When the Federal Capital Territory was created (1911), the site was open grazing land with few trees. The site merges into Kurrajong Hill (later re-named Capital Hill). The 1920s saw considerable progress in establishing Canberra as a city, with particular attention being paid to building the Provisional Parliament House and it's grand opening by the The Duke and Duchess of York.
There were three tree planting ceremonies undertaken by the Duke and Duchess on 9 May 1927:
- The Duke after staying the night at the Governor General's residence 'Yarralumla', planted an Atlas Cedar2 at Government House, Yarralumla in the morning before leaving for Parliament House;
- In the morning the Duchess planted a Cricket Bat Willow and a Eucalypt on a site near the corner of Continent Circuit (now National Circuit) and Wellington Avenue (now Canberra Avenue – the site is part of the current Forrest Primary School), as the initial plantings for Coppice No. 1;
- Late in the day the Duke planted an English Oak and a Bunya Pine on either side of Federal Avenue (now Kings Avenue) near the corner with Capital Circle (now State Circle), as the initial plantings of Coppice No. 5.
The mueseum of democracy has a good read and audio interview by a witness to the opening day. (here)
This document is a good read and contains maps and satelite pictures (here)(pdf)
The National Trust warns us (here)
And this is what the National Capital Authority is doing (here)
How to find it.
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