In March 1909 a small group of Commonwealth surveyors set up camp 
near a creek in Ngunawal land - known to Europeans as 
Klensendorlffe's. 
Their purpose was to carry out preliminary survey work on an 
area of thirty-six square miles to define the city area of the 
proposed national capital.  They remained for three weeks.  
The following year the surveyors returned and set up a base 
camp which consisted of in addition to their tents a few 
timber offices and a concrete plan room.  The plan room still 
stands.  It is on land now called Camp Hill off State Circle 
just below Parliament House.

By 1912  the surveyors had moved across the Molonglo River to 
a site near Acton House (small old farm cottage).   Nearby 
workmen  constructed a number of substantial temporary timber 
buildings which included a bank,  post office, hospital, offices, 
cottages and single men's barracks known as the Bachelors Quarters.  
Acton thus became Canberra's first suburb.   It was and 
remained for the next half century, the Administrative 
Centre of Canberra.

A world wide competition was held to design the new city.  
It was won by the American  Walter Burley Griffin.  
The city proper was set within a circle of low hills. 
From the beginning Canberra was a garden city with buildings 
connected to a clean water supply, electricity and sewerage.  
Canberra was designed with wide roads suitable for the new 
inventions - the motorised vehicles.     

The date set for the ceremonies to mark the beginning of 
the city was 12 March, 1913.  In the morning hours of that 
day men and women wearing their finery made their way by foot, 
sulky and horseless carriages over dusty paddocks to the chosen 
site on Capital Hill.  The official party and those of 
importance stood on a specially erected timber dais.  The 
ceremonies of the day included suitable patriotic songs and 
numerous speeches.   The military presence was supplied by  
the 11th Light Horse of NSW Lancers, 28th Light Horse,  9th 
Mounted Rifles, two mounted bands and a guard of honour by 
RMC cadets from Duntroon.   At the appropriate hour Lord 
Denman, the Governor General followed by Prime Minister 
Fisher and Minister for Home Affairs, King O'Malley, each 
armed with a silver trowel with ivory handle tapped one of 
the six foundation stones to mark the official beginning 
of construction of the city.  At precisely mid-day Lady 
Denman opened a gold case from which she took out the small 
card bearing the name of the city and said, I name the 
capital city of Australia, CANBERRA. 

The events of the grand and historical occasion were captured 
on film now held in the Film and Sound Archives, Canberra.  
The man cranking the handle of the film making device took 
time off from the duties of the day to focus his lens on a 
lone dog  weaving back and forth through the chatting lines 
of cadets.

The workmen who came to built the city moved into a number 
of segregated camps - married and single men's.   They were 
established near work sites at Cotter River, Power House 
and Brickyards.    Many of the single men rented tents from 
the Commonwealth for one shilling and sixpence (1/6d) per 
week plus another sixpence land rent.  Married men were 
expected to build their own cottages.  The majority used 
timber frames covered with iron on the roof and hessian 
on the walls.  Paper lined the interior of these cottages 
and many owners whitewashed the exteriors.  These houses 
had no electricity, no sewerage and no water.   

On 8 August, 1912 David Miller was appointed the territory's 
first administrator. Prior to then work on the city was 
organised and run from Melbourne by the Department of Home 
Affairs.  PT Owen and Charles Scrivener were in charge of 
work in the territory.  Distance created problems with 
communications.

From the time when Walter Burley Griffin won the competition 
there was friction between those for and against the building 
of Canberra.  The department in charge designed one plan which 
was different to the one designed by Walter Burley Griffin.   
Frederick Watson in his book, History of Canberra, described 
some of the troubles in the following manner:
In 1913 the departmental board itself was considering alterations 
in its own design...In July 1913, with the approval of cabinet, 
Kelly [newly appointed Minister for Home Affairs in charge of 
Canberra and the territory] arranged for Griffin to visit 
Australia, and to confer with the departmental board.  Kelly 
proposed that Griffin should have an opportunity of studying 
the actual site without the presence of the board; but, when 
he arrived at Canberra on the 19th August, and spent five days 
in an inspection of the site, Griffin was accompanied by three 
members of the board, D Miller, CR Scrivener and JS Murdoch.  
At this early date there is evidence of some hostility towards 
Griffin by some members of the board.   In Melbourne, Kelly 
informed the board that he wished the members to consult with 
Griffin "on the basis of the original plan, with such 
recommendations for amendment as they could make."  Kelly was 
then asked by a member of the board, "Does that mean, sir, that 
all our work is to go for nothing?" to which Kelly replied, 
"I expect from you absolute loyalty in carrying out my decision".

