D
o you, dear readers, have the foggiest idea how many entries were received for the federal capital city design competition won of course by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin?
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If you do have a foggy idea then the answer that comes to you through the fog is probably 137. One hundred and thirty seven has been the accepted wisdom because that's how many the minister for home affairs and overseer of the competition, King O'Malley, said at the time (early 1912) had been received.
But in his lecture Tall Tales And True: Canberra's Lost American Narratives to a select audience at the US Embassy last week historian David Headon, historian-at-large in the official Canberra Centenary preparations, said that there were many things about the competition that are not well known.
''There were, for example, many more entries than 137. The month of March, 1912, was clearly the culling month. Constant, credible newspaper reports, and O'Malley's own comments, suggest at least 200 entries, perhaps as many as 400.
''Tough trimming of the mass took place for sure, and, ultimately, within the 137, it must have been decided to have a small, representative selection of the 'non-professional' entries. So we have, within this ratified field, a journalist, miner, butcher, clerk, house furnisher, French polisher, chemist, accountant, teacher, stockbroker, wool sorter, gardener, draper, grazier and, no doubt reaching for the stars, an astronomer.
''Many of the culled, I'm sure, would have been just as interesting - and a few have fortunately survived. Let's give them their centenary day in the sun. Other entrants, the culled, included: Lyon Sab Fares Cavalier, born in Kafra, Lebanon, the Maitland optician who would alas be denied; Joseph Edward Coudrey, the Walsall, Staffordshire native, cum Adelaide chemist and author of A Perfume Prelude, and Fragna Voicelets and Eau de France. Coudrey, too, would be denied.
This columnist promises to solicit Dr Headon's cerebral help in reporting more about these colourful entrants who competed in vain for the glory of designing a nation's capital city and for the potentially life-changing winning, second and third prizes of £1750, £750 and £500 respectively.
