Charles Web Gilberts The Helping Hand: a

poignant symbol of personal and universal

experience.

Donna Baldwin

On first glace, the 1924 unveiling of The Helping Hand in Shepparton was
unremarkable, the memorial being just one of thousands built across the country to
acknowledge the Great Wars dead:i the large attending crowdii heard the Governor
commend their fine spirit of self-sacrifice and noble sentiment.iii Just as the memorial
depicted a soldier ready to extend a helping hand to a comrade and friend when
assistance was needed,iv he urged listeners to evince a desire to help those who had been
deprived of their breadwinners.v The statue has come to be among the most important of
Australian War Memorials because of its inordinate beauty and the fame of its sculptor,
Charles Web Gilbert. But to consider The Helping Hand in this context alone is to ignore its
symbolism in the sculptors life. Yes, Charles Web Gilbert was perhaps one of the worlds
great figurative sculptors,vi and like the Anzacs he portrayed in his war memorial work,vii
his is a compelling story of
determination tainted by loss and
great tragedy. Nevertheless, this is
also a story of profound coincidence,
good fortune and reciprocity. Almost
one hundred years after it was
unveiled, The Helping Hand stands
as a poignant reminder of deeply
personal and universal experience.
When Gilberts father died in
1867, he left his young widow
Nasaretha and three small children
without provider or protector.
Charles Web was only two months
old.viii By the time he was nine,
Gilbert was apprenticed to T.F.
Gunsler, of the Collins St Vienna Caf.
He worked a 14-hour day, seven-day
week (with 2 hours off every
second Sunday), for a princely 5s.ix
Hard working and creative, his
specialty was the intricately modeled
decorations of the grand wedding
cakes that filled the cafes windows.
Figure 1: Gilbert sculpted The Helping Hand in his Fitzroy
At the completion of his
studio between 1922 and 1923. It was cast in France and
apprenticeship at 14, his weekly
unveiled by The Earl of Stradbroke in June 1924. This
image, believed to have been taken by Gilbert, features an
wage had increased to 2-10s-0d.x
inscription in Gilberts hand: "To J.L. Treloar from C. Web
When twenty, he married Miss Alice
Gilbert 5 July 1925". Along with CEW Bean, JL Treloar is
widely considered to be the founding father of the
Rose Eugenia Daniell.xi
Australian War Memorial.
Despite a long and

successful chefs careerxii,
sculpture was Gilberts passion. With few to no teachers in Australia, Charles D
Richardson, himself a European trained painter and sculptor known for the help he

gave to other artists, encouraged him.xiii His first sculptures appeared in the late
1890s and met with favourable review: [Gilbert is] a
young sculptor of pronounced talent.xiv In 1901, The
Geelong Advertiser declared [s]culpture receives its
ablest treatment at the hands of that gifted modeller [sic],
Mr C. Web Gilbert, whose unveiling of Spring [sic] is a
poem in the plastic art [and] will go far to set the seal
upon his fame.xv Later, another reviewer found Nymph
of the Lilies an exquisitely proportioned figure.xvi
In 1906 he benefitted from the generosity of a
prominent citizen [who] not only encouraged but
show[ed] practical sympathy by commissioning him to
produce some works in marble.xvii Patronage of the
influential became significant to Gilberts career: public
figures opened his exhibitions, commissioned him for
works and promoted his interestsxviii and in 1914,
American ex-pats Professor and Mrs Hugo Meyer gifted
him the price of his SS Afric passage to London.xix He also
enjoyed a positive relationship with a press whose
reviews consistently supported his work: The Wheel
of Life could command attention in any art gallery of the
world.xx
While he continued in hospitality, and honed his
skill in clay and marble after-hours,xxi Gilberts claim to
posterity was in his bronze work. In the new federation,
Figure 2: The Geelong Advertiser
all bronze work was contracted to foundries in England and found Gilberts The Unveiling of
Europe. A pioneer in sculptural casting, Gilbert was entirely Spring a poem in the plastic
self-taught, expanding his Fitzroy studio to incorporate an art [that] will go far to set the
seal upon his fame.
in-ground furnace where he worked until well into the

night, developing his founding skills in his spare time.
Gilbert invited friends and colleagues to visit and observe the process:
My Dear Croll, I am doing a small casting on Thursday night about 8 oc if
you care to come along & bring your cousins you know you will be welcome
there will be a few friends here xxii

