- Author
- Australian National Flag Association (NSW) Inc
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- December 1999 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance To a forgotten Imperial dream: We’ve the stars to show where we’re going And the old flag to show where we’ve been.
(from a poem by Robin Northover)
Annie, second daughter of Sarah and Richard Whistler was born in 1866 at Foliejon Farm near Windsor, England. Her father died at age 52 in 1887 and in 1890 Sarah and her family emigrated to Australia, settling in Melbourne. Annie married Charles Dorrington in 1892 and moved to Perth W.A. where Charles was manager of the Swan River Shipping Company.
With her artistic talent, Annie entered the worldwide competition announced in April 1901 by our first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, for the design of an Australian flag, following Federation. She was one of the five equal winners as selected by the panel of judges and announced by the Prime Minister. The winning design, endorsed by the Federal Government, was officially raised for the first time by the wife of Australia’s first Governor General, Lady Hopetoun, at the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne on 3 September 1901. Annie was the only Western Australian and the only woman of the five winners who shared equally the 200 pounds prize money.
Over a long period she was a highly noted painter of W.A. wild flowers but eventually became ill for a number of years and died in 1926 at age 60. Annie and Charles had no children.
It became known that despite her widely acknowledged contribution to Western Australian Art in local and overseas exhibitions (124 of her paintings had been acquired by the W.A. Art Gallery) and being a co-designer of our beautiful Australian National Flag, Annie Whistler Dorrington lay buried in an unmarked grave in the Karrakatta Cemetery. The Australian National Flag Association immediately decided that with the consent of her relatives, Mrs Dorrington and her contributions to Western Australia and the nation should be recognised by erecting a Memorial Grave. This was done superbly.
The Dedication Service on 20 April 1999 at 11 am at which The Dean of Perth, The Very Reverend Dr. John Shepherd, officiated was attended by more than 80 invited guests. It was a most memorable and moving occasion.
While other State A.N.F.A. Branches contributed towards costs, along with other donors and relatives, it is to the Western Australian Branch of A.N.F.A. that enormous credit is due. Led by their President, Rear Admiral Philip Kennedy AO, RAN (Rt’d), his capable Management Council, Honorary Secretary George Goldie and a group of wonderful assisting volunteers, the resulting memorial is perfectly appropriate. One can well imagine the special diplomacy required in dealing with the public officials, artisans, legalities and relatives. On Dedication Day however, they were all well pleased and proud.
(Australian National Flag Association (NSW) Inc.)