Kelly therefore reversed the decision of King O'Malley, his 
predecessor, rejected the departmental plan, and adopted 
Griffin's premiated plan subject to amendments...

Several days were spent in Melbourne trying to come to an 
agreement but this failed with the result on 5 October 1913 
Kelly sacked the board.  On 18 October Walter Burley Griffin 
was appointed federal capital director of design and construction.
Unfortunately the conflict of ideas did not cease.  

Frederick Watson in his chapter The Griffin Plan sets out 
concisely the major differences between the departmental 
plan and Griffin's.   He comments:
Within and without parliament, there was constant criticism 
of the respective merits of the Griffin and departmental plans, 
of alleged extravagance, of water supply from the Cotter river, 
and of the constant delays and alterations of Canberra.  
These criticism arose from opponents to the selection of 
Canberra or  the establishment of any capital city, who 
desired to defeat the project by ridicule and from supporters 
of Canberra, who desired to see some definite realisation of 
their ideals...Passive opposition to WB Griffin as federal 
capital director of design and construction developed within 
the department of home affairs soon after his appointment; 
after his return from America in May 1914, this opposition 
became active.  An interminable series of differences or 
acts of wants of co-ordination between Griffin and departmental 
officials developed...Opposition even to the idea of Canberra 
existed; a member of a departmental board and an official in 
the department stated before the royal commissioner that he, 
"never had any desire to assist in building Canberra," that 
he "hoped the whole proposal would be dropped," and that he 
would "like to see the federal capital strangled for a 
hundred years".

However, work in the city did continue if but slowly. By the 
end of 1913  The Residency (Canberra House) was completed, 
the Power House (on the site chosen by the department) well 
under way, the Brickyards were up and running, the Oddie 
Telescope (Mt Stromlo) in use and the Royal Military College, 
Duntroon processing its first group cadets.  In November 
1913 Kelly instructed Griffin to prepare draft conditions 
for a world wide competition for the design of a Parliament 
House.  After approval they were published 30 June, 1914.  
The competition was cancelled after the outbreak of World 
War I in August, 1914.  War also depleted the workforce as 
men left to don the uniforms of the armed services.

During 1914 the hospital at Acton and the rail link between 
Queanbeyan and Canberra were completed,  and the main nursery 
established in Sheedy's Paddock, Yarralumla. The go slow 
policy of the department continued with the result that no 
other large construction works were commenced in 1914.                                                                                              
 
Work on the sewer began in 1915.  The following year financial 
restraints and lack of manpower caused major works in the city 
to grind to a halt.  The brickyards closed.   By the time peace 
was declared in 1918 completion of the city was again in doubt.  
Not only was there a shortage of tradesmen to build the city, 
but worse still - a money shortage. 

 A poem written in the Visitors' Book in Yarralumla House 
(now Government House) in 1920 sums up the uncertainty of the 
times.

Canberra's National Anthem
Billy, Billy, Billy, my boy,
What are you waiting for now?
You promised us Canberra sometime last June, 
As did Ministers, Poynton and Groom,
All the Members Secs
Keep asking me,
Which day? What day?
We'll get from Vic away.
Billy, Billy, Billy my boy.
What are you waiting for now!
Written, Composed and Sung by the Federal Members at  
Canberra for the First time on Tuesday 12/2/1920.

Billy was Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia.  He like 
other dignitaries visiting Canberra before the Hotel Canberra 
opened in December, 1924, stayed at Yarralumla House.  Griffin 
and Hughes did not see eye to eye.  Conflict between Billy 
Hughes and Walter Burley Griffin increased with the result 
that Walter Burley Griffin resigned and moved to Sydney. 

