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Level of Significance

  • File
  • Local
  • Regional
  • State
  • National

Age (approx)

110yrs

Trees

1

Diameter

0.6m

Height - 3m

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Details

Common name
Chinese Windmill Palm
Botanical name
Trachycarpus fortunei
Other name
Chinese Windmill Palm
Type
Individual Tree
Condition
Good
Municipality
Act (ACT)
Location
Lavarack Harrison Campbell ACT 2612
Access
Restricted
Significances
  • Park/Garden/Town (Historic)
  • Person/Group/Institution (Historic)
  • Species/Location (Aesthetic)
Date of measurement
17 Jun 2014
Date of classification
29 Jun 2014

Statement of Significance

Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB CMG (18 February 1861 – 18 May 1915) was a senior Australian military officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Military College, Duntroon and who served as the first Australian Chief of the General Staff. During the First World War he commanded the 1st Australian Division at Gallipoli where he died of wounds on 18 May 1915, becoming the first Australian major general to be killed during the war. He was the first Australian — and the first graduate of Kingston — to reach the rank of major general, the first to command a division, and the first to receive a knighthood. He is one of only two Australians killed in action in the Great War to be interred in Australia.

History

This tall, slender palm was originally planted near General Bridges' Grave at Duntroon. When Duntroon closed during the Depression, the tree was transplanted into the front garden at 35 Giles St, Kingston. It was returned to Duntroon in 1988 when car parking on the the Kingston site put the tree at risk of damage.