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7 March 2001
NOT JUST A DRAIN - A PLAQUE FOR THE GRAVE OF ST KILDA’S FIRST MAYOR
11 am, Sunday 18 March - St Kilda General Cemetery,
Cnr Dandenong Road & Hotham St., East St Kilda
St Kilda’s first mayor, Benjamin T Cowderoy, is best known for the drain named in his honour in West St Kilda. He otherwise lies forgotten in an unmarked grave in St Kilda General Cemetery with his eldest daughter Martha and grand daughter Ellen.
This historical omission is soon to be rectified as Port Phillip Council has responded to the request of the Friends of St Kilda General Cemetery to install a plaque commemorating Cowderoy and his descendants. Mayor, Julian Hill, will unveil a plaque commemorating Benjamin Cowderoy and Martha and Ellen at 11 am, Sunday 18 March, St Kilda General Cemetery.
Cr Hill, said that Cowderoy’s living descendants, the Morgan family of Beverly Hills, NSW, had been very supportive of the proposal and would be present at the unveiling of the plaque.
“The cost of the plaque - $394 - is a tiny price when compared to the overdue historical recognition it bestows on St Kilda’s founding father,” he said.
Benjamin Cowderoy was born in Reading, England, on 22 January 1812 and arrived in Melbourne at the end of 1852. He shortly afterwards formed the Victorian Freehold Land Society with Frederick Sargood and Thomas Fulton.
Cowderoy became the inaugural mayor of St Kilda Council on 11 March 1857 and retired as a councillor in 1866. His classical education attained at Christ’s Hospital in England allowed him to design St Kilda Council’s crest and select a motto, aura favente feror (born on a favouring breeze). Cowderoy was later appointed secretary of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce. He lived to 93 years of age, dying on 1 October 1904. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest Justices of the Peace in Victoria. Cowderoy had three children. He served for a time as a trustee of the St Kilda General Cemetery.
Written by:
Carmel Shute
Council Media Officer
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