Sometimes, castings did not proceed smoothly:

he was standing straddle legs over the furnance [sic] which was sunken in
the ground. In his powerful hands he clenched a vice-like pair of huge iron
pincers. With these he gripped the fireproof urn which held the molten metal,
and slowly raising [sic] it to the surface. He stepped quickly to the mould [sic],
which was buried in the earth; the only visible part of it being the mouth
which was to swallow the metal. Quickly the metal was poured so that it would
run freely whilst hot, and fill all crevices of the bust. Down, down it ran. Then
suddenly the opening choked, and the remaining metal spilled spluttering
over the ground. It was like watching an angry volcano vomiting its deadly
bile.
Web stood gazing at the tragedy with head bent as if in great sorrow,
then without a word quickly left the shed. It was obvious he was in great
distress. Weeks of labour and care had been lost by pouring the metal too
soon in a cold atmosphere. The complete process would have to be done all

over again, and only one who had experienced bronze casting, by the lost-wax
process, could understand what that would mean. I was sorry to see this great
mans failure, and to see him fade from a tower of strength to a crushed and
disappointed man.xxiii

Disappointments were common, but Gilbert was a man of resilience; his dogged
determination saw his skills develop and his star rise. He was commissioned to produce
works by writers Frederick McCubbin and John Shirlow, and public figures including Mr L.
A. Adamson and Sir Edward Holroyd.xxiv Memorial statues were commissioned for theatrical
producer J. C. Williamson, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sir Samuel Gillott and Premier Sir Thomas
Gibson-Carmichael.
However, an abundance of willing sitters had not always existed and securing models
proved difficult for painters and sculptors alike. Gilbert placed several advertisements in
The Age:
Artists Model, man, clean shaven 40 years, tall, well built. After 2.30 pm xxv
Model, man, young, well built xxvi
Model, young, female, undraped, must be good figure xxvii
Model, female, undraped. After 3 oclock xxviii

Although it is unclear what response the ads drew, Gilberts requirement for a figure model
featured in an unfortunate court case and the subsequent dissolution of his marriage. In a
widely reported
Remarkable Divorce Case
in 1911, Alice Gilbert
petitioned that her
husband had
misconducted himself with
a servant girl in their
employ.xxix Mr Justice
ABeckett heard that
Martha May Howard was
employed as a servant in
1904, and that she also sat
for Mr Gilbert as a model.
Adver'sing,.The$Age,.12.Feb..1904,.8..
Adver'sing,.The$Age,.21.Sep..1906,.3..
Miss Howard also testified
Adver'sing,.The$Age,.29.Sep..1913,.8..
.
that [Gilbert] sometimes
took [her] in his arms and
Figure 3: Gilbert advertised for models in The Age.
kissed [her]. Mr Kelly, for
the petitioner, stated that
act[s] of indiscretion occur[red] in September, October, November, and December, of
1907 , that Mrs Gilbert found out three years later, [w]hen the girl blurted it out and so
sought a dissolution. Infidelity then, as now, had the potential to cause great pain, damage
lives and even ruin careers. Fortunately for Gilberts practice, fall out from the scandal is not
apparent. He continued to draw commissions and his career flourished; the Felton Fund
purchased Bernard ODowd Esq. for the National Gallery of Victoria in 1913.xxx
Despite his success, Gilbert was not a wealthy man. He had steadily reduced his chef
hours to allow more studio time, and purchased his Gore-st home and studio, but remained
a man of modest means.xxxi Casting is not only heavy and labour intensive work, it is also

expensive; working by the lost-wax process consumed as

much as 50 in wax per pour, not forgetting the tons of
coke week after week, month after month required to fuel
the furnace.xxxii Gilbert was also committed to weekly
alimony of 30s. to Alice.xxxiiiHence, the gift of the price of
passage to London in 1914 was a significant show of
support to the emerging sculptor. His departure was
preceded by a [Victorian Artists Galleries] bohemian
gathering [at which] they smoked and wished him luck
over mugs of beer and garlic-sausagexxxiv and his
benefactors, Professor and Mrs Hugo Meyer, entertained
[him] at their home Abernay to bid him farewell and
good luck.xxxv London was to be a turning point in
Gilberts life, but one that did not elicit the expected results.
He arrived just weeks before the outbreak of war, yet
even his earliest correspondence revealed immediate
reservations:xxxvi this is a great place, but Australia is
better a fine place if one has lots of money. Four days
later, a postcard declared, Id
sooner be in Australia.xxxvii
Over the next six years, he
wrote of his great yearning for
the clean air, wide spaces and
prosperity of home, indicating
he planned to, or wished to
return: many times I feel like
chucking it all, to get out to a
free life and open country
where things are more
natural.xxxviii He was clearly
disillusioned that the affluent
life he had imagined, failed to
eventuate:
Figure 4 (top): Front of postcard from Gilbert to RH Croll.
the people who one
hears rave about
Figure 5 (above): Reverse of postcard from Gilbert to RH Croll, in
London out there are
which Gilbert declares: Id sooner be in australia [sic].
those that have been
here for a holiday & had

