WELCOME TO
A
Concise History of Canberra
This
page is here to familiarize those coming to
Canberra, as to its history and origins.
Canberra
is an unique city. It is the capital of
Australia, is well inland, and is the closest western capital
city to Central and East Asia, and yet has the convenience of a small
population within one of the most beautiful garden cities in the world.
Canberra
History, in Brief
Early Canberra
gave a open slate
to Architects and
Town planners.
The
first European settler in the Canberra district is
thought to have been Joshua John Moore in early 1820. The land he took
over covered the present Canberra city center. Moore called his station
after the name given by the Ngunnawal people who had occupied the
district for millennia. The newcomers wrote the name as
'Canberry’ or ‘Kamberry’.
As
explorers, drovers and pastoralists came to the
Canberra district from the 1820s water sources were taken over for
sheep, horses and cattle and their traditional lands taken from the
Ngunnawal, Walgalu and Ngarigo.
On
7 December 1820 Charles Throsby Smith, Joseph Wild and
James Vaughan become the first Europeans to visit the Limestone Plains
- as the Canberra region was known. They were searching for the
Murrumbidgee River (the 'Big River') but after climbing Black Mountain
they returned home. In April 1881 Charles Throsby discovered the
Murrumbidgee River near Pine Island in Tuggeranong.
In
1828 the 'Terror of Argyle', the bushranger John
Tennant, was captured by James Ainslie and two others near the
Murrumbidgee River in Tuggeranong. Tennant had been a convict assigned
to Moore at Canberry. Mt Tennant, behind Tharwa, is named after him.
In
1832 Garrett Cotter, a ticket-of-leave man working
near Lake George, was banished to live beyond the 'limits of
occupation' - the area west of the Murrumbidgee - after becoming
embroiled in a dispute between his employer and his employers'
neighbour. Cotter lived in the Cotter River valley, which is named
after him, for five years with the help of friendly Aborigines before
eventually being conditionally pardoned and moving to Michelago. On 12
March 1985 St John the Baptist Anglican Church was consecrated by
Bishop Broughton.
Australian
Federation and Canberra
In
January 1899 it was decided that Australia would federate into one
Australian national federation, and no longer be a series of states
under the crown of England. A meeting of colonial premiers
decided that the new federal capital should be within New
South
Wales but not near Sydney. In November 1899 the The New South Wales
government issued a Royal Commission to Alexander Oliver
to report
on 45 sites proposed even before the Commonwealth was born.
In
11 June 1900 the Oliver Royal Commission on sites for
the proposed federal capital took evidence at Queanbeyan in support of
the Canberra area. On the 9 July 1900 The Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution Act 1900 was enacted, whereby the Constitution would
provide for a site for a capital city in New South Wales, but at least
100 miles from Sydney. The Constitution also provided that, like
Washington, the territory for the new capital would have a minimum area
of 100 square miles.
On
1 January 1901 the inauguration of the Federation of
the six Australian colonies was the birthday of the Australian nation.
In
July 1903 the report of the Capital Sites Inquiry
Commissioners sited nine nominated sites, favouring Albury or Tumut. In
1904 Dalgety was named to be the national capital. However, in 1906
parliamentarians examined the Yass-Canberra district as a possible site
for the Federal capital.
During
October 1908 Yass-Canberra won a House of
Representatives ballot on preferred sites for the national capital. The
Senate then held another ballot, with Bombala and
Yass–Canberra
tied for first place. In 1908 Canberra was approved and New South Wales
Government Surveyor Charles Scrivener surveyed the site as
‘in an
amphitheatre of hills with an outlook towards the north and
north-east’ and noted the Molonglo River floodplain could
form a
central ornamental lake.
On
the 24 May 1911 the Federal Capital Design Competition
was opened. In 1912 Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin
and
Marion Mahoney Griffin were announced the winners of the competition to
design the national capital.
After
criticism of the winning design King O'Malley,
Minister for Home Affairs in the Fisher Government, referred the three
top entries in the competition to a Departmental Board and an
amalgamated design was prepared.
