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Plan of the proposed Werribee irrigation Colony and the Town of "Chirnside" 1889. This was one of Chaffey's schemes that began well and ended not so well. Not much was achieved although much had been promised. Courtesy Werribee District Historical Society. The original map is on the display in the museum.
ELIZABETH STREET
Flinders Street - Elizabeth Street. 2019
3d Aerial Video Created by Christine Mauboy
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Bird ’ s eye view of Flinders Street c.1906 and surroundings
showing prominent buildings and Yarra from Melbourne guide book : with pictorial map of the city and bird's-eye view of Hobson's Bay and bird's-eye views of the streets, and other illustrations. McCarron, Bird & Co. Facsimile (re-print) of 1906 lithograph Hand coloured lithograph .Private Collection
Source : Remembering Melbourne 1850 - 1960 Royal Historical Society of Victoria
RHSV Miles Lewis
Elizabeth Street was never to fulfill its apparent destiny as the main axial street of the Central Business District. Like no other streets of the first town layout, it was named by Governor Sir Richard Bourke and his surveyor, Robert Hoddle in 1837. The name is generally taken to refer to Elizabeth Bourke, the governor's wife, though no such statement was made at the time, and she was not a woman of particular distinction or prominence.
The character of the street has been formed largely by topography, for it is at the base of the valley that divides the CBD in 2. It carried a creek, which had to be spanned by bridges at Flinders Street and Collins Streets, but was later put underground. Even so, it has flooded several times, including a dramatic occasion in 1972 when parked cars were swept away by the torrent. The division was symbolic as well as cartographical and topographical, the east west streets being numbered from it, Bourke Street East began with numbers 1 and 2 at Elizabeth Street, the numbers ascending to Spring Street, and likewise Bourke Street West to Spencer Street. Only in the 1880s was a single numbering system introduced for each east west street.
What went wrong for Elizabeth Street was the decision to bridge the river at Swanston Street. Nevertheless, even after the first temporary bridge was established upstream in 1845, Elizabeth Street had a connection with the river, the foot of the street was the favoured location for water carriers to fill their carts from the Yarra, and was later occupied by a water company. But in the 1950s that fucntion was superseded by the establishment of the reticulated supply from Yan Yean, and the allocation of the land on the south side of Flinders Steet to the railway soon created an impenetrable barrier.
Private development in Elizabeth Street was somewhat retarded by comparison with say Collins Street. The blocks on the east side between Flinders and Collins Streets were withheld from the first land sale, probably because of the obstacle created by the creek, but development then proceeded as might be expected from south to north. In his first survey of 1837 Robert Hoddle had reserved land for public purpose at the north corner of Elizabeth and Bourke Streets. We do not know whether it was at that stage specifically intended for the post office, but it was the ideal location at the very centre of the city. At the time of the gold rushes the post office became a major focal point, for most immigrants arrived without a pre-determined address and hoped to collect their mail there.
An urgent expansion of the building as required, and it is this expanded post office of the 1850s that we see in the famous illustration by S.T. Gill. The permanent General Post Office that followed it on the same site is the major public building of Elizabeth Street, built between 1859 and 1862 to the design of A.E. Johnson. Initially a 2 storey building. It was intended ultimately to extend to Little Bourke Street. Instead an additional storey was added in 1885 - 87, and the former tower increased in height to a new design by Johnson. There were to be many further alterations, including an extension to the north in 1907-08.
Amongts private development in the street, pride of place was taken by Australian Building (1889), at the corner of Flinders Lane, for many decades the tallest building not only in Melbourne but in Australia. It seems a shame that it should have been built in the depths of the Elizabeth Street valley, rather than on one of the hills to the east or west. It was at first planned to be of 15 storeys and though it was ultimately reduced to 12, it was still 45 metres high, taller than any European office building and comparable with the new American skycrapers.
After this, the palmy days of Ellizabeth Street were over, but it is perhaps worth noting one development of the 20th century. The headquarters of the Argus newspapers was completed in 1926 at the corner of La Trobe Street. It was a grand building, but in a retardataire Beaux Arts style, and it seems fitting enough that it was in this white elephant of structure that the once eminent journal expired on 19 January 1957.
