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glimpse of the old man in some paper, or read his name, and say: 'Look at this! I thought the old
devil was dead'?
He achieved another kind of immortality that year when young Dick's first child was bom, on 26
September 1923. A boy, and the old man's third great-grandson, he was christened Richard
Arthur.
He was the fourth generation of Honeycombes in that family to have Richard as his first name,
and all four were born in September. The baby boy was actually born on his great-grandfather's
94th baptismal day and on the 76th anniversary of the wedding at Gretna Green. But he was
never known as
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Richard - or as Dick, or Dickie. His mother, Addie, insisted that her first-bom, and only son, be
known as Arthur.
A month later, the old man's youngest brother, John the gold-miner, died in Kalgoorlie at the
age of 81. This meant that Richard was now the last living offspring of William and Elizabeth
Honeycombe, who had emigrated to Australia in 1850. He had also outlived his wife and three
of his sons.
The following year further glory was his when he was invited to unveil the Eight Hours
Monument at a new island site at the top of Russell Street and opposite the impressive Trades
Hall in Victoria Street, Melbourne. The monument had been previously erected in Spring Street
in 1903. A tall dark pillar of granite mounted on two stepped blocks, it was topped by an
oblong frame containing the numbers 888 and an orb girt with the words Labour, Rest,
Recreation. The inscription on the base block was simple - 'To Commemorate the 8 Hours
Movement initiated in Victoria in 1856, erected 1903'. Headquarters of unions like the
Stonemasons and Builders, and the Carpenters and Joiners, stood nearby - as did the old
Melbourne Jail, where Ned Kelly, amongst others, was hanged.
A photograph taken at the unveiling appeared in the Melbourne Argus on 14 February 1924. It
showed four eight-hour pioneers: GA Stephens, son of James Stephens who was one of the
movement's founders; D Wood, who at the age of 10 had marched with his brother in the first
eight hours procession (in 1856); and R Honeycombe, said in the caption to be '95 years of
age, the only surviving member of the 1856 committee, who unveiled the monument'.
Richard was driven thither in an open-topped car by a Dr Wright, along with GA Stephens,
James Wardley and a certain Tom Burrows.
Again - did any of the Footscray Honeycombes, apart from his elderly daughter, Jane, witness
this event? The old man was a local identity after all, the first Honeycombe in Australia to be
mentioned in the papers and achieve a kind of fame.
Would that the radio station, 3AR, which began broadcasting in Melbourne that year, had
thought to interview him about his life and times. Would that Jane had kept a diary, or the letters
that he and she had received throughout their long sojourn in Albert Street.
But that era was coming to an end, as was Richard's life. As if in recognition of this, of handing
over the cup of life to another generation, he gave his great-grandson, Arthur, a little silver
tankard when Arthur was one year old. The tankard was inscribed 'Arthur, from his great-grand
father R Honeycombe, 26 September 1924.'
As far as we know, the old man was unable to attend the Eight Hours' Parade in April 1925.
He was also unable to reach the 80th anniversary of his wedding at Gretna Green and his own
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