(Source: Jeremy de Korte Collection)
Introduction:
If we were to look at the Sandringham of today, we would see many aspects of the built and natural environments that are worthy of attention. Certainly, the beaches are a feature as are the many parks and gardens. The layout of the streets points to a time when Sandringham was a destination for many excursions, and the addition of a train line with corresponding tram line made travel to Sandringham very easy. Local representation came in 1917 when the Borough of Sandringham was created. Before this, Sandringham was administered by the Shire of Moorabbin.
Sandringham is one of the localities to have a band rotunda that survives to this day. It is a grand construction of reinforced concrete which speaks to the days when concerts presented by bands were weekly events, and its central position in the Sandringham Beach Park, within easy walking distance of the railway station, meant that people could enjoy the music while picnicking on the grass while the sun went down over the bay.
The first Sandringham Rotunda:
The current Sandringham Rotunda is not the first one to be built at its site, there was another one that was constructed first. The newspapers of the day tell us that moves were underway in 1906 to start a funding drive to build a rotunda in the Beach Park.
The meeting at the Sandringham Institute on Tuesday night re the projected band rotunda was a most successful affair. A very large gathering was present, and Cr. Ferdinando occupied the chair. Although one or two present suggested that the project be postponed, the resolution, that a fund be opened, was carried by a large majority, and a representative committee appointed to carry the matter through.”
(“News of the Week.,” 1906)
In 1908, the Sandringham Brass Band noted the completion of the rotunda in a report for its Annual General Meeting.
The annual meeting of the Sandringham Brass Band was held in the Mechanics’ Institute on Monday evening. Cr. Ferdinando, the president, presided over the meeting, which was well attended by the residents and playing members of the band. The secretary (Mr. Turner) read the committee’s report on the past year’s progress. A rotunda has been erected by the residents in the Beach-reserve, opposite Melrose-street, and in all probability, one would also be built at Hampton…”
(“News of the Week.,” 1908)
There was only one problem, due to a lack of initial funding. the new rotunda was built without a roof.
Mr. Turner, the secretary of the Sandringham Brass Band wrote a polite but pointed letter to the Brighton Southern Cross newspaper in January 1909. For the sake of brevity, the letter will not be quoted here, but it can be viewed below. Basically, the funding, for whatever reason, fell short, which is not surprising given the band was relying on subscriptions from local residents – some of them did not put forward their contributions (Turner, 1909). It is unclear whether the roof was eventually added on to the construction, but the band used the area for performances and as Mr. Turner noted in his letter, these performances were appreciated by the audiences (Turner, 1909).
However, by 1924, evidently the existing rotunda may have been demolished by this time, if a tiny article printed in The Argus newspaper is accurate.
Following upon the proposal to remove the band stand at Brighton Beach to enable shops to be erected, and the consequent discontinuance of recitals by the railways band, the Sandringham Council has asked the Railways department to give the recitals at Sandringham. Should the request be acceded, it will be necessary for the council to provide a rotunda.
(“Suburban Activities.,” 1924)
For a second rotunda to be built, it had to be financed, designed, and constructed. Enter Mr. William Sunderland, the Borough of Sandringham engineer and Dr. Thomas Garnet Leary, the Borough Health Officer.
Mr. William Sunderland and Dr. Thomas Garnet Leary:
Roads and Buildings:
Mr. William Sunderland was born in Castlemaine, a gold-mining town in the Macedon Ranges. He was the son of Mr. R. Sunderland who “had been a road contractor to the Maldon, Metcalf, Newstead and Mount Alexander shires” (“CASTLEMAINE.,” 1913). William attended the then Castlemaine Technical School and graduated in 1911 with excellent results having achieved 97 out of 100, a Grade 1 pass for the subject of “Land Surveying” (“CASTLEMAINE TECHNICAL SCHOOL.,” 1912). Almost immediately he was employed by the Borough of Castlemaine Council as the Borough Surveyor. His work throughout the region was very thorough and he was noted for his work ethic both for the council and many other organisations – one of them being the committee of the Castlemaine Technical School (“COUNTRY NEWS.,” 1917). A feature of his tenure at Castlemaine was his use of concrete for many new structures, mainly bridges. He was not in this position for long. In 1917 he accepted a position as an engineer for the “newly-formed Borough of Sandringham”, a hard fought appointment as there had been thirty-four applicants (“COUNTRY NEWS.,” 1917; “Sandringham Council,” 1917).
