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 The
Friends have applied to the City of Port Phillip, (the
municipality which now covers the City of St Kilda) for a
commemorative plaque to be placed on the grave of St Kilda’s
first mayor - Benjamin Cowderoy. Mr. Cowderoy, who lived to the
great age of 92, saw four monarchs on the throne of England
during his lifetime. He was one of the most widely known and
highly respected men of his time in Victoria. Born in Reading,
England in 1812, he migrated to Australia in 1853 and quickly
identified himself with Melbourne’s commerce and municipal
sectors. He was a founder of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce
and later became its secretary (1852). As such, many regarded
Mr. Cowderoy as one of the guiding lights of Melbourne’s
commercial world. He served five years as a municipal
councillor,
becoming chairman (mayor) of St Kilda Council from 1857-58 and
again in 1861. He designed the City’s first crest and motto
before retiring from Council in 1866. Mr. Cowderoy, who married
three times, lived in Fulton Street, St Kilda. He died on
October 1, 1904 at Notting Hill near Oakleigh, in Victoria,
Australia. His funeral cortege took two hours to travel from
Oakleigh to the St. Kilda Cemetery for his burial. At the time
of his death he was one of the oldest Justices of the Peace in
the State. Cowderoy Street and Cowderoy Drain, in the
municipality are named after Benjamin Cowderoy.
The Emerald Hill Times of October 4-10, 2000 announced that
the Friends were successful in their endeavours to have the
plaque placed.
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