a good time, and have not seen the other side, and I can tell you it is a very sad
one indeed, if one goes into the outskirts of the city day or night one can easily
understand it the people are like an ant-bed, and competition is terribly keen
you see here, there are classes that is not understood in Australia xxxix
I often wish I was there instead of here. I think life in a free country & open air
is worth a lot of this, it is a bit too cramped here for me. And would hate to
think I would be here all my life. In very many ways it is very nice but I like
Australia much better xl

Although his work was well received in London,xli the consequences of war made art
challenging and largely financially unrewarding:

5

Figure 6: Gilbert exhibited in London where his work was well received. 'The Critic' (top right
of this catalogue) was purchased by the Chantrey Bequest for inclusion in the Tate Gallery.

 things in the art world here are in a bad way, and manny [sic] of the artists
are going to the war as there is nothing else for them to do I have had visits
from a couple of the R. A. and they thought very well of my work but they all
say the same thing. No money.xlii
Marble is scarce and expensive, and there is the question of getting it to the
Academy as carriers do not care to or are unable to get men to move the work.
In fact at present artists are not wanted as it is not work of national
importance. xliii

His letters reflected the difficult living conditions in war-time England, including rationing
and food shortages:
I am a bit tired of this caldron [sic] where everything is boiling Art work here
at present is almost out of the question the matter of moment is food which I
am afraid will be acute before long!xliv

His dreams of prosperity and affluence were proving elusive.

Ironically, the war also delivered Gilbert much needed financial relief:
I commenced doing my own bronze casting here and just as I got things
together was stopped by the munitions people so for a while am doing
munitions work. Guage [sic] making. A different job at which I work 12
hours daily at [sic]. xlv

Gauge making was essential to the war effort: light train tracks criss-crossed the
Western Front and ran through the trenches, carrying essential supplies to troops on the
front line and despite his ambivalence, Gilberts casting expertise provided reliable
employment when art could not.
In a second change of fortune, Gilbert was invited to join the Australian War
Records Office. Wallace Anderson was creating a team of artists to document Australias

Figure 7: Sculptors, painters and photographers of the War Records Office Section visited the sites
of significant Australian campaigns, documenting battlefields for the dioramas that would feature in
the proposed national war museum. This image, Three unidentified members of the staff of the
Australian War Records Section, sitting in the office, in fact features Gilbert in the centre. The
author has contacted the Australian War Memorial to offer identification.

battlefront experience for a proposed national museum. He called on Gilbert to discuss

the appointment and discovered the family living in humble circumstances:
I found him living in a rather small studio surrounded with finished and
unfinished works and a section screened off for their sleeping quarters he
had married his model and had two twin boys I was introduced to his wife of
course and the two babies who were sleeping in two boxes in a corner of the
studio It took a good deal of persuasion on my part for him to even consider
the idea of taking on such work as I was suggesting [my italics]. But when I
explained to him the possibilities of what might eventuate for him as a
finished sculptor in Australia he asked for time to consider the matter.
On my return to his studio he told me that after talking it
over with his wife he had come to the conclusion that it would be best for
everyone if he accepted my proposition [my italics]. He then told me how tough
things were in London and he and his wife would be glad to enjoy some
stability for a while.xlvi

