Esperance
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The town of Esperance has a population in excess of 7,000, situated on the South Coast some 720kms from Perth it is a popular holiday destination and the administrative centre for Esperance Shire which is a large agricultural area. Established as a port in 1893 to support the gold strikes in Coolgardie and,later,Kalgoorlie it suffered a downturn in the 1900s with the completion of the Fremantle to Kalgoorlie railway, today it is a thriving community based on agriculture, tourism, fishing and exports of grain and minerals.
Situated in a park on the corner of Dempster and James Streets, the design of this Memorial with it's broken column draped with the national flag is unique in Western Australia and, perhaps, the rest of Australia. Following WW1 a Memorial Committee was formed and included the mothers of those who had died, one suggestion was for a Memorial Hosptial but the mothers wanted a more visible and public monument to the sons they had lost and their wishes prevailed. A public appeal was launched by Mr.Frank Bridges and a sum in excess of Six Hundred Pounds was collected, the Esperance population at this time was less than Five Hundred. A Perth monument company built the Memorial in sections and it was shipped by sea to Esperance aboard,it is believed, the 'SS Eucla'. Two Esperance tradesmen tendered for the job of erection, Mr.W.A.G.Hearn who was a local plumber,carpenter and undertaker was succesful and completed the job in 1924, he also made the WW1 Honour Board* recording the 78 men (including four members of the Lewis family three of whom were killed,upon the death of the third the last one left alive was withdrawn from the battlefield and returned to Australia)who enlisted which now hangs in the RSL Sub-Branch H.Q. close by. Orginally erected on the edge of Dempster St. the Memorial was moved back to it's present position under the supervision of the RSL in 1974.
The designer of this Memorial is unknown, the records of the W.A.Heritage Council show the architect as W.A.G.Hearn but local records show that he only erected it. According to Mrs. P. Uredenbreg, her father, William Brinley Murray* (1888-1971), was responsible for the design and,in fact, spent time at the Monument Co. in Perth assisting in it's construction, she also claims that whilst at Gallipoli her father carved many wooden markers for the graves of those killed there. That William Murray did have interest and ability in design and handicrafts is confirmed by the 1st.Prize awarded to him for Clay Modelling at the 1915 Perth Royal Agricultural Show.
*Enlisted 11th.Btn. 17/8/14 (Pte.77), after two weeks training embarked for Egypt together with 9, 10 & 12 Btns. as 3rd.Brigade. Training continued in Egypt until April, 1915 when 3rd.Brigade was deployed as covering force for the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, as such 3rd.Brigade were the first ANZACS ashore. The 11th.Btn. remained at Gallipoli until the evacuation in December,1915,however,William Murray arrived back in Australia 7/11/15 , this early repatriation probably due to wounds sustained.
*see Honour Board page
Historical information courtesy Esperance Museum & RSL Sub-Branch
