street from the corner of Gresham Street. A. J. Perier, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The United States of America Federation Arch in Sydney. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Federation arch across a Sydney street, from the Powerhouse Museum's Phillips glass plate collection. Powerhouse Museum, no known restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Federation decorations at Martin Place. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Decorations on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Young Street, looking towards Bent and Bligh Streets, dressed up for Federation. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The procession

The procession formed up in the Domain and wound through the city before heading south-east to Centennial Park. It was led by 200 mounted police, followed by railway bandsmen, shearers and bush workers, decorated floats, Australian and Imperial troops, and the carriages of Hopetoun, Barton, the premiers and other dignitaries. Wikipedia puts the marchers at about 10,000 and the crowds along the route at between 250,000 and 500,000. People leaned out of windows and climbed onto roofs and awnings for a look.

The Salvation Army's Limelight Department filmed the lot for the New South Wales Government. Director Joseph Perry rode between camera platforms on a horse-drawn fire engine, running three crews at once. Inauguration of the Commonwealth premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre on 19 January 1901. At 35 minutes long, Wikipedia says it was Australia's first feature-length documentary.

The ceremony in Centennial Park

The Federation Pavilion in Centennial Park during the swearing-in, 1 January 1901. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At Centennial Park stood the Federation Pavilion, a temporary building about 14 metres high, dressed in fancy fibrous plaster. It sat on a six-sided slab of polished Moruya granite, one side for each state. In 1904 that slab, the Commonwealth Stone, was set into the ground to mark the spot where the Commonwealth was born.

Another view of the pavilion and the crowd. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In the pavilion, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, William Smith, greeted the official party. The Proclamation was read, and the Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir Frederick Darley, administered the oaths to Hopetoun, Barton and the first federal ministry. They signed at a table in the middle of the pavilion. Estimates of the crowd vary wildly: the Federation Pavilion article says 60,000, while the Barton government article says about 250,000.

The pavilion during the ceremony. Talma Studio, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pavilion in Centennial Park on the day. NSW State Archives, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pavilion where Sir Frederick Darley swore in Lord Hopetoun. Unattributed, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The first Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 1 January 1901. Australian Government, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The party goes on

The celebrations ran for days. A Russian warship joined the ships in the Harbour, there was a balloon at the Showground, and the troops paraded in Centennial Park the next day. Out in the bush, people had their own picnics.

The Russian cruiser Gromoboi in Sydney Harbour for the celebrations. Albert J. Perier, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A hot-air balloon at the Commonwealth Celebrations at the Showground, Moore Park, 1901. W. H. Macguire, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Out the back of beyond: a Federation Day picnic at Bunker Creek near White Cliffs, 1 January 1901. Unknown photographer, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

What happened to the pavilion

The plaster didn't last. By 1902 the pavilion was reported to be very dilapidated, and the Municipality of Concord bought the timber frame for £60 and moved it to Cabarita Park in 1903. It's on the State Heritage Register, and since 2016 it's been on the clear window of the five-dollar note.

The old pavilion frame at Cabarita Park, where Concord council moved it. J Bar, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The First Election and the First Parliament

The first federal election was held on Friday 29 March 1901 in four states and Saturday 30 March in South Australia and Queensland. Queensland floods held up some polling until April. All 75 House seats and 36 Senate seats were up. Barton's Protectionists won the most seats but not a majority, so they governed with the support of Labour. George Reid's Free Traders were the opposition. Six future prime ministers entered Parliament at that election.

On 9 May 1901 the King's son, the Duke of Cornwall and York, later George V, opened the first Parliament in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Tom Roberts painted the scene. It's the famous "Big Picture", which measures about 3 by 5 metres. After the opening, Parliament moved to Victoria's Parliament House, and the Victorian Parliament moved into the Exhibition Building for the next 26 years.

