This image is from the City of Sydney's Foundations for a City: Building Sydney Town Hall exhibition http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history/foundations
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The Foundation Stone The Foundation Stone for the Town Hall was laid before Council had chosen a design for the Town Hall; indeed before it was legally entitled to the land that formed the Old Burial Ground. But that didn’t stop Charles Moore, the Mayor of Sydney, seizing the opportunity to have His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, ‘lay’ the stone while he was on his tour of the colonies. The ceremony took place on Saturday 4 April 1868, and it was the first time Prince Alfred had appeared in public after there had been an assassination attempt at a picnic on Sydney Harbour. The ceremony was meant to be a quiet affair, but word got out and the Herald estimated that between fifteen hundred and two thousand people gathered to catch a glimpse of the Prince. The "foundation stone" now sits above the keystone at the entrance to the Town Hall. It reads: The Foundation Stone of this Building was laid by (image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 46/1/38)
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