T. J. ByrnesPrint Page

The statue commemorates the former Queensland Premier , T.J. Byrnes, who died suddenly at age 38. The statue was moved to Centenary Place in 1924. 

Byrnes took office as Premier of Queensland in April 1898 and almost at once made a tour of the colony, so that he might become familiar with the general conditions. Shortly after the opening of Parliament, though apparently in robust health, he took ill and died of pneumonia at Brisbane on 27 September 1898.

Byrnes was in office for the whole of his political life of over eight years; a record that is probably unique. He was a man of fine character, urbane, broad-minded and tactful, one of the most able men who ever entered the Queensland Parliament.

The ceremony of unveiling the statue erected to the memory of the late Hon. T. J. Byrnes was performed yesterday by his Excellency the Governor, Sir Herbert Chermside, in the presence of a large concourse of people, at the intersection of Queen, Wickham, Ann, and Boundary streets, Petrie's Bight.

The figure is of bronze, and is proportioned to a height of 9ft. 6in. On the pedestal the statue towers 22ft above the surface foundation. It was, as is well known, fashioned by Mr. Bertram Mackennal, the well-known Victorian sculptor, in his London studio. The pose is such as to suggest thought, and the expression on the familiar features is that of earnestness. The statue rests on a well executed pediment, moulded by Mr. E. L. Thumm, of Brisbane, out of local granite of excellent quality, procured from the Enoggera quarries. The pedestal proper is composed of the finest quality of Yangan stone, from the quarries recently opened up near Warwick by Mr. A. Midson.
The Brisbane Courier, 23 August 1902.

Location

Details

Dedication