Tom Roberts' "Big Picture" of the opening of the first Parliament, 9 May 1901. Tom Roberts, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Nuttall's painting of the same opening at the Exhibition Building. Charles Nuttall, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne today. Rexness, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An invitation to the Australian Commonwealth Celebrations in Victoria, 1901. Watson Family, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What It Meant

One market, one nation, still British

The customs houses on the borders went. Wikipedia says tariffs between the states were abolished, with Western Australia phased in, and a common outside tariff came in in October 1901. The NMA makes the point that Australia was now largely self-governing, but the monarch stayed head of state and Australians remained British subjects until the Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1948. As the NMA sees it, the driving urge was union more than independence.

White Australia

Federation and White Australia went hand in hand. The NMA says one of the first things the new Parliament did was enshrine the White Australia policy in law. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, drafted by Deakin, brought in a 50-word dictation test that could be given in any European language the officer chose. Wikipedia explains it was never a real test. The decision to keep someone out was made first, and the language was picked so they'd fail. Even at the time a West Australian senator called it "a piece of gross chicanery". The same Parliament passed the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901. Wikipedia says about 7,500 Pacific Islanders, mostly working on Queensland plantations, were deported as a result. The dictation test lasted until the Migration Act of 1958.

The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, the start of the White Australia policy in federal law. Parliament of Australia, digitised by the Museum of Australian Democracy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

An anti-Chinese cartoon from 1888, held by the National Library. Feelings like this fed straight into federal law. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Aboriginal people

For the first Australians, Federation brought nothing good. Section 127 of the Constitution said: "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted." The NMA notes the Commonwealth had no power to make special laws for Aboriginal people either. Both things stayed that way until the 1967 referendum, and section 127 was repealed with effect from 10 August 1967.

Then came the vote. The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 gave the federal vote to women, which was a big step forward. But it also shut out "natives" of Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, other than New Zealand, unless they were already on a state roll. So a new nation was proclaimed in a park in Sydney, while the people who'd been here all along weren't even counted.

Timeline

• 1880: The Australian Natives' Association commits to Federation.
• 1885: The Federal Council of Australasia is formed, without New South Wales.
• 15 June 1889: Lord Carrington goads Parkes at lunch.
• 24 October 1889: Parkes gives the Tenterfield Oration.
• February 1890: The Australasian Federal Conference meets in Melbourne.
• 1891: The National Australasian Convention meets in Sydney and the draft constitution is written.
• 1893: The Corowa conference puts forward Quick's plan.
• 1895: The premiers adopt the plan.
• 1896: Parkes dies.
• 1897–98: The Federal Convention meets in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne and closes on 17 March 1898.
• June 1898: The first referendums are held. New South Wales falls short of its 80,000 mark.
• Early 1899: The premiers meet and amend the bill.
• 1899: The second referendums are held, with Yes winning in five colonies.
• 5 July 1900: The Constitution Act passes the British Parliament.
• 9 July 1900: It receives royal assent.
• 31 July 1900: Western Australia votes.
• 15 December 1900: Hopetoun arrives.
• 19 December 1900: He commissions Lyne.
• 24 December 1900: Lyne gives up at 10pm, and Barton is commissioned at 11pm.
• 1 January 1901: The procession and the proclamation at Centennial Park.
• 19 January 1901: The film premieres at Her Majesty's Theatre.
• 29–30 March 1901: The first federal election.
• 9 May 1901: The first Parliament opens at the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
• Late 1901: The Immigration Restriction Act and the Pacific Island Labourers Act are passed.
• 1902: The Commonwealth Franchise Act is passed.
• 1903: The pavilion frame is moved to Cabarita.
• 24 September 1903: Barton resigns to join the High Court.
• 1904: The Commonwealth Stone is set into the ground in Centennial Park.
• 1958: The dictation test is abolished.
• 1967: The referendum leads to the repeal of section 127.

Where the Sources Disagree

• The crowd at Centennial Park. The Federation Pavilion article says 60,000. The Barton government article says about 250,000. The film article puts 250,000 to 500,000 along the procession route.
• When the ministry was sworn in. The National Museum of Australia says Hopetoun swore in the first federal ministry on 31 December 1900 and proclaimed the Commonwealth the next day. The Wikipedia articles on the pavilion and the Barton government put the swearing-in in the pavilion on 1 January 1901.
• How big Barton's first cabinet was. The Hopetoun Blunder article says Barton had organised a seven-person interim cabinet. The Federation article says nine members. The Commons description of the official photograph names all nine members of the Barton ministry.
• Who designed the pavilion. The same Wikipedia article says "it is not known" who designed it, and in another place says it was designed by Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon.
• Who wrote the 1891 draft. Traditionally Griffith got the credit. Newer writers give Andrew Inglis Clark the larger share.
• When the 1899 votes were held. Wikipedia says June 1899 in every colony except Western Australia. The State Library of Queensland dates its photo of the Brisbane referendum crowd to September 1899. Its Charters Towers photo is catalogued as 1900.

My Earlier Posts

• Federation Day – January 1st 1901 – Centennial Park – NSW
• Centennial Park And Queens Park – Sydney
• Centennial Park – Photos
• Sydney and Bubonic Plague in 1901 – Rats
• National Day Of The Australian Flag – September 3rd
• National Wattle Day – September 1st

Sources

1. National Museum of Australia, Defining Moments: "Federation": nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/federation
2. Wikipedia, "Federation of Australia": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Australia
3. Wikipedia, "Tenterfield Oration": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenterfield_Oration
4. Wikipedia, "Hopetoun Blunder": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopetoun_Blunder
5. Wikipedia, "Barton government": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_government
6. Wikipedia, "Federation Pavilion": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_Pavilion
7. Wikipedia, "Inauguration of the Commonwealth" (1901 film): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_the_Commonwealth
8. Wikipedia, "1901 Australian federal election": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1901_Australian_federal_election
9. Wikipedia, "Royal Exhibition Building": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exhibition_Building
10. Wikipedia, "The Big Picture (painting)": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Picture_(painting)
11. Wikipedia, "Immigration Restriction Act 1901": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Restriction_Act_1901
12. Wikipedia, "White Australia policy": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policy
13. Wikipedia, "Section 127 of the Constitution of Australia": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_127_of_the_Constitution_of_Australia
14. Wikipedia, "Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Franchise_Act_1902
15. Pictures: Wikimedia Commons, from the State Library of New South Wales, NSW State Archives, National Library of Australia, State Library of Queensland, State Library Victoria, Powerhouse Museum, Museum of Australian Democracy and individual photographers, as credited under each picture.

Centennial Park Sculptures - Centennial Park - Sydney - New South Wales

Centennial Park 

Statues And Sculptures. 

The Original Design For Centennial Park Had A Total of 31 Statues Through The Park. Over The Years Due To Vandalism And Weathering Only 19 Remained In 1946 And Today There Are Only 9 (By My Count; Centennial Parklands Says Only Three Of The Original Statues Remain).




Charles Dickens Was A Renowned English born Novelist & Social Commentator. He Achieved Popular Acclaim In The Late 1830s, And His Fame Grew Until His Death In 1870.
Centennial Park Was Officially Opened By Sir Henry Parkes, On January 26th 1888 To Commemorate 100 Years Of European Settlement In Australia

The Marble Statue Of Charles Dickens Appears To Have Been 1 Of 11 Statues Acquired In 1889 As Decoration For The New Park. It Was Originally At The Junction Of Parkes And Hamilton Drive But Was Relocated To The Junction Of Dickens And Loch Avenue In 1897, To Make Way For The Statue Of Sir Henry Parkes. 

The Statue Is 1 Of Only 2 Known Life Size Representations Of Charles Dickens In The World (According To Monument Australia; Centennial Parklands Says It Is One Of Three); The Other Is A Bronze Statue  In Clark Park, Philadelphia, USA.

