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James White - Statue Of Edmund Gerald Fitzgibbon

Location Grass nature strip between east carriageways opposite Linlithgow Avenue St Kilda Road, MELBOURNE VIC 3004 - Property No B7228 File Number B7228 Level State

[1/3] B7228 Edmund Fitzgibbon [2/3] B7228 Edmund Fitzgibbon [3/3] B7228 Edmund Fitzgibbon

Statement of Significance

What is significant? A statue which was commissioned by the City of Melbourne Council in 1906 to commemorate the fifty years of service of Edmund FitzGibbon to the city. The statue, by the sculptor James White, is executed in bronze and stands on a plinth of Harcourt granite. The statue was re-located in 2002 by the City of Melbourne to a prominent position on St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, approximately two hundred metres south of its original location in 1908. Previously located to the north of Parliament Station, the statue has undergone significant conservation before its installation at the present site.
How is it significant? The statue of Edmund G FitzGibbon, by the sculptor James White, erected in 1908 by the Melbourne City Council, is significant for social reasons at a State level.
Why is it significant? The statue commemorates the life of one of Melbourne's longest serving civic leaders, Edmund FitzGibbon. Following the death of FitzGibbon late in 1905, the City Council invited several eminent sculptors to compete for the commission to execute a statue in remembrance of his contribution to the governance of Melbourne.
The competition was won by James White, an eminent sculptor practising in Sydney but already responsible for many prestigious public sculptures in Australia, notably in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. White had recently completed the Queen Victoria Memorial, Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne (1904-07). Although popular and successful during the 1890's and early 1900's White's work was often criticised at the time in the press as lacking in character.
The statue is particularly significant because of the career of its subject and the impact that he had on the improvement and development of Melbourne over a fifty year period in public office. FitzGibbon was Town Clerk of Melbourne for thirty five years and the founding Chairman of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. In these roles he oversaw significant improvements to the city including facilitation of the introduction of the tram-way system, and introduction of a sewerage system and water controls. He was far sighted in his efforts to minimise pollution of the Yarra River. Contemporary correspondence in the press of the time confirms the respect he had earned from the citizens of Melbourne.
Classified: 07/04/2004