General News
11 July, 2025
Remembrance on Jeparit’s Broadway
For 105 years, the World War I commemorative statue 'Remembrance' has been standing proudly on Jeparit’s Broadway, having been officially unveiled on June 12, 1920.
She’ is a relic from the days when all communities in Australia were emerging from the horrors of the Great War, but few people today appreciate the story behind this monument.
The Memorial Avenue in which ‘Remembrance’ stands dates from August 1918, even before the Great War had ended.
Rainbow's Memorial Avenue dates from even earlier – 1917 – and so it and Jeparit's were among the earliest established.
Memorial Avenues of trees are a peculiarly Australian concept and so when these two Memorial Avenues were conceived by the Shire of the day, they were breaking new ground.
Jeparit’s monument was funded totally by public subscription - this was a time pre-grants - and designed and created by H.B. Corben & Sons of Melbourne from polished Harcourt granite.
Some believe that Jeparit's monument is unique in having a female figure atop it.
It is not unique – there are 11 others known in Victoria – but Jeparit’s ‘Remembrance’ has several unique features.
Almost all other monuments in Victoria featuring female figures depict angels or female warriors such as ‘Victory’ or ‘Britannia’ brandishing weaponry; they are dramatic in scope and style.
We can see this sort of monument in towns such as Camperdown and Numurkah; we can find statues with religious symbolism in Yarrawonga, Mitiamo and Warrnambool.
Some ‘female’ statues such as at Sale, Hamilton and Footscray depict female figures holding palm branches, these being ancient symbols of victory in battle, originating in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome.
In each case the branches are held aloft, proclaiming peace following victory.
However, Jeparit’s palm frond-bearing female figure is unique.
‘Remembrance’s’ palm branch is not raised in a salute proclaiming victory and patriotism, and the downcast and solemn face of the figure creates a pensive expression.
Placed above the word 'Remembrance', the figure invites those paying their respects to consider the dreadful cost of war.
We can see the lowered palm frond as symbolic of the woman’s grief.
As with other ‘female’ war memorials, the emphasis is shifted from the mourned – fallen soldiers – to the mourners represented by the women – mothers, wives, sisters and daughters – who had known those who had served.
Not only was the sculptor making a statement about the misery of war but the Jeparit community members responsible for choosing the design were making a statement quite different from those in most communities.
Perhaps next time you’re driving along Broadway, instead of passing ‘Remembrance’ as everyone does, consider stopping and walking up to her to take in the symbolism and unique features of this highly unusual figure who has been watching over Jeparit for 105 years.
She is still there to tell her story.