Joseph Starkie was the Chairman of the Sunbury Waterworks Trust from 1905 to 1913. During that time he was instrumental in getting a permanent water supply installed for the town of Sunbury. After his death in April 1913, the townspeople erected a memorial which stood at the intersection of Brook and Stawell Street. It was unveiled on 26 January 1915 by Terence O'Brien. The original memorial included a drinking fountain and horse trough. As traffic increased within the town, the centre section of the fountain, without the horse trough, was resited in a reserve opposite the Memorial Hall. The photograph shows the monument on its original site. The installation of a reliable and permanent water supply for Sunbury was an important achievement for the town in the early years of the twentieth century.A sepia photograph in post card format of a water fountain and trough in a street in front of an avenue of trees.J. D. STARKIE MEMORIALstarkie, joseph daniel., water fountain, j.d.starkie memorial

The photograph was taken in 1915 at the opening of the Starkie Memorial Fountain that was erected at the intersection of Brook, O'Shanassy and Stawell Streets in Sunbury Township. Joseph Starkie was instrumental in establishing a reliable water supply which was turned on 13th March 1905. The fountain was erected in recognition of his contribution to the town 10 years later on 26th February 1915. As the town grew and the main shopping strip became busier, it was relocated to a memorial site opposite the Memorial Hall.The Starkie Fountain is one of Sunbury's important memorials erected to celebrate an important development in the town.A non-digital black and white photograph of a crowd of people are gathered around a monument for a ceremony. Flags are festooned above the crowd and an open parkland is in the background as well as a church. Details of the event are handwritten on the back of the photograph.joseph starkie, j.d.starkie memorial, stawell street, sunbury, water fountain

The parkland is part of the Village Green, which is surrounded by Barkly, Brook and Macedon Streets in Sunbury. In the foreground is the temperature controlled glass building which houses the restored Armstrong twelve pounder gun that the Clarke family gifted to the people of Sunbury in 1922. For many years it stood in the open at the junction of Macedon, Stawell and Barkly Streets until 1970. The Starkie Water Fountain is on the LHS of the image. The cream building in the middle distance is the Memorial Hall, formerly the Mechanics Institute, built in 1885 and the red brick building is the former Sunbury State School. St. Mary's Church Hall is the small building in the distance.In 1973 Shire of Bulla council closed off Stawell Street to create the Village Green for a passive recreation area, which also included a section for the placing of important memorials. The green space has become a popular recreation area close to the town centre for Sunbury residents.A non-digital coloured photograph of parkland with lawn and elm trees, interspersed with four buildings. A glassed in structure with a hipped roof is in the foreground. A red-bricked building with white trim as well as a cream building is in the middle distance and a smaller brick building is in the distance.sunbury gun, stawell street, memorial hall, j.d.starkie memorial, barkly street, macedon street, sunbury village green