Farewell Address
On May 10, 1917 the 65 year old Carlo Catani was presented with this illuminated address by the Premier of Victoria, Sir Alexander Peacock, in acknowledgment of his 41 years of public service.
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Document - Letter, Richard Fiddes Brown, 1917, State Library Victoria
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Image courtesy of State Library Victoria, Manuscripts Collection
On turning 65 on April 28, 1917, Carlo Catani retired from the Public Works Department and subsequently on May the 10, at the Lands Department Sir Alex Peacock, Premier of Victoria, presented Carlo with this magnificent illuminated address as a ‘token of our pleasant association with you’.
Catani had graduated as a Civil Engineer in 1872 from the Technical Institute of Florence. His first experience was connected to the engineering and planning of railways in Tuscany. In September, 1876 Carlo arrived in Melbourne and obtained a position at the Lands Department, starting his over forty-year career with the Victorian Public Service. In 1880 Catani was certified as a Land Surveyor, and in January, 1882 he transferred to the Public Works Department. By 1885 he was licenced as a surveyor and the next year was appointed Assistant Engineer of Harbour Works. In 1890 Catani was promoted as the Acting Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department which was later confirmed in November 1892.
He then became the Chief Engineer, Roads, Bridges, Harbors, Jetties and Coast Works. Carlo held this position until his retirement, though maintained his several committee and other memberships, including the St Kilda Fore Shore Committee and Trust, State Tourists’ Committee, Great Ocean Road Trust, Central Executive of the Road Users’ Association, Alexandra Gardens Committee of Management and the Honorary Justice’s Association of Victoria.
Carlo Catani was also regarded as Acting Inspector- General of the Public Works Department from 1910.
Document - Carlo Catani retirement address, Richard Fiddes Brown, 1917, State Library Victoria
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Image courtesy of State Library Victoria, Manuscripts Collection
The formal address was signed by the Premier, Ministers and senior Public Service Officers.
These include the Premier, Sir Alexander Peacock; Commissioner for Public Works, W.A. Adamson; Secretary of the Public Works Department, E.T. Drake; former Inspector General of Public Works, William Davidson; former Surveyor General of Victoria and current Secretary for Lands, Joseph Martin Reed; Director of Education, Frank Tate; the new Engineer-in-Chief of the P.W.D, George Kermode; Chief Architect of the P.W.D., S.C. Brittingham and the former Minister for Public Works, W.H. Edgar, who all spoke at Catani’s retirement dinner.
Document - Hand-coloured, Richard Fiddes Brown, 1917, State Library Victoria
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This media item is listed as being within the public domain. As such, this item may be used by anyone for any purpose.
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Image courtesy of State Library Victoria, Manuscripts Collection
The illuminated address was the work of Richard Fiddes Brown (1876 - 1936), of Messrs. Mason, Firth & McCutcheon, a printing and publishing firm.
The address shows the Governments’ Public Offices at 2 Treasury Place, where Catani was based and further depicts some of his major projects and sites: Alexandra Avenue, the Yarra River Improvements, Eurobin Falls, and Lake Catani.