Gilberts three-year contract included a 500 annual salary,xlvii and although he had clearly
accepted Andersons proposal out of necessity, the war - yet again had ironically provided
relief and even opportunity while simultaneously wreaking loss and unimaginable global
destruction.
Generosity played an important role in Gilberts life. Already the recipient of practical
help in 1906 and again in 1914, his years in England were clearly made easier by friend JG
Roberts steadfast loyalty and continued support, of which Gilbert was acutely mindful; the
naming of sons Hugo and Adrian John were public acknowledgements of the generosity
offered by Meyer and Roberts.
Between 1918 and 1920, War Records staff visited Europe - often for weeks at a time -
painting, modeling and photographing the locations of significant Australian campaigns. One
such visit Gilbert documented in a letter from Belgium:
My Dear Roberts,
I have just arrived backe [sic] here after going over the whole British front
line, having to go over the ground I must model for the war museum. I was
over some of it before and made some models from positions given me by an
officer with me, but on going over to London, found the positions worked from
was incorrect. Consequently another officer came with me to show me the
correct ones and one of them is the summit of Mont St. Quentin I will be
going there in two days time & will be there about two months, working on Mt
St Quentin, Villers Bret [sic], Pozzieres, Bullecourt, Guizecourt & Moncourt
and then on to Ypes area. xlviii

These sketches would become reference sources for the proposed war museum
exhibitions.xlix
Roberts son Frank, enlisted in 1917, and called on the Gilberts in London in a visit
both men recalled warmly in letters home. In September 1918, just weeks before the wars
end, Franks Second Division 21st Batallion was involved in the re-taking of the French
village Mont St. Quentin. He and twelve comrades were among the battles 1200 Australian
casualties. On learning of Franks death, in an act of real generosity and compassion, Gilbert
attempted to locate Franks grave during his work for the War Records Office: [T]omorrow
I am on my way to Peronnes & Mont St Quentin & will try & find Franks grave while there &
get a photograph of it to send to you if I am able to do so.l His initial efforts were
unsuccessful:
Just to let you know I have not forgotten you while here. I am very sorry to
tell you I have not yet been successful in finding Franks grave although I
have gone all over the place looking at every cross I could find, do you

think you could tell me anything of the position or exact date on which he
was killed.li

Two days later, Gilbert wrote the letter Roberts had surely dreaded receiving:
My Dear Roberts,
I am glad to tell you since writing last, I have found Franks grave; it is on
the left near the top of the mount. He lies burried [sic] with about twelve
comrades. I expect the photographer here in a day or so & will try & get
him to take a photo of the grave. I am unable to do so myself as the camera
which I had went wrong & has been sent to London for repairs, and I dont
suppose I will see it again. As soon as I get a print from him I shall send it
out to you & Mrs Roberts, we are having it very hot here just now and it
has been very trying walking about especially among shell holes &
trenches. One of the difficulties of finding a grave here is the fact that the
Batallions got mixed up in the attack & one cannot trace the line up in
some cases so well as it can only be done by the crosses dotting the line
burried [sic] where they fell. I shall be writing you again before I leave
here for Villers Brittenoux.
With Kindest regards Web Gilbert.lii

A makeshift cross had been erected over Franks grave, and as promised, Gilbert secured
photographs of the site, copies of which are now held in the Australian War Memorial. In
time, Franks remains, along with thousands of others, were removed from the battlefields
and re-interned at memorial cemeteries developed by the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Unable to travel to France, the Roberts family would surely have found solace in knowing
the final resting place of their son and in Gilberts visit to his grave. Perhaps, for Gilbert, this
gift went some way to repaying Roberts years of generosity.
After the War Records Office relocated to Melbourne in 1920, Gilberts career hit
overdrive:
I have nine years work ahead of me in the War Museum, volunteered Mr.
Gilbert, in reply to a question of what the future promised. "In addition, I have
about all I can do with the work in hand, going as hard as I know. When the
foundry gets going liii

He was privately commissioned to produce sculptures of Alfred Deakin and Mathew

Flinders. Seemingly, at last, Gilberts luck had changed; he was widely recognized as
Australias pre-eminent sculptor with sufficient work to guarantee him financial security;
he had resumed residency in Australia; and his little ones could now become the
Australians he had always hoped them to be. There were, however, further tragedies
awaiting Gilbert and his family.
The 1922 birth of the couples fourth child was proudly announced in The Argus:
GILBERT. On the 12th May, at Sister Woffs private hospital, Malvern, to Mr and Mrs Web
Gilbert a son (Adrian John).liv In a tragedy that echoed Franks Mont St Quentin death, AJ
died two weeks after sustaining burns in the familys Gore-st studio as he lay in his
bassinet. Both Roberts and Gilbert had lost much loved sons and just as Gilbert attended
Franks battleground grave, so too Roberts attended the burial of the tiny infant. In an
emotion laden subscript in Robert scrapbook, he recorded: The baby died Thur 22nd June
1922 was buried in Coburg Cemetery I was present with Weblv In a heartbreaking
coincidence, another helping hand of reciprocity was enacted through death.
But coincidence had not finished with Gilbert. Although his return to Australian
shores cemented his career and promised him long-deserved prosperity, he ironically
became a victim of the art he so tenaciously pursued. Unlike most sculptors, Gilbert is

