However, few of the tourists who stop to snap a shot of the ornate ironwork structure know its history.

In the late 19th century the people of Launceston were very patriotic and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 was an important event.

Part of the festivities included the presentation of silver medals and cake to more than 6000 children, but despite this splurge, there was a little money left in the Juvenile Festival Fund.

Alderman Samuel Sutton suggested it be put towards a grand children's memorial.

An ornate drinking fountain costing 200 pounds was ordered from Walter, Macfarlane & Co. of Glasgow, the most important manufacturer of ornamental ironwork in Scotland.

It arrived in Launceston in 1891 ... and went straight to the Government Bond Store.

Here it stayed, in limbo, or as The Launceston Examiner put it "up the spout", for years.

It was felt the fountain should not be erected until it was paid off and that it was the duty of the children to contribute, though no one knew how.

In 1894 notification was given that the fountain would be sold unless customs charges were paid.

In 1897 soon-to-be Mayor Sutton came up with another suggestion, a grand Juvenile Industrial Exhibition, the proceeds of which would go towards the fountain.

Besides the 200 pounds initial cost, the fountain, languishing in the bond store, had amassed almost 10 years' worth of rent.

Sutton's idea was well received and Premier, Sir Edward Braddon, waived outstanding duties and fees.

The way was clear and so on June 20, 1897, a decade after it was first proposed, the fountain was installed outside the main gates of City Park - just in time for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

To quote The Launceston Examiner, "A handsome monument of the Queen's Jubilee, nearly lost, but nobly rescued."

The Tasmanian Juvenile Industrial Exhibition was duly held the following summer in the Albert Hall. Opened by the Governor, it featured work by school students, displays by Launceston firms and various entertainments.

When the exhibition closed, although it had not been an unqualified success, it was felt the children had done their bit.

In 1908 at the instigation of William McGowan, Superintendent of Parks & Reserves, the fountain was moved from outside the park gates to its current location, where it 'would be seen to much greater advantage'.

The hundreds of visitors who photograph it today would definitely agree.