Mary Poppins Statue
Found rather mysteriously, in the middle of Portside, Maryborough's beautifully restored old port district , is a life sized statue of the world’s most legendary nanny Mary Poppins . The statue is now so famous that her picture appears on Face Book sites the world over.
The life-sized bronze statue, erected in 2005, is in the likeness of the illustrations from the novels. It stands proudly outside the author’s heritage-listed birthplace, a former bank building where her father – just like Mr Banks in the novels – was the bank manager.
Although now known to millions and loved worldwide, Maryborough's statue of the famous nanny is one of a few attractions to acknowledge the literary skills of P.L.Travers and the amazing worldwide success of the series of Mary Poppins novels. |
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The statue of Mary Poppins has generated worldwide interest and attracted national and international media coverage since it was unveiled in 2005.
It seems tiny, but the statue is actually life-sized – not in the likeness of Julie Andrews, but of the ‘real’ mythical magic nanny as depicted in sketches in Pamela Travers’ books. Made completely of bronze, the statue stands 1.5m high and weighs 100 kilograms.
Maryborough, as a community worked together to raise over $60,000 for the statue in a campaign driven by the city’s Proud Marys Association
The Proud Marys association was formed in 1999 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Travers. The connection of the name Mary with the town’s name and history became evident and the group set out to research and honour anyone with the name of Mary.
Their primary goal was to erect a statue of Mary Poppins as a tribute to the author. The generous donation by a benefactor of the Proud Marys, and the ensuing public donations brought this project to fruition.