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La Trobe to Be Honoured with Statue
16 November 2006
To celebrate the National Trust's Year of La Trobe, the La Trobe Society is presenting the Library with a bronze statue of Charles Joseph La Trobe by eminent sculptor Peter Corlett.
The statue, to be installed on the north lawn of the Library, will be unveiled on Tuesday 21 November. The ceremony will be attended by special guests including La Trobe's great-great-grandson, Charles La Trobe Blake.
Charles Joseph La Trobe was Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales from 1839 to 1851, and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria from 1851 until his departure from Australia in 1854. He was one of a number of eminent figures keen to foster the development of cultural institutions in Melbourne.
A proponent of a free public library for Victorians, his planning - including setting aside land and funds, and appointing Redmond Barry as Chairman of the Trustees of the Library - led to the opening of the Melbourne Public Library in 1856.
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