Figure 7: The Gilberts considered JG Roberts a surrogate father, evident in Mabels letter
(above) addressed Dear Dad. On the birth of their fourth child, they honoured Roberts by
including John in the child's name. This excerpt from Roberts Scrapbooks, also includes
clippings announcing AJs birth, his admission to hospital after sustaining burns in the Fitzroy
studio, his death two weeks later and two photographs (one partially obscured) of Mabel and
Adrian taken 19 May 1922. Roberts emotion laden subscript on AJs burial (bottom left), echoes
Gilberts attendance at Franks grave in France some years before.

10

documented as not employing labourers to assist with the physical load.lvi From London he
had described English sculptors practice of do[ing] the design & leav[ing] all the rest to
their man [Gilberts emphasis], who really do all the work ,lvii and on returning to Fitzroy,
he continued his practice of working alone. It appears this may have cost Gilbert his life. In
late 1925, newspapers announced that Gilbert has had a severe breakdown in health,
principally due to over work and strainlviii and that he later died at his residence, Gore
street [sic], Fitzroy, after a short illness.lix Gilbert appears to have literally worked his body
to death; that his will was signed only nine days before his death would suggest a sudden
illness with an unhappy prognosis.lx He was just 57. In another sad coincidence, his death
echoed that of his own father in 1867; he left Mabel and three small children just as
William had left Nasaretha in the same circumstance, 57 years before. Fate dealt Gilbert a
cruel blow, ending his brilliant career just as his decades of sacrifice, struggle and
determination were reaping rewards.
And so to return to The Helping Hand, a strikingly beautiful work, finely executed,
speaking still of the fearlessness of the Anzacs and the willingness of one man to offer his
hand to a friend in a time of need. Ninety years of verdigris have only added to its
symbolism, fulfilling the Earl of Stradbrokes prediction to promote beautiful thoughts
which lead to high ideals that [we] must live not only for [ourselves] but also for the
good of those amongst whom [we] live. lxi

11

Bibliography - Primary Sources

A Flying Visit to Shepparton, Shepparton Advertiser, 30 Mar. 1922, 5, in Trove [online
database], accessed 17 Sep. 2015.
A SCULPTOR AND HIS MODEL. REMARKABLE DIVORCE CASE. A DECREE GRANTED, Age, 4
May 1911,9, in Trove [online database], accessed 5 Sep. 2015.
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Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 10 May 1911, 7, in Trove [online database], accessed 3
Sep. 2015.
A SCULPTORS ROMANCE. HIS MODELS CONFESSION. LEADS TO DIVORCE, Argus, 4 May
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Anderson, Wallace, untitled, unpublished autobiography, 1972, 67, in AAA File [Artists],
Ken Scarlett Archive, SLV (Melbourne).
ART EXHIBITION., Geelong Advertiser, 23 Dec. 1901, 1, in Trove [online database],
accessed 5 Sep. 2015.
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Sep. 2015.
ANZAC MEMORIAL. SHEPPARTONS TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS. OFFICIALLY UNVEILED. BY
EARL OF STRADBROKE. APPRECIATION OF THE GOVERNOR. SOME PRACTICAL REMARKS.,
Shepparton Advertiser, 12 Jun. 1924, 11, in Trove [online database] accessed 3 Sep. 2015.
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database] accessed 12 Oct. 2015.
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[online database], accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
Gilbert, Charles Web, Clay model, Shepparton memorial [image], (1924),
http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/nmets.do?DOCCHOICE=3020404.xml&dvs=14398
13531799~171&locale=en_US&search_terms=&adjacency=&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/n
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Aug. 2015.
Gilmore, Mary, From Genoa to Gore Street. Life, (Melb.), 14, 1 Jul. 1910, 29-32, in Ken
Scarlett Collection, AAA File [Artists], SLV.
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HONORING FALLEN SOLDIERS. Proposed Memorial and Selection of Site., Shepparton
Advertiser, 29 Dec. 1921, 3-4, in Trove [online database], accessed 17 Sep. 2015.
MR WEB GILBERTS SCULPTURE., Punch, 27 Oct. 1910, 29, in Trove [online database],
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Moore, William, Story of Australian Art, vol 11, (1934), 83-84 in Ken Scarlett Collection, SLV.
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Bibliography - Secondary Sources
http://www.web40571.clarahost.co.uk/currency/PreDecimal/predecimal.htm
Inglis, Ken, Sacred places: war memorials in the Australian landscape (Carlton: MUP, 2005).
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[ebook] (Illinois: Common Ground Publishing LLC, 2015). 270.
Rose, Margaret, Richardson, Charles Douglas, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol 11,
(MUP), 1988, available at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/richardson-charles-douglas-
8201 accessed 2 Oct. 2015.
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Biography, vol. 9, (MUP), 1983, available at
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2015.

