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HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT
PRINCES HIGHWAY LARA, GREATER GEELONG CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register
HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT SOHE 2008
HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT SOHE 2008
HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT SOHE 2008
h01547 hume and hovell lara feb04 pm1
h01547 h1547 hume and hovell lara plan
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara was constructed in 1924 to celebrate the centenary of Hume and Hovell's explorations of land to the south of the settled districts of New South Wales. The Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee which was formed in 1924 included representatives from the Education and Lands Departments, the Historical Society, the National Parks Association, the Tourist's Resorts Committee and the Automobile Club of Victoria. The chairman of the committee, ophthalmologist and university lecturer Sir James Barrett, was a prime mover in the movement to build commemorative memorials to the expeditions of the explorers. Other influential members of the committee were the Director of Education Frank Tate, and Education Department official Charles R Long who was the founder of the monthly School Paper which encouraged the study of the exploits of the early explorers. The Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee appealed to municipal councils, school committees, inspectors of schools and head teachers to establishment local committees for the erection and unveiling of monuments in the form of tablets, cairns, pyramids and obelisks to mark the Hume and Hovell route.

The great majority of the 37 memorials marking the route taken by Hume and Hovell across Victoria were erected in 1924, the year of the centenary. In most localities, a commemorative cairn or obelisk was erected. In a small number of places, the memorials took the form of tablets placed in schools. Officials of the Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee and parliamentarians followed the approximate Hume and Hovell route from Albury to Lara by motor car unveiling the local monuments along the route.

The Lara centenary committee under the leadership of the Rev ACF Gates proposed the erection of a ₤2,000 bronze monument at intersection of the Melbourne and Lara Roads at Lara to a design by eminent sculptor Paul Montfort. The design as proposed by the Lara committee proved to be far too ambitious and a new design was prepared by Montfort to meet the greatly reduced funds available. The design consisted of a granite obelisk supported by a three-tiered concrete and granite base. The monument was inscribed with the date of the Hume and Hovell arrival at the Lara site, the names of Hume and Hovell, and the names of their six expeditionary companions: Henry Angel, William Bollard, Claude Bassawa, Thomas Boyd, James Fitzpatrick and Thomas Smith. On 17 December 1924, the monument to Hume and Hovell at Lara was unveiled by Senator R P Wilson [representing the Prime Minister Stanley Bruce] before a crowd of over 1,000 people.

Hamilton Hume and William Hilton Hovell and six servant convicts set out from Hume's property at Appin in New South Wales on 3 October 1824 and arrived at Corio Bay [which they mistakenly believed to be Western Port] on the 16 December 1824. The expedition had been a great success in that it was accomplished without loss of life or serious injury and had reported on many important features. Hume and Hovell had discovered major rivers, first sighted the mountains of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, and the expedition proved to be instrumental in drawing attention to the potential of the vast grazing lands sighted on their expedition. The favourable reports of the land they had seen induced the Henty brothers to settle at Portland in 1834 and also prompted John Batman to form the Port Phillip Association to investigate the area, leading to the colonization of Victoria.

How is it significant?

The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara is of historical significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara is historically significant as a representative example of a series of Hume and Hovell monuments which are manifestations of the Hume and Hovell centenary movement which was instigated as an educative tool to remind succeeding generations of the achievements of the "British race" and the strengths and virtues of patriotism and initiative. The monuments are significant for their association with the Hume and Hovell Centenary Committee members, the scientist, educationist and publicist Sir James Barrett, and the leading educationists Frank Tate and C R Long, who were all powerful forces in the promotion of the commemorative movement. The memorial reflects the role of local communities through their construction of the monuments which testify to their gratitude to the expeditionary explorers in opening up inland Victoria. The chain of memorials also represents the interests of Committee members such as the motoring and tourist associations who were involved in promoting the virtues of recreational exploration.

The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara is historically significant as the southern-most monument of the chain of commemorative memorials erected at the instigation of the Hume and Hovell Centenary Committee. The monuments represent the desire of the committee to promote an appreciation of the role played by the Hume and Hovell expedition in the development of Victoria. The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara is of singular significance in that it is the only monument in Victoria to record the names of the six convicts that accompanied Hume and Hovell on the expedition.

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    • History

      HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT - History

      Contextual History
      The significance of the monuments lies not only with the Hume and Hovell expedition, but also with the attitudes that underlie the aspirations and objectives of the proponents of commemorative celebration.

      Dr David Rowe's conservation management plan for the Lara monument outlines the details of the Hume and Hovell centenary movement.
      The Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee formed in 1924 included representatives from the National Parks Committee, Education Department, Historical Society, Lands Department and the Royal Automobile Club. The Committee appealed to municipal councils, school committees, inspectors of schools and head teachers to establishment local committees for the erection and unveiling of monuments in the form of tablets, cairns, cairns, pyramids and obelisks. [Another member of the committee not named in the conservation management plan was the Tourist's Resorts Committee].

