Mary Watson's monument is situated at the corner of Adelaide and Charlotte Streets, Cooktown, on the edge of the Charlotte Street footpath abutting the road, a little south of, and on the same side of the street as, the Cook Shire Council Chambers.
It straddles the stone kerbing and guttering of Charlotte Street, and lacks a formal setting.

The structure is of painted concrete, and comprises plinth, square base and octagonal tapering spire.
On the plinth the names E Greenway and Ipswich are inscribed.
The four faces of the base have insets with two centred and shouldered arches.
Floral carved relief are located in the cusp of the shouldered arches and above the two centred arches.
The base is surmounted by ogee hood moulds which have a cyma recta profile and tracery below.
Working-order water fountains with semi-circular bowls finished in a leaf pattern are located on the north and south faces, and there is an inscribed marble panel on each of the east and west faces.
The inscription on the western panel reads:
Five fearful days beneath

the scorching glare

Her babe she nursed.


God knows the pangs

that woman had to bear,

Whose last sad entry showed

a mother's care'

Then - "Near dead with thirst".


John Davis Mayor 1886
The inscription on the eastern panel is:
IN MEMORIAM MRS WATSON,

The Heroine of Lizard Island

Cooktown North Queensland AD 1881

Erected 1886.
Edward D'Arcy Mayor.
1885
A tapering octagonal spire sits above the base and is finished with an acanthus leaf finial.

In recent years work to repair the water pipes to the fountains has necessitated the concrete being cut into, the pipes exposed, and then the concrete repaired.
This appears as a narrow vertical incision down the northern face of the monument, from the fountain to the ground.
Mary Watson's monument is situated at the corner of Adelaide and Charlotte Streets, Cooktown, on the edge of the Charlotte Street footpath abutting the road, a little south of, and on the same side of the street as, the Cook Shire Council Chambers. It straddles the stone kerbing and guttering of Charlotte Street, and lacks a formal setting.
The structure is of painted concrete, and comprises plinth, square base and octagonal tapering spire. On the plinth the names E Greenway and Ipswich are inscribed. The four faces of the base have insets with two centred and shouldered arches. Floral carved relief are located in the cusp of the shouldered arches and above the two centred arches. The base is surmounted by ogee hood moulds which have a cyma recta profile and tracery below. Working-order water fountains with semi-circular bowls finished in a leaf pattern are located on the north and south faces, and there is an inscribed marble panel on each of the east and west faces. The inscription on the western panel reads:
Five fearful days beneath

the scorching glare

Her babe she nursed.

God knows the pangs

that woman had to bear,

Whose last sad entry showed

a mother's care'

Then - "Near dead with thirst".

John Davis Mayor 1886
The inscription on the eastern panel is:
IN MEMORIAM MRS WATSON,

The Heroine of Lizard Island

Cooktown North Queensland AD 1881

Erected 1886. Edward D'Arcy Mayor. 1885
A tapering octagonal spire sits above the base and is finished with an acanthus leaf finial.
In recent years work to repair the water pipes to the fountains has necessitated the concrete being cut into, the pipes exposed, and then the concrete repaired. This appears as a narrow vertical incision down the northern face of the monument, from the fountain to the ground.
Mary Watson's Monument