Augmented Reality Animations from the postcards. Elizabeth Street Created by Christine Mauboy
Elizabeth Street Heritage Buildings based on i-Heritage City of Melbourne database
Mapping by Christine Mauboy . 2019
A Natural Watercourse
When Melbourne was founded, Elizabeth Street was a gully running into the Yarra River. While the town was concentrated around the Falls (where Queens Bridge is today) the occasional floods in Elizabeth Street were of no read concern to the settlers. But once Melbourne expanded eastward, Elizabeth Street seriously divided the town. In heavy rains the street became a torrent, and cattle, horses, and even people were swept down it into the Yarra. Shopkeepers had boards specially made to place against doorways in times of flood. Elizabeth Street played a watery part in Melbourne's history in another sense, in that three stages in the evolution of the city's water supply centred on the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets. In 1840, the Melbourne Waterworks Company sank a well and set up pumps there because a combination of a low river and high tide had allowed salt to go upstream of the Falls. Later that decade James Blackburn set up filter beds, steam pumps and overhead tanks where water carts filled their barrels for sale to towns people. On December 31, 1857, Melbourne's first tap was turned on at the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Street, Where less than 25 earlier a natural watercourse had spilled into the Yarra.
Elizabeth Street circa 1863
A team of drought horses pulls a massive 36 ton block of granite down Elizabeth Street. Heading for the stone works of Huxley and Parker. The granite formed the base of the Burke and Wills statue which that used to be stands in the City Square. Another 36 ton block was used for the Burke and Wills cemetery monument. The death of Burke and Wills in their attempt to cross the continent from south to north and back roused massive public sentiment. Melbourne put its first State funeral for them on January 21, 1863. Thousands of mourners lined the streets and city buildings were draped in purple and black. Only the occupants of The Age building seem uninterested in the procession down Elizabeth Street. Or, perhaps in the true journalistic tradition, they are the ones hanging out the upper window of the London Tavern.
Elizabeth Street circa 1875
Looking down Elizabeth Street, across La Trobe Street around 1875. As Melbourne grew Elizabeth Street developed as a good mix of retail and commerce, without any particular business identity. However, the street was famous for its tendency to flood, since it was a natural gully running into the Yarra River. But, never deterred by nature, man put in a roadway. “… and about five o’clock, when the rain ceased, I walked out to witness a scene not to be equaled in any other city in the world. Swanston Street on the one hand, and Elizabeth Street on the other, were complete rivers, running in volumes, and with the a velocity that was startling to look at, and perfectly impossible to cross with safety on foot. In the deep and wide sloping side channels especially, the current was so impetuous that it made one giddy to gaze at it as it roared past. I saw a fine horse – one of a wagon team – drowned, beyond the possibility of aid, at the crossing in front of the post office, being taken off his legs.” W. Kelly, Life in Victoria (London, 1859)
Source RHSV Brad Underhill
Pictures RHSV A-473
The Fink Building circa 1890
The Fink Building was located on the north east corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets. When built in 1888, at a cost of £ 110,000, it was one of Melbourne's tallest office blocks. Designed by noted Melbourne architects Twentyman & Askew (also responsible for the Block Arcade), the building epitomises the speculative early 1890s period. It was erected by and named for the notorious land financier Benjamin Fink. In 1897 fire destroyed this and all other buildings on the south side of Flinders Lane. The facade survived and the Fink Building was reconstructed a few years later. In 1967 it was finally demolished.
Source RHSV Database
Pictures J.A Sears photographer. RHSV S-1334
Corner Elizabeth and Collins Streets circa 1895
This photograph shows the premises of Brooks Robinson & Co., Fletcher Chester & Co. Grocers, and Broadway Shoe Store, all in Elizabeth Street. In COllins Street, the buildings depicted housed R. White Boot Manufacturer and Importer, Capon & Montgomerie, New York Life Insurance Co., and the North British & Mercantile Insurance Co.
