Leading
the Way: Sir John Monash
The
Man
|
|
Sources
for all text: John Monash: A Biography by Geoffrey Serle (Melbourne
University Press, 1982) and Monash by Vernon R. Northwood with
assistance from Dr. Gershon Bennett (State Electricity Commission of
Victoria, 1950)
|
| John
Monash was born on 27 June 1865 at West Melbourne. He was the first child
and only son of Louis and Bertha, recent migrants from Prussia, who subsequently
had two daughters Mathilde and Louise. Louis was a merchant and storekeeper
and the family lived for a period in Jerilderie, before returning to Melbourne
to allow John to attend Scotch College, before going on to study at Melbourne
University. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Above:
Hannah Victoria Monash née Moss, with daughter Bertha, 1893 |
|
Above:
John Monash with daughter Bertha, and father Louis, 1894 |
Louis
Monash died in December 1894. His wife Bertha Monash had died in 1885. |
|
|
While at university
he took an interest in debating, chess and the piano (occasionally performing
in public). He was also interested in student politics and was co-founder
of Melbourne University Union. In the company of friends he undertook
several major walking tours in the Victorian bush and later took annual
trips to Mount Buffalo and the Alps.
Among the group
of friends with whom John Monash regularly visited Mt Buffalo, he was
known affectionately as "Thunders Roar". An entry from one
of the group's journals "The Buffalo Buster" (right) depicts
Monash (centre of page) and other members of the group. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Above:
An entry from "The Buffalo Buster", 1908 |
|
| |
| During
the late 1880s he led a hectic social life based around the German Club,
opera, theatre and balls and dances and had several close associations
with women. He "impulsively" became engaged to Hannah Victoria
Moss in October 1889 and married her in April 1891. Their only child Bertha
was born in January 1893. |
| |
|
|
|
Monash
and Vic "maintained a heavy program of balls, concerts and theatre
going", in the period 1897-1906.
Left: North Melbourne Artillery Ball, 18 July 1902
|
|
|
With growing success
in his business and military careers in the early 1900s, he became a
pillar of Melbourne society. He lectured and examined at the University
of Melbourne, became chairman of the graduates association, president
of the University Club and in 1912 was elected to the university council.
During this time he was also prominent in the Boy Scout movement and
in 1913 he became president of the Victorian Institute of Engineers.
Monash's triumphant
return to Australia after the war was marred by the death of his wife
on 27 February 1920. In the following years innumerable public demands
were made on him. He became the natural spokesman for returned soldiers,
from 1925 leading the annual Anzac Day march. From 1923 he was Vice-Chancellor
of Melbourne University, and from 1924-26 president of the Australian
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Monash was a member
of the Naval and Military, the Wallaby and the Beefsteak clubs and in
1922 was president of Rotary. In 1927 he lent his name to the Australian
Zionist Federation as national president. His constant companion from
1920 was Elizabeth Bentwitch. |
| |
Right:
Lieut-General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD and Miss
Lizette Bentwitch 1927
watercolour
on ivory
87 x 106 mm.
signed by the artist, Agnes Paterson
exhibited
Victorian Artists Society April 1927, April 1928 and April 1931
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Above:
Sir John with grandson John Monash Bennett at Iona in July 1922 |
|
Above:
Bertha Bennett (left), and John Monash (right) with Aunt Ulrike on the
occasion of her birthday, and grandsons David and John, 1926 |
| |
|
| Monash's
haven was the family home Iona, where he lived with his daughter
and delighted in his grandchildren. He took a keen interest in the garden
and in 1923 after joining the Astronomical Society had a platform built
there for his telescope. |
| |
|
|
|
Above:
Bertha (Monash) Bennett and her children David, Elizabeth and John at
Iona, early 1927. |
| Although
he travelled to India early in 1931, to represent Australia at the opening
of New Delhi, by August his health had deteriorated and he died of coronary
vascular disease at Iona on 8 October 1931. His state funeral with crowds
of about 300,000 was probably the largest in Australia to that time. |
Contents | Introduction
| The Soldier | The
Engineer
|
|