On
12 March 1913 Canberra’s founding ceremony was
held on Capital Hill. Governor-General Lord Denman, Prime Minister
Andrew Fisher, and Minister for Home Affairs King O’Malley
laid
the foundation stones for a ‘Commencement Column’
and Lady
Denman announced the name chosen for the city.
In
1918 the Molonglo Internment Camp is built to house
German nationals. After the war it is used as accommodation for workers
and their families. It later becomes the industrial suburb of Fyshwick.
On
31 December 1921 Prime Minister Billy Hughes removed
Walter Burley Griffin from his position directing the construction of
Canberra.
On
9 May 1927 the provisional Parliament House was
opened. As well as the Parliament House, The Lodge and Government House
were completed as residences for the Prime Minister and the
Governor-General, and the Hotel Canberra, and the Kurrajong Hotel
housed parliamentarians.
On
3 December 1927 the Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce,
officially opened Canberra's city center. Despite Bruce's opposition to
the name, Walter Burley Griffin's appellation 'Civic Center' or just
'Civic' is commonly adopted by Canberrans.
In
1928 the prohibition on the sale of liquor was lifted.
In
February 1954 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first
reigning monarch to visit Australia. As well as opening Parliament she
unveils the Australian-American Memorial at Russell. Her visit
highlighted the ceremonial role of Canberra as the national capital.
On
25 February 1960 Australia signed an agreement with
the USA allowing them to establish satellite tracking stations in the
Australian Capital Territory, at Orroral Creek, Honeysuckle Creek and
Tidbinbilla. In July 1969 Honeysuckle Creek transmitted to the world
the first images and words of Neil Armstrong from the Moon.
In
1964 Lake Burley Griffin was officially opened in
October by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. A key part of the
Griffins’ design for Canberra, the Lake was formed by damming
the
Molonglo River. The first of a series of new towns, planned by the
National Capital Development Commission, was opened at Woden,
south-west of Canberra, with an exposition held in Hughes on 9 May. The
second of the new towns planned for Canberra was inaugurated at
Belconnen on 23 June 1966. Early designs allowed for 120 000 residents.
In
1971 a severe thunderstorm over Woden Valley on 26
January caused flash floods on Yarra Glen where seven people drowned.
The
1974 Legislative Assembly became a House of Assembly,
dissolved in 1986 prior to the Australian Capital Territory
(Self-Government) Act 1988, which established a Legislative Assembly
with full powers to make laws for the ACT. This met for the first time
in May 1989.
19
October 1979 the Australian Federal Police force was
formed by combining the Commonwealth Police, the Australian Capital
Territory Police, and the Federal Narcotics Bureau.
On
26 June 1980 The architectural firm of Mitchell,
Giurgola and Thorp win the design competition for the new Parliament
House. John Holland Constructions became the consulting contractor.
In
1984 the Namadgi National Park was formally declared,
covering more than 106 000 hectares; about half of the ACT. A national
park in the area was first proposed by William Farrer in 1901.
By
1986 Canberra's population reached 250 000
In
1988 The Australian Capital Territory
(Self-Government) Act 1988 established a Legislative Assembly with full
powers to make laws for the ACT.
On
9 May 1988 the new Parliament House, constructed on
Capital Hill, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
By
1995 Canberra's population reached 300 000 of which
approximately 60 000 lived in Central Canberra, 34 000 in Woden Valley,
26 000 in Weston Creek, 88 000 in Belconnen, 85 000 in Tuggeranong and
7 000 in the rest of the ACT.
By
2009 the Canberra population has pushed past the
340,000 mark.
Walter Burley Griffin
- Architect and Townplanner
Walter
Burley Griffin was a Chicago architect and town planner. He worked with
contemporary notables, such as Frank Lloyd Wright. Canberra represented
an architectural dream whereby one man could effect the future lives of
millions
The
word architect comes from earlier Greek words, - tekton,
meaning to build, andarchi meaning
chief or head. The
word architect could then mean chief builder. Historically, the great
architects of history, such as Christopher Wren of Saint Paul's
Cathedral fame in London, were in total charge of their constructions.
