Parliament and the new Federal capital 1927

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Harold Power (1877-1951), The Arrival of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York at the Opening of Federal Parliament House Building, Canberra, 9 May 1927, 1928, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection.

On 24 March 1927 the federal Parliament met for the last time in Melbourne. On 9 May, HRH The Duke of York (later King George VI) opened the new federal Parliament House in Canberra amid ‘scenes of epic pageantry’.¹ Over one million people listened to the ceremony via radio broadcast, which featured Dame Nellie Melba singing the national anthem (which was then ‘God save the King’).² To ‘the accompaniment of thunderous cheers’, the Duke unlocked the Parliament’s doors with a golden key at the invitation of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce,³ who in a ‘stirring address’ declared:

Within these portals will be framed those laws which will mould the destiny of a people. May those who enter this open door govern with justice, reason and equal favour to all. May they do so in humility and without self-interest. May they think and act nationally. May they speak with the voice of those who sent them here – the voice of the people.⁴

Harold Power and William McInnes were both commissioned to capture the opening of federal Parliament House. While McInnes was commissioned to paint the ceremony inside the Senate chamber, Power was contracted to paint ‘The general scene in front of Parliament House on the arrival of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of York [or] The general scene at the opening of the Door of Parliament House by His Royal Highness The Duke of York’.

With this commission (above), Power drew on his experience as an official war artist in World War I where he captured large-scale scenes of cavalry conflicts. Power’s painting shows the Duke and Duchess of York approaching the steps of Parliament House in a horse-drawn carriage. Waiting there are Prime Minister Stanley Bruce with Governor-General Lord Stonehaven, and Dame Nellie Melba poised to sing the National Anthem. The Duke of York’s flag waits unfurled above the entrance, the British Union Jack to the left and the Red Ensign to the right.⁵

William McInnes (1889-1939), Opening of Federal Parliament at Canberra, 9 May 1927, 1927-1928, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection.

In 1927, William McInnes was commissioned by the Historic Memorials Committee to produce ‘A painting in oils of the scene in the Senate Chamber of the Houses of Parliament at Canberra at the time of the ceremony to be performed by His Royal Highness The Duke of York’. McInnes’s depiction of the opening ceremony was executed with the precision of a draughtsman and captured the moment with great realism. His contract stipulated that he was not ‘entitled to require any sittings of any individuals included in the painting’. He was, however, granted the assistance of a photographer for planning purposes. Following the acceptance by the Historic Memorials Committee, the painting was displayed in a prominent position in King’s Hall at Parliament House adjacent to Power’s painting of the outdoor ceremony.⁶

Parliamentarians, dignitaries and guests assembled in the Senate where the Duke of York delivered a ‘brief but eloquent speech’ and a message of goodwill from the King, marking the inauguration of Canberra as the seat of Government. Further commemorating the occasion was the King’s personal gift to Australia: two despatch boxes, replicas of those in the House of Commons, testifying to the strong ties between the two Parliaments.⁷ Formal proceedings ended with an investiture and official lunch.⁸

The Duke and Duchess of York in the Senate Chamber officiating at the opening of Parliament House, 1927. Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA A1200, L76961).

Address by the Duke of York at the opening of Parliament House, Canberra, 9 May 1927. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia (MS 1604, 229724713).

Later that afternoon, during a RAAF fly-over, Flying Officer Francis Charles Ewen was tragically killed when his plane crashed.⁹

Present at the opening of Parliament were well-known Wiradjuri elders, Jimmy Clements and John Noble, who had walked to Canberra from Brungle Aboriginal Station located between Gundagai and Tumut.¹⁰ Clements was later described in the Argus as claiming ‘sovereign rights to the Federal Territory’.¹¹ The National Archives of Australia describes this as ‘possibly the first recorded instance of Aboriginal protest at Parliament House’.¹²