Elizabeth Street 1900
Sixty-five years before this photograph Elizabeth Street was a gully running into the Yarra River. In times of flood the town was cut in two and on more than one occasion early settlers, complete with horse and dray, were carried on a torrent into the Yarra River. For some years this part of the town was called River Towned, reputedly after a grocer who had his store on the corner of Collins Street and Elizabeth Street and who was an early flood casualty. A variety of horse-drawn vehicles dot the street, from two-wheeled drays and sulkies to four-wheeled wagons and cabs. To the right of the photograph is Craig Williamson’s, a large department store of the day. Elegant verandah awnings and cast iron posts were universal then, but within a few years began to replaced by awnings suspended from steel tension rods. The tall building on the left, at the Flinders Lane corner, was the Austral Building, the third-highest building in the world when it went up in 1888. It was demolished in 1980.
Source RHSV Brad Underhill
Pictures RHSV S-36
The Australian Building circa 1900
Looking north along the west side of Elizabeth Street, the most prominent buildings are the Australian Building, at the corner of Little Flinders Street (now Flinders Lane), and the Equitable Building, on the west side of Collins Street. In the foreground, along Elizabeth Street, are the Railway Hotel and the Federal Dining Rooms and Oyster Saloon. The Australian Building also known as the APA building on the north west corner of Elizabeth Street and Flinders Lane was until 1929 the tallest building in Melbourne. Designed by Henry Kemp in the Queen Anne style and completed in 1889, it was at 153 feet (53 metres) high reportedly the world's third tallest building. The treatment of rooftop levels is said to have anticipated the skycrapers race of New York City and Chicago. The 1950s saw the pediments and ornamentation removed and the building was demolished in 1980.
Source RSHV Rosemary McConnell
Pictures Reproduced from Cyclopedia of Victoria, Vol 1, page 263. RHSV BK001-0367
Colonial Bank of Australasia, corner Elizabeth and Collins Streets circa 1900
The architect of the Colonial Bank building were Arthur Ebden Johnson (1821-1895) and Alfred Louis Smith (1830-1907). The plans of the building dated 3 May 1880, depict a 3 storey Renaisssance Revival construction. The external decoration, including the Atlantes male figures, are the work of Herr Semple, a German artist who visited the colony during 1882 Exhibition. After demolition of the building in 1932, the sculpture was presented to the University of Melbourne and placed at the exit of the underground carpark.
Source RHSV Database
Pictures RHSV PC-0008
Elizabeth Street looking towards Flinders Street from Little Collins Street circa 1910
This panoramic view of Elizabeth Street looks south from its intersection with Little Collins Street, showing the Equitable Life Insurance Building (side view), the Australian Building (side view) and Fllinders Street Railway Station. Among other buildings shown are the Melbourne Sports Depot and the showrooms of Alcock the billiard table maker.
Source RHSV Database
Pictures J.A Sears photographer. Reproduced from Souvenir of Victoria: 42 Splendid Views of City and Country, Melbourne, Osboldstone & Co., circa 1910. RHSV BL122-0004
Corner Elizabeth and Collins Streets circa 1910
Dominating the photograph in the centre is Altson's Building (known later in the 20th century as Brunton Chambers). 'The Block' extends betwwen Collins and Elizabeth streets, and a portion of the Colonial Bank of Australasia can be seen at Flinders Lane. The tower of Altson's Building is not visible in this image. The large wall advertisement is for Sunlight Soap, ' Good for the Clothes, Good for the Hands that Wash the Clothes'.
Source RSHV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV PC-0108
The Australian Building seen from Flinders Steet circa 1920
This elevated panoramic views of Elizabeth Street looks north from the intersection with Flinders Street, showing the Australian Building, Norman Brothers (stationers) and the Fink Building.