Bibliography Images
Cover: Shane Trevena, The Helping Hand, [image]. 2015.
Figure 1: Charles Web Gilbert, H15609 ("To J.L. Treloar from C. Web Gilbert 5 July 1925")
[image] available at https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H15609/ accessed 5 Sep. 2015.
Figure 2: THE UNVEILING OF SPRING. BY MR. C. WEB GILBERT. Australasian, 14 Sep. 1901,
29, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
Figure 3: Advertisements Age, 12 Feb. 1904, 8, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep.
2015; Advertisements Age, 21 Sep. 1906, 3 in Trove [online] accessed 4 Sep. 2015;
Advertisements Age, 29 Sep. 1913, 4 in Trove [online] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.

13

Figure 4: Postcard from Gilbert to RH Croll, Croll, Robert Henderson, Papers, MS 8910, Box
1203/2 (b), SLV.
Figure 5: Reverse of postcard from Gilbert to RH Croll, Croll, Robert Henderson, Papers, MS
8910, Box 1203/2 (b), SLV.
Figure 6: Catalogue of exhibition, used by Gilbert as letter paper to RH Croll, Croll, Robert
Henderson, Papers, MS 8910, Box 1203/2 (b), SLV.
Figure 7: B01373 [image] available at https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/B01373/
accessed 5 Sept. 2015.
Figure 8: Excerpt from JG Roberts Collection, MS 8508 Y, Scrapbooks, Book 17, SLV.

Endnotes

i For a comprehensive examination of Australian War Memorials, see Ken Inglis, Sacred places: war
memorials in the Australian landscape (2005), MUP, Carlton.
ii [T]here was a dense crowd of people, practically, as one person put it, All Shepparton, augmented
by many from the outside areas. ANZAC MEMORIAL. SHEPPARTONS TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS.
OFFICIALLY UNVEILED. BY EARL OF STRADBROKE. APPRECIATION OF THE GOVERNOR. SOME
PRACTICAL REMARKS., Shepparton Advertiser, 12 Jun. 1924, 11, in Trove [online database] accessed
3 Sep. 2015.
iii Ibid.
iv Ibid.
v Ibid.
vi Donald Richardson, email correspondence with the author, 27.08.2015. In the same correspondence
Richardson favourably compares The Helping Hand to Discoblus.
vii Gilbert produced more WW1 sculptures than any other sculptor. For a comprehensive examination
of his work, see Charles Web Gilbert (1869 1925), in Donald Richardson, Creating Remembrance:
The Art and Design of Australian War Memorials [ebook] (Illinois: Common Ground Publishing LLC,
2015).
viii In a 1920 Letter to the Editor, Gilberts mother (now A Clementson), corrected John Shirlows
earlier published feature C. Web Gilbert A Victorian Sculptor: [m]y son was not born at Kyneton, but
at Cockatoo, between Maryborough and Talbot, on March 18, 1867. He was only two months old
when I lost his father, being left with three children. I was then not 21 years of age, Herald,
(undated), AAA [Artist] File, Ken Scarlett Archive, SLV.
ix William Moore, A Sculptors Life, Studio Sketches, (1906), 61-2, in ibid.
x Ibid.
xi G. Sturgeon, 'Gilbert, Charles Marsh Web (Nash) (18671925)', Australian Dictionary of Biography
[online], National Centre of Biography, ANU available at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gilbert-
charles-marsh-web-nash-6377/text108933, accessed 5 Sep. 2015.
xii He was the finest chef I ever knew. Mr Peterson, Stock Exchange Club quoted in AUSTRALIANS
PREFERRED. Truth, 15 Sept. 1917, 5, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xiii Moore, ibid.
xiv YARRA SCULPTORS' SOCIETY EXHIBITION. ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE AND
PAINTINGS., Age, 29 Dec1899, 7, in Trove [online database], accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xv ART EXHIBITION., Geelong Advertiser, 23 Dec 1901, 1, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep.
2015.
xvi FEDERAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. THE ART EXHIBITS, Age, 5 Nov. 1902, 8, in Trove [online
database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xvii Moore, 62.
xviii Lady Talbot (the Governors wife) and Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael (Melbournes Lord Mayor)
were among his supporters. Lady Talbot was particularly taken with Gilberts work in the Victorian
Artists 1906 Exhibition. Moore, 62.
xix As early as 1899, Gilbert expressed desire to visit Europe. YARRA SCULPTORS' SOCIETY
EXHIBITION. ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE AND PAINTINGS., Age, 29 Dec. 1899, 7, in Trove
[online] accessed 4 Sep. 2015. A fare to England was out of the reach of Gilbert and most other aspiring
colonial artists; the Meyers generosity was a significant turning point in Gilberts career.

