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David Wynford CarnegiePrint Page Print this page

07-August-2015 (Bryan Hardy)
07-August-2015 (Bryan Hardy)

Photographs supplied by Father Ted Doncaster / Bryan Hardy

The plaque with bas relief portrait, commemorates David Wynford Carnegie (1871 - 1900) , an explorer who was killed in Nigeria. The plaque is a replica of the one unveiled in Brechin Cathedral, Forfarshire, Scotland on the 6th September 1925.

Between March 1894 and March 1895 Carnegie made two commissioned prospecting expeditions for the Hampton Plains Pastoral Co. Carnegie now had both the experience and the funds to seek fame by an inland crossing of Western Australia from south to north. Planning to establish the nature of the country between the 1874 route of (Sir) John Forrest and the 1872-73 route of Warburton, he was concerned particularly with gold and the possibility of a direct stockroute between the Kimberley district and Coolgardie.

In December 1899 he went to Northern Nigeria as an assistant resident under Sir Frederick Lugard. He served at Illorin and while based at Lokoja was killed by a poisoned arrow in a minor skirmish at Kerifi on 21 November 1900. He was buried at Lokoja and a memorial was erected in Brechin Cathedral, Forfarshire, Scotland. The replica was placed in St George's Cathedral, Perth.

On the wall of the south transept of St. George's Cathedral is a memorial plate, raised to the memory of one David Wynford  Carnegie. Few people have ever seen it;- fewer still are aware of the work of the man whose face is modelled there. But the profile, carved in bronze, with a border of black marble, shows a rare strength and power. The sightless eyes are not large, but are deep-set beneath a slightly receding forehead. The nose is that of an aristocrat, long, yet narrow— a true "bec d'aigle." The full lips would suggest sensuality were they divorced from the rest of the face. Determination, and the disdain of the aristocrat for danger, are there; and there is a certain intensity of expression symbolising the constant effort in the man's life. Repose is not there, but the firm manner in which the lips are closed, the hooked nose are eloquent of determination and unrest— and the marriage of these means power. Carnegie's idealism becomes apparent in the legend. In curt, chaste phrases his life is summed up, and the promise which the face holds is borne out. 
West Australian (Perth),  22 August 1931.

Location

Address:38 St Georges Terrace, South Transept, St George`s Cathedral , Perth, 6000
State:WA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -31.955556
Long: 115.860833
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Exploration
Link:http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/adbonli…

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 11th March, 1926
Front Inscription

The Honourable David Wynford Carnegie, 
4th son of James, 9th Earl of Southesk.
Born March 3, 1871.
Explorer and Administrator.

Leading his own expedition he traversed 2,000 miles of unknown Western Australia. 1896 - 7.
Appointed Resident in Northern Nigeria in 1899.
He was killed in action on November 27, 1900.
Steadfast in high endeavour.    

Plaque :

This memorial to the Hon. David Wynford Carnegie, was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor Col. Sir W. Campion, KCMG, D.S.O. on 11th March 1926.

It is a replica of the one placed in Brechin Cathedral in 1925.

Presented by the explorers friends in Scotland


 

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