James Martin Memorial

Fast Facts

Type of thing	Personal
Date made or found	1903
Place found	Gawler, South Australia
Current location	Whitelaw Terrace, Gawler, South Australia

In 1900, The Bunyip Newspaper published a public notice placed by the Mayor of Gawler, advising all interested parties (not just ratepayers) of a public meeting ‘to consider what steps shall be taken to perpetuate the memory of James Martin’. Councillor Wilkinson's suggested: " that the least that should be done was to show appreciation in some tangible way that would be lasting and would speak to future generations." He proposed that the funds would have to be raised and he believed that a ‘statue or monument erected in some conspicuous place in the town would speak to all the people who entered Gawler, and would show them Gawler’s estimate and the colony’s estimate of the worth of James Martin."

The James Martin Memorial Statue was carved by artist Gustave Henri Marchetti, a French painter, etcher and sculptor who executed the work in Italy after being engaged by Mr G. E. Morgan of Adelaide on behalf of The Martin Memorial Committee chaired. The statue was revealed in 1903.

The James Martin Memorial Statue was originally located on the corner of Murray Street and Calton Road. It was moved in 1968 to Whitelaw Terrace, near the corner of Tod Street, Gawler.

Inscription:

James Martin 1821-1899

A public tribute to his worth

The plaque which was attached in 1998 reads:

James Martin Born Stithians (Cornwall) 23rd April 1821 Died Gawler 27th December 1899 Affectionately referred to as “The Father of Gawler”

Please <click here> to read Sir Samuel Way's Dedication Eulogy of the Memorial proved by the National Trust Gawler Branch Volunteers.

Click here to view photos of the corner where the memorial once stood.

Please click here to view historical information from the 1998 Danvers Heritage Survey regarding this location. <¹>

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Sources

• 1. Danvers Architects Gawler Heritage Survey 1998 The Corporation of the Town of Gawler (June 1998)
• ‘The James Martin Memorial’ The Bunyip January 19 1900 p. 2.
• ‘James Martin to be moved’ The Bunyip August 14 1968.
• ‘New site for statue’ The Bunyip November 20 1968 p.3.
• ‘Statue moved’ The Bunyip June 4 1969. p1.

James Martin, Mayor 1861-64, 1868, 1877-78 and 1887.

Corner of Calton Road Murray Street, Gawler, post-1903

Original position of the James Martin Statue, corner of Calton Road and Murray Street, Gawler, post-1903

James Martin Statue, corner Calton Road and Murray Street, Gawler, post-1903

Corner of Calton Road and Murray Street, Gawler, after 1903 but prior to early 1930s

James Martin Statue, Whitelaw Terrace, Gawler, 2008

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