The Pillars of Bathurst Commemorative Garden Print Page 
The garden commemorates past citizens of Bathurst for their services to the Bathurst region and Australia. The restored cast iron verandah posts used in the garden have an historic relationship with the Royal Hotel in William Street.
The people commemorated are : -
2015
• John Fennell, colonial commandant of Bathurst • William Astley, activist for the Federation of the Australian colonies • Caroline Keightley Heroine of Rockley • Bluey Wilkinson Champion Motorcyclist • William Tremain, flour miller • James Byrn Richards Surveyor • Annie Golding, Belle Golding and Kate Dwyer, feminist sisters • Blair Anderson Wark V.C., soldier • Humphrey Oxenham, bookmaker and racing identity • Joe Yates, bush musician • Kath Knowles, community leader • Thomas Wythes and Joseph Wythes Fathers of Hill End • Percy Gresser Anthropologist • Windradyne Wiradjuri Leader & Warrior • Theo Barker Historian • Charles E. W. Bean, ANZAC legend • John Meagher Merchant & Philanthropist • James Rutherford Cobb & Co • Benjamin Isaacs Newspaperman • Wirrari John Bugg Wiradjuri Community Elder & Leader • Dominique Popilarie and Susannah Popilarie Innkeepers • George Busby and Agnes Busby The First Bathurstians
2016
• Damien Parer War Photographer & Cameraman • Robert Codrington Police Trooper • Ida Lee Historical Geographer • Ray Bant Community & Workplace Leader • Fr Joseph Slattery Scientist • Hector Lupp Musician • Marie Herzog Hospital Matron
2017
• Hal Eyre Political Cartoonist • Selina Anderson Political Activist • Lewis Lloyd Copper King • William Boyd Bathurst Builder • John Charles White and Charles White Temporal and Moral Educator & Chronicler of the Times • Beatrice Grimshaw Traveller & Writer • William Clunies Ross and Sir Ian Clunies Ross Principal, Bathurst Technical College & Chairman, CSIRO • Elizabeth Sophia Pleffer Child of Bathurst Region • Mary Black First Female Public Servant • George Lee, The Barb & Merriwee Racehorse Breeder & Melbourne Cup Winners
2018
• Jean Bellette Modern Art Pioneer & Teacher • George Bonnor, Charles Terror Turner & Tom McKibbin Test Cricketers • Mew Chip Miner & Market Gardener • Keith Ingram Botanist - Naturalist • Margaret Glen Heritage Warrior • Zylpha Taylor Tireless Community Worker • Toni Daymond Heart of Gold • Bill Dow Life of Community Service • Edward Locke Locksley Pioneer
2019
• Charles St John Mulholland NSW Geologist • Donald McMillan Champion Wheat Farmer • Mary Ann Roberts Bathurst Settlement’s First Mother • Harriet Beard Tambaroora Businesswoman & Miners’ Friend • John Eviston “An honest, upright life” • Annie Bertha Parry In the Service of Humanity • Robert William Peacock Agriculturalist & Carillon Visionary • Wolla Meranda Dared to be Different • James Howe Newton Carillon Tower Builder • Charles James Beavis, Horace Colin Dean Beavis, Albert Edward Gregory Bathurst’s Photographers • Thomas Denny Established Denison Foundry
2020
•George and Mary Basha •Haydn Larnach • Patric O'Brien •Arthur Budden •Ivan Cranston •Judy Webb •Harry and Brian Hodge•William Browne• Leslie Beavis• Reginald Pollard•PJ Moodie•Leo Grant.
Pillars of Bathurst BiographiesLocation
| Address: | Stanley Street, Macquarie Park, Bathurst, 2795 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.411345 Long: 149.584303 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Garden |
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| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Community |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 29th March, 2015 |
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Bathurst Regional Council
The Pillars of Bathurst Commemorative Garden officially opened by Cr Gary Rush Mayor of Bathurst on Sunday 29 March 2015
Gary Rush Mayor of Bathurst
David Sherley General Manager
Plaque :
The Pillars commemorate past Bathurstians who have added something special to the story of the Bathurst region, ideally offering inspiration to living and future Bathurstians. Some of those commemorated are already known to us. Many have been chosen to bring forth those people that are less known today and who deserve to be better known. Those that have been selected as a "Pillar", or that may be selected in the future, will undoubtedly provoke discussion as to why those names where included and others not. Such result is consided a positive one and shows that we have a history that is alive and lively.
The restored cast iron verandah posts used in the garden have an historic relationship with the Royal Hotel in William Street. The Royal Hotel was one of the earliest inns in Bathurst. Known as the Good Woman Inn when it opened in 1843, it was originally a single storey building. Over the following 50 years, the hotel was significantly altered to its final form as a three storey building. Renamed the Royal Hotel in 1851, the hotel traded until 1965 when it closed and the building slowly became derelict.
Prior to the restoration in the early 1990s, some of the fabric and building elements of the Hotel were lost to the site, including the cast iron verandah posts from the rear of the building. The former Bathurst City Council was later given the opportunity to purchase the posts, which were then stored in Council`s depot for use in a future project. A conversation between CSU historian, Dr Robin McLachlan, and council staff many years later sparked the idea of the need to remember people, once important members of our community, for whom there were no memorials to tell of their contributions and achievements. The cast iron verandah posts, representing these Pillars of Bathurst, aim to provide a new focus to bring forth their stories.
Council has nominated the initial "Pillars" but there is space for many more. Council will engage with the community to nominate new "Pillars" each year until the eighty plaques available have been filled. Council could not have completed this project without the research undertaken by Dr McLachlan in drawing together the biographies provided.
