About The King of Melbourne:

116 years ago,  an extraordinary mausoleum of Egyptianizing architecture was built in a cemetery in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Based on a well-known structure in Egypt called Trajan’s Kiosk and designed by one of the most beloved architects of the day, it is considered a masterpiece of Arts and Crafts architecture.

It is the final resting place of one of the city’s most prominent and well-known citizens, the owner of The Age newspaper and Scottish immigrant David Syme. Designed as a family mausoleum, later his wife Annabella would be laid to rest with him, but not one of their nine children would join their parents in the crypt subsequently - two having already died in infancy.

Soon afterwards the fascinating story of how the tomb came to be, and the prominence of the man it was built for faded into history, with many details lost, and many hidden. The ensuing misconceptions brought even the very architectural authorship of the monument into question.

This new biography about David Syme and his spectacular tomb explores the spiritual understandings of the man himself,  from his Calvinist beginnings as a young man in Scotland, to the afterlife and how Ancient Egyptian religion and symbolism are reflected in the very mausoleum itself. 

Included is a survey of the monument and the artisans responsible for its creation: architects Walter Butler and Royston Bradshaw, artisan Mabel Young, and stonemasons George and Alexander Ballantine. An examination of the climate of Spiritualism and Theosophy prevalent at the time is included,  discussed from the perspective of a researcher - artist who has engaged with the monument in paintings and public talks for almost a decade. 

Edited by Dr. Tamara Siuda with a foreword by Dr. Jasmine Day, the hardcover book features chapters on early Australian Prime Minister and Federation draftsman Alfred Deakin, and British Spiritualist Gerald Massey. 

Set against the burgeoning colonial city that came to be called Melbourne, with the influence of a pioneering newspaper that set the template for mighty newspapers in Australia and worldwide, the untold story of Mr. Syme and his spectacular tomb awaits in the 15 chapters of The King Of Melbourne [The Spiritual Life of David Syme, His Newspaper: the Age, and the Legacy of his Monumental Tomb].