On 22 January, 1921 the Hughes government appointed the 
federal capital advisory committee [FCAC] "with a view to 
enabling the federal parliament to meet and the central 
administration of the Commonwealth to be carried out as 
early as practicable at Canberra on the basis of the acceptance 
of the plan of lay out of the federal capital city by Mr WB 
Griffin.   Thus the decision was made to continue with the 
construction of the national capital but within the confines 
of a limited budget which permitted the construction of only 
the essential buildings necessary to move the Federal Parliament 
from Melbourne to Canberra.  Thus the original concept of 
grand public buildings was replaced with the reality of 
provisional rather than permanent - including the Parliament 
House. 

A group of five men, J Sulman - architect, EM de Burgh -  
engineer, HE Ross - architect, PT Owen, Director General of 
Works in federal Dept of Works & Railways, & JHT Goodwin, 
C'wealth Surveyor General made up the FCAC.  John Sulman was 
appointed chairman.   In August 1923 the First Sod  of the 
Provisional Parliament House was turned and the following 
month the completed Telopea Park School opened for business 
with Mr Henry at its helm.  In December 1924 the first land 
auction was held and the first block in Eastlake Shopping Centre 
was bought by JB Young  Gradually the nucleus of roads, 
reservoirs, electric light poles, brick cottages etc emerged  
on the surface of the paddocks and underground the sewer miners, 
who had returned to work in 1921, burrowed from Western Creek 
end towards the Parliament House.  The city was no longer just 
a dream on paper.  

Accommodation for workmen was never a priority of those 
who held the purse strings.  However in 1921   the FCAC 
recognised that in order to attract  tradesmen from the 
building booms and comforts of the major cities it was 
necessary to provide some housing above the level of humpies.  
One obvious solution pointed out by men such as JB Youngwas 
to utilize the empty Internment Camp at Molonglo  
(built in May 1918).  They saw the roughly made structures, 
with a bit of work, as an ideal self contained workmen's suburb.  
It even had a gaol. The result - the remaining barracks not 
sold off at the end of the war were converted into 120 
tenements (3-6 rooms each) and barrack's accommodation for 
150 single men.  The first tenants moved in towards the end 
of 1921 and shortly afterwards the Molonglo Primary School 
opened.  Its first headmaster was Mr Ivey.  The population 
of this settlement in 1925 was 760 - around one fifth of 
the population of the Territory.

Not all Molonglo buildings remained in the settlement.  
Groups of usually around 10 - 15 were  moved by jinkers 
to sites near construction areas including Eastlake, 
Civic Centre, the Brickyards and the Arsenal.

The FCAC also put money aside to erect a few small brick 
cottages.  They were in Section 64 Westridge (Yarralumla - 
10 cottages), Braddon (20 cottages) and opposite the Power 
House (20 cottages).  These cottages were occupied from late 
1921.  In 1923 another 16 cottages were constructed at Forrest 
in Ducane and Franklin Streets.  The next move by the FCAC 
was to build 51 small portable timber cottages in The Gap at 
Westlake.   They were ready for occupation from March, 1924.  
In 1926 another 10 were built bringing the number in the suburb 
up to 61.   Westlake (now Stirling Park) was near the worksite 
of the Provisional Parliament House  and out of sight of 
permanent Canberra. 

In 1922 on the opposite side of the Creek to The Gap Cottages 
Contractor John Howie built 25 timber cottages for his married 
men and 18 or more timber huts for his single men (Hostel Camp). 
Howie's Cottages were the prototype of those designed by HM 
Rolland erected in The Gap.  In 1924 the FCAC built another 
15 of this type of cottage at Acton  and in 1925/1926 the 
Federal Capital Commission (FCC) continued the building 
programme with  another 120 cottages at the Causeway.     

At the beginning of 1925 control of construction work was 
taken over from the FCAC by the Federal Capital Commission 
(FCC).  John Butters who held the title of First Commissioner, 
headed the new body.  He along with his wife and family lived 
for a short time at the Hotel Canberra until a refurbished 
Canberra House and offices at Acton were made ready. His 
purpose was to  speed up the building programmes.    