The following day, locals and visitors thronged to see the royal couple in an informal civic reception at Parliament House, and the Duke and Duchess toured the city by car, greeted by ‘cheering and waving of flags’.¹³ A special coin issue, the Canberra Florin, ensured that ‘every member of our Commonwealth [could] retain a memento of this historic occasion’.¹⁴ The Duke and Duchess would spend eight weeks in Australia, visiting NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, SA and WA, as part of a seven-month tour of the British Commonwealth.¹⁵
Portrait of Wiradjuri elder Jimmy Clements ʺKing Billyʺ outside of Parliament House

Portrait of Wiradjuri elder Jimmy Clements ʺKing Billyʺ outside of Parliament House

Wiradjuri Elder Jimmy Clements stands on the steps of Provisional Parliament House, May 1927. Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA A3560, 3108).

John Noble and his dog under a tree at the Bachelors Quarters in Acton, Canberra.

John Noble at Bachelors’ Quarters (Acton), c. March 1926. Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA A3650, 418).

The young capital

While the Bruce Government wished the opening ‘to be a major international event reflecting glory upon Australia and the new federal capital’,¹⁶it faced daunting logistical difficulties. Though the temporary Parliament House was complete, Canberra itself remained very much a work in progress. With an approximate population of only 6,000 people, it contained few hotels or hostels, scarce infrastructure and limited transport options. Some 500 official guests and 50 members of the press were formally invited, and additional tickets were made available for access to outside stands, with large camping grounds available. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, far fewer attended than the 100,000 that had been anticipated.

The search for the site of the new Federal Capital

The national capital’s proposed location was a contentious issue throughout the 1890s due to intense inter-colonial rivalries, particularly between NSW and Victoria. A compromise was struck and written into the Constitution: the federal capital would be in ‘the State of NSW’ but ‘distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney’. As a concession to Victoria, Parliament would sit in Melbourne until it could meet at the new capital.¹⁷ Almost immediately, rival claims multiplied as the Sydney Morning Herald observed wryly:

The inhabitants of six places – six at least – fought tooth and nail their several claims to the honour of being Homer’s natal city. We shall soon have the inhabitants of ten times six places going all they are worth for the honour of housing the Federal Legislature and departments. There are twelve claimants already in the field; every day will add to the number, and in a few months the job of declaring which place ought to take the cake will produce shivering in the man that has to undertake it.¹⁸

Although the choice of location was the future Commonwealth Parliament’s prerogative, it nevertheless required the NSW government’s agreement. Accordingly, in 1899, NSW pre-emptively established a Royal Commission into the ‘most suitable site for the Federal Capital’.¹⁹ The Commonwealth established its own Royal Commission in 1902 to report on sites at Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bombala, Dalgety, Lake George, Lyndhurst, Orange and Tumut.²⁰ Two years later the Commonwealth selected Dalgety, but NSW resolutely opposed this decision.²¹

Years of investigation and debate passed. Finally, after two Royal Commissions, seven governments and three parliaments, the Yass-Queanbeyan district emerged triumphant and was proclaimed under the Seat of Government Act 1908 (Cth).²² The NSW Government legally ceded the 2,280-square-kilometre Federal Territory to the Commonwealth effective 1 January 1911. In 1915 Jervis Bay was added to the Federal Capital Territory to provide it with a seaport.²³

Theodore Penleigh Boyd (1890–1923) The Federal Capital Site, Canberra, 1913

Theodore Boyd (1980-1932), The Federal Capital Site, Canberra, 1913, 1913, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection.

Seat of Government

The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.

Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefor.

The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meet at the seat of Government.

Australian Constitution, section 125.