Mr. Sunderland immediately applied to his new job all that he had learnt while working in Castlemaine and pioneered some innovative methods of construction, both in roads and buildings. He was successful with his new method of infusing the sub-base of roads with cement which was then patented as the “Sunderland Technique” (“CONCRETE ROADWAY,” 1924; “SANDRINGHAM ROADS.,” 1928). He also had a hand in designing buildings made out of concrete including a grandstand at Picnic Point and his own house, “Alpha”, at 23 Bamfield Street, Sandringham – a house that stands to this day and is included on the local heritage register (Riddett et al., 1999). He is of course noted for designing and building the Sandringham Band Rotunda out of reinforced concrete which was innovative for the time.
William Sunderland was the engineer for Sandringham Council for many years and after all his achievements with the council, he retired from his job in 1934 (“SANDRINGHAM COUNCIL.,” 1934). His construction methods for building roads might be hidden, but his buildings are still in full view.
Health and philanthropy:
Dr. Thomas Garnet Leary was one of Sandringham’s leading citizens. He was a medical doctor who specialised in speech pathology, and was appointed to the new Sandringham Borough Council as its Health Officer in 1917 (“Sandringham Council,” 1917). Prior to this, Dr. Leary had been deployed to Gallipoli in 1915 as part of the Australian Army Medical Corp, returning to Australia in 1916 (Australian War Memorial, 2022; “Welcomed Home,” 1916).
As well as practicing medicine, Dr. Leary was otherwise known for his philanthropy and his involvement in local organisations, a trait that was passed down through his family (see The University of Melbourne, 2022). For example, he gave a statue of Our Lady to the Sacred Heart Church in Sandringham and as author Kristin Allen (2014) notes in the Parish’s history book, Dr. Garnet Leary “was extremely generous” (p. 36). He was also generous to the larger Sandringham community by financing and donating significant structures. In 1923 he donated drinking fountains to the community, the first of which was for the Sandringham foreshore and can be found underneath the band rotunda to this day – a picture of this drinking fountain can be viewed below (“FOUNTAINS FOR SANDRINGHAM.,” 1923). Perhaps his most visible donation is the band rotunda which he financed as a gift to Sandringham (Bayside City Council, 2013).
Dr. Garnet Leary passed away in 1954 at the age of 74 having practiced medicine in the area for forty years, and he was survived by his wife and three daughters (“OBITUARY,” 1954). Sandringham Council named a street after him, Garnet-Leary Avenue which is in the suburb of Black Rock.
The second Sandringham band rotunda:
The new Sandringham Band Rotunda, designed and built by Mr. Sunderland and financed by Dr. Garnet Leary opened in 1926. It is unusual that there is little in the newspapers of the time to highlight this opening. However, it was soon being used by the bands. The Victorian Railways’ Military Band was one of the first ensembles to use the rotunda with performances taking place in October and throughout the 1926-1927 Summer season (“Band Recitals To-morrow.,” 1926; “SUMMER BEACH CONCERTS.,” 1926). Unfortunately, the Victorian Railways cancelled a grant to the Railways’ Band in 1928 which would have enabled the band to present more performances at the Rotunda with a reasoning that the performances were “of little benefit to the Railways” and the “audience consisted mostly of district people and passing motorists.” (“RAILWAYS BAND.,” 1928). All was not lost however as the band had sent a letter to Sandringham Council who indicated that the band was able to take collections at their recitals (“RAILWAYS BAND.,” 1928). An early picture of the Victorian Railways’ Military Band from 1912 can be viewed below.