      The leading figures in the movement were powerful figures in the bodies they represented. The chairman of the Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee, Sir James Barrett, had served as the chairman of the National Parks committee while his deputy Frank Tate, was the Director of Education. The participation of the Automobile Club and the Tourist's Resorts Committee represents both an involvement in civic affairs but no doubt combined with an element of self-interest in promoting their own organizations. Much was made of the automotive trips, and Sir James Barrett led a motor tour of nearly six hundred miles from Melbourne to the Murray and back following as nearly as practicable the route taken by Hume and Hovell. This trip was officially promoted by the committee which went so far as to say that the 'general idea of the celebration is that on November 17th a motor car procession will leave Albury [and ] the final function will take place at Lara.' The association with the pioneering aspect of motoring was further distinguished by the reference elsewhere by the Governor of New South Wales to the Governor of Victoria Lord Stradbroke's holiday tour by motor across the continent from Adelaide to Darwin.

      Accounts published in the Argus reveal a strong influence of the Education Department through the publication of papers in school journals by distinguished contributors such Professor Ernest Scott of Melbourne University, who emphasised the influence of the expedition in the emanation of the beginnings of the colonization of Victoria. He proposed that the expedition celebrated 'the real beginnings of Victoria.' [Scott also stated on the other hand, that the expedition itself was not hazardous and not very well conducted, and the explorers 'simply got lost, both of them believing that they were overlooking the waters of Westernport...'.] At the opening of the Lara monument, Frank Tate spoke of the very great pleasure it had given him to know that throughout the celebrations schools and teachers had taken so prominent a part. Other newspaper articles also emphasized the importance of the Hume and Hovell commemoration as the commemoration of the beginnings of Victoria. An associational educative purpose of the monuments was also alluded to by the Governor of Victoria Lord Stradbroke who stated that it was necessary that the children of Australia should be taught the history of the pioneering and exploration work of such men as Hume and Hovell.

      The elements of national and local sentiment in the celebratory activities have not been generally discussed in heritage surveys in the evaluation of the significance of Hume and Hovell commemorative monuments. Sir James Barrett observed that throughout the ceremonies, although the addresses began with references to Hume and Hovell, they invariably included references by the district people to the indebtedness of Australia to Great Britain for protection and sympathy. He concluded that
      Deep down in their consciences the people of all those districts evidently felt that in honouring the memory of Hume and Hovell they were expressing pride in their race.
       Senator Wilson, who sometimes deputised for the Prime Minister at the unveiling of the monuments, was of a similar mind. The Argus reported the tenor of his opening comments as follows.
      The great statesman of the Empire realised that the future solidity and safety of the Empire depend upon the loyalty and well-being of the minions. God never intended that this glorious Australia should be held for ever by the handful of people who now inhabit it.[Cheers]

      While the Argus had reported the openings in a manner befitting a national event of importance, the Geelong Advertiser provides a strikingly local interpretation in its account of the Lara monument. The article proposes that the expedition proved to be the key to the unlocking of the Western District, which it claimed to be unrivalled in Australia for its potentialities. The author then expresses surprise that the generally 'wealthy, ..comfortable and contented...' Western District settlers did not contribute more substantially to the memorial fund when indirectly they owed so much to the Hume and Hovell expedition. The drive to raise the ₤2,000 required for the initial grand proposal for the construction of a large bronze figure standing on a huge boulder was spectacularly unsuccessful, with little more than one hundredth of that amount eventually being raised. The initial overreaching of the Geelong organizers stemmed in part from the most parochial of rationalisations, a desire not to be seen in unfavourable light when compared with the efforts of the citizens of another important site at Albury, which was the starting point of the official motorcade following the Hume and Hovell route. The ambitions of the Geelong organisers also appear to have been a departure from the spirit of the intentions of the organising committee, who were advising on prices for memorials of various types of up to ₤20. The committee were of a view that 'a cairn [costing] from nothing upwards, according to local conditions' might suffice.

      Conclusion
      The erection of the Hume and Hovell celebratory monuments is a manifestation of a desire to promote an appreciation and understanding of the efforts of exploratory expeditions in the development of new lands. While the monuments represent a link with an historical event of national importance, in themselves they best represent the efforts of local communities to be involved in a part of a state-promoted educative process. The Hume and Hovell centenary movement was instigated to remind succeeding generations of the achievements of the British race and the strengths and virtues of patriotism and initiative.

      The memorials are also of interest for their association with motoring and tourist associations who might be seen as having exploited the Hume and Hovell centenary in their own interests as a means to indirectly promote the virtues of recreational exploration.
      On the basis of this evaluation, the principal reason for the structures to be considered of state significance is the association with the undoubtedly important Hume and Hovell centenary initiative. In this regard, however, all the monuments are of equal significance. The defining level of importance of each individual monument lies with the local communities that created them, and as such, are of local significance. If a case is to be made for the consideration of a particular monument for Victorian Heritage Register recognition, the case would lie with the consideration of any additional historic or aesthetic significance.

      Place History
      The Hume and Hovell monument at Lara was constructed in 1924 to celebrate the centenary of Hume and Hovell's explorations of land to the south of the settled districts of New South Wales. The Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee which was formed in 1924 included representatives from the Education and Lands Departments, the Historical Society, the National Parks Association, the Tourist's Resorts Committee and the Automobile Club of Victoria. The chairman of the committee, ophthalmologist and university lecturer Sir James Barrett, was a prime mover in the movement to build commemorative memorials to the expeditions of the explorers. Other influential members of the committee were the Director of Education Frank Tate, and Education Department official Charles R Long who was the founder of the monthly School Paper which encouraged the study of the exploits of the early explorers. The Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee appealed to municipal councils, school committees, inspectors of schools and head teachers to establishment local committees for the erection and unveiling of monuments in the form of tablets, cairns, pyramids and obelisks to mark the Hume and Hovell route.
      The great majority of the 37 memorials marking the route taken by Hume and Hovell across Victoria were erected in 1924, the year of the centenary. In most localities, a commemorative cairn or obelisk was erected. In a small number of places, the memorials took the form of tablets placed in schools. Officials of the Hume and Hovell Centenary Celebrations Committee and parliamentarians followed the approximate Hume and Hovell route from Albury to Lara by motor car unveiling the local monuments along the route.
      The Lara centenary committee under the leadership of the Rev A C F Gates proposed the erection of a ₤2,000 bronze monument at intersection of the Melbourne and Lara Roads at Lara to a design by eminent sculptor Paul Montfort. The design as proposed by the Lara committee proved to be far too ambitious and a new design was prepared by Montfort to meet the greatly reduced funds available. The design consisted of a granite obelisk supported by a three-tiered concrete and granite base. The monument was inscribed with the date of the Hume and Hovell arrival at the Lara site, the names of Hume and Hovell, and the names of their six expeditionary companions: Henry Angel, William Bollard, Claude Bassawa, Thomas Boyd, James Fitzpatrick and Thomas Smith. On 17 December 1924, the monument to Hume and Hovell at Lara was unveiled by Senator R P Wilson [representing the Prime Minister Stanley Bruce] before a crowd of over 1,000 people.

      Hamilton Hume and William Hilton Hovell and six servant convicts set out from Hume's property at Appin in New South Wales on 3 October 1824 and arrived at Corio Bay [which they mistakenly believed to be Western Port] on the 16 December 1824. The expedition had been a great success in that it was accomplished without loss of life or serious injury and had reported on many important features. Hume and Hovell had discovered major rivers, first sighted the mountains of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, and the expedition proved to be instrumental in drawing attention to the potential of the vast grazing lands sighted on their expedition. The favourable reports of the land they had seen induced the Henty brothers to settle at Portland in 1834 and also prompted John Batman to form the Port Phillip Association to investigate the area, leading to the colonization of Victoria.

      Permit Exemptions

      HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      General Conditions: 1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object. General Conditions: 2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of works that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such works shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible. Note: All archaeological places have the potential to contain significant sub-surface artefacts and other remains. In most cases it will be necessary to obtain approval from Heritage Victoria before the undertaking any works that have a significant sub-surface component. General Conditions: 3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it. Note: The existence of a Conservation Management Plan or a Heritage Action Plan endorsed by Heritage Victoria provides guidance for the management of the heritage values associated with the site. It may not be necessary to obtain a heritage permit for certain works specified in the management plan. General Conditions: 4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions. General Conditions: 5. Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authorities where applicable. Signage and Site Interpretation : The following Signage and Site Interpretation activities are permit exempt under section 66 of the Heritage Act 1995, a) signage and site interpretation activities provided the works do not involve the removal or destruction of any significant above-ground structures or sub-surface archaeological artefacts or deposits; b) the erection of non-illuminated signage for the purpose of ensuring public safety or to assist in the interpretation of the heritage significance of the place or object and which will not adversely affect significant fabric including landscape or archaeological features of the place or obstruct significant views of and from heritage values or items; c) signage and site interpretation products must be located and be of a suitable size so as not to obscure or damage significant fabric of the place; d) signage and site interpretation products must be able to be later removed without causing damage to the significant fabric of the place; Note: The development of signage and site interpretation products must be consistent in the use of format, text, logos, themes and other display materials. Note: Where possible, the signage and interpretation material should be consistent with other schemes developed on similar or associated sites. It may be necessary to consult with land managers and other stakeholders concerning existing schemes and strategies for signage and site interpretation. Minor Works : Note: Any Minor Works that in the opinion of the Executive Director will not adversely affect the heritage significance of the place may be exempt from the permit requirements of the Heritage Act. A person proposing to undertake minor works may submit a proposal to the Executive Director. If the Executive Director is satisfied that the proposed works will not adversely affect the heritage values of the site, the applicant may be exempted from the requirement to obtain a heritage permit. If an applicant is uncertain whether a heritage permit is required, it is recommended that the permits co-ordinator be contacted.

      * Repairs, conservation and maintenance to hard landscape elements other than the memorial, including gravelsurround and fence.

      Permit Exemption Policy

      HUME AND HOVELL MONUMENT - Permit Exemption Policy

      The purpose of the exemptions is to allow works that do not affect the cultural heritage significance of the place.

Public contributions

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