John Butter's priority was not accommodation for construction 
workers - a point of view he made quite clear at a meeting 
held in May 1925 to form a Social Service Association with 
the objective of improving the welfare of construction 
workers and their families.  Mr Leo O'Neill, AWU representative, 
made the point at the meeting that the most pressing welfare 
need for the builders and their families was decent housing.  
Mr Butters informed the gathering that he would close the 
meeting if this line of discussion continued.  In fairness 
to Mr Butters it should be stated that he had a very tight 
budget to carry out the tasks required of him.

The FCC did, however,  arrange for the building    of  a 
small number of permanent weatherboard cottages for artisans 
in Westridge and in the permanent suburb of Ainslie in 
Corroboree Park.   At Ainslie the weatherboards were 
segregated from the brick area.   A few of the public servants 
who began arriving from 1927 were offered some of these cottages. 

The few cottages built by the FCC for construction workers 
were insufficient and in an attempt to solve the housing 
problem made two sites available for married men to build 
their own dwellings. They were Riverbourne (on a site 3 
miles from Queanbeyan Post Office on the southern bank of 
the Molonglo River - 1925-1927) and Russell Hill (site near 
Campbell Shops, 1926-1950s).   Russell Hill and Duntroon 
also had Primary Schools to cater for the needs of the 
numerous children.   

The FCC also had plans to remove all temporary suburbs and 
single men's camps around 1929 and transfer the married men 
into brick cottages in the suburbs of Eastlake, Griffith, 
Ainslie and Barton. 
A  few families did make the move, but many remained.   The 
rent charged for brick cottages was more than many could 
afford and by 1929 many had lost their jobs.  

The 1930s were depression years.  Major building work in 
Canberra once again slowed almost to a standstill and the 
workmen's suburbs of Westlake, Causeway, Russell Hill and 
Oaks Estate remained along with single men's camps at White 
City (removed early 1930s), Capitol Hill, Causeway, Brickyards, 
Duntroon, Parkes Barracks and Mt Ainslie.  Selwyn Wark 
recalled that from the late 1920s through the 1930s that in 
addition to the official camps,  there were little camps all 
over the place. People had to survive.

Hostel No 1 - also known as The Politician's Hotel and Hotel 
Canberra opened in December 1924.  Until that time the only 
accommodation available for single officials was at Yarralumla 
House and the Bachelors Quarters at Acton.  The former was for 
men of importance and the latter for public servants of lower 
ranks.  The Bachelors Quarters was in use from December, 1912.
 
Until Hotel Ainslie  was opened in 1925 there was no public 
accommodation available for single ladies employed in the 
public service in Canberra.   In 1926 the Lady Hopetoun Club 
was founded.  Its purpose was to provide suitable accommodation 
for young girls of the domestic class.  The FCC provided the 
club with four houses in Blandfordia.  This club was disbanded 
when the YMCA moved into Canberra in 1929.

In early 1926 the Hotel Kurrajong and Printers Quarters 
opened for business and in 1927 they were joined by Hotels 
Acton and Wellington along with Houses Brassey and  Beauchamp.  
These hotels and houses were used to accommodate single men 
and women (segregated) and a few married couples with no 
children or a small family transferred to Canberra.

All hotels in the territory were dry.  The arrival of the  
federal parliament in May 1927 highlighted this problem - 
a parliament without alcohol was unthinkable.   King O'Malley, 
a non drinker, was the cause of the territory's dry state.  
He declared the sale of alcohol in the territory - forbidden. 
In November 1928 the first electoral roll in the territory was 
compiled and the question of Yes or No to alcohol in the 
territory was put to the vote.  The result was an overwhelming 
Yes and the first deliveries of the alcoholic beverages were 
made in December 1928 to the hotels and cafes in Kingston, 
Manuka and Civic.

Permanent housing constructed from 1926 was built in the new 
suburbs of Ainslie, North Ainslie, South Ainslie, Eastlake 
(Kingston), Blandfordia (Forrest) Barton, Red Hill, Mugga Way, 
Manuka and Griffith.      Numerous documents found in the 
Australian Archives note that these houses in comparison to 
those available for the same rent or less in the State capital 
cities were smaller and less attractive dwellings.  To help 
compensate the newcomers each tenant transferred to Canberra 
was made a rent allowance.  Rent was based on a percentage of 
the cost of building (around 10%) per annum and a minimum 
covenant placed on cottages in each of the suburbs. For Ainslie 
it was seven hundred pounds and Mugga Way, fifteen hundred pounds.  
The result was that the lower paid officials lived in Ainslie 
and less than a handful of  top public servants in Mugga Way.  
A similar class rental system was used in the hotels and 
boarding houses.  Hotel Canberra, for example, was out of 
the price range of the lady typistes who boarded in Gorman and 
Beauchamp Houses.  

