Victoria Cross EstatePrint Page 
VC Estate history recognised
The history of the VC Estate in Macleod West is finally being recognised, nearly 100 years after it was conceived, with the launch of new signage and the installation of a time capsule to be opened in 25 years.
The Mayor of Banyule, Cr Craig Langdon, said the new signage promoted the history of the estate and honoured the valour of the Victoria Cross recipients from World War 1 and 2 after whom the streets in the estate and nearby Kingsbury Drive are named.
“The signs we have installed, as well as the time capsule and the new street signage throughout the estate, is part of Council’s commemoration of the ANZAC Centenary and importantly provides some little known context, using text and images, around the history of this estate in Macleod,” Cr Langdon said.
He said the Victoria Cross Estate is the informal name for the Macleod Estate subdivision which was designed by town planner and surveyor, Saxil Tuxen, and first advertised in The Argus on 23 January 1919 as a place to ‘own your own piece of Victorian countryside’. Subdivision of the land did not occur until January 1922 and take up of the land was slow, with only a handful of houses built by the end of the 1920s.
“The proximity of Mont Park and its military ties have been suggested as a reason for the streets being named after Victoria Cross recipients,” Cr Langdon said. “The Mont Park Asylum was established in 1907 and converted to the Mont Park Military Hospital from 1917 to repatriate acute medical cases from World War 1. In 1919, at the end of the war, the military patients created an Avenue of Honour in memory of fallen comrades, planting Eucalypt trees along the perimeter of the property, to the north of what was to become Cherry Street on the Victoria Cross Estate.”
Cr Langdon said the signs told the story of the estate and, importantly, those of the Victoria Cross recipients honoured: Captain Albert Jacka, Lieutenant William Dunstan, Sergeant John Dwyer, Air Vice-Marshal Francis (Frank) McNamara, Captain Percy Cherry, Lieutenant Robert Grieve, Second Lieutenant William (Rusty) Ruthven, Lieutenant Colonel William Joynt and Private Edward (Ted) Kenna.
The Victoria Cross, instituted by Queen Victoria, is Australia’s highest military honour and is awarded for acts of bravery in wartime.
“While none of these men resided in Macleod, their valour and subsequent contributions to their own communities are recognised here at the Victoria Cross Estate and in this commemorative signage. I’m sure that their stories will be read with interest by residents and visitors to this area, who will also gain a new appreciation for the history of this part of Banyule,” Cr Langdon said.
City of Banyule – September 2015
Location
| Address: | McNamara Street, Victoria Estate, Macleod, 3085 |
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| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.726198 Long: 145.068369 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Time Capsule |
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| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | Multiple |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | September -2015 |
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