Jubilee Grant
Benevolent Asylum, celebration, civilisation, colony, commemoration, criminal class, gala, improvement, indigent, jubilee, Legislative Council, literature, medieval past, “medieval-ismâ€, modernity, poor house, print, progress, public library, literacy, Queen Victoria, reading, reformatory, reading practices, Victorian era, Western Australia, medievalism
In this article, the author debates how £5000 earmarked for a Queen’s Jubilee commemoration by the WA Legislative Council could be best spent. The author begins by outlining the three suggestions that had been put forward, namely the establishment of a public library, the building of a poor house that would euphemistically be called a “Benevolent Asylumâ€, or a festive gala for the colony with a banquet and fireworks. The author then goes to lengths to discount the utility of the gala idea, and the appropriateness and representative benefit of the reformatory idea, before suggesting that the building of a public library would best suit the occasion. For its capacity to humanise, cultivate and civilise, the article links the practice of reading with modernity and the Victorian ideals of progress and improvement. In doing so, it defines the Victorian ‘spirit’ in opposition to an ‘other’, medieval past: “From the introduction of printing is dated the decay of medieval-ism and the rise of modern European progress. To the introduction of cheap and wholesome literature may the marvellous onward march of the Victorian era be chiefly attributed. How better can the Jubilee of that era be perpetuated than by founding an institution which embodies above all the spirit to which that success is due.â€
Anon.
National Library of Australia
Western Mail
11 September 1886, p.22
Western Mail
Newspaper Article
English
Hackett Buildings. The Architect’s Description.
architecture, architect, gothic architecture, gothic revival, neo-gothic, Arts and Administration Building, cloisters, commemoration, coogee stone, Court of Honour, dais, George Benson, Great Gate, great hall, Hackett Hall, jarrah flooring, library, marble flooring, monument, Mervyn Napier Wallace, Rodney Alsop, Romanesque style, rose window, Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916), The University of Western Australia, vaulted ceilings, Winthrop Hall
This article provides a description of Winthrop Hall and the Hackett Buildings at the University of Western Australia by the architect, Rodney Alsop, shortly after they were opened in 1932. Alsop describes the guidelines he was set, namely that there was to be a multi-functional hall capable of seating a large number of people, two other buildings that would house lecture rooms, offices, the University administration, the Guild and a refectory, and that the buildings were to be monumental in order to adequately commemorate their founder, Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916). Alsop explains his rationale for the lay out of the buildings along three sides of the Court of Honour, (with the fourth side open to what was then known as the Perth-Fremantle road) and the addition of ‘cloisters’ along the front of the Hackett Hall and the Arts and Administration Building as an attempt to unify the different buildings. He refers to Winthrop Hall repeatedly as a ‘great hall’ and describes its shape as rectangular with transepts at the ends of the dais “after the tradition of the halls of Englandâ€. He also describes some of its main features, including the rose window and elaborately patterned ceiling in the hall, and the vaulted ceiling, marble floor and colourful mosaics in the foyer.
The architecture is influenced by the Romanesque style of the medieval period, which is suggested by the semi-circular arches, stone columns, arcading, thick walls and large square tower. However, the architect stops short of saying this definitively. On the style from which the architectural design for the buildings was developed, Alsop initially states that “it arose as the natural outcome of the planning, combined with the study of the architecture of older countries, with climate and other conditions not unlike those in Western Australiaâ€. Later in the article, he elaborates slightly: “While the ancestry of the style used is undoubtedly Italian, it has been anglicised and adapted to the local conditions, and cannot be called Italian, Spanish, or any other foreign style. It is my conception of architecture suitable for the University of Western Australia.â€
Anon.
National Library of Australia
The Western Mail
21 April 1932, pp.13-14.
The Western Mail
Newspaper Article
English
University Buildings. 51 Competitive Designs.
