Paddy Hannan's Statue, Town Hall

Physical Description

A small to medium sized iron statue housed inside the foyer of the Kalgoorlie Town Hall.

The statue is of a slight man, shabbily dressed and faintly demused by his fame. The man is holding a water bag (Laurie, 1995: 28).

History

The statue was commissioned in 1929 to commemorate the finding of the first nugget of gold on the Golden Mile by Paddy Hannan, and was unveiled on 11 October 1929. Paddy Hannan and his companions Thomas Flanagan and Dan Shea were the first to discover gold in Kalgoorlie. (Laurie, 1995: 28).

The original Paddy Hannan Statue was made from 90 pieces of copper soldered together. It was put in place outside the Kalgoorlie Town Hall on the corner of Hannan and Wilson Streets in 1929 for Western Australia's centenary. The inscription on the statue said:

'Centenary of Western Australia 1929
This memorial fountain was erected by public subscription in honour of the late Patrick Hannan who first discovered gold at Kalgoorlie, 15th June 1893.'

Over the years, it was vandalised on a number of occasions and so in May 1982, it was decided that the statue required restoration and protection.

To ensure its survival, the restored original statue was repositioned in the foyer of the Kalgoorlie Town Hall, and a bronze replica replaced the original in its Hannan Street location (Laurie, 1995: 28). This replica was made by sculptor Peter Gelencser.

The sculptor of the original Paddy Hannan's statue, John Dominic McLeod, first considered sculpting Paddy's horse not Paddy, because he said that it was the horse that found the gold. 'Then I decided that if the committee wanted a statue of a man and not a horse, it would be their pigeon [sic]'. McLeod came from Ballarat, and taught Art and its contemporary culture. The Daily News, 1 April 1929, reported that the statue, to the design of a schoolboy, Keith Craig, who entered the competition held as part of the State's Centenary celebrations, 1929, was almost finished. Keith Craig stipulated that the statue should include a drinking fountain (Webb, 1993: 626).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High
Authenticity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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