Historical information

The unveiling of the Eltham Obelisk War Memorial was performed by the Rev. Padre Charles Tregear, assisted by Church of England vicar, Mr Safsford on August 3, 1919.

Reproduced page 99 of "Pioneers & Painters."

"Beneath a lonely pine tree on the hill crest out from Eltham, where the Greensborough Road junctions with the main Melbourne Road, Eltham has erected an everlasting tribute to the memory of the fallen heroes of the district. It is an obelisk of Harcourt granite in the rough, bearing an appropriate inscription and 27 names—an unpretentious monument by the wayside, which will stand for all time silently expressing the appreciation of the living for the sacrifice of the dead. The obelisk stands 14 feet high. ... Representatives of every house in the town, and many people from the surrounding district, gathered around the obelisk for the opening ceremony. The spring-like sunshine of the afternoon attracted everybody out of doors. There must have been 700 people present when the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir William Irvine, removed the draping of flags and revealed the names on the obelisk, the base of which was surrounded by wreaths and branches of wattle bloom, placed there by parents whose sorrow at the loss of sons was blunted, for the day at least, by feelings of pride. .."
Age, Monday 4 August 1919, page 8

This was the memorial's orginal location. It has been relocated numerous times.

Significance

This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.

Physical description

Digital image
4 x 5 inch B&W Neg
Print 9 x 12.5cm