COLLINS STREET
Collins St - Flinders Ln - Swanston St. 2019
3d Aerial Video Created by Christine Mauboy
Collins Street: The Place To Make Money
Topography played a considerable role in the development of Collins Street as Melbourne’s commercial centre. The corner of Collins Street and Queen Street gave early settlers a good view of ships sailing up the Bay to Queens Wharf and negotiations for the purchase of produce would begin before the ships had even docked. From a cluster of businessmen standing on the corner grew the establishment of the first Hall of Commerce, where today’s Stock Exchange now stands. At the opposite end of Collins Street, topography played its part again with wealthy doctors and graziers selecting this hilly end as the place to work and live. But it was some years before this part of Collins Street was settled, Elizabeth Street being a natural creekbed and an impediment to eastward development until late 1839 when residents petitioned the government to make the street passable. It became even more accessible in 1849 when thousand of tons of rock were blasted away to lessen the steep gradient of Collins Street East. In the 1850s gold and instant wealth hastened the street’s development with new business houses in the west and the growth of a prestigious residential area in the east. By the 1880s Melbourne was Australia’s leading city and Collins Street its heart.
Augmented Reality Animations from the postcards. Collins Street Created by Christine Mauboy
Collins Street Heritage Buildings based on i-Heritage City of Melbourne database
Mapping by Christine Mauboy . 2019
The Encylopedia of Melbourne edited by Andrew Brown-May & Shurlee Swain Page 161
Link : Emelbourne
Melbourne's best-known and most fashionable street, Collins Street, also contains much of the city's most interesting commercial architecture. Part of the Melbourne grid plan drawn up by Robert Hoddle in 1837, it was named after Lieutenant-Governor David Collins who led the unsucessful 1803 Sorrento settlement.
Building began before 1837, but the first blocks were not sold until 1 June 1837. The government kept the block between Market and William streets for the Western Market, established 1841, and the Melbourne Town Hall block on the Swanston Street corner. Most activity in the 1830s was to the west of Elizabeth Street where many of Melbourne's merchants had their offices. Some of the first shops established in Collins Street were draperies, haberdasheries and ironmongers. Haberdasher Michael Cashmore arrived in 1840 with wares including 'Hosiery, Drapery, Haberdashery, also every variety of ready made clothing, Hats, Bonnets, Boots and Shoes'. His store on the corner of Elizabeth and Collins streets was rented from Alexander Brunton, and was known variously as Brunton's or Cashmore's corner.
After the discovery of gold, activity in Collins Street grew more intense. In 1855 the Hall of Commerce, a precursor of the Melbourne Stock Exchange, was built between Elizabeth and Queen streets, by this time firmly established as the city's financial centre. The banks, insurance companies, auction and merchants' rooms congregated in this area. Melbourne's first bank, an agency of the Derwent Banking Co., was established on the corner of Collins and Queen streets in 1838, when storekeeper William Rucker 'opened out his books and arranged his bags of coin, and took his station behind a make-shift counter'. The Union Bank (1842) on the south-east corner of Collins and Queen streets was the first purpose-built building. Many other splendid architect-designed bank and insurance buildings followed over the next 50 years.
At the eastern end of the street a different culture developed. The Melbourne Club and the Mechanics Institute, now the Melbourne Athenaeum, were established in 1838 and 1839 respectively. Most of the city's clubs would also locate there. Dr Godfrey Howitt was the first of many doctors and dentists who lived and worked at the east end. The garden behind the high wall of his house, built in 1840, was famous.
Several of Melbourne's most splendid churches are located here. Melbourne's first Anglican church, St James, was built in William Street between Collins and Bourke streets. The original Collins Street Baptist Church, designed by John Gill, opened for worship in 1845. But perhaps the street's best-known churches are Scots' Church (1874) and St Michael's (1867), located at the north-east and north-west corners of Collins and Russell streets respectively. Both were designed by Joseph Reed, who also designed the new Baptist Church in 1861.
Collins Street was also the location for three other Melbourne institutions of great importance, the Melbourne Town Hall, the Assembly Hall and the Auditorium, which hosted much of Melbourne's musical life. The various clubs were famous for their smoke nights. Many artists had their studios in the street, and soirées and salons were held in its studios, cafés, halls and clubs. When the impressionist artists Roberts, McCubbin, Conder and Streeton had their studios at the purpose-built Grosvenor Chambers (1889) at number 9, the area was the centre of Melbourne cultural and business life. At various times the Argus, Age, Herald, Melbourne Punch and the Australasian also had their newspaper offices and printeries there.
