1906: The Inaugural Festivities for Australia’s McFarlane Bridge Involve Both a Christening and a Ribbon-Cutting

April 9, 1906

In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for the McFarlane Bridge in the town of Maclean. The bridge, which was designed by civil engineer Ernest de Burgh (1863-1929), carries Lawerence Road across the south arm of the Clarence River. This structure provides a key transportation link between Maclean on the mainland and Woodford Island. The bridge was named in honor of John McFarlane (1854-1915), who represented that region in the NSW Legislative Assembly from 1887 until his death.

The inaugural festivities for the bridge were reported in the next day’s edition of the Clarence River Advocate. “The ceremony of opening McFarlane Bridge, over the South Arm, was successfully carried out yesterday,” noted this newspaper. “The weather was most favorable for the function . . . There was a considerable stir about town all the morning and preparations for the opening were in evidence.”

The Clarence River Advocate also highlighted the formal procession of dignitaries who made their way to the bridge for the Monday afternoon event. “A large number of school children followed, and number of vehicles fell in, while many of the general public accompanied the procession along the street . . . As the procession passed along the street the various balconies were crowded with sightseers. The children especially appeared to be very enthusiastic, and cheered frequently along the way.”

As the guest of honor and namesake of the bridge, John McFarlane played an active role in the ceremony itself. His wife Ellen Quayle McFarlane (1862-1929) likewise participated in this celebration. “At the first span Mrs. McFarlane broke a bottle of wine upon the bridge and christened it ‘McFarlane Bridge,’” reported the Clarence River Advocate. “The procession, with the crowd on either side, then crossed the bridge. At the towers a ribbon was stretched across. This was cut by Mr. McFarlane, who declared the bridge open.”  All these decades later, this beam bascule bridge remains in service for motor vehicles as well as pedestrians.

Photo Credit: Chris Olszewski (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kgbo) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

For more information on the McFarlane Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McFarlane_Bridge