Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This silent black-and-white clip shows part of the Great Inaugural Procession through the streets of Sydney on 1 January 1901 to mark the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia. It shows the Italian float and the Canadian float passing through a temporary arch, followed by various dignitaries in open horse-drawn carriages, including the mayors of metropolitan cities and members of state parliaments. Part of the crowd that lined the route of the procession can be seen through the archway. There is some film damage.

Educational value points

• The Great Inaugural Procession was held in Sydney on 1 January 1901 to mark the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia. It was the first in a series of Federation events, known officially as 'Commonwealth Celebrations’. The events ran over eight days and included a state banquet, parades, fireworks, concerts and picnics. Celebrations were held throughout Australia to mark what the newspapers of the time described as the greatest day in Australia’s history.

• The Procession began at the Domain and proceeded through the city streets to Centennial Park, where Australia’s first governor-general, John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, presided as the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. More than 10,000 people took part in the Procession, which included military bands, troops, mounted police, stockmen, tradesmen and firefighters, together with representatives of foreign governments and community and religious organisations. Australia’s Indigenous people were not acknowledged in the procession.

• Between 250,000 and 500,000 spectators lined the route of the Procession, reflecting the widespread support felt by Australians for nationhood. Buildings, telegraph poles and streets were festooned with flags, banners, bunting and triumphal arches. As well as lining the road, people hung out of windows, climbed onto rooftops and even awnings in order to get a glimpse of the Procession. The Sydney Morning Herald hailed it as 'entirely a people’s festival’.

• Horse-drawn floats formed a major part of the Procession and, as well as the Canadian and Italian floats seen in this clip, included a trade union float and one to represent each state that federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The bust of Sir Henry Parkes (1815–96), sculpted by an Italian artist, featured on the Italian float. Parkes, a former premier of NSW, was a passionate advocate of nationhood and has been dubbed the 'father of Federation’.

• The order of the procession is of interest in itself. It was led by 200 mounted police, followed, in order, by railway bandsmen, shearers and bush workers, ahead of the dignitaries. Of the floats, the trade union section preceded the military components which included a contingent of soldiers returned from the Boer War.

• The Procession passed through ten temporary triumphal arches that celebrated aspects of Australian life, and in particular the nation’s economic recovery from the economic depression of the 1890s. Three arches, elaborately constructed of wood and plaster, symbolised wool, wheat and coal. The Sydney Decoration Committee allocated £500 per arch.

• Inauguration of the Commonwealth is believed to contain the first moving images of a nation being created. The New South Wales Government commissioned the Limelight Department, a film production arm of the Salvation Army, to film the Federation events, including the Procession. The final film ran for 35 minutes, six times longer than any previous Australian film, and it was shown in cinemas across Australia, as well as in Britain and Canada.

This clip starts approximately 4 minutes into the documentary.

This clip shows part of the official parade for the Inauguration of the Commonwealth on 1 January 1901 as it passes through the temporary gate built especially for the occasion in Hyde Park, Sydney. The clip is silent. There are crowds of people lining the procession as fifteen horse-drawn carriages pass through the gate, the first two are elaborately decorated.