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xx MR WEB GILBERTS SCULPTURE., Punch, 27 Oct. 1910, 29, in Trove [online database] accessed 4
Sep. 2015.
xxi By now, Gilbert was head chef at Parers Hotel in Bourke Street and the only time available for
sculpture was after hours, often at night. Moore, ibid.
xxii CWG to RH Croll, 27.03.1912, MS 8910 1203/2(b), RH Croll Collection, SLV.
xxiii Carola (Ola) Cohn, 'Me in the making', (c.1941-48), autobiography, (La Trobe University) in AAA
File [Artists], 131, AAA File [Artist] Gilbert, Charles Web, SLV.
xxivAdamson was Head Master of Wesley College and Holroyd was a Supreme Court judge. Mary
Gilmore, From Genoa to Gore Street. Life, (Melb.), 14, 1 Jul. 1910, 29-32, in Ken Scarlett Collection,
AAA File [Artists], SLV.
xxv Advertisements Age, 21 Sep. 1906, 3, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xxviAdvertisements Age, 4 Apr. 1907, 3, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 1915.
xxviiAdvertisements Age, 30 Jul. 1902, 9, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xxviiiAdvertisements Age, 12 Feb. 1904, 8, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015. The
advertisements specified after 3 oclock or after 2.30 presumably because he was working at
Parers Hotel until early afternoon.
xxixThe transcript of the case ran in at least three newspapers under salacious headings: A
SCULPTORS ROMANCE. HIS MODELS CONFESSION. LEADS TO DIVORCE, Argus, 4 May 1911, 10, in
Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015, A SCULPTOR AND HIS MODEL. REMARKABLE
DIVORCE CASE. A DECREE GRANTED, Age, 4 May 1911,9, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep.
2015 and A SCULPTOR AND HIS MODEL. REMARKABLE DIVORCE CASE. A DECREE GRANTED,
Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 10 May 1911, 7, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
xxxO. Serle, Gilbert, Charles Web, A Dictionary of Australian Biography, Angus and Robertson, 1949,
341-2, in AAA File [Artists], Ken Scarlett Archive, SLV.
xxxiOn Gilberts death in 1925, his estate was valued at 3909-9s-5d including 1700 Gore St home
and studio, 100 1 horse (Ben), 10 jewellery (gold watch, studs), 5 tools, some cash, and 1055
debt owed by Flinders Memorial Committee. Probate of 246-12s 1d was paid 13 Jan. 1926. Will and
Probate: VPRS 28/P3/1596, File 205/200, Series no. 28, cons no. P3, unit no. 1596.
xxxii John Shirlow, C. Web Gilbert. A Victorian Sculptor Herald, 3 Jan. 1920, (n.p) in AAA File [Artists],
Ken Scarlett Archive, SLV.
xxxiii News of the day, Age, 7 Jun. 1911, 6, in Trove [online database], accessed 5 Sept. 2015.
xxxiv Bohemian Evening, Weekly Times, 9 May 1914, 9, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep.
2015.
xxxv COMING EVENTS, Table Talk, 7 May 1914, 38-39, in Trove [online database] accessed 7 Sep.
2015.
xxxvi Gilbert was a regular correspondent, writing to family and friends. This paper has greatly
benefited from the personal archives of JG Roberts and RH Croll, both of which are available in the
State Library of Victoria.
xxxvii Gilbert to RH Croll, 12 Jul. 1914, MS 8910 1203/2(b)), RH Croll Collection, SLV
xxxviii Gilbert to RH Croll, 4 Dec. 1914 in ibid.
xxxix Ibid.
xl Ibid.
xli The Critic was purchased by the Chantry Bequest for the Tate Gallery in 1916, a London exhibition
attracted a large number of art critics, who were most enthusiastic in their appreciation.
Elizabeth, AS A WOMAN SEES IT, Graphic of Australia, 11 Feb. 1916, 7, in Trove [online database]
accessed 12 Oct. 2015 and Gilbert was nominated as Associate of the Royal Academy in 1917, only the
third Australian to receive that honour. John Shirlow, C. Web Gilbert, Art in Australia, 3/1 (1917), n.p.
xlii Gilbert to GJ Roberts, 21 Jun. 1917 in Roberts, GJ (John Garabaldi) 1860-1933, Scrapbooks, Book 3
Vol 111. SLV letter VPRS 28/P3/1596, File 205/200, Series no. 28, cons no. P3, unit no. 1596.
xliii Gilbert to Roberts, 17 Sep. 1917. Ibid.
xliv Gilbert to Roberts, 6 Jan. 1918 in Roberts, GJ (John Garabaldi) 1860-1933, Scrapbooks, Book 4 Vol
1X.
xlv Gilbert to RH Croll, Dec 30, 17 in MS 8910 1203/2(b).
xlvi Wallace Anderson, unpublished autobiography, 1972, 67, in AAA File
xlvii Gilbert to Roberts, 28 Dec 1919 in Roberts, Scrapbooks, JG Roberts, Book 11.
xlviii Gilbert to Roberts, 5 May, 1919 in MS 8508 Y Book 10 Vol. X.
xlix The Australian War Memorial houses an impressive collection of photographs, manuscripts, diaries
and other archives from the Australian War Records Office. Many of these have been digitised to
coincide with the centenary of WW1. It is reasonable to expect this to increasingly become the norm
as libraries around the world upload their collections and in so doing, offer universal access.