People in the permanent cottages were encouraged to buy 
their houses.  A 10% of building cost deposit was required 
and the remainder of cost of building was repaid over a 
thirty year period for brick cottages and 25 year period 
for weatherboards at a small fixed interest rate.   
Construction workers  living in the temporary cottages 
received no rent allowance and were not permitted to 
buy their cottages. 

Front fences were banned in the permanent suburbs.  Instead 
hedges were grown and these were kept neatly trimmed by the 
men from the Parks & Gardens department.  

The Depression began in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 
shortly after the opening of Parliament in May 1927.  In 
1929 the whole country was affected and many Australians 
blamed its cause on the  folly of building a national capital.  
Canberra was referred to as a great white elephant.   

A few major building projects were undertaken in the  1930s.  
They included, The Swimming Pool (Manuka), the Institute of 
Anatomy (now Film & Sound Archives), Lord Casey's house, 
Hotels Civic & Kingston, Civic Picture Theatre and Canberra 
High School and, in the following decade,  the Canberra 
Hospital, American Embassy and the War Memorial.

In early 1930 the FCC was replaced by Federal Capital 
Advisory Council which could advise the Commonwealth 
but not make laws.   Nearly a half century had to pass before 
the advent of self government in 1989.  Decisions about local 
requirements were made by a Minister for the Interior appointed 
by the ruling party in the Commonwealth Government.  The man 
they selected never came from Canberra and therefore was not 
responsible to the people whom he ruled.

During the early 1930s men at all levels were sacked, 
including architects, many of whom had made the city their 
home.  To help those without work an Unemployment Relief 
Committee was set up.  People in work contributed to the 
employment funds including public servants whose pays were 
reduced during the years of the depression.  The Commonwealth 
matched the money raised - pound for pound.

The Committee consulted with the Commonwealth for suitable work 
for the few they could employ.  It was capital poor and  labour 
intensive and during this hard time many of the pine plantations 
were planted.  Another project was the planting of Canberra's 
streets under the guidance of Alexander Bruce who took over 
from Thomas Charles Weston, first Superintendent of Parks & 
Gardens.  Killing the rabbit population supplied work for others 
including one man who was selected for the job because he had a 
large family of nine children who could assist him. Single men 
were employed for three day's work in a six to seven week period 
and married men one weeks work in four.

To be considered for employment in the territory men had to be 
registered on the electoral roll for the advisory council elections 
(early 1930s).   This means of identifying those living in the 
territory adversely affected men not of Australian or British 
birth who were not eligible to enrol.   Australian Archives 
contain many letters from such disenfranchised men begging for 
any kind of work.  One, an American, was an ANZAC and had 
lived in this part of the world for over twenty five years.

Those who came in search of work were given a fortnight's 
respite in one of the camps such as Parkes Barracks for single 
men and Mt Ainslie Camp for married.  They received a handout 
of food which consisted of the basics of bread, butter, tea, 
sugar, jam, potatoes and meat.   Many of the men who walked 
the roads called into  farm houses, such as Kaye's situated 
near the modern Lennox Park at the rear of the Hotel Canberra 
or Corkhill's now covered by the Water Police buildings.  
They were given a feed and a little tea to tide them over.

The policy of employing only those living in the territory 
began before the Great Depression.    This policy was in situ 
during the early 1920s and resulted in many who lived in 
Queanbeyan moving into the territory.  The majority moved to 
Russell Hill, Westlake, Causeway, Molonglo and  Oaks Estate.  
When work was tight another policy of employing returned 
soldiers first was also brought into force.  Married men before 
single was also the order of the day.