In 1972 Most Of The Remaining Statues In The Park Were Removed & Put In Storage. Then The Statue Was Lost, And Its Location Was Unknown For Over 40 Years. 

When Gaenor Vallack, A Volunteer At The NSW Library And A Member Of The Dickens Society, Was Flicking Through Edwin Wilson's Book The Wishing Tree A Picture Of Charles Dickens Statue Caught Her Eye. 

In November 2006, Sandra Faulkner, Then President Of The NSW Dickens Society, Wrote To The Sydney Morning Herald's Column 8 Asking If Anyone Had Any Idea If The Statue Still Existed And If So, Where Was It? 

In 2007, Column 8 published Saying That The Statue Was Placed In Protective Custody By The Royal Botanic Gardens, And That The Charles Dickens Statue Had Lost Its Head.  The Statue Was Later Restored With A New Head And Unveiled Back In Centennial Park On 7 February 2011.

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The Rest of the Story – Centennial Park's Statues, Then and Now

My story above runs from 1888 to Dickens's return in 2011. Here's the fuller version of how he got his head back, along with what we know of the other statues that once lined the drives of the People's Park, which ones survive, and where you can find them on your next walk or ride around Grand Drive.

Timeline

• 1827–1837 – Busby's Bore is dug to carry water from the Lachlan Swamps, now Centennial Park, to Hyde Park.
• 26 January 1888 – Sir Henry Parkes opens Centennial Park, "the People's Park".
• 1888 – Villeroy & Boch make the terracotta statues "Sunrise" and "Sunset".
• 1889 – There are eleven statues and two vases in the park. Four terracotta vases by Rhode and Andrea are placed along Grand Drive.
• c.1891 – The marble Charles Dickens, probably by Job Hanson, is set up at Parkes and Hamilton Drives.
• 1890s – The Villeroy & Boch griffins are installed on Parkes Drive near the Paddington Gates.
• 1893 – Premier Sir George Dibbs is asked in Parliament about Dickens's will forbidding memorials, and declines to remove the statue.
• 1897 – A statue of Sir Henry Parkes goes up, and Dickens moves to Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue.
• 1 January 1901 – The Commonwealth of Australia is inaugurated at a pavilion in the park.
• By 1917 – The Grand Drive vases are removed as damaged.
• Before 1946 – Disraeli is "destroyed by accident". "Charity" comes down in 1946.
• 1959 – Lincoln, Garfield and "One More Shot" are removed as too decayed to keep.
• 1970–1972 – After vandalism, Parkes and most of the remaining statues, including Dickens, Diana and the griffins, go into storage.
• 1986 – Cedric Dickens writes to the Herald asking where his great-grandfather's statue went.
• 1988 – The new Federation Pavilion by Alexander Tzannes is built over the Commonwealth Stone.
• 27 April 1996 – Premier Bob Carr unveils Alan Somerville's bronze Parkes on the old pedestal.
• 7 April 2005 – The restored griffins return.
• 2006–2007 – Sandra Faulkner's Column 8 appeals, and the statue is found.
• 7 February 2011 – Dickens, with a new head, is unveiled by Governor Marie Bashir on his 199th birthday.

The restored Charles Dickens statue at Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue, Centennial Park. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Park Made for Statues

Before it was a park, this was the Lachlan Swamps, Sydney's water supply. From 1827 to 1837 convict gangs dug Busby's Bore, a tunnel about 3.6 kilometres long that ran from what is now Busby's Pond, near the Lang Road entrance, all the way to Hyde Park. When the Nepean scheme took over in the 1880s, the old water reserve was turned into a grand park for the colony's centenary. Charles Moore of the Botanic Gardens and his head gardener James Jones laid it out, with the unemployed doing much of the digging, apparently following ideas of engineer Frederick Franklin, a student of Sir Joseph Paxton. Sir Henry Parkes opened it on 26 January 1888.

Parkes took a keen interest in the statuary. In the European picturesque style, statues were placed at intersections and along the drives to catch the eye, and Centennial Parklands says the original scheme had 31 of them. Subjects ran from classical allegories and mythology to statesmen and writers. In the end, as you'll see, most have been lost.

