Queen Victoria Print Page

The statue, which was erected by the people of Victoria commemorates Queen Victoria who died in 1901.

The marble statue shows Queen Victoria in ceremonial gowns, complete with orb and sceptre, and depicts the history of her life in four statements: Birth 1819; Reign 1837-1901; Marriage 1840; Death 1901. The Queen Victoria statue was unveiled on the 24th May (Empire Day) 1907, by Lieutenant Governor Sir John Madden. 

Victoria was crowned Queen on 28 June 1838, when she was just 18 years of age. Lord Melbourne served as her first prime minister, educating her in politics and government. During her reign the British Empire reached its apogee, with vast colonies abroad and great industrial expansion and reforms at home. Notably, it was Victoria that changed the role of the monarchy to a symbolic one, the business of government being left to parliament.

News of the Queen’s death in 1901 saw a wave of public mourning throughout Australia. In Melbourne, a proposal for a memorial was raised with some urgency; Melbourne was thought to have been the only large city in the Empire without a statue honouring the monarch. More than £7000 was raised for the memorial through public subscription, and James White was to undertake the commission.

There was controversy over the conduct of the committee in selecting White and over his insistence that the marble be sculpted in Italy, rather than in Australia. But on Empire Day 1907 the memorial was unveiled on a raised mound near Linlithgow Avenue in the Queen Victoria Gardens. 

Victoria (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. With a reign of 63 years, seven months and two days, Victoria was the longest -reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history until her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her on 9 September 2015.

Queen Victoria`s birthday, 24th May, used to be called `Empire Day`. There were special assemblies at school with songs praising the British Empire. Children were then given a half-day holiday. Up to the 1950s, Empire Day was celebrated in Australia with huge bonfires and fireworks.

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