Palm Trees in Gillott Reserve, Spring Street Melbourne

In November 1948 The Argus, under the headline City Palm Trees Go, reported that the Ornamental Palm Trees in the Spring street plantation near the Burke and Wills statue are being chopped down, but for a very good reason - they are all rotted at the base. (1) The Palm Trees are shown in this photograph, below.

The Palm Tree can be seen in the plantation behind the Burke and Wills Monument.

Burke & Wills Statue, Spring Street, 1940s. Victorian Railways photographer.

State Library of Victoria image H91.50/1373

The Burke and Wills monument was designed and created by Charles Summers and unveiled on April 21, 1865. It was then situated at the intersection of Collins Street and Russell Street. In 1886 it was relocated, due to cable tram works, to a small reserve in Spring Street near the Model School. The Model School was later known as the Continuation School and after its demolition in 1933 it was replaced by the College of Surgeons building, which still stands. (2) This reserve is now call Gillott Reserve, but at the time of the relocation of the Monument this small park did not have a name. Gillott Reserve was named in 1913 for Sir Samuel Gillott (1938-1913) a Lawyer, Lord Mayor of  Melbourne and Member of the Legislative Assembly. (3)

The naming of Gillott Reserve in 1913. As you can see its location was corner of Evelyn, Spring and Victoria Streets. Evelyn Street, a continuation of Nicholson Street and which ran between Victoria Parade and Spring Street. It was renamed Nicholson Street around 1938. (4)

The Age, August 22, 1913 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197487426

The Burke and Wills Monument remained at Gillott Reserve until 1973, when due to underground rail loop works it was shifted to the Carlton Garden and then in 1979 to the City Square. (5)

There are very few photograph of the monument in Spring Street at the the State Library of Victoria, but you can see it and the Palm Trees in the two images below.

Victory Day March in June 1946. The Burke and Wills monument and the Palm Trees are top right, just below the Exhibition Buildings dome.

Victory Day marches in Australia. The Argus photographer. A similar image published on the front page of The Argus on June 11, 1946  see http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22258034

State Library of Victoria image H98.100/2722. 

The Burke and Wills monument and the Palm Tree, are top right, in front of the College of Surgeons building.

Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne, Victoria. Photographer: Commercial Photographic Co.

Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria image  H2009.95/41. 

We know when the Palm Trees were removed, but when were they planted? Possibly in 1906. This short report about reserves in Spring Street appeared in The Age in May 1906. The report also included the extraordinary news that Parliament House was one of the only buildings in Melbourne not sewered. The Commonwealth Parliament occupied the Parliament buildings from 1901 until 1927 when it moved to Canberra. From The Age - 
There are two small reserves between Spring and Albert streets, near the Federal Parliament Houses, which would be all the better for the expenditure of a little money. One is under the control of the City Council and the other is included in the lease held by the Federal Parliamentary authorities. At the quarterly meeting of the City Council yesterday Alderman Sir Arthur Snowden moved that the Federal Government be requested to improve the area under its control, and throw it open to the public in the day time as a place of promenade. Cr. Pleasance, in seconding the motion, expressed the opinion that the council should look to its own reserve. Alderman Sir Samuel Gillott said he had on many occasions attempted to get these spots beautified, but without success. The Lord Mayor told the council that he had recently been in communication with the Premier about the sewering of the Parliamentary buildings in Spring-street, and had been informed that the Federal authorities were the sole owners of the property at the present time, end that they said they had no money to spend, and would not spend a shilling on it. Parliament-House was about the only building in Melbourne which was not sewered. After some discussion it was decided to request the baths and parks committee to take action to secure the improvement of both reserves. (6)

If this is correct, then the Palm Trees in Gillott Reserve survived just over 40 years from 1906 until 1948 when they were removed.

Footnotes
(1) The Argus, November 10, 1948, see here. This is the image they had with the report; you can see part of a sawn-off trunk on the left.

(2) From eMelbourne - Burke and Wills Monument by Christine Downer   https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00264b.htm; Model School by Ian Wilkinson   https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00990b.htm

(3) The Age, August 22, 1913, see here; Sir Samuel Gillott - Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gillott-sir-samuel-6390

(4) Evelyn Street - called Evelyn Street in a 1937 Street Directory and Nicholson Street in a 1938 Street Directory. Street Directories are digitised at the State Library of Victoria   https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections

Evelyn Street, from Map 1a, 1937 Morgan's Street Directory

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/288183

(5) From eMelbourne - Burke and Wills Monument   https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00264b.htm
(6) The Age, May 10 1906, see here.