Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Sir Leo Cussen Memorial

Hi V ... This is the Cussen Memorial a mausoleum located within the Roman Catholic section of the Boroondara General Cemetery, Kew.  It was constructed in 1912-13 by Leo Cussen in memory of his son Hubert. Leo Cussen (later Sir Leo) was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1906, where he displayed the qualities which were to mark him, in the words of Sir Owen Dixon, as the 'greatest of all judges', combining legal expertise with great humanity and practicality. The Cussen Memorial is of architectural significance as a fine example of an early twentieth century mausoleum in the Gothic style, designed by WP Conolly, one of the most prominent architects designing Catholic churches in Melbourne in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ... Cheers J.
Shared with Taphophile Tragics.

13 comments:

  1. Great shot, Joe. I like the colour emphasis on the monument

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  2. Great photo. Fine colors and light.

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  3. So much like a pocket size chapel! Quite enchanting!

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  4. Great shot. It's an impressive little structure. Leo Cussen is an ancestor of mine (a great, great, great uncle) but I only discovered the mausoleum was in the Cussen family after visiting the cemetery, when I was trying to find out where Leo was buried. (I thought he might be in the Melbourne General Cemetery).

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    1. Isn't that amazing. What a coincidence that I should take a photograph, post it, you visit it and it turns out to be connected to your ancestor. Thanks for letting me know.

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  5. It almost could be a chapel. Big enough.

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  6. I hope that there was a large family to fill this impressive memorial.

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  7. Yes, the light and the colour is just terrific, certainly when compared to the greyness of the cemetery and the day in general.

    I wonder what caused the death of Hubert Cussen, I suspect at a young age.

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  8. Gosh that's a very impressive memorial Joe and beautifully shown here, I wonder how many judges these days are endowed with those qualities.

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  9. Fantastic shot, the colour of the stone work really makes it stand out against the graves and the sky.

    Herding Cats

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  10. That Cussen Memorial is quite the gothic mausoleum! I wonder where the judges with great humanity and practicality have gone...

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  11. pretty! as everyone else said already.. :) with the sky like that and the mausoleum in the light...

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