Origins
The impetus for a Boer War memorial in Brunswick was the death of Private Stanley John Barnard on 12 June, 1901. Barnard, a tram conductor in civilian life from North Brunswick, was killed in action at Wilmansrust while serving with the Fifth Victorian Mounted Rifles. In the months following Barnard’s death, the Brunswick Council began to receive requests from some of his former workmates to do something to honour his memory.
On Friday 6 September, 1901 a public meeting was held to discuss erecting a memorial. While the initial idea for a memorial was inspired the death of Private Barnard, it was decided at the meeting that the memorial should be dedicated to all the men from Brunswick who served in South Africa. A memorial committee was also elected at the meeting.
Fundraising
Over the next eighteen months the committee worked tirelessly at organising fundraising events and trying to engage the community in its cause. Local friendly societies, lodges, sporting clubs, schools and other community groups were encouraged to become involved and organise their own events to help raise funds. Collectors, many of them tramway workers, were also enlisted to door knock homes and visit local workplaces to collect money and hand out subscription forms. Despite all this, raising enough money was a struggle for the committee and by the time the monument was unveiled it had only just managed to raise the necessary £225 required to pay for the construction costs.
Unveiling
On Saturday 30 May,1903, a large crowd numbering in the thousands assembled outside the Brunswick town hall to witness the unveiling of the memorial by Major-General Sir Edward Hutton, Commander of the Commonwealth military forces. Flags and bunting were displayed along Sydney Road and around the town hall. A raised platform was erected around the memorial upon which the Mayor, councillors, committee members, MPs and other prominent citizens stood and gave speeches.
The memorial now stands on a small reserve at the end of Sydney Road between Brunswick Road and Park Street. As well as Private Barnard, it lists the names of three other soldiers who were either killed in action or died of disease and the names of 59 other Brunswick men who served in South Africa. At its unveiling the memorial was seen as marking ‘an epoch, so that when this generation had passed away, the coming generations would’ continue to read about the brave deeds of Brunswick’s citizen soldiers.
References
Argus
Brunswick Medium
Coburg Leader
