By the Williamstown Historical Society
The Rifle Range in Williamstown was opened in 1878 and had a long history, including holding the shooting events for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, through to 1990 when it was converted to residential housing. The range was named for Colonel Sir Charles E. Merrett who sat on the Victorian Rifle Association Council from 1890 to 1946.
On the opening day on 27th July 1878 there was extensive cover in the newspapers. The opening was performed by The Governor of Victoria, Sir George Bowen while his wife, Lady Diamantina Bowen, fired the first shot from a carefully aligned rifle. She scored a bullseye, of course, and the bullet was recovered and mounted for presentation to her as a memento of the occasion.
Diamantina Bowen was a woman of action. Melbourne newspapers delighted in reporting in 1874 that she was visiting a roller-skating rink twice a week.
In 1856 Sir George Bowen married the Contessa Diamantina di Roma (1833-1893), with whom he had four daughters and two sons. The town of Roma and the Diamantina River are named after her, and a statue is in the grounds of the Old Government House, now part of Queensland University of Technology. She was described as ‘a tireless worker for charity’ who helped found the Lady Bowen Lying-In Hospital in 1866. She enjoyed the ceremonial role as governor’s wife, for example, revelling on one occasion in the use of a silver shovel and a cedar wheelbarrow to turn the sod for Queensland’s first railway, at Ipswich.
Speaking Italian, she was described as ‘exotic as a bird of paradise’ with black dazzling eyes, a flawless cream complexion and a figure that, even in the dresses of the period, was the envy of many younger matrons.
The mayor of the Borough of Williamstown, William Pearson, requested the public observe a holiday between 12 noon and 5 pm to pay respect to the Vice-Regal couple. It was a bitterly cold day with a strong wind and heavy driving showers in the morning, and so apart from invited dignitaries, very few people attended the ceremony.
To ensure that she hit the bullseye of the target 150 yards away, there was extensive consultation among ‘shooting men’ about windage, elevation, and stability of the rifle on the stand. In the event, when Lady Bowen pulled a ribbon attached to the trigger there was a satisfying bang, and inspection by Colonel Anderson showed that a bullseye had been scored.
Some people expected Lady Bowen to put the rifle to her shoulder and fire it in the ordinary manner, and they were disappointed when a stand was set up to take the gun.
A number of ‘doubting Thomases’ went forward to make sure that he was not fudging the result, and although they might have been disappointed to find that it was genuine, they joined in the three cheers.