Creating the capital

The Commonwealth quickly began planning for the new city, with surveyor Charles Scrivener appointed in 1909 to identify the best site.²⁴ In April 1911 the Fisher Government announced an international design competition,²⁵ and the following year Minister for Home Affairs King O’Malley²⁶ declared Walter Burley Griffin the winner.²⁷

In March 1913, Canberra was officially named by Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General, at a ceremony on Kurrajong Hill (later Capital Hill). That same year Griffin came to Australia to oversee the detailed planning and produce his ‘final design’.²⁸ However, budget constraints, bureaucratic obstacles, and the outbreak of World War I meant that his design was not adopted as originally conceived and Griffin left Canberra in 1920.²⁹ The war similarly caused the international competition for the design of Parliament House to be initially postponed and then abandoned.³⁰

Marion Mahoney Griffin (1871-1961), Commonwealth of Australia Federal Capital Competition [Competitor number 29 Walter Burley Griffin] City and environs. Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA A710 38).

The design brief required entrants to ‘embody in their Designs all recent developments in the science of town planning’ and stipulated that the designs would ‘become the property of the Government for its unrestricted use, either in whole or in part’.

By the closing date of 31 January 1912, 137 entries had been received from around the world – among them one from young American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin – which were reviewed by a Board of Assessors: John Kirkpatrick (architect), James Alexander Smith (President of the Victorian Institute of Engineers) and John Montgomery Coane (surveyor). Its role was to make recommendations to the Minister for Home Affairs, King O’Malley, who was the final decision maker.

The panel was unable to agree on the winner and runners-up from a shortlist of 46, with two supporting the Griffin design and the third supporting a local design submitted by Walter Scott Griffiths, Robert Coulter and Charles Caswell.³² Accepting the majority report, O’Malley in May 1912 pronounced the Griffin design the winner.

The drawing by Marion Mahony Griffin shows Canberra located between ‘3 hills (Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie and Mugga Mugga) and north and south of an ornamental lake made up of a series of linked basins. The city structure would be based on 2 main axes: a land and water axis. Within would lie a triangular government group, including Parliament House on Camp Hill (the current site of Old Parliament House)’.³³Canberra’s development stalled as Australia struggled with the human and economic costs of World War I. Real progress only commenced in 1925, with the establishment of the Federal Capital Commission. Its task was to develop Canberra sufficiently so that the federal Parliament, government departments and their public servants could all relocate to the new capital by 1927. As a result, Parliament House, the Prime Minister’s Lodge, 500 cottages, several hotels and schools, the East and West Block offices, the Albert Hall, the Institute of Anatomy, the Australian School of Forestry and an Observatory on Mount Stromlo were all constructed by the deadline.³⁴

Provisional Parliament House
In August 1923, after considerable debate, the Parliament agreed to build a provisional Parliament House in Canberra. As the Minister for Works and Railways, Percy Stewart, stated:

… If … in Canberra we are to have the world’s most beautiful city … in forty to fifty years’ time, the work of building a Parliament House worthy of such a city is too big a job for us to tackle at the present time, and might well be left to posterity...

… The Government desires that Canberra shall not be a sink for the pouring out of public money, but shall be run on business lines. It does not desire to overload the Federal City with a huge capital cost at the expense of the taxpayers.³⁵

The three-storey building was designed by Commonwealth architect John Smith Murdoch and is planned around the two Chambers.³⁶ Considered modern for its time, the building was modest and light-filled, with gardens and courtyards for recreation. With the construction workers and building materials coming from all parts of Australia,³⁷ it cost £664,600 plus a further £250,000 for furniture and fittings.³⁸

Provisional Parliament House was intended to have a 50-year lifespan and provide for 112 members and 80 senators, though in 1927 there were only 76 members and 36 senators.³⁹Ultimately, it would house the federal Parliament until 1988, by which time it consisted of 148 members and 76 senators.

Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce inspecting Parliament House, 1926. Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA A3560, 1536).

