Home » Themes » Conflict » World War One

Matraville Memorial ParkPrint Page

Voluntary Workers Association Plaque : 19- September-2014

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams

Matraville Memorial Park commemorates the Matraville Garden Village which was built to honour those who served in World War One. The Memorial Park was part of the Matraville Soldiers Garden Village. The foundation stones of the cottages, which were erected by the Voluntary Workers Association, commemorating the donation of cottages by the Tattersall's Club and others, are situated on two stone walls within the park.

In 1917 a gift of 72.5 acres of Crown land, described as the waste sand hills beyond Daceyville, was made available for returned soldiers from World War One. A Voluntary Workers Association formed and between 1918 and 1925 some 93 homes were built, south west of Anzac Parade and Beauchamp Road, as the Matraville Soldiers' Garden Village. The inhabitants were all soldiers or widows of soldiers. The houses eventually passed to the State Housing Board. In 1977 despite local protests, all but one of the cottages was demolished and the site redeveloped. The surrounding streets recall battlefields and sites of World War One.

If funds are not soon forthcoming the efforts of the Voluntary Workers' Association to convert a large area of waste land at Matraville into a soldiers' garden village will be seriously handicapped. The settlement is not yet a garden village -the association so far has only been able to erect the houses and construct the roads. But soon shrubs and turf will adorn the roads, and the recreation spaces (of which there are nearly 30 acres) will be completed. The scheme includes a memorial reserve at the entrance to the settlement, with a fountain and bandstand.
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 11 May 1920.

Various forms of war memorials perpetuate the memory of our dead heroes but the soldiers' garden village at Matraville is a monument worthy to rank among the greatest in the British Empire. It is unique of its kind, and serves the noble purpose of providing homes for the partially disabled and widows and dependents of those who fell in the cause of liberty and freedom. The founder and president, of the Voluntary Workers' Association Dr Arthur, M. L. A . suggested the building of a garden village which would be a haven of rest for those who had come back maimed and disabled, or for the widows and dependents of those who had fallen.

Starting in 1918 with £250 the Board, by dint of strenuous activity, has so developed the scheme that it now confidently appeals to the many who have not hitherto supported it. The sum of £60,000 has been subscribed by generous hearted citizens, who recognise the debt they owe to the heroes who helped to preserve the roofs over their heads. The village is to be a lasting memorial "in honor of the living and to the memory of the glorious dead." We cannot help those whose remains lie in the fields of France and elsewhere, but we can preserve the memory, of those heroes by providing cheerful homes in beautiful surroundings to those who have been badly hurt. Give till it hurts, and you realise the meaning of sacrifice. The Board requires a further £30,000 to attain its objective.
Excerpt from The Wonderful Story of Matraville,
Sunday Times (Sydney), 4 September 1921.

Location

Address:	Anzac Parade & Beauchamp Road, Memorial Park, Matraville, 2036
State:	NSW
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -33.953333 Long: 151.241389 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:	Park
Monument Theme:	Conflict
Sub-Theme:	WW1
Actual Event Start Date:	04-August-1914
Actual Event End Date:	28-June-1919

Source: MA

Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Contact Monument Australia