The Busby's Bore memorial in Centennial Park, marking where Sydney's second water supply began. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The stand pipe for Busby's Bore near Elizabeth and Market Streets, Hyde Park, in 1857. The water came from the swamps that became Centennial Park. Charles Woolcott (attrib.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A 1919 map of Busby's Bore from Building magazine. Unknown draftsperson. Published in Building, Vol. 23, No.138, on page 84, in an, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A section of wooden pipe from Busby's Bore, now in the Powerhouse Museum. Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Busbys Pond in Centennial Park, near the head of the old bore. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Dickens – The Statue That Came Home

The Dickens statue is the star of my original post, so here is the rest of its story. Centennial Parklands thinks it was carved by Job Hanson and set up about 1891 at the corner of Parkes and Hamilton Drives. In 1897 it was moved to make way for Sir Henry Parkes. The Botanic Gardens report of 1898 said Dickens went to "a scarcely inferior site in the park, near the centre", a spot "much frequented by the public". A 1935 plan shows that Loch Avenue was then called Dickens Road.

Not everyone was happy. Dickens wrote in his will, "I conjure my friends on no account to make me the subject of any monument, memorial, or testimonial whatever." In March 1893 the Premier, Sir George Dibbs, was asked about it in Parliament. He said the statue had been put up by the previous government, and taking it down would cost too much on top of putting it up. So Dickens stayed.

He stood there for about 74 years. In the early 1970s, after vandalism, he went into storage. The Melbourne branch of the Dickens Fellowship traced him to the basement of T. A. Taylor and Sons in Rozelle. Cedric Dickens, the novelist's great-grandson, had written to the Herald about him in March 1986. Then came the question that set it all off again. Gaenor Vallack saw a picture of the statue in Edwin Wilson's book The Wishing Tree and asked "Where is that beautiful statue?" Sandra Faulkner, then president of the NSW Dickens Society, wrote to Column 8 in November 2006. There was no answer until the appeal ran again in February 2007. Then Geoff Hearn wrote in to say the statue had been "placed into protective custody by the Royal Botanic Gardens", adding: "he lost his head".

The Herald's 2011 report adds that the body was finally recovered from the backyard of a house at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, and nobody has said exactly how it got there. Faulkner didn't think the head was stolen by university pranksters. She thought it had been cut off "with a clean cut" to be restored one day. Either way, the head has never turned up. The scroll, the quill and the little finger of the right hand were missing too.

In 2008 the Botanic Gardens Trust offered the statue back. The NSW Public Works stoneyard at Alexandria, led by Paul Thurloe and Ruben Varfi, worked from old photographs. It took three tries over twelve months to find a block of Bianco P Carrara marble that matched. They gave him a new head, flowing beard and all, plus a new finger, scroll and quill. Some experts compared it to giving the Venus de Milo new arms. On 7 February 2011, his 199th birthday, Governor Marie Bashir unveiled him back at Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue. She remembered visiting him as a girl. As Faulkner put it, "the Boz is back in Oz".

Charles Dickens in Centennial Park, with his new head carved by the NSW Public Works team. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Dickens statue on its pedestal at the corner of Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Dickens about 1868, from a photograph by Gurney. Photographs like this guided the carvers when they rebuilt his head. From a photograph by Gurney, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sunrise and Sunset – The Two That Never Left

In the Rose and Column Gardens, near Busby's Pond, two terracotta women stand on top of nine-metre Corinthian sandstone columns. "Sunrise" is a woman with a baby boy on a half orb, and "Sunset" is a life-size woman cloaked from head to foot. Villeroy & Boch, the Luxembourg pottery firm, made them in 1888. Centennial Parklands says they are the only statues that have stayed on site the whole time. When the rest came down in 1971, these two were judged safe because they were so high up.

