Burke & Wills

Original post 1 March 2017:

The heroic statue / monument to the ill fated explorers Burke & Wills, who died in the desert after trekking from Melbourne to the north coast of Australia (and not finding an inland sea). That was 1861, and this, Melbourne’s first major public monument (that wasn’t imported) was cast by eminent sculptor #CharlesSummers in 1865. It’s been moved 5 times, and is about to move again (to storage to allow the city square to be dug up for the melbourne metro project).

The original location was the middle of the intersection of Collins and Russell streets, at the top of the rise just to the left here, where it would have looked quite majestic; and now I wonder why he made the figures face away from the main view to the south, looks great but means their faces are in shadow, especially Wills, cast literally as the minor partner, peeping behind Burke’s cloak.

So Charles Summers is best known for this, in fact his other stuff barely known, and not detailed in his adb entry or Encyc of Melb – he seems to have shone brightly and briefly. He arrived in 1854 to try gold digging, then quickly became the centre of an artistic circle, and by 1861 was tasked with this commission, which originally was to be even bigger, with aboriginal figures ! Then off to Rome straight after, but still did busts of many Melb notables, then in 1876 did marble sculptures of Queen Vic and Prince Albert for the library (which have ended up outdoors at the Showgrounds, still there, photos blackmark.com), then he died.

20 March 2025

So yesterday Lord Mayor Nick Reese announced that the grand 1865 statue of Burke & Wills will not be returning to the city square. He said it was ‘not at all’ a demotion, but that there would be too many commuters, and that somewhere next to the Royal Society in Victoria Street would be more appropriate, and after all it’s been moved before (5 times). I’m not super surprised, but I am annoyed- it’s our oldest statue, an early high point of public art, though yes the whole thing of refusing help from First Nations people’s and starving to death makes them seem a bit stupid rather than brave.

Like all the rail infrastructure projects, designs are released, and then basically built, no delays for pesky criticism, and the 2017 plan (which I have annotated) had an ‘indicitive’ site, which was really a ‘we don’t want it’, though why not is unclear, there’s the other 2/3 of the new city square that will be open space, more or less. The space frame over the escalators was also ‘indicative’ in the 2017 plan, but they’ve built it pretty much exactly as then. It’ll keep the rain off and maybe those louvres will limit the sun too. I also note that the entry area has been designed for surging crowds, with almost as much space around it than outside Flinders Street Station, even though it’s one of two entrances that only serve one line. I do like what’s going on underground though. And the last pics are my sketch designs from 2022, exploring not having a city square at all (is it really necessary?), and another that’s much more like a park, with grass and fountains and an organic design. Ok not great but they were fun to do.

July 2026

So the Lord Mayor Nick Reese has announced that Burke & Wills should go on the triangular park on the corner of Exhibition and Victoria Street (pic 3) facing up Rathdowne, which puts it across the road from the Royal Society who sponsored their ill fated expedition. It’s an ok site, but it’s definitely a demotion. I don’t really understand why it doesn’t just go back on the corner as initially proposed, there’s plenty of room there, and it would kind of nestle under that canopy.

(Though given the reaction to this post perhaps avoiding too much outcry against it is exactly why it’s moving).

Stephen McLaughlan suggests in front of the town hall, hes done a montage, that looks fine too. Im not saying this because I think theyre heroes that must be celebrated, but they are historic figures that were very important in their day, to the point they got the first public statue in Melbourne.

It was erected in 1865 in the very prominent spot in the middle of the Collins Russell intersection. It’s been moved and sort of demoted before, to Spring Street in 1885, then the main corner of the Carlton Gardens, then storage I think.

It was brought back to prominence in the city square in 1980, then moved to the corner in 1996, and back to storage in 2017. Not a great record.