Veale's Vision
by Shane Sody
This year, 2024, marks 60 years since Veale Gardens was completed, and named in honour of the City Council’s long-time CEO, William Veale (1895-1971).
His grand-daughter, Cathy Gallagher, remembers her grandfather, as “a very humble man, “just a bit shy”…who “didn’t want accolades.”
William Veale’s granddaughter, Cathy Gallagher (left) and Lord Mayor Jane Lomax Smith at the opening of the ‘Veale’s Vision’ exhibition at the Town Hall first floor gallery on Friday 19 January 2024.
Nevertheless, the accolades are coming now.
Ms Gallagher has helped City Council curator, Becca Freezer put together a fascinating gallery of items from her grandfather’s collection and the City Council’s own archives.
The gallery is now on public display on the first floor gallery of the Adelaide Town Hall, during office hours, until at least 30 June.
The two display cases featuring historic photos, and Mr Veale’s personal notebooks and plans for the construction of Veale Gardens.
The display, “Veale’s Vision” documents how William Veale gradually developed ideas for landscaping your Park Lands.
He was appointed “Town Clerk” (what we would now call the CEO) in 1947 and held that role until his retirement in 1965, aged 70.
William Veale’s 1959 plan for the creation of what would five years later be named “Veale Gardens”.
After traveling to the USA and Europe in 1957 to study landscaping and garden design, Veale’s vision was brought to life over the following seven years.
It was not only in Veale Gardens that his vision was constructed. One after the other, his visions were brought to life in rapid succession in:
Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli (Park 27),
Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14) and of course
Veale Gardens, in Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21).
One of the surprising features of the exhibition “Veale’s Vision” is a plaster sculpture by the late John Dowie. The bust has been in the Veale family since the 1960s but never publicly exhibited until now.
Photo and plaster bust of William Veale (created by John Dowie).
Mr Veale’s grand-daughter, Cathy Gallagher hopes that the bust will be cast in bronze and eventually installed, one day, in Veale Gardens.
Opening the exhibition at the Town Hall, the Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith paid tribute to William Veale and wondered aloud how his skills as an engineer, serving in both World Wars translated later in his life to a passion for getting so much of your Park Lands landscaped into gardens.
Invited guests at the opening of the gallery at the Adelaide Town Hall, 19 January 2024.
Ms Lomax Smith said William Veale had served his country during both World Wars, and then served the City of Adelaide afterwards “with great honour”. It’s thanks to William Veale, the Lord Mayor said, that “there’s no longer any part of our city where you can imagine cows grazing”!
William Veale’s granddaughter, Cathy Gallagher (left) and Lord Mayor Jane Lomax Smith at the opening of the ‘Veale’s Vision’ exhibition at the Town Hall first floor gallery on Friday 19 January 2024.
Curator of the exhibition, Becca Freezer said it was an “honour” to mount the display, 60 years after Mr Veale’s great achievements.
Biographer Robert Thornton agreed with Cathy Gallagher that Veale was a “shy man who shunned the limelight.” Thornton’s biographical article reports:
“He was a prodigious worker, arriving at the Town Hall at dawn each day and working long into the night. A meticulous administrator, he frequently drove around the city to see for himself exactly what was going on. His authoritarian style of management made him difficult to work with; he was blunt and abrupt with a violent temper, and was hard on his staff.”
The City of Adelaide has produced this one and a half-minute video to mark the 60th anniversary of Veale Gardens.
See our
Trail Guide; and
of Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21).