The monument erected over the grave commemorates Edmund Milne, Deputy Commissioner for Railways who died in 1917.
Milne was railway stationmaster (later deputy chief commissioner for NSW Railways & Tramways) and collector of Aboriginal artefacts. He also located, documented and photographed Aboriginal carved trees, found at initiation and burial sites. In 1918 Robert Etheridge (director of the Australian Museum, Sydney) published The dendroglyphs or "carved trees" of New South Wales largely based on Milne's sites.
About 4000 people yesterday afternoon attended the unveiling by the Governor, Sir Walter Davidson, of a publicly-subscribed monument in the Waverley Cemetery to the memory of the late Mr. Edmund Milne, Deputy Commissioner for Railways, who died on August 22, 1917. The monument, an obelisk 15ft high. is of Gunning granite, and surmounts the vault, of which the kerb is of Melbourne bluestone, and the surface of black and white tiles.
Sir Walter Davidson said the late Mr. Milne, was essentially the product of the railway service, which as a boy he entered as a telegraph probationer, and in which he rose because he had ambition, determination, boundless energy, and unflagging zeal and because he was a master of detail, and had infinite capacity for taking pains. He was always at the service of the public; he followed the "open door" policy with regard to complaints by the public and the staff, and won the confidence and respect of both. His work in connection with rifle shooting, the railway and tramway ambulance classes, and the Railway and Tramway Institute were monumental. (Applause.) In everything he set a model for the young men in the service. Furthermore, his anthropoligical work in connection with the aborigines and their records on trees was acknowledged by Mr. Etheridge, director and curator of the Sydney Museum, to be of considerable scientific value. Mr. R. T. Ball said that Mr. Milne's services imposed on the Government and the public an obligation to see that Mr. Milne's family
were never in want. He could say, as a member of the Government, that the relatives need have no fear on that account. (Applause.)
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 21 October 1918.
Location
| Address: | Trafalgar & St Thomas Streets, Waverley Cemetery, Bronte, 2024 |
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| State: | NSW |
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| Area: | AUS |
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| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.907222
Long: 151.264167
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
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View Google MapDetails
| Monument Type: | Grave |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
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| Sub-Theme: | Government - State |
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Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 20th October, 1918 |
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Front Inscription
Left Side Inscription
Back Inscription
Right Side Inscription
Inscription in Proximity
Source: MA
