Well at the moment, quite a bit is in the name, Lorne. 2021 marks the 150thanniversary of the naming of Lorne.
Lorne did not have a name for 30 years, it was classed by inland people as The Bay, or the place by The Bay. The late Malcolm Graham, one of the stalwarts of the Lorne Historical Society did the research many years ago to uncover the origin of the name “Lorne”.
Malcolm wrote in the journals of the Historical Society, “It took a visit by a member of the Royal household in 1871 for the township to get a name. It is believed he was holidaying at Erskine House when it was mentioned the local people were a bit dispirited because the town didn’t have a name”. Malcolm says, “It was known only as The Bay or Louttit Bay, so it was suggested that in honour of the marriage of Princess Louise, a daughter of Queen Victoria, to the Marquis of Lorne about that time, that the town be named Lorne”. “Lorne doesn’t appear as a name before that, and it matches up with everything we have in newspaper articles. It seems to be fairly conclusive, more a process of elimination rather than fact”, wrote Malcolm.
In 1871, Louttit Bay was officially named Lorne, in honour of the wedding of Queen Victoria’s 4th daughter, Princess Louise, to the Marquis of Lorne on 21st March. According to the London Illustrated News of 1871, it was “a handsome affair“. Louise Carolina Alberta, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland (1848-1939) married Douglas Campbell, Marquis of Lorne, on March 21st, 1871. The Princess was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
The Lorne Historical Society held a banquet on 21st March 1971 to celebrate the Lorne Centenary. This function was held at “Upper Kincraig”, 127 Smith Street, the historic home of the Russell family, built in 1884. The notice of this function states, “All present members (and their wives or husbands) of the Historical Society are invited. Tickets are $2.50 each, may be obtained at the Exhibition, Mountjoy Parade, not later than 11th March 1971”.
So, the centenary of Lorne was celebrated in fine style it seems. Now, 50 years on, it’s time to consider how we might celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lorne’s official naming. Our Ward Councillor, Gary Allen has secured a grant of $30,000 from the Shire for the purposes of commemorating this 150th anniversary. Gary said, “For the 30 years of settlement prior to the naming of Lorne, our town did not have an official name and we are unaware of any name that might have been used by the indigenous occupiers of this land, the Gadabanud”.
Gary has canvassed opinions from members of the community as to how we might best celebrate this event. He has presented three options to date:
– To illuminate the Lorne Swing Bridge to mark special occasions in the township. This is not an ongoing proposal, but rather a means to highlight a festival; a special cultural, or sporting event. This proposal will involve working with GORPACA and the residents immediately impacted.
– To commission a sculpture to be placed in an appropriate place, as a means to recognise the event. This will be coordinated by the Lorne Sculpture committee.
– To design and purchase banner flags to fly on the Mountjoy Parade flagpoles, with signage to be placed at the three main entry points to Lorne acknowledging the anniversary. Both of these actions to be completed by the 17th of March.
and
– To commission a video to describe Lorne in in 1871 in the context of what was happening at that time in Victoria, the rest of Australia and the World.
To allow everyone to consider the priority of these options and to recommend other initiatives for consideration, we have compiled a very brief, on-line survey. To participate please go to this link.
March 17 is the official date, but after the ups and downs of 2020, we should reflect upon how lucky we are that Lorne remained such a safe, welcoming environment for us all. What better way than to celebrate that our little town has been “Lorne” for 150 years!
Pete Spring
Lorne Historical Society