Recent history gave architects more subservient role of
being designers and documenters, a minor part of the major
scheme
of construction.
 Walter
Burley Griffin was married to Marion Mahoney
Griffin, architect,
brilliant artist and technical draftsperson. Together they mapped out
the future lifestyles of Canberrans. She and her husband were
also commissioned in
Sydney, as well as far away
Lucknow in India.(Photo: Marion
on the right.) The
prevailing architectural disciplines of the day were for cities
to enable inhabitants to live ideal lifestyles within
ideal cities.
Some architects and town planners saw
thier purpose was to bring about a better world.
The
garden-city concept engages tree-lined
boulevards,
parks and gardens, a far cry from the desolated
limestone plains of early Canberra.
Over a million
trees were planted in the first 50 years of Canberra's development. Griffin
was said to be
a Freemason, with an interest in Egyptian and Peruvian architecture.
His Canberra layout is based upon a pyramidal design
as written briefly below.
CANBERRA TODAY
Canberra
today is an exciting small city. It is home to over a hundred overseas
embassies, commissions and missions. It is also home to many lobby
groups, jostling to bask in the light of power.
The city is small enough to have fresh air, lakes and
mountains
within a moment's reach. It has all the shops of any of the large
Australian cities.
The Canberra summer peaks over 40 degrees Celsius, while in
winter ice can be on the road and snow in the mountains. In
Canberra a spring is spring, an autumn is autumn, and summer and winter
do not meld into one.
While Canberra is not a true tourist spot, it has parks,
gardens
and national monuments, plus its own water supply. It is a
very
natural resources conscious city.
Canberra has some of Australia' finest architecture. There
is Parliament House, with its pyramid shape, on a pyramid
Capital
Hill, open to the public. Nearby is the National Library,
National Gallery, National Archives, Old Parliament House, the High
Court of Australia and more. Around Lake Burley Griffin is the National
Carillion, the National Capital Exhibition, the National Museum of
Australia, the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet, and a lake cruise for
fun. Plus there is the Australian War Memorial.
CANBERRA'S
DESIGN
Canberra's
design is a mysterious designed based on pyramidal shapes.
Basically there are four pyramids, each built upon the other.
There is the upper pyramid that has its base in front of Old Parliament
House. Then there is an extended pyramid which is what is termed the
Parliamentary Precinct, accommodating the High Court of Australia, and
other government identities, Next is the larger and more obvious large
pyramid base that runs from London Circuit over to the US memorial
column.
At
the apex of the pyramid is the double ring, possibly symbolic of inner
and outer knowledge. The diagram above by Marion Griffin was
the
winning entry to the Canberra design competition held by the Federal
government. (The above diagram was submitted my Marion on its
north-south axis.) Parliament then is situated as an all-seeing-eye.
The areal photograph below shows clearly the inner and outer rings of
the eye,
as well as the slightly raised
pyramidal structure of Parliament House under construction. The
pyramidal structure rises out of Capital Hill.
The Canberra eye is
a traditional eye of providence design,
more famous on the
American one-dollar bill. It has been used in art for many hundreds of
years. The eye of providence is simply the all-seeing eye of
God. Similar earlier eye symbology
dates back
thousands of years to the Egyptian eye of Horus (also
the eye of Ra),
used as a talisman to
ward off evil and bring good fortune. In Buddhism, the same symbology
is the eye of the World.
As is traditional
with an eye of providencedesign,
the
Canberra eye is
surrounded by
a small pyramid. And as in the US dollar bill, that small
pyramid
is situated over a larger pyramid.
Pyramids are found in Egypt, Peru and Central America and are said to
align universal energies and promote positive growth.
Parliament House on Capital Hill follows the original shape envisioned
by Griffin. Today lawn grow up most of the raised slopes,
playing
down its now pyramidal shape. Over the top of the building is a huge
metal pyramid frame, with a central flagpole. The flagpole points down
(as though like an energy conductor) from its apex to a small
glass pyramid skylight below.
For those who like mysteries, the historic symbolism
of
the Canberra is worth looking at.
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