Some positives did occur in the thirties.  Ally Nish, one of 
the territory's retrenched architects founded the first sports' 
store and AJ Ryan established in his Kingston Store Canberra's 
first radio station - 2CA.  It commenced operation on 14 
November1931 and shortly afterwards was challenged by 
Mr Shakespeare, owner of The Canberra Times, who stated 
that Ryan had broken the conditions of his lease.  Ryan 
later moved to a new site near Molonglo Reservoir in present 
day Symonston and in 1940 into a new Art Deco style building 
in Mort Street, Civic Centre.  By this time Canberra's second 
radio station, 2CY, was broadcasting.

The first broadcast from the National Capital occurred 
12 July 1926 from the Causeway Hall.  The Philharmonic 
Society performed.

Jock Simmie was a successful local contractor. In the 1930s 
he built the Institute of Anatomy.   A letter dated 12th 
June1925 from CS Daley, Acting Secretary to Secretary Home & 
Territories Department has the following to say about the 
proposed building and nearby land:

I am directed to say that the semi-circular site between 
the University reservation and Civic Place marked on the 
map forwarded with your letter under reply is considered 
suitable for the purposes of a National Zoological Museum.  
This area comprises five and half acres which it is thought 
will be sufficient for this purpose...With regard to the 
site of the proposed Park for the Accommodation of Live 
Specimens of  Australian Fauna, I am to say that the Commission 
raises no objections to the area coloured green - approximately 
30 acres - being allotted for this purpose.  Until such time 
as the Lake Scheme is developed this area of the peninsula will, 
of course, be very much greater, approximately double.  I am to 
say, however, that it is considered that the term "National Park" 
should not be used in connection with this proposal.  A reference 
to the Griffin plan and his explanatory report will show that 
the original intention was to locate Zoological gardens on the 
north side of the Molonglo River between Commonwealth Avenue 
and Federal Avenue in association with the Botanical Gardens, 
Aquarium and various Galleries and Museums, and the Commission 
can at present see no reason to depart from this idea...

The park was not built. However the Institute was and this 
venue was used for a number of national conferences including 
one on polio and another on cancer.  The building was also 
used as a morgue and held  Aboriginal artifacts along with 
numerous skeletons and Phar Lap's heart.

The Swimming Pool at Manuka was officially opened on 26 January 
1931.  It unofficially opened on Christmas Day, 1930.  During 
the period when it was used unofficially mixed bathing was not 
permitted because at the time only one of the two dressing 
sheds was completed. The original idea for the pool included 
heating and enclosing the complex.  Monetary constraints put 
an end to this proposal.  

Prior to the opening of the Manuka Pool people used the 
Molonglo River.  Two pools had dressing sheds.  One was 
at Acton just down from the Bachelors Quarters.  This 
swimming hole was so deep that local swimmers recalled  
that it was impossible to find the bottom.  Perhaps it was 
part of the Limestone Caves system in the area.  The other 
pool was near the Power House.  

On 11 November 1925 a Swimming & Life Saving Club was formed.  
The President was Mr WE Potts, Vice President Mr Brackenreg, 
Hon Sec Mr Webb, Hon Treasurer Mr Sanders, Minute Secretary 
Miss Thwaite and Committee, Mrs Ashdown and Messrs Beer, 
Knox, Fizelle and O'Neill.  Their home pool was at Acton where 
two pools were set aside - one for non swimmers and beginners 
and the other for more experienced swimmers.  Cost of membership 
was 5/- for gentlemen and 2/6d for ladies and children under 
16 free.  Perhaps one reason for the Club's shortlived life 
was that many, such as the Westlake and Molonglo people had 
their own swimming holes where they swam from around September 
to March, gratis.

In 1938 Lord and Lady Casey had an impressive red brick house 
built for them just off State Circle.  Today it is called Casey 
House and it is one of the dwellings in the Embassy area of 
Canberra.  The second built in the area of Westlake was the 
American Embassy erected in the early 1940s.  It was followed 
in the late 1950s by the South African High Commission Residence and 
the French Embassy.  

Nearby to the Patents Office in Kings Avenue was the first  
National Library.  The former opened in 1940 and the latter 
in 1934.   The library, later replaced with a new building 
in the late sixties, was the equivalent of Aladdin's Cave 
for those who loved books.  The stacks were open for browsers.  
During these early years the only book store I recall was 
owned by Verity Hewitt which opened in 1938 in an upstairs 
shop in the Sydney Building in Civic Centre.