The fluted columns used to flank the front entrance of the William Street wing of the Australian Museum. James Barnet designed that building, and he also designed the park's Superintendent's Residence.

The Column Garden, where "Sunrise" and "Sunset" stand on columns salvaged from the Australian Museum. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the Villeroy & Boch figures of 1888 on top of its Corinthian sandstone column. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Column Garden figure against the evening sky. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Column Garden in the Rose Garden area near Busby's Pond. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The sundial in the Column Garden, which reads "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may". Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Griffins of Paddington Gates

Two ceramic winged lions by Villeroy & Boch were put on Parkes Drive in the 1890s. They sat at the Hamilton Drive junction near the Parkes statue, guarding the road down from the Paddington Gates. By 1946 they had lost heads, wings and feet. They went to the depot in 1971, and after restoration they came back on their original sandstone plinths on 7 April 2005. Strictly speaking they aren't true griffins, which have an eagle's head and wings. These are winged lions, which Centennial Parklands calls "gryphonic".

One of the restored Villeroy & Boch winged lions ("griffins") on Parkes Drive. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The second griffin, back on its sandstone plinth since 2005. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sir Henry Parkes

It's only right that the father of the park stands in it. A memorial statue of Parkes went up in 1897, which is why Dickens had to move. Vandals damaged it, and in 1970 it was taken away. That attack led to a review of all the park's statues and the removal of any that were at risk. On 27 April 1996, the centenary of Parkes's death, Premier Bob Carr unveiled a new bronze by Alan Somerville on the original sandstone pedestal.

Alan Somerville's 1996 bronze of Sir Henry Parkes on the original 1897 pedestal. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Parkes statue near the Paddington Gates end of the park. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sir Henry Parkes and the second Lady Parkes in the 1890s, by John Hubert Newman. John Hubert Newman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

"We Won" – The Footballer

In Cannon Triangle near Oxford Street stands "We Won", also called "The Footballer". It is by the Florentine sculptor Tommaso Sani, who lived in Leichhardt and caused a stir with his working-class figures on the Pitt Street front of the GPO. The life-size player wears a woollen cap, a sweater and tight knee-length trousers, but he has the calm classical face of Apollo. Around the bronze pedestal, a match is played by hordes of tiny putti, with four cherubs between the scenes. One of them wears the lion skin of Hercules. Graeme Sturgeon called it one of Sani's most important works. Centennial Parklands counts it with "Sunrise" and "Sunset" as one of three original statues that survive.

The Lost Statues

These are the ones we know about, according to Centennial Parklands and Randwick City Council's Our Story:

• Four terracotta vases by Rhode and Andrea stood along Grand Drive near Parkes Drive from 1889. They were removed as damaged by 1917.
• Benjamin Disraeli, the British Prime Minister, was "destroyed by accident" before 1946.
• "Charity", on Grand Drive near today's kiosk, showed a woman holding one child with another at her skirt. It was taken down in 1946.
• Abraham Lincoln, Garfield and "One More Shot" were removed and dumped in 1959 as too decayed.
• "Diana the Huntress", in marble with sword and hound and thought to be by Hanson, stood in Cannon Triangle until 1971. She is now lost.

Centennial Parklands admits that many have "disappeared without a trace". It mentions rumours of night-time thefts and even of statues buried under the levee banks of the ponds during the First World War. As they say, if Dickens is anything to go by, time will tell some remarkable tales.

The Federation Pavilion

It isn't a statue, but it's the park's most important monument. On 1 January 1901, at a special pavilion in Centennial Park, Lord Hopetoun was sworn in and the Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated before about 60,000 people. The temporary pavilion is gone, but the Commonwealth Stone marks the spot. In 1988 a permanent Federation Pavilion by Alexander Tzannes, shaped like a classical rotunda, was built over it. Around it runs a line from Bernard O'Dowd's 1901 sonnet "Australia": "Mammon or millennial Eden".

