The Rowan Tree

A rowan tree (Sorbus aucuparia), planted on the site of the future St Andrews church, Forrest on 11 September 1926, occupied a special place in the early life of the Canberra, particularly the Scots community and the local Highland Society and Burns Club.  Until the Burns memorial was unveiled in 1935, the Burns Anniversary Day ceremony (25 January) was held here.  By 1929 the tree was a focal point for the local Scots community, prompting the Burns Club to nominate a nearby site, on the corner of Canberra Avenue and National Circuit, as the location for the Burns memorial and club.

The planting was initiated by Mr WB Carmichael, of the Highland Society of New South Wales, who arranged for the tree and a crate of soil to be brought from the grounds of Craigmillar Castle on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  The tree was planted jointly by members of the Highland Society and the Burns Club.  Duncan Carson, who made the official speech, read a poem composed for the occasion by JD Robertson.  AE Bruce, a Scot, who oversaw the planting in his capacity as Superintendent, Parks and Gardens, also wrote a commemorative poem.  Both are published in the Federal Capital Pioneer Magazine, 15 October 1926.

A fence was erected around the tree in 1933.   When original died, it was was replaced by another tree in the late 1980s. Rowans are also growing near the memorial to Hector Harrison, minister of St Andrews for 30 years within the grounds of the church.

Still others were planted in Edinburgh Avenue in the City, but have since died.  The tree is not suited to Canberra, which is too dry and hot for it in summer, but will survive in well tended gardens, such as the rowan in the House of Representatives Garden, Old Parliament House, near the gate to Constitution Place.  These locations were also proposed as sites of the Burns Memorial in 1929.

The decision by the Scots community to plant a rowan tree as a gift to the new Capital and a reminder of home affected the local streetscape by more than the addition of a single tree.  WB Carmichael was also a member of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, and during an earlier visit to Canberra had the idea of public bodies sponsoring tree planting in the new capital.  He wrote to leading institutions around Australia, and arranged tree-planting along Wellington (now Canberra) Avenue by various State Chambers, Rotarians and others, on the same day as the rowan planting.  The English Speaking Union from Victoria planted a Virginian poplar, whose wide-spreading branches symbolised the ideal of the ESU. 

Poems written for the planting of the Rowan Tree, 11 September 1926