Composition of the 10th Parliament

There were only 111 federal parliamentarians who met for the first time in Canberra, as the seat of Warringah remained vacant following Sir Granville Ryrie’s resignation on 13 April 1927 to become Australia’s High Commissioner in the UK.⁴⁰ Of these, four had served continuously since the first Parliament: Billy Hughes,⁴¹ Littleton Groom, David Watkins,⁴² and Senator Sir George Pearce.⁴³ Thirty-four had served in colonial or state parliaments and included four former Premiers: Sir Henry Barwell, Edward ‘Ted’ Theodore, William Watt and John Hayes.⁴⁴ Eighty-two were Australian-born, 28 were born in the UK and one was born in New Zealand. Their average age was 54 years and just over a quarter had served in the defence forces. Their occupations were varied and included farmers/graziers/pastoralists, businessmen, lawyers, miners, unionists, labourers, journalists and doctors.⁴⁵ Their annual salary was £1,000, or almost $83,000 in today’s currency. All were male. It was not until 1943 that the first women were elected to the Commonwealth Parliament: Enid Lyons (UAP) and Dorothy Tangney (ALP).⁴⁶

Sydney Offset Press, A commemorative poster featuring the speech delivered by HRH The Duke of York on 9 May 1927. The signatures of the senators and the members of the House of Representatives at the opening of Parliament appear on either side of the speech. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia (8149848).

