DAVID ADAMS gives a brief overview of the founding of Australia’s capital city, Canberra…
|
NATION’S CAPITAL: View toward Capital Hill. PICTURE: David Adams |
Australia’s capital city, Canberra, this month celebrated 100 years since its official founding. But what are its origins?
Canberra was born out of the need for the new Federation of Australia – created in 1901 when six separate British colonies on the continent of Australia united in the formation of a new nation – to have an official capital city.
While eyes initially turned to the existing state capitals of Sydney and Melbourne, it was soon realised that neither would be acceptable to the inhabitants of the other. And so a compromise was reached – Melbourne would serve as the temporary capital until a new city was built, located between Melbourne and its northern neighbour Sydney.
The city would be located inside the bounds of a newly created territory – the Australian Capital Territory – which, which located in New South Wales, had to be at least 100 kilometres from Sydney.
The selected site was located in the Yass-Canberra district, south-west of Sydney. It was formally created the Federal Capital Territory on 1st January, 1911(and later renamed the Australian Capital Territory).
Meanwhile, King O’Malley, the Minister for Home Affairs, launched an international competition for the design of the new capital city to be located within the new territory. More than 130 entries were received from around the world and the competition was eventually won by American architect Walter Burley Griffin (the drawings were the work of his talented wife, Marion Mahony Griffin).
Griffin’s design was based around a triangular central district and featured much use of parkland and a series of interlinked lakes.
Various names for the capital were suggested – among them Paradise, Cookaburra, Sydmelperasbrisho and Kangaremu – before Canberra – said to mean ‘meeting place’ in a local Aboriginal language – was agreed.
While work on the city officially began in February 1913, the new city wasn’t officially given its new name on 12th March by Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General, at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Andrew Fisher on the site now known as Capital Hill. The event is now commemorated by the ACT on the second Monday of March – Canberra Day.
If you have a word you’d like to know the origins of, simply send an email to [email protected].
