eHive Object Details

Name/TitleJohn Pascoe Fawkner, wife and parents : inscription only, Melbourne General Cemetery, c. 1930

About this objectPhotograph of the white stone inscription tablet fixed to the back wall of the memorial built over the remains of John Pascoe Fawkner, founder of Melbourne, his wife, Eliza, and his parents, John and Eliza.

The memorial takes the form of a small steeply-roofed stone mausoleum, with an arched doorway and a stone balustrade projecting from the front. (GS-TM-03)

An image of John Pascoe Fawkner's head and neck, side-on, is carved into the pointed top of the text panel within a circle, with the text picked out in black underneath.

The inscription reads:

Here Lies (Gothic script)
The Mortal Remains Of
JOHN PASCOE FAWKNER
Who Founded the City of Melbourne
August 29th 1835
Born October 20th 1792, at London
Died September 4th 1869, at Smith St. Collingwood
Aged 77 Years
also of
JOHN FAWKNER Senior,
Who Died September 24th 1854
Aged 84 Years.
And of his Widow
ELIZA [John Senior's much younger second wife]
Who Died May 18th 1858
Aged 66 Years

(The details of John Pascoe Fawkner's wife, also Eliza, have been cut off the bottom of the slide. She died July 8th, 1879)

This image is attributed to Everard Studley Miller who photographed many graves and tombstones in the Old Melbourne Cemetery (established in 1837) in the 1920s as part of a project led by Isaac Selby to record and commemorate all aspects of Melbourne's second cemetery (the first being at Flagstaff Hill). The RHSV holds original glass negatives and albums of the photographs from this project.

Selby strongly argued that Batman, and not Fawkner, was the founder of Melbourne, and organised annual visits to Batman's grave on Foundation Day. Ironically, Batman's grave was relocated to Fawkner cemetery in 1923.

One of the many glass slides purchased from retailers or specifically made for illustrated lectures given by Isaac Selby between c. 1930 and c. 1955 to raise money for the Old Pioneers Memorial Fund.

For more information about this image contact Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

MakerMiller, Everard Studley, 1886-1956.

Maker RolePhotographer

Measurements8.2 x 8.2 cm

Period1920-1930

Object TypePhotograph

Subject and Association KeywordsSelby, Isaac, 1859-1956

Subject and Association KeywordsMonuments and memorials

Subject and Association KeywordsFawkner, John Pascoe, 1792-1869.

Subject and Association KeywordsMelbourne General Cemetery (Carlton, Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsMiller, Everard Studley, 1886-1956.

Named CollectionImages collection

Object numberGS-TM-45

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved