History
The Suva Botanical Gardens occupy the site of the original Fijian town of Suva, whose former inhabitants moved across the bay in about 1882. Colman Wall, first Curator of the Fiji Museum in 1919 states: 'Twenty five years ago the moat and rampart were practically intact, but there are now no traces of them left, nothing to tell the visitor that this was once a busy fortified town, nor that in 1843 it was burned and was the scene of one of the fiercest and bloodiest fights in Fijian history'*.
Founded not later than 1820 by Chief Tabukaucoro - a powerful chief with nearly a thousand warriors - it was attacked and burned by the Rewa people in 1843 and many of its inhabitants killed and eaten. To the old Fijians Suva 'a little hill' was the mound on which the temple of Ro Vono stood. The space near the clock tower was the burial place of the taukei - land-owners. The bure of Ratu Ravulo, who founded the town, was a little further in near the house of the Laca Levu, the high priest of the temple.
In 1879, Sir John Thurston, the Govenor of Fiji, asked John Horne, the Director of Forests and Botanic Gardens in Mauritius to visit the colony. After some discussion, John Horne recommended that the land be turned into a Botanical Garden and Plant Introduction Station. This work was approved and by 1905 a large number of exotic trees were already established.
In 1913 the Gardens were reorganized and three quarters of a mile of drains were laid underground. The avenues of 101 Royal Palms and 39 tree ferns were also planted. The Clock Tower and band stand were constructed in 1918 'Erected by Henry Marks and Company Limited in memory of their late Director, G.J. Marks, first mayor of Suva who was drowned in the St. Lawrence River, Canada, through the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, 23 May 1914'.
In the early 1900's Suva City Council took over the development and maintenance of the Botanical Garden with a supervisor heading the entire operations with great involvement in a well-established world wide plant exchange network. In 1976 the globally known Suva Botanical Garden changed its name to Thurston Gardens. The relationship with other Botanical Gardens had already began to dwindle and slowly the development and maintenance of the Gardens also deteriorated. In 1998 the Suva City Council Gardens and Maintenance Department moved its headquarters from Suva to Samabula, and the annual government grant to maintain the gardens was stopped.
The Gardens Today
The Fiji Museum, which was built in the Suva Botanical Garden grounds in 1955, believes that the Garden has great potential to become a natural and cultural outdoor museum that compliments the existing exhibitions within the museum buildings.
Whilst the gardens lease has now been given back to the Suva City Council (SCC), the Fiji Museum staff have been doing their best to keep the grass short, the flowerbeds kept free of weeds and burning any rubbish left by the public. In 2004, the staff painted and repaired the clock tower, (built in memory of the first Lord Mayor of Suva), and the gazebo near the entrance close to Queen Elizabeth Drive.
*Sketches in Fijian History, Part II, Transactions and Proceedings of the Fijian Society.