The Federation Pavilion in Centennial Park during the swearing-in ceremony on 1 January 1901. National Library of Australia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The 1901 Federation Pavilion, photographed by Talma Studio. Talma Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The 1901 swearing-in ceremony at the pavilion. NSW State Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Alexander Tzannes's Bicentennial Federation Pavilion of 1988, built over the Commonwealth Stone. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Federation Pavilion today. Sardaka (talk) 08:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where to Find Them Today

• Charles Dickens – at Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue.
• Sunrise and Sunset – on the columns in the Rose and Column Gardens near Busby's Pond.
• Griffins – on Parkes Drive at the Hamilton Drive junction, below the Paddington Gates.
• Sir Henry Parkes – the 1996 bronze on the original pedestal near the same junction.
• "We Won" – in Cannon Triangle near Oxford Street, with two cannon.
• Federation Pavilion – in Federation Valley, over the Commonwealth Stone.
• Busby's Bore memorial – near Busby's Pond and the Lang Road entrance.
• Newer works include Gillian Smart's Hand Upon Hand on Banksia Way and Jane Cavanough's Duck Sculpture in the Wetlands Maze.

Where the Sources Disagree

• How many statues? Centennial Parklands and Randwick's Our Story say 31 statues were planned or commissioned when the park opened. The Wikipedia/NSW heritage text says that by 1889 there were eleven statues and two vases.
• How many survive? By my own count about nine statues and sculptures are in the park today. Centennial Parklands says only three of the original statues remain ("Sunrise", "Sunset" and "We Won"). Its list of surviving pieces also includes Dickens, the griffins and the Parkes pedestal, so the count depends on what you include.
• One of two, or one of three? Monument Australia calls it one of only two life-size Dickens statues in the world. Centennial Parklands says one of three.
• When was Dickens removed? 1972 according to the Herald, Randwick and one Parklands page. 1971 according to the same Parklands page ("stood for 74 years from 1897 until 1971"). Parkes went in 1970, and most of the rest followed in 1971.
• Where was he found? Centennial Parklands says the Rozelle basement and then "protective custody" with the Botanic Gardens. Its overview page even says he was "discovered beheaded in … Rozelle". The Herald says the body was recovered from a backyard at Wentworth Falls.
• When did he come back? The unveiling was on 7 February 2011 according to the Herald, Monument Australia and the Parklands Dickens page. The Parklands overview page says 2012.
• Who designed the park? Wikipedia credits the park's design variously to Franklin, to J. W. Deering's plan, and to Moore with Lord Carrington and Parkes. It says "whose plan was finally used remains uncertain".

My Earlier Posts

• Centennial Park - Sydney - New South Wales
• Centennial Park And Queens Park - Sydney
• Sydney Centennial - 1888 - A Coming Of Age
• Federation – 1 January 1901 – From Parkes at Tenterfield to the Centennial Park Ceremony
• Busby's Bore - A Tunnel From The Lachlan Swamps To Hyde Park
• The Centennial Park Eel
• The Sydney Common - Moore Parklands
• The Old Moore Park Zoo – Sydney's First Zoo at Billy Goat Swamp
• Captain Cook Statue - Hyde Park South
• Albert The Good Statue - Queens Square

Sources

• Centennial Parklands – Statues and sculptures
• Centennial Parklands – Charles Dickens statue
• Centennial Parklands – Lost statues
• Centennial Parklands – Griffins
• Centennial Parklands – Sir Henry Parkes
• Centennial Parklands – Sandstone Columns
• Centennial Parklands – We Won (The Footballer)
• "After losing his marbles, Dickens finally has his head screwed on", Sydney Morning Herald, 8 Feb 2011
• Monument Australia – Charles Dickens (quoting the Newcastle Morning Herald, 22 March 1893)
• Randwick City Council Our Story – Lost Statues of Centennial Park
• Randwick City Council Our Story – Charles Dickins Statue
• "Centennial Parklands" – Wikipedia
• "Centennial Park (Sydney)" – Wikipedia
• "Busby's Bore" – Wikipedia