Pioneer Women's Memorial Avenue

Coordinates: 37°40′17″S 144°25′26″E / 37.67136°S 144.42375°E / -37.67136; 144.42375
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The Pioneer Women's Memorial Avenue, located in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia commemorates the contributions of women to the development of the area.

The Avenue was originally planted in 1936, the centenary of the settlement of Bacchus Marsh, by the local branch of the Country Women's Association.[1] An avenue of Claret Ash trees was planted on the Western Highway, each tree honouring an individual woman settler. The CWA provided the trees, and the local council provided the tree-planting labour. Name plaques for each tree were paid for by public donations.[2] A total of 276 trees were planted - a tree for every woman who was born or lived in the area prior to 1890.[1] Indigenous Kulin women were named and recognised alongside white women.[1]

In 1995, a report by the Victorian Heritage Register showed that only 15-17 of the original trees had survived.[3]

In 2008, the Bacchus Marsh CWA applied for and received grants from the state government's Centenary of Women's Suffrage funds and the Shire of Moorabool council to re-develop the memorial. A rotunda, featuring information boards on the women commemorated in the avenue, and a monument, were added at Stamford Hill. These were unveiled in a ceremony on 2 August 2008.[1]

In December 2009, the Moorabool council nominated the Bacchus Marsh CWA's work on erecting the rotunda for the Community Event of the Year.[4]

In 2015, the Bacchus Marsh CWA published a book of biographies of the women commemorated in the avenue.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Design, UBC Web. "Pioneer Women's Memorial Avenue Monument Australia". monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  2. ^ "The Age - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Victorian Heritage Database Report". Pioneer Women's Avenue (Part of Road Reserve). Victoria Heritage Register. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Moorabool Shire Council Meeting Minutes" (PDF). Moorabool Shire Council. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Pioneer women of Bacchus Marsh : an introduction to the women of the Bacchus Marsh pioneer women's avenue. - Version details". Trove. Retrieved 10 April 2016.

37°40′17″S 144°25′26″E / 37.67136°S 144.42375°E / -37.67136; 144.42375