References
1.‘Parliament House Opened’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 1; N Brown, A History of Canberra, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, 2014; P Daley, Canberra, University of NSW Press, Sydney, 2013; M Casey, ‘Carnivalising Sovereignty: Containing Indigenous Protest within the “White” Australian Nation’, About Performance 7, 2007, pp. 69–84; J Gibbney, Canberra: 1913–1953, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988; P Reid, Canberra following Griffin: A design history of Australia’s national capital, Canberra, 2002; J McCann, A Hough, D Heriot, ‘The 30th anniversary of Australia’s Parliament’, Research Paper series, 2017–18, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2018; G Hogan, ‘Parliament House Canberra, 1927’, National Archives of Australia, Canberra, 2003; G McIntosh, ‘As it was in the beginning (Parliament House in 1927)’, Research Paper series, 2000–01, no. 25, Parliamentary Library, Canberra; R Pegrum, The bush capital: how Australia chose Canberra as its federal city, The Watermark Press, Boorowa, 2008; P Strangio, ‘“Dished like a dinner” by the Victorians: The 1899 Seat of Government Compact and its repercussions in the early Australian Commonwealth’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 65 no. 1, 2019, pp. 33–49; I Warden, Canberra: think of it! Dream of It, Act Chief Minister’s Department, Canberra, 2009; G Wood, Canberra: maps and makers, Chief Minister’s Department, Canberra, 2009. Websites accessed 31 July 2021.
2. ‘By Radio’, The Canberra Times, 20 May 1927, p. 12; J Davidson, ‘Melba, Dame Nellie (1861–1931)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986. Websites accessed 20 July 2021.
3. ‘Parliament House Opened’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 1; H Radi, ‘Bruce, Stanley Melbourne (1883–1967)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1979. Websites accessed 20 July 2021.
4. G Souter, Acts of Parliament, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, p 222.
5. Agreement made between the Commonwealth of Australia and Harold Septimus Power’, 1927, Joint House Department file, Department of Parliamentary Services; Synopsis of Programme, Official Opening of Parliament House Canberra, National Archives, NAA M4071, 75. There is debate over whether the flag was actually the Red Ensign or whether Power deliberately chose to paint the Red Ensign (often incorrectly used interchangeably with the Blue Ensign).
6. The Late W.B. McInnes’ by Harold Herbert, Art in Australia, 23 February, 1940, p. 12, accessed 4 August 2021; ‘Agreement made between the Commonwealth of Australia with William Beckwith McInnes’, 1927, Joint House Department file, Department of Parliamentary Services.
7. ‘Honors for Canberra’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 4, accessed 4 August 2021.
8. ‘The King’s forethought’, The Register, 9 May 1927, p. 12; ‘Parliament: First Canberra Session’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 3. The enduring strength of Imperial bonds was demonstrated not only by the King’s gift of the dispatch boxes, but by two other important gifts. The President’s Chair, manufactured from Canadian maple and leather, was presented to the Senate by the Government of Canada. The carved Speaker’s Chair in the House of Representatives was a gift from the British Parliament, modelled on the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons and incorporating oak from the roof of Westminster Hall and from Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. When the House of Commons Chamber was destroyed in the 1941 London Blitz, Australia paid for a replica of this chair to be made and presented it to the Commons in 1951. See ‘President’s Chair #1999-1437’ and ‘Speaker’s Chair #1999-0430’, Museum of Australian Democracy. Websites accessed 2 August 2021.
9. ‘Plane Crash’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May 1927, p. 13; ‘Air Tragedy’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 2. Following a hasty coronial inquiry, Ewen was buried on 11 May with full military honours at St John the Baptist Church in Reid. See ‘Air Tragedy’, Tweed Daily, 11 May 1927, p. 3; ‘Flying Officer Buried’, The Argus, 12 May 1927, p. 18. Websites accessed 4 August 2021.
10.‘Portrait of Wiradjuri elder Jimmy “King Billy” Clements outside Parliament House’, National Archives of Australia; D Bourchier, ‘King Billy and Marvellous were not invited to the 1927 opening of Parliament House – but that didn’t stop their fight for sovereignty’, ABC News, 21 September 2020; P Daley, ‘Sovereignty never ceded: how two Indigenous elders changed Canberra’s big day’, The Guardian Australia, 7 May 2017; P Daley, ‘Enduring traditions of Aboriginal protest: truth-telling amid the dark shadows of history’, Griffith Review 74. Websites accessed 4 August 2021.
11. ‘Canberra’, The Argus, 11 May 1927, p. 19, accessed 19 July 2021.
12. ‘Portrait of Wiradjuri elder John Noble with his dog’, National Archives of Australia, accessed 19 July 2021.
13. ‘The People’s Day’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 3; ‘Royal Tour’, The Canberra Times, 13 May 1927, p. 3. Websites accessed 4 August 2021.
14. Earle Page, quoted in ‘Canberra Florin’, The Canberra Times, 20 January 1927, p. 8, accessed 2 August 2021.
15. ‘Royal visit’, The Canberra Times, 31 December 1926, p. 1, accessed 4 August 2021.
16. Hogan, op. cit., pp. 15–16.
17.‘The Australian Constitution, s. 125’, accessed 2 August 2021.
18.‘Unjointed chat’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 February 1899, p. 5, accessed 31 July 2021.
19. A Oliver, ‘Royal Commission on the sites for the seat of government of the Commonwealth’, NSW State Records, Sydney, 1900; NSW Government Gazette, ‘Appointments and Employment’, 20 October 1899, p. 7916. Websites accessed 2 August 2021.