Adjudicators’ report, Administration Building, architect, architecture, Athelson Saw, benefactor, bequest, commemoration, competition, Conrad Sayce, Crawley, “Early Western Australian Renaissance†style, Great Gate, great hall, Hackett Hall, Leslie Wilkinson, loggia, monument, Rodney Alsop, Romanesque style, Senate, Senate Chamber, senators, Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916), The University of Western Australia, tower, university buildings, Western Australia, Winthrop Hall
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">In 1926, an architectural competition invited new designs for Winthrop Hall and the Hackett Memorial Buildings at The University of Western Australia. </span><a name="12de6d791188df37__GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A bequest by the University’s first Chancellor, Sir John Winthrop Hackett, had provided £150,000 for this purpose. This article from the <em>West Australian</em> informs readers of the competition’s outcome. It identifies Melbourne architects Rodney Alsop and Conrad Sayce as the winners, Donald H. McMorran from Harrow-on-the-Hill as the first runner-up and Gummer and Ford from Auckland as the second runner-up. The article reports that 51 designs had been considered by the panel, which was comprised of Professor Leslie Wilkinson, Professor of Architecture, Mr A. R. L. Wright, President of the Royal Institute of Architects of Western Australia and Dr Athelson Saw, the Chancellor of the University, and that they had particularly commended the general layout and the design for the great hall, the loggia and the tower in the winning design. The conditions of the competition had stipulated that the winner would be employed as the architect for the project unless the adjudicators in consultation with the Senators objected. During this discussion, Professor Ross asked what style the winning design represented. Professor Wilkinson is reported to have answered “it is in the style which our grandsons will call ‘Early Western Australian Renaissance’.” <span> </span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Construction of the buildings began soon after, and Winthrop Hall was officially opened in April 1932. Alsop and Sayce began the project together, although Alsop was the senior architect and assumed responsibility for all correspondence about the project, but fell out in the process and Sayce left before the buildings were completed. One of their disagreements centred on Alsop’s replacement of the original clock tower with an Italian style campanile. For more information, see R. J. Ferguson, <em>Crawley Campus: The Planning and Architecture of The University of Western Australia</em>, (University of Western Australia Press, Perth, 1993), pp. 24-33. </span></span></span></p>
Anon.
National Library of Australia
The West Australian
31 August 1927, p. 11.
The West Australian
Newspaper Article
Trades and Industrial Hall and Literary Institute Association of Sydney’s Illuminated Address presented to Thomas Bavister, 1906.
associations, carpenter, Christmas Bells, commemoration, flannel flowers, flowers, 'Illuminated Address', illuminated documents, illumination, Literary Institute, New South Wales, outstanding service, politician, Sydney, Sydney Heads, Thomas Bavister (1850-1923), tools, Trades and Industrial Hall and Literary Institute Association of Sydney, trade union, trade unionist, Trades Hall, tradesman, wattle, worker, workers
An illuminated address presented to Thomas Bavister, trade unionist and politician, by the Trades and Industrial Hall and Literary Institute Association of Sydney to recognise his service to the association. Illuminated addresses were a popular way to commemorate events or committed service in the late Victorian period. The address reads “Presented to Thomas Bavister, Esq. In recognition of his services as chairman of the above association from February 9th 1906 to August 8th 1906†and is signed by the serving Chairman and Secretary. It is surrounded by watercolour drawings depicting a male worker (possibly a carpenter) with his tools on the left, and insets of Sydney Heads, Trades Hall, and a Literary Institute building. It is also decorated with drawings of native flowers such as wattle, flannel flowers and Christmas Bells.
Anon.
Picture Australia/State Library of New South Wales
Trades and Industrial Hall and Literary Institute Association of Sydney
1906
State Library of New South Wales
Hyperlink
The Great War Memorial Cross at St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide.
Adelaide, armor, armour, bravery, cathedral, chivalric, chivalry, commemoration, courage, cross, Crusades, gallantry, Great War, halo, honour, knight, lance, medieval iconography, memorial, mosaic, noble cause, saints, SA, shield, soldier, South Australia, St George cross, St Peter’s Cathedral, sword, virtue, warrior, World War I, WWI, St. Peter, Saint Peter, St Peter
An image of a Great War Memorial Cross situated in the grounds of St Peter’s Cathedral in Adelaide, South Australia. The colourful mosaic in the centre of the cross depicts a warrior armed with a shield and a lance, and draws on a number of different symbolic references to represent WWI soldiers as courageous, brave and righteous fighters. The tunic and the armour look classical, but the lance, the shield and the halo are distinctively medieval. The shield bearing the St George cross is reminiscent of those carried by knights during the Crusades, while the lance, an instrument used by jousting knights in the High Middle Ages, suggests gallantry, chivalry and honour. The halo encircling the figure’s head is a common iconographic motif in medieval depictions of saints, and the white cloak has likely also been added to symbolise virtue and righteousness.
