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1930 : State Library of South Australia - B-68567
1930 : State Library of South Australia - B-68567

Photographs supplied by Roger Johnson / Arthur Garland / Bryan Cole / Stephen Warren

The mmonument was unveiled by the Governor, Major-General Sir Winston Dugan on Sunday 27 December 1936 as part of the centenary celebrations. It was designed by G. Beaumont Smith to commemorate the foundation of South Australia and to honour the early settlers.

On the south and north faces are bronze tablets listing the names of the first explorers: Nuyts, Flinders, Baudin, Sturt, Barker, Light and the first settlers, and the north tablet lists the founders: Wakefield, Gouger, Torrens, G.F. Angas and others. At the top of the four panels are portraits of Wakefield, Hindmarsh, Gouger and Angas and crowning the tip of the 12.9 metre high monument of Kapunda marble with its base of Murray Bridge granite is a bronze replica of the Buffalo.

A plaque was placed on the memorial to commemorate the visit by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1977 and again in 1986 to commemorate the sesqui-centenary of the foundation of South Australia. 

An assurance that the Pioneers' Memorial at Glenelg will be completed in time for the unveiling ceremony on Sunday, December 27, has been given to the Mayor of Glenelg (Mr. Fisk) by the contractor for the memorial (Mr A. S. Tillett). Mr. Fisk said today that the unveiling ceremony would be performed by the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) at 8.30 p.m. on December 27. Mr. Fisk hopes that following the opening, a divine service will be conducted appropriate to the occasion.

It is anticipated that congregations attending churches holding centenary religious services on that night will proceed from the churches to the memorial. "I expect a large influx of old colonists for the unveiling," said Mr. Fisk, "and that the whole ceremony will befit the purpose for which the memorial is being constructed."
News (Adelaide), 28 November 1936.

Location

Address:Moseley Square, Jetty Road, Glenelg, 5045
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.980353
Long: 138.511108
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Designer:G Beaumont Smith
Monument Manufacturer:Mr A. S. Tillett (Adelaide, SA)

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 27th December, 1936
Front Inscription

HIndmarsh

Here, at Holdfast Bay, landed the pioneer settlers and Governor Hindmarsh announced the establishment of the Government on Dec. 28th 1836

Left Side Inscription

Pioneers

In tribute to the first explorers of South Australia.

Nuyts - Flinders - Baudin
Sturt -   Barker -   Light

And in grateful remembrance of the first settlers men and women who by faith and courage endured the hardships of pioneer settlement to lay the foundations of South Australia

Si Monumentum Requirus Circumspice 

Back Inscription

Wakefield

Erected to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Province of South Australia

1836 - 1936

Plaque :

Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh landed at Glenelg from H.M.Y. Britannia on 20 April 1977 during the Royal Jubilee Tour and on 9 March 1986 to commemorate the Sesquicentenary of South Australia 
 

Right Side Inscription

To the memory of 

Edward Gibbon Wakefield  
Robert Gouger  
Robert Torrens  
George Fife Angus

And other founders who overcame great difficulties to secure the South Australian Foundation Act of 1834 and who  continued to labour ceaselessly until the Province was firmly established. 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au