Carlton Gardens

Carlton Gardens began as a city garden for public recreation in the middle of the nineteenth century. Later, the avenues and lawns became the ceremonial surroundings of the Exhibition Building, linking a strolling park with a large exhibition complex. At the eastern edge, between the paths, a small stone-lined area rises; on it grows a fig with large leaves. A plaque on its enclosure preserves the names of people connected with this corner of the gardens.

At the eastern edge of Carlton Gardens, on the Nicholson Street side opposite Gertrude Street, a huge large-leaved fig grows. Its trunk stands on a raised area enclosed by a stone wall. The tree is protected because of the meetings that took place beneath its canopy.

Carlton Gardens were set aside for public recreation in the middle of the nineteenth century, and later turned into the ceremonial surroundings of the Exhibition Building. Their status as a city garden unexpectedly proved useful to people who found it difficult to gather indoors.

From the nineteen twenties to the nineteen forties, Indigenous families moved to nearby Fitzroy. Colonial laws separated families, officials closed reserve settlements, and during the economic depression people came to Melbourne to look for work. Many rented rooms in boarding houses near Gertrude Street. Landlords forbade tenants from holding public and political meetings there. On Saturdays and Sundays, families crossed Nicholson Street and met beneath the fig: here they could find relatives, exchange news, and arrange help.

One of the speakers was Doug Nicholls, a pastor of the Yorta Yorta people who campaigned for civil rights for Indigenous Australians and for support for those arriving in the city without money or housing. His ministry was sustained by donations, a small payment from the church, and his earnings as a football coach and groundskeeper. After services at the chapel on nearby Gore Street, parishioners gathered here again. Nicholls's daughter recalled adults talking beneath the tree, children playing nearby, and people sharing their last possessions if a family had no money left.

Nicholls and other leaders spoke beneath the fig about the right to decide the affairs of their own community. These gatherings connected newcomers with Fitzroy families and helped grow a network from which legal, medical, and social-support organizations later emerged. In the nineteen seventies, elders came here from across Victoria: beneath the same branches, they passed traditions and the rules of community life on to young people.

The fig remains between two walking paths. A plaque on the stone wall bears the names of people who spoke here, and Indigenous families continue to use the tree as a meeting place.