From the start

Here from the start

Australian military forces have had a long association with Canberra. The Royal Military College at Duntroon was one of the earliest Commonwealth institutions to open in the region.

On 12 March 1913, when Lady Denman officially named Australia’s capital “Canberra”, cadets of the Royal Military College were present among the crowds who had gathered to mark the occasion. For them, Canberra was not a new idea: it was home, and had been for two years.

The college opened in June 1911 on a former sheep station known as “Duntroon”, established in 1825 by Robert Campbell, an enterprising Scottish merchant and pastoralist who had settled land in the Molonglo Valley.

In November 1911 Jervis Bay was selected to become the official home of the Royal Australian Naval College. Land at Jervis Bay was included as part of the Federal Capital Territory to provide a seaport for Canberra.