15


Gilbert to Roberts, 28 Dec 1919 in Roberts, Scrapbooks, JG Roberts, Book 11.
l Gilbert to Roberts, 30 April 1919 in Scrapbooks, Book 10.
li Gilbert to Roberts, 12 May 1919, in Scrapbooks, Book 10.
lii Gilbert to Roberts, 14 May, in Book 10.
liii Web Gilbert. SCULPTOR OF THE SHEPPARTON MEMORIAL. A BRIEF STORY OF HIS LIFE.,
Shepparton Advertiser, 21 Jun. 1923, 5, in Trove [online database] accessed 4 Sep. 2015.
liv Roberts Scrapbook, Book 14.
lv MS 8508Y Roberts, J. G., (John Garibaldi) 1860-1933 Scrapbooks Book 14 Vol. X1111, SLV.
lvi This may be open to some debate. In a 1923 visit to Gilberts studio to view the Shepparton
Commission, Cr Fair reported that Gilberts man removed the cloth that covered the work. Web
Gilbert. SCULPTOR OF THE SHEPPARTON MEMORIAL. This may be worthy of further research.
Either way, Gilbert certainly did more physical labour than typical sculptors and may have
contributed to his early death.
lvii Gilbert to Mr and Mrs Croll, 4 Dec. 1914 in RH Croll
lviii About People Age, 28 Sep. 1925, 10, in Trove [online database] accessed 9 Oct. 2015.
lix Death of Mr. Web Gilbert. Age, 5 Oct 1925, 10, in Trove [online database] accessed 2 Sep. 2015.
lx PROV, Supreme Court of Victoria, VPRS 28/P3 Will and Probate Index, 1596, Gilbert, Charles Web
Marsh.
lxi Earl of Stradbroke on unveiling The Helping Hand, quoted in ANZAC MEMORIAL. SHEPPARTONS
TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS. OFFICIALLY UNVEILED

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