About

Lord Forrest (Sir John Forrest)

The statue commemorates John Forrest, afterwards Sir John Forrest, and later Baron Forrest of Bunbury, the first Australian raised to the British Peerage, who did exploration work during his early years. The statue was unveiled in Kings Park on the 28th August 1927 by the Premier, Mr P.Collier, in the presence of 2000 people.

At the age of 22, on his first expedition undertaken in 1869, mainly to find the remains of Leichhardt, he travelled over 2,000 miles in the interior of Western Australia. He discovered and named Lake Barlee and Mounts Ida, Leonora, Malcolm, and Margaret. Later, Forrest, in company with his brother, Alexander, in the face of almost incredible difficulties, succeeded in finding an overland route from Perth to South Australia, completing the journey in five months.

Until his death in 1918, Lord Forrest was prominent in Australian public life. He was the first Premier of Western Australia, a position he held for ten years. He was a foundation member of the Federal Parliament and for many years he represented the Swan electorate of Western Australia. He was also the first President of the Kings Park Board.

In the presence of 2000 people the statue to Lord Forrest was unveiled by the Premier (Mr. P. Collier) in King's Park yesterday. Speakers, including the Archbishop of Perth (Dr. Riley) and A. Lovekin, M.L.C., paid high tributes to Lord Forrest's achievements as statesman and explorer. The statue was the work of Sir Bertram Mackennal.
The John Forrest statue is located on a roundabout at the intersection of Lovekin and May Drives. It was unveiled in August, 1928 and honours the first Premier of Western Australia (1890 - 1901) and the first President of the Kings Park Board. John Forrest became Surveyor General in 1883 and officially named the gazetted public area as Perth Park in 1895.

In 1918, Sir John Forrest was to be made a Baron of the United Kingdom but he died in September before King George V formally signed the Letters Patent. The title of Lord Forrest was therefore never legally established but was applied to this monument when erected.

In his time, he doubled the size of the reserve, sought funding for the park and heavily influenced the first years of design and planning. Sir John Forrest was also chiefly responsible for the construction of Fremantle Harbour (1898), the Eastern Goldfields Water Supply Scheme (1903) and the Transcontinental Railway (1917).




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