The rotunda was used quite regularly for band concerts, especially in the summer months, and as well as the Victorian Railways’ Military Band, the Sandringham Boys’ Band and the 46th Battalion (Brighton Rifles) Band were the bands that made greatest use of this locality (Sandringham & District Historical Society, 2021; “Sandringham Band Concert,” 1940).
As for the Rotunda itself, it has stood the test of time although some remedies have had to be undertaken to stop deterioration. In 1986 and again in 2004 the Rotunda was restored to stop the effects of “concrete cancer” caused by the rusting of steel reinforcing (Bayside City Council, 2013, p. 2). Photographs of the rotunda from recent years can be viewed below (de Korte, 2021, 2023)
References:
Allen, K. (2014). The Mustard Seed by the Sea : a history of Sacred Heart Parish and its people. Sacred Heart Parish.
Australian War Memorial. (2022). Captain Thomas Garnet Leary. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 25 May 2022 from https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10756398
Band Recitals To-morrow. (1926, 23 October). Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 18. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202195613
Bayside City Council. (2013). Bayside Architectural Trail 6 : Rotunda Trail (Vol. 6) [Pamphlet]. Bayside City Council. https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/services/trees-parks-and-beaches/architectural-trails
CASTLEMAINE. (1913, 25 January). Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 17. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201135607
CASTLEMAINE TECHNICAL SCHOOL : EXAMINATION RESULTS, 1911. (1912, 17 January). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 – 1917), 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199599092
CONCRETE ROADWAY : Sandringham Engineer’s Method. (1924, 12 May). Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246158776
COUNTRY NEWS. (1917, 11 June). Bendigo Independent (Vic. : 1891 – 1918), 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221057288
de Korte, J. D. (2021). Sandringham, Vic. : Beach Park : Sandringham Band Rotunda – Western View [Photograph]. [IMG_6979]. Jeremy de Korte, Bentleigh East, Victoria.
de Korte, J. D. (2023). Sandringham, Vic. : Beach Park : Sandringham Band Rotunda – Southern view (Sunset) [Photograph]. [IMG_8284]. Jeremy de Korte, Hampton, Victoria.
FOUNTAINS FOR SANDRINGHAM. (1923, 04 August). Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 27. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2018683
News of the Week. (1906, 15 September). Brighton Southern Cross (Vic. : 1896 – 1918), 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164417701
News of the Week. (1908, 04 April). Brighton Southern Cross (Vic. : 1896 – 1918), 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164349905
OBITUARY : Dr. Garnet Leary. (1954, 23 February). Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206086338
RAILWAYS BAND : Cancellation of Grant. (1928, 28 January). Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 27. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3906786
Riddett, R., Matthews, A., Phillips, G., Place, K., Watson, E., Patrick, J., Howe, S., & Down, G. (1999). City of Bayside Heritage Review : Building Citations – Part 1 (A-F) [Report]. City of Bayside. https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/services/planning-and-building/heritage-documents
Sandringham & District Historical Society. (2021). Band Rotunda 1926. Sandringham & District Historical Society. Retrieved 28 October 2021 from https://sandringhamhistorical.org.au/sandringham-village-historical-walk/sandringham-band-rotunda/
Sandringham Band Concert. (1940, 06 January). Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), 22. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243238479
Sandringham Council. (1917, 09 June). Brighton Southern Cross (Vic. : 1896 – 1918), 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75018299
SANDRINGHAM COUNCIL : New Engineer Appointed. (1934, 10 December). Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205067548
SANDRINGHAM ROADS : Success of Cement Grouting. (1928, 03 February). Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3908286
Suburban Activities. (1924, 26 July). Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 30. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4243132
SUMMER BEACH CONCERTS. (1926, 01 November). Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 16. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3818535
The University of Melbourne. (2022). The Leary Trust for Australian Indigenous Languages Award. The University of Melbourne. Retrieved 25 May 2022 from https://scholarships.unimelb.edu.au/awards/the-leary-trust-for-australian-indigenous-languages-award
Turner, J. T. (1909, 16 January). Correspondence : BAND ROTUNDA AT SANDRINGHAM. Brighton Southern Cross (Vic. : 1896 – 1918), 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164349560
Australian Band Stands 