Frederick Piesse Print Page

The statue was erected by public subscription in memory of merchant, agriculturist, and politician, Frederick Piesse (1853 - 1912). 

In 1886 the government concluded a land-grant railway agreement with an English syndicate, the Western Australian Land Co., which agreed to construct, equip and run a railway between Beverley and Albany in return for extensive land-grants. The Great Southern Line opened in 1889 and the town of Katanning mushroomed round the central station`s shunting yards and goods shed. It consisted at first mainly of F. & C. Piesse`s buildings. They bought vast stretches of agricultural country near their respective towns from the land company. Their confidence and enthusiasm for the Great Southern was boundless; they promoted anything which would contribute to its progress and they were revered by the local citizens. In 1891 the firm built in the centre of Katanning a three-storey, electrically powered flour-mill. When the town achieved roads board status in 1892, Frederick Piesse became chairman.

The Piesse Memorial statue, erected by public subscription, at Katanning, was unveiled by Sir John Forrest on the 31st May. Within a few days of the decease of the late Frederick Henry Piesse, C.M.G., in 1912, the residents of Katanning, at a public meeting, decided to erect a statue to his memory. A strong committee was appointed, and the greater part of the necessary funds raised. Signor Pietro Porcelli was commissioned to provide a bronze statue on a granite pedestal, and foundations. Through the outbreak of the war, the steamer Roon, conveying the statue, was diverted to Batavia, and the statue only reached Katanning a couple of months ago. It was in due course erected on a commanding site, at the entrance to the railway station at the junction of Albion street with Austral terrrace.
Western Mail (Perth) 2nd June 1916.
 

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