Historical information

These nine photographs of contractors felling a sequoia Californian redwood tree was taken at the Army Survey Regiment, Fortuna, Bendigo on the 16th of September 1994. Although 23 photos were taken at the time, 14 were not scanned due to their similarity to the nine featured photos. Two sequoia Californian redwood trees were planted at the front entrance of Fortuna Villa in the early days of gold mining magnate George Lansell’s occupation in the 1870’s. They were of immense proportion and much admired during the Lansell era and RA Svy’s occupation from 1942 to 1996. In these early days of Army occupation, the trees were lopped due to concerns of their size and proximity to the Villa. The felling of the tree in 1994 was considered unsafe due to perceptions of disease. These perceptions were upsetting to staff, as some believed that although there were a few dead branches, the tree was OK. As the tree had a noticeable lean, measurements were taken indicating the tree was stable. A sequoia sapling was eventually planted as a replacement to the diseased tree. It was decided to mill and store the timber of the felled tree on-site due to its historical significance. Although future uses were not determined at the time, the timber was eventually used to construct display cabinets and souvenir pens. When Defence decided to relocate geospatial production to a new facility in Junortoun an outer suburb of Bendigo in 2008, the sequoia timber was used as a beautiful feature in the front foyer as well as several feature walls within the building, providing a historical connection Fortuna Villa.

Physical description

This is a set of nine photographs of contractors felling a Sequoia (Californian redwood) tree at the Army Survey Regiment, Fortuna, Bendigo on the 16th of September 1994. The colour photographs were printed on photographic paper and are part of the Army Survey Regiment’s Collection. The photographs were scanned at 300 dpi.
.1) - Photo, colour, 1994, Felling of sequoia Californian redwood tree.
.2) - Photo, colour, 1994, Felling of sequoia Californian redwood tree. Neil Morgan (ground maintenance) is hugging the tree.
.3) - Photo, colour, 1994, Felling of sequoia Californian redwood tree.
.4) to .8) - Photo, colour, 1994, Felling of sequoia Californian redwood tree.
.9) - Photo, colour, 1994, background on left - WO2 Bob Garritty, foreground L to R: Geoff (ground maintenance), unidentified, Neil Morgan (ground maintenance).

Inscriptions & markings

.1P to .9P – No personnel are identified.