Ballarat Monument

Explorers Fountain, Sturt and Lydiard Streets, West Ballarat , Victoria 3350.

IN MEMORY OF THE EXPLORERS WHO PERISHED
WHILE CROSSING THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT
IN THE YEAR 1861
ERECTED BY THE INHABITANTS OF BALLAARAT

ROBERT O’HARA BURKE, LEADER
DIED JUNE 30 TH 1861

WILLIAM JOHN WILLS, SECOND
DIED 30 TH JUNE 1861

LUDWIG BECKER, NATURALIST
DIED 29 TH APRIL 1861

CHARLES GREY, ASSISTANT
DIED 17 TH APRIL 1861

JOHN KING THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF THE EXPEDITION
DIED AT ST KILDA JANUARY 15 TH 1872

In December 1861, the Eastern and Western Ballarat Councils met to discuss a memorial to the explorers. The architect Canute Andersen proposed a lavish clock tower worth £1000. By June 1862 they had only raised £79 and by the end of 1862 the fund stood at £370. Sir Henry Barkly was invited to lay the foundation stone at the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets and then the councils ran into debt and the ugly bluestone foundation remained unfinished.

In March 1866, the Western Municipal Council decided to complete the monument. Another foundation stone was laid in June 1867 and the fountain was finished by the end of the year.

The original inscriptions only included those who had died and no reference was made to King. His inscription was added after his death.

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BALLARAT MONUMENT

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Burke & Wills Web
www.burkeandwills.net.au
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© Dave Phoenix, 2008