Kew War Memorial and Cenotaph
Unveiling of the Kew War Memorial, 1925. Sears Studio. Courtesy: Kew Historical Society
The Kew War Memorial honouring 917 local residents who served in World War I, is located on a triangular site at the junction of High Street and Cotham Road. This setting is part of an important civic precinct including the Court House, Post Office and Police Station.
Historic records reveal the Kew Municipal Council appointed a sub-committee in June 1919 to consider a suitable war memorial to commemorate soldiers from the district. In August 1920, the land in front of the Post Office was transferred to the Council.
It was decided to hold a competition for the design of the Memorial, with the proviso that the Council was not bound to accept any design. The estimated cost was not to be more than £3500. Prizes offered were £50, £15 and £10. F. Bruce Kemp won first prize. However, the Council later decided to reject his design and opted to construct the Memorial according to the original design of former Kew Council Mayor, Harry W. Tompkins who was a notable Melbourne architect. The Council funded the construction by the sale of some unused land.
The War Memorial was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor of Victoria, Lord Stradbroke, before a very large gathering of citizens on 30 August 1925.
Kew War Memorial is a fine example of a classical style war memorial design. Built in granite and marble as a circular temple supported on ionic columns, its design takes advantage of the centrally-located site and allows a clear view of all faces of the memorial. The frieze commemorates the theatres of war in which Kew residents served. In the centre of the temple is a square granite cenotaph. The western face of the cenotaph details the purpose of the memorial and the occasion of its opening. The names of those servicemen and women who served in the World War 1 – those who returned to Australia and those who died - have been inscribed on the other three faces.
Rotary Club of Kew
The Rotary Club of Kew was established in June 1967 and has serviced both the local and wider community since that time.
It was established with 30 members from the Kew area and today has an active membership of over 40 men and women.
For more than 50 years, the Club and its members have been actively involved in supporting the youth of the area with programs such as Youth Exchange and School Debating. It has continually raised funds to provide much needed assistance to local charities in the City of Boroondara as well as international organisations such as the Alola Foundation in East Timor. Over the past few years, some $600,000 have been raised to support these programs through the Club's major fundraising venture, Garden DesignFest.
The Club is dedicated to the continuation of the great work of those Rotarians who have gone before and is always looking for like-minded people to join.
Kew Rotarians; the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP; Tim Smith, Member for Kew; and local dignitaries acknowledging the centenary of Armistice Day at the Kew Memorial and Cenotaph on Sunday, 11 November 2018
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The Rotary Club of Kew takes the matter of information privacy seriously. It endeavours at all times to protect and handle personal information in a manner consistent with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the APP Code for Australian Government Agencies.
As a community service conducted by the Rotary Club of Kew, the purpose of this web site is to commemorate the service of those men and women listed on the Kew Cenotaph & Memorial who served during World War 1.
The Rotary Club of Kew is mindful of privacy issues when providing access to personal recollections, accounts and material that has been compiled for this Project through access to public records.
If you have concerns regarding the information provided and its use, please contact the Rotary Club of Kew. If any of the information we hold is incorrect, inaccurate or out-of-date, please contact us immediately and we will amend the information so held.