Designer: Charles Summers
Year: 1865
Bronze statue with granite pedestal
The ill-fated journey of Bourke and Wills is one of the most recited episodes in Australian history, and one that Summers would have a role in memorialising. Burke and Wills' journey began amid glorious public sentiment of hope and pride as their team set off for the Gulf of Carpentaria. Among other things, the publicly funded expedition would help solve the puzzle of what lay in Australia's interior, and at a time of interstate rivalry it would bring triumph to Victoria. But the expedition ended as a sorry tale of rash decision-making and unfortunate timing, and ultimately with the deaths of Bourke, Wills and Gray.
On 2 November 1861, news of the death of Bourke and Wills reached Melbourne, and within days greif swept the city; more than 40,000 people are said to have paid their last respects to the fallen heroes. The Victorian government announced a memorial would be erected and Charles Summers submitted the winning design. Burke stands to the left of the seated Wills, his forearm resting on his companion's shoulder. A book lays open in Wills' lap. Mounted atop granite blocks, the statue also features bronze bas-relief plaques depicting events during the expedition.
Year: 1865
Bronze statue with granite pedestal
The ill-fated journey of Bourke and Wills is one of the most recited episodes in Australian history, and one that Summers would have a role in memorialising. Burke and Wills' journey began amid glorious public sentiment of hope and pride as their team set off for the Gulf of Carpentaria. Among other things, the publicly funded expedition would help solve the puzzle of what lay in Australia's interior, and at a time of interstate rivalry it would bring triumph to Victoria. But the expedition ended as a sorry tale of rash decision-making and unfortunate timing, and ultimately with the deaths of Bourke, Wills and Gray.
On 2 November 1861, news of the death of Bourke and Wills reached Melbourne, and within days greif swept the city; more than 40,000 people are said to have paid their last respects to the fallen heroes. The Victorian government announced a memorial would be erected and Charles Summers submitted the winning design. Burke stands to the left of the seated Wills, his forearm resting on his companion's shoulder. A book lays open in Wills' lap. Mounted atop granite blocks, the statue also features bronze bas-relief plaques depicting events during the expedition.