20. ‘Federal capital sites’, House of Representatives, Debates, 25 September 1902, pp. 16128–61.
21. ‘Seat of Government Act 1908 (Cth)’, accessed 13 August 2021.
22. Ibid.; G Wood, ‘The Community that Was’, ACT Chief Minister’s Department, Canberra, 2009, p. 16. An Agreement of Surrender was signed by NSW Premier Charles Wade and Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. This was ratified when the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909 (Cth) and the NSW Parliament passed the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909 (NSW) enabling the Commonwealth to formally acquire the territory for the new capital from NSW. The territory was known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, when it was renamed the Australian Capital Territory by the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1938 (Cth). Websites accessed 16 July 2021.
23. The Seat of Government Surrender Act 1915 (NSW) and the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915 (Cth) provided for the transfer ofland at Jervis Bay to the Commonwealth and the creation of the Territory of Jervis Bay. Websites accessed 16 July 2021.
24. Terry G Birtles, ‘Scrivener, Charles Robert (1855–1923)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed 16 July 2021.
25. Department of Home Affairs, ‘Information, Conditions and Particulars for Guidance in the Preparation of Competitive Designs for the Federal Capital City of the Commonwealth of Australia – Invitation to Competitors’, Melbourne, 1911, National Archives of Australia, NAA A1818, 12, accessed 31 July 2021.
26. A Hoyle, ‘O’Malley, King (1858–1953)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed 10 June 2021.
27. P Harrison, ‘Griffin, Walter Burley (1876–1937)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983; P Harrison, ‘Griffin, Marion Lucy Mahony (1871–1961)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983. Websites accessed 31 July 2021.
28. ‘Building Canberra up to 1958’, National Capital Authority, accessed 16 July 2021.
29. W Blacket, ‘Federal Capital Administration: Report on the Royal Commission: (1) Issues relating to Mr Griffin’, Melbourne, 15 March 1917, accessed 16 July 2021.
30. P Reid, op. cit., pp. 122–26.
31. Department of Home Affairs, ‘Information, Conditions and Particulars’, op. cit., pp. 4 and 9.
32. ‘Walter Scott Griffiths’ Canberra Vision’, National Film and Sound Archive, accessed 29 October 2021.
33. ‘Plan for Canberra’, National Archives of Australia, accessed 29 October 2021.
34. ‘History of the NCA’, National Capital Authority, accessed 16 July 2021.
35. P Stewart, ‘Federal Capital: Provisional Parliament House’, House of Representatives, Debates, 26 July 1923, pp. 1668–69.
36. ‘The Building: Design and Construction’, Museum of Australian Democracy; DI McDonald, ‘Murdoch, John Smith (1862–1945)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986. Websites accessed 16 July 2021.
37. ‘The Building’, op. cit
38. Souter, op. cit., p. 219.
39. McIntosh, op. cit., p. 3.
40. AJ Hill, ‘Ryrie, Sir Granville de Laune (1865–1937)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed 28 July 2021.
41. LF Fitzhardinge, ‘Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862–1952)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed 19 July 2021.
42. H Kent, ‘Watkins, David (1865–1935)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed 19 July 2021.
43. J Merritt, ‘Pearce, Sir George Foster (1870–1952)’, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate Online Edition, Department of the Senate, Parliament of Australia, published first in hardcopy 2004, accessed 17 July 2021.
44. D Drinkwater, ‘Barwell, Sir Henry Newman (1877–1959)’, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate Online Edition, Department of the Senate, Parliament of Australia, published first in hardcopy 2000; N Cain, ‘Theodore, Edward Granville (1884–1950)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990; J Anderson and G Serle, ‘Watt, William Alexander (1871–1946)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990; S Bennett, ‘Hayes, John Blyth (1868–1956)’, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate Online Edition, Department of the Senate, Parliament of Australia, published first in hardcopy 2004. See, ‘Senate and House of Representatives Members’ Roll on the occasion of the first meeting at Canberra’, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne, May 1927. Others who had served in previous Parliaments were: Frank Anstey; William Carroll; John Chapman; Matthew Charlton; Edward Corser; Edward Findley; Francis Forde; Richard Foster; Henry Givens; Albert Green; Henry Gregory; John Hayes; Herbert Hays; William Hughes; Walter Kingsmill; Thomas Ley; Patrick Lynch; George Mackay; William Maloney; Arthur Manning; Edward Needham; John Newlands; James Ogden; Herbert Payne; John Perkins; William Plain; Matthew Reid; Percy Stewart; Edward Theodore; Josiah Thomas; David Watkins. Websites accessed 4 August 2021.
45. Souter, op. cit., pp. 232–23.
46. D Langmore, ‘Lyons, Dame Enid Muriel (1897–1981)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2012; C Lawrence, ‘Tangney, Dame Dorothy Margaret (1907–1985)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2012; A Hough, ‘Two parliamentary milestones for women‘, FlagPost Blog, Parliamentary Library, 20 August 2020. Websites accessed 20 July 2021.

Parliament and the new Federal capital 1927

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Commemorative paintings

The Royal Visit 1954

The Inauguration of the Commonwealth 1901

The first sitting of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901

The new and permanent Parliament House

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