Tom Edwards Memorial (d. Martyrs Memorial)

October 26, 2021

Artist: Pietro Giacomo Porcelli

Year of Work: 1919

Location: Originally located in front of Trades Hall, Collie Street. Relocated in 1982 to Kings Square, adjacent the Fremantle Town Hall.

Asset Type: Memorial/ Permanent

Provenance: City of Fremantle

Description:

In 1917 Fremantle Lumpers Union stopped work on ships believed to be destined for Germany in the midst of the First World War. The dispute outlasted the war, with Waterside Workers’ Federation members blockading the S.S. Dimboola in May of 1919. National Warterside Workers Union members attempting to continue work approached the Dimboola on boats, a quarrel broke out and WWF member, Tom Edwards was struck to the head by a police baton. He died of his injuries in Fremantle Hospital three days later.
A fountain by prominent Italo-Australian sculptor Pietro Porcelli was built the year of his death, it is now located in King Square.

Statue of John Curtin

October 26, 2021

Artist: Charles Smith and Joan Walsh-Smith

Year of Work: 2003

Location: John Curtin Place, Kings Square. Town Hall end of High Street Mall

Asset Type: Memorial/ Permanent

Provenance: City of Fremantle

Description: Perhaps the most iconic of Australia’s prime ministers, John Curtin is bound to ordinary Australians by his working class roots and trade union advocacy, but most importantly as Australia’s war-time voice. Although Victorian by birth, Curtin made Western Australia his home in 1917 where he became an editor for a union press.
He joined federal parliament in 1928 as the elected Member of Fremantle. He became leader of the Labor Party in 1935 and prime minister in 1941 in the midst of war with Germany and Italy, with troops deployed in fronts in the middle-east and Europe. Weeks after his succession Australia was pulled into a war in the Pacific.
Curtin’s decisions strengthened relations with the United States, as their interests were directly threatened by Japan who had attacked ports in Australian and allied ports around the pacific.
Curtin died in office only weeks before the formal ending of the war in the Pacific. As Western Australia’s first and only prime minister, John Curtin is commemorated at King’s Square in Fremantle.

Image Source: Eugene Scrivener (Museum of Perth)

Pietro Porcelli Sculpture

October 26, 2021

Artist: Greg James

Year of Work: 1993

Location: King’s Square, Fremantle

Asset Type: Memorial/ Permanent

Provenance: Fremantle Italian Club

Description: Pietro Porcelli was an Italian-born sculptor responsible for a number of commemorative statues and monuments in Perth and Fremantle, including the bronze likenesses of Alexander Forrest in Stirling Gardens and C.Y. O’Connor at Fremantle Port.
Greg James was sought by friends of the deceased sculptor to help commemorate his contributions to Fremantle and the Italian community. His memorial is located in the northern corner of King Square.