Donald MacDonaldPrint Page 
A bird bath commemorates journalist, Donald MacDonald who was the first Australian war correspondent present at the South African War during which he was beseiged at Ladysmith. A newspaper cutting on MacDonald published in the Sandringham News in 1957 (his birth centenary) is provided near the memorial behind glass.
His delayed dispatches were carried on the same steamer that returned him to Australia, suffering from dysentery. Published in the Argus, they were `discussed in every home and hotel bar` and reprinted as How we Kept the Flag Flying (1900). The response to a lecture in the Melbourne Town Hall led to a year`s leave to tour Australia, New Zealand and Britain. In 1909 and 1910 Macdonald repeated his lecture, `Scenes and Sensations of Battle`, at the Portsea summer schools for teachers.
His early sketches of country life and his Nature reflections in the Argus and Australasian were easy, unstudied reveries, tinged with humour. Pieces on subjects as diverse as the red kangaroo, life in the Riverina and Sunday in Sydney were seen by the author as `moments of respite from the duties of daily journalism`.
His daughter, Mrs Elaine Whittle, now deceased,unveiled the monument in 1939.
Nature-lovers and all who admired the work of the late Donald Macdonald are invited to attend the unveiling of his memorial in the Black Rock Park at 3 o'clock on Sunday. The memorial is a bird bath bearing his portrait in bronze, and it stands appropriately in a sanctuary in the district where he spent his last years. Erected to the prize-winning design of Stanley Hammond, sculptor, the memorial is the contribution of many readers of "The Argus" and "The Australasian" who responded to the appeal launched by the late Sir Ernest Scott, the late Mr. Frank Tate, and by Sir Edward Cunningham, who, as former editor of "The Argus," will speak on Sunday. It is considered singularly fortunate that Mrs. Elaine Whittle, daughter of Donald Macdonald, should have returned from England just in time to perform the unveiling ceremony. The Mayor of Sandringham (Councillor A. J. Steele) will preside.
Argus (Melbourne), 13 December 1939.
Location
| Address: | Haydens Road, Donald MacDonald Reserve, Beaumaris, 3193 |
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| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.982643 Long: 145.028743 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Structure |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Arts |
| Designer: | Stanley Hammond |
| Link: | http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/adbonli… |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 17th December, 1939 |
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Donald MacDonald, friend of the creatures of the wild, chose this district in which to live and to end his days.
Born at Fitzroy 1857, died at Black Rock 1932.
Erected by readers of his "Nature Notes" in the Argus.
