By Mikayla Van Loon
Lilydale Fire Brigade’s first captain has been immortalised in metal and stone with a memorial plaque unveiled.
Recognising the young Joseph Smith who died in the line of duty in 1906, current brigade members and distant family gathered on Sunday 17 December for the memorial.
The ceremony was led by Lilydale CFA Lieutenant Dan Nolan, who spoke about Captain Smith’s life and death, as well as his wife, Isabella Supple.
“This [book] reported the fire which they attended at the Mitchell quarries, owned by Dame Nellie Melba’s dad,” Mr Nolan said.
“[Joseph] passed away while returning. The book says ‘our captain J. Smith was met with painfully sudden death through heart failure’.”
Lilydale Fire Brigade became legitimised in 1905, with Captain Smith serving as the first leader of the fire service.
It was during that short time that Captain Smith arranged the first fire shed in Clarke Street and the bell that would be rung at the instance of a fire.
“So in 1906, when he died, the bell was rung for the first time on the night of the fire, he was instrumental in getting that bell,” Mr Nolan said.
So loved by the community, he was remembered in the newspaper of the day as one of “our most popular townsmen” for his gentlemanliness.
“It was a very, very sad, very sad and monstrous funeral, saying it was one of the largest, longest funerals ever seen in Lilydale and says there were 63 vehicles and nearly 50 horsemen,” Mr Nolan said.
Setting out around 12 months ago to organise a memorial of some kind for Captain Smith, Mr Nolan said the more he learnt, the more he realised how important it was.
“If someone died at the job normally there would be a memorial at fire stations, ambulance, police usually have a memorial. We didn’t have anything and I thought ‘that’s not right’.
“So I started digging. The more I dug, the more information I found and that’s why we’ve got to do something.”
With the help of the Lilydale and District Historical Society, Mr Nolan was able to uncover articles about Captain Smith, and the woman he loved, Isabella.
Married for only one year and one week before his death, Mr Nolan said Mrs Smith never remarried or had children because “Joseph was the love of her life”, despite only being in her late 20s when he died.
“He went to a fire call and never came home. Can you imagine that bell was hanging out the front of the pub, so you could hear it right across town and of course, it was really quiet back then with almost no cars.
“So every time Isabella heard that bell ring from there on it would straightaway return the memory of Joseph and that’s why I wanted to include her in the memorial.
“Normally it would just be the name of the person who passed away but to me she represents the wives, husbands, partners, families of firefighters, not just here but everywhere, of all emergency service workers whenever we get a call, they’re waiting for our safe return home and to me she embodies that.”
Mr Nolan said the plaque recognises Mrs Smith not only for what she represented as a partner of a firefighter but for her commitment to serving the Lilydale community until her death in 1959.
“When she retired she was revered around the district… after Joseph died, Isabella continued to run the butcher shop with her brothers down in Main Street until 1937,” he said.
“They put on a do for her at the Athenaeum Theatre and she didn’t like a fuss, she tried to sneak in the side door and they put on quite a do for her and had speeches and presentations and everything.”
In a way, Mr Nolan said, the plaque was a correction of what was missed in the past and a way to remember the early beginnings of the Lilydale CFA.
“When the First World War came along, that’s probably why there was no memorial because so many young men of the district, as right across Australia, were killed. It sort of faded away and then the Second World War followed that.
“Everyone’s really supportive of it. Some brigades unfortunately are losing their history. They’re not as strong on the historical side as what we are.
“To me, it welds the past into our future and it’s also great to get some of the newer and younger members involved because this is their future.”
It was these young brigade members who tolled the bell during the ceremony on Sunday, with first female lieutenant Madison Davis and newest member Jacob, reciting the values of CFA and ringing the bell for each one.
The Joseph and Isabella Smith memorial plaque sits outside the Lilydale Fire Brigade station on Main Street, next to the famous bell.