Dorey, Margaret
3 July 2011
No Copyright
Digital Photograph; JPEG
The Great War Memorial Cross, St. Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia
Adelaide, armor, armour, bravery, cathedral, chivalric, chivalry, commemoration, courage, cross, Crusades, gallantry, Great War, halo, honour, knight, lance, medieval iconography, memorial, mosaic, noble cause, saints, SA, shield, soldier, South Australia, St George cross, St Peter’s Cathedral, sword, virtue, warrior, World War I, WWI, St. Peter, Saint Peter, St Peter
Image of the colourful mosaic in the centre of a Great War Memorial Cross situated in the grounds of St Peter’s Cathedral in Adelaide, South Australia. The mosaic depicts a warrior armed with a shield and a lance, and draws on a number of different symbolic references to represent WWI soldiers as courageous, brave and righteous fighters. The tunic and the armour look classical, but the lance, the shield and the halo are distinctively medieval. The shield bearing the St George cross is reminiscent of those carried by knights during the Crusades, while the lance, an instrument used by jousting knights in the High Middle Ages, suggests gallantry, chivalry and honour. The halo encircling the figure’s head is a common iconographic motif in medieval depictions of saints, and the white cloak has likely also been added to symbolise virtue and righteousness.
Dorey, Margaret
3 July 2011
No Copyright
Digital Photograph; JPEG
A Knight in The University of Sydney Commem Day Parade, 1937
armour, chainmail, chain mail, “Commem Dayâ€, commemoration, costume, custom, fancy dress, “Festival Dayâ€, festivities, helmet, horse, knight, knights, chivalry, knighthood, medieval romance, romance, medieval costume, medieval dress, New South Wales, parade, pennant, procession, Sam Hood (1872-1953), shield, St George cross, street parade, students, Sydney, The University of Sydney, tradition, university
Hyperlink to a photograph of a Sydney university student participating in the “Commem Day†street parade in 1937, taken by renowned Australian photographer Sam Hood. The student in the photograph appears on horseback and dressed as a medieval knight, complete with chainmail and a helmet. “Commem Day†was an annual procession orchestrated by students at The University of Sydney. It began as an impromptu concert performed by students waiting to have their degrees conferred in 1888, but developed into a separate festival involving a parade through the streets of Sydney in the early twentieth century. The last “Commem Day†parade was held in 1975.
Hood, Sam
State Library of New South Wales, Digital Order No. hood_14975
State Library of New South Wales, Hood Collection part I: Sydney streets, buildings, people, activities and events, c.1925-1955
19 May 1937
State Library of New South Wales
Hyperlink; Digitised photograph - 1 film photonegative (copied from original nitrate photonegative)
English
A Knight and his Lady, University Commemoration Day ("Commem") through streets
armour, chain mail, chainmail, “Commem Dayâ€, commemoration, costume, custom, fancy dress, “Festival Dayâ€, festivities, helmet, horse, knight, knights, knighthood, chivalry, lady, medieval costume, medieval dress, medieval romance, romance, NSW, New South Wales, parade, pennant, procession, Sam Hood (1872-1953), shield, St George cross, street parade, students, Sydney, The University of Sydney, tradition, university
Hyperlink to a photograph of two Sydney university students participating in the “Commem Day†street parade in 1937, taken by renowned Australian photographer Sam Hood. The two students in the photograph appear on horseback and in costume; a male student is dressed as a medieval knight complete with chainmail, a helmet and a shield, and a female student dons an imitation medieval style dress and hat. “Commem Day†was an annual procession orchestrated by students at The University of Sydney. It began as an impromptu concert performed by students waiting to have their degrees conferred in 1888, but developed into a separate festival involving a parade through the streets of Sydney in the twentieth century. The last “Commem Day†parade was held in 1975.
Hood, Sam
State Library of New South Wales, Digital Order No. hood_14970
State Library of New South Wales
19 May 1937
State Library of New South Wales
Hyperlinkl; Digitised photograph - 1 film photonegative (copied from original nitrate photonegative)
English