|
DEFINING THE HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE:
BLUE MOUNTAINS MEMORIALS TO BLAXLAND, LAWSON & WENTWORTH
Explorers' Lamp, Lawson
As a corollary to the celebrations at Mount York in May 1913 an interesting little ceremony took place in Lawson a year later. The Lawson folk might have delayed their tribute but they still wanted to honour the achievement of the three explorers and it was “decided that no more fitting day could be chosen on which to unveil Lawson's tribute to 'the Dauntless Three' than Empire Day, an event associated with all that is noble and inspiring in the history of the race.” (BM Echo 29 May 1914.)
A large crowd gathered in Belle Vue Hill Park to witness the ceremony. Patriotic songs were sung by the school children, Councillor John Geggie gave an informative opening speech and Mrs Sulman, the wife of architect John Sulman, unveiled the town's distinctive memorial - a public lamp (the first in the Blue Mountains Shire) placed on a concrete plinth with inscribed tablet. The lamp consisted of a cluster of three lights, each symbolising one of the explorers and Mrs Sulman had to use “a monster brass torch” to light them in turn.
© 2001 John Low . The article and images cannot be used without the author's permission.
Photographs courtesy Blue Mountains City Library, Local Studies Collection
|
