The Canberra History Group ...
... For here have we no continuing city but seek one to come... (Hebrews 13:14)
This prophetic message is found on Sarah Webb's headstone in the churchyard of St. John's Anglican Church, Reid ACT. Sarah died on 8 November 1845, aged 33, and was the fifth person buried in this newly consecrated churchyard.
To see OUR AIM with this website - please click HERE.
Above: The Webb family burial plot and headstone, St. John's, Reid ACT
Below: the prophetic message on the headstone.
The Limestone Plains - i.e. Canberra - 1923
Below: The Limestone Plains in 1923 from Mt. Ainslie - St. John's church is centre left, surrounded by trees. You can see the steeple jutting out into the landscape.
In 1845, no-one thought of a city in the area, then known as the Limestone Plains. It took the Federation of Australia in 1901, and a Federal Government decision to decide that Sarah's home and her district should become the site for the new national capital of Australia - Canberra!
Canberra - April 1910
The first Surveyor's Camp and buildings in Canberra - the Lands and Survey Office and Camp, headed by Charles Scrivener.
Laying the Foundation Stone - 12 March 1913
Above: 12 March 1913 - the Laying of the Foundation Stone of Canberra. From left: Lord Denman, Governor-General; Andrew Fisher; Lady Denman; King O'Malley, Minister for Home Affairs; Lady Denman is about to read the card bearing the name of the new city, which she pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, as 'Canbra', and not 'Canberra'.
Camps, humpies, & timber buildings - Yes, this was Canberra!
The disintegration of a landed society began as the Federal Government resumed freehold grazing land for the future city and its suburbs. Farmers could lease land until required by the government, leave the district with a small compensation packet, or join the growing workforce.
Construction workers began to arrive c1913 to build the new city - but they had to build the infrastructure first: the Cotter Dam to contain water; the sewerage system at Weston Creek; the roads - as well as the provisional Parliament House and other Administration buildings - all temporary buildings, which were slowly being constructed. Accommodation was temporary as well, with most workers being in camps of tents or humpies to begin with. These lasted a number of years and they were freezing cold in the winter months, with barely any heating, and some with none at all. Barrack style army huts eventually arrived with mess halls and these became hostels for construction workers, and later for government servants, who arrived to administer both Canberra and the Federal Government. Ann Gugler takes you on an adventure through some of the camps - see our ARTICLES page.
In the 1950s it was thought that Canberra was a good sheep paddock gone to waste - and some older residents still think so today. Suburbs since the 1960s have encroached upon many rural land leases to a greater extent than previously, and continue to do so, with the land continually being resumed for suburbs to take an ever increasing population. But we are still called the bush capital, due to the surrounding area, which is still bush, or grazing land, until it too, is resumed for yet more suburbs.
Canberra's centenary is around the corner, in 2013. But what was there before, on the Limestone Plains, pre 1913, the year Canberra was declared a 'city'? And what happened after 1913, when all the infrastructure required for the new city of Canberra had to be built from the ground up?
We will try to provide an insight into Canberra's pre-history, using various data available to us, and wherever possible, sources and references will be stated, so you can follow up further information yourself.
Above: The Sewer Camp, Westbourne Woods, now part of the suburb of Yarralumla, 1920s. The camp composed of construction workers working on the sewerage tunnel, which led from the provisional Parliament House, through Yarralumla, to Weston Creek. It is still there today. Sewer vents can be seen in Stirling Park and opposite the RSPCA, Cotter Road. The one below is in Stirling Park, Yarralumla, in an area that used to accommodate some 700 people and was called, Westlake.
Canberra - 1909 and 1927
Above: The desolate, treeless, Limestone Plains, 1909. The area is now part of central Canberra - and filled by Lake Burley Griffin!
Below: Canberra, towards Mt Ainslie, 1927 [Jones Archive]
The Canberra History Group's aim
We are a small local group of dedicated history compilers and researchers who are endeavouring to promote Canberra's 'living' history. We hope to cover items of interest for all types of historians - local history, family history or general history - especially unusual items, or those that may not be easily accessible, or taken from local or family knowledge that has been either passed down, or self-experienced.
Our CONVICTS pages are on-going and will take time to research. They will contain data about the convicts who received Ticket-of-Leave, etc. in or around the Limestone Plains. If you are related to anyone mentioned in our lists, please let us know. You're welcome to contribute a small biography of your convict ancestor.
The CENSUS-LISTS-ROLLS page includes the 1913 Census, the 1916 Electoral Roll, and the Honour Roll for the Second World War.
Our ARTICLES page also includes some essays, which we hope you will find interesting as they relate to an earlier Canberra. These include STIRLING PARK in Yarralumla, originally called WESTLAKE. This area included one of the largest camps for Canberra's early construction workers. Before that, it was, and still is, of great significance to Canberra's Aboriginal people. Read Ann Gugler's articles to find out why!
Our page on the DISTRICT'S PEOPLE includes Inquests and Obituaries, also Court Cases, and bits of trivia we have located while researching other material. They mainly concern people who once lived in the Canberra district and provide an excellent insight into early Canberra history. This is an on-going page.
We have extended the site to include CANBERRA MEMORIES, where people have recorded memories of an earlier Canberra that no longer exists, or articles we have found relating to Canberra 'in the old days', including what Canberra was like during wartime. These will be gradually added when time allows!
A PHOTO GALLERY, contains both old and new photos of various parts of Canberra, including some relating to the 2003 Canberra Firestorm - Mt. Stromlo, Narrabundah Hill and Duffy. The photograph, used as our Logo, was taken in 1999 of the Wood's family hut at Paddy's River, Tidbinbilla. Unfortunately, it was lost in the Firestorm - but we have some photos of what it looked like.
Some of us have written books and these are found on our PUBLICATIONS page.
The Canberra History Group
Website begun May 2009.
