![]() ![]() The procession, two miles in length, featured marines, naval, fire & military brigades, associated bodies and thirteen bands. – Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 26 February 1879. He added that it would be well for the youth of Australia to imitate his nobility of character. His Excellency the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, unveiled the statue and in doing so, made a speech, in which he gave a narrative of Cook's life, and characterised him as a humane, just, and God-fearing man. ![]() Two hundred children sang the National Anthem. The ceremony was witnessed by about 60,000 people. The procession was composed of marines, volunteers, and friendly societies, and was the largest ever seen in Sydney. The ceremony of unveiling Captain Cook's statue took place today, and was a great success. Approximately 12,000 joined the procession to Hyde Park and the unveiling itself was attended by an estimated 60,000 people. The day of the statue's unveiling was declared a public holiday. The statue was dedicated on Tuesday 25 February 1879. Ĭook's statue, circa 1885, six years after its dedication An axe was used to separate the ships and the jury-rigged Settler's Friend entered Port Jackson three days later. On the second night out, a few miles off Jervis Bay, the schooner collided with a 400-ton barque headed in the same direction. It was then transported to Sydney by the 80-ton schooner Settler's Friend. The granite base of the statue was transported from a quarry in Moruya, New South Wales, initially by being rolled along a wooden-railed bush tram line, covering six miles and taking three days. It was described in The Art Journal as “unquestionably a work designed with force and spirit that raise it to the character of the sensational”. In 1878, the statue was briefly displayed opposite London's Athenaeum Club prior to being shipped to Sydney. ![]() It was built by Cox & Sons at Thomas Ditton Foundry in Surrey. Parkes directed that since the ‘position in Hyde Park is a very exposed one…the statue must be of bronze’. In a letter to Woolner dated 26 September 1874, Colonial Secretary Sir Henry Parkes requested the prolific sculptor send a design for the statue along with size and material specifications and a probable timeframe for its creation. Once Parliament voted to fund completion of the monument, Thomas Woolner, a fellow of the Royal Academy in London who had once lived in Australia, was commissioned for the sculpture. Following the ceremony, however, the pedestal remained empty for nine years due to difficulties in raising additional funds the Cook Statue Committee then asked the premier of New South Wales for assistance. On 27 March 1869, Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria, laid the foundation stone during a well-attended gala at Hyde Park. The Cook Statue Fund, launched by the APA at a public meeting at Victoria Theatre in Sydney, raised £1,777. Starting in the 1860s, the Australia Patriotic Association started a public appeal for donations to erect a "double life-size bronze and granite" statue of Cook in Sydney's Hyde Park. Interest in the construction of a statue of James Cook preceded its creation by over a decade. Designed by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood sculptor Thomas Woolner and unveiled in 1879, the statue is larger than life and depicts Cook holding a telescope in his left hand with his right hand extended towards the sky. 1879 statue by Thomas Woolner in Sydney, Australia Captain James Cook ![]()
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