Pioneers Memorial Monument - Beechworth, Victoria, Australia
S 36° 21.567 E 146° 41.233
55H E 471938 N 5976136
A monument in the form of a stone cairn erected to honour the pioneers of the picturesque rural and former gold-mining town of Beechworth.
Waymark Code: WME8PC
Location: Victoria, Australia
Date Posted: 04/19/2012
Views: 7
The monument, topped by a miner's pick, shovel and gold panning dish, is just outside the historic Beechworth Post Office on the corner of High Street and Camp Street, the two main streets of Beechworth.
The Memorial Plaque which is on the Camp Street face of the monument reads:
ERECTED IN 1954 IN MEMORY AND IN HONOR OF
THE PIONEERS WHO FOUNDED THIS TOWN, AND TO
COMMEMORATE THE FACT THAT BEECHWORTH
WAS ONCE A FAMOUS GOLD TOWN.
SOME HISTORICAL DATES
FEB. 1852 GOLD DISCOVERED.
JULY 1853 BEECHWORTH NAMED AND DECLARED
A TOWNSHIP.
SEPT. 1855 FAMOUS GOLDEN HORSESHOES INCIDENT.
1852-1866 GOLD RETURNS TOTALLED 3,121,918 OZS.
1856-1859 ROBERT O'HARA BOURKE, CAPT. POLICE
AT BEECHWORTH.
AUG 6TH 1880 NED KELLY'S TRIAL BEGINS IN LOCAL
COURT-HOUSE.
Beechworth is notable in my own family tree, because one of my ancestors, Elijah Upjohn, was the executioner who hanged Ned Kelly, Australia's most notorious bushranger, who is revered as a "folk hero" despite his conviction and execution for murder.
Beechworth’s famous Ned Kelly Weekend is held in August each year with a lively program of re-enactments, theatre, art, music, displays, market stalls, competitions and talks by leading authorities on the subject of the life and times of Australia’s most notorious bushranger.
Widely regarded as this country’s most important annual celebration of the Kelly legend, the weekend event commemorates the anniversary of the outlaw’s committal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880.