The 1880s and 1890s saw the street at its height of splendour, full of fantastic buildings, beautiful shops, ladies wearing the latest fashions, artists and musicians creating a cultural life unseen elsewhere, and, of course, plenty of money being made in the banks and at the stock exchange. 'The Block' between Elizabeth and Swanston streets was the place to be seen and, when the original Georges was destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1889, the elegant Block Arcade rose in its place. The Manchester Unity Building at the corner of Swanston Street containing shops offices and apartments built in 1932 was a beacon of hope during the great depression, it was Melbourne's tallest building and had the city's first escalators while the new Rialto Towers is renowned for its height and simple elegance.
The east end of the street came to be known as the Paris End after the Oriental Hotel at number 17 opened Melbourne's first sidewalk café in the 1950s. It also boasted the city's first American-style cocktail bar, speciality steak restaurant, and discotheque. The Oriental was the site where the literati from the Herald 'Morning Tea Club' met at 11 a.m. every day for their first pint.
The Oriental, demolished in 1973, was one of many classic Collins Street buildings demolished amid waves of protest in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The newly formed Collins Street Defence Movement worked with the National Trust to save Collins Street's heritage, culminating in the establishment of a register of 'protected' historic buildings. Collins Street remained the centre of Melbourne's financial life. While many doctors and dentists stayed, the artists and most of the remaining residents left the street in the 1950s. Redevelopment in the latter decades of the 20th century saw many buildings refurbished as apartments, restoring the street's residential-commercial mix.
(by JUDITH BUCKRICH)
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV A-372-003
The Argus Office circa 1858
These 2 buildings at 74-76 Collins Street east, on the south side between Russell and Swanston Streets, were the office of the Argus newspaper. The Melbourne Argus was founded in 1846 by William Kerr, a former proprietor of another early newspaper, the Port Philip Patriot. The 'Melbourne' prefix was dropped in 1848, when the paper was purchased by Edward Wilson and James Johnston.
By 1854 it was a very successful daily newspaper when its more liberal rival, the Age, was launched. In 1883, Richard Twopenny, author and journalist, described the Argus as 'the best daily paper published outside of England'. Its offices in Collins Street were a Melbourne landmark, until it moved to a new building on the corner of La Trobe and Elizabeth Streets in 1926, which is still standing. The old Collins Street offices were demolished and the City Square now occupies the site. The Argus was poorly managed in the 1950s, lost circulation to the Age, and closed in January 1957. The files of the Argus remain an invaluable source of historical information to this day.
Burke and Wills Statue 1865
Collins Street, when a dog could take a quite nap on the corner. And when a statue could be placed in the middle of an intersection. In 1860 Burke and Wills led an expedition from Melbourne in an attempt to cross the continent from south to north. They reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, but perished in the desert on the return journey. This bronze and granite monument was erected in their honour in 1865 and stood at the intersection of Collins and Russell Streets until 1886 when it was moved to Spring Street to make way for the cable trams. Almost 100 years later it was again in the way for the transport, being moved from Spring Street, where it was over Parliament Station, to the City Square. When this photograph was taken, Collins Street had become a popular residential area for doctors, lawyers and merchants. A doctor’s practice and residence is sited on the corner across from the statue, while further along Collins Street, wooden picket fences edge the houses of those lucky enough to live in such an exclusive part of town.
Source RHSV Rosemary McConnell
Pictures RHSV A-251
Bank of New South Wales, 368- 374 Collins Street West circa 1870
This intricate dual level facade Renaissance Revival style building by Joseph Reed was completed in 1857 as the head office of the Bank of NSW. It is a copy of Jacopo Sanssovina's Biblioteca Marciana in St Mark's Square, Venice. The building was demolished on 1932 owing to structural problems. The facade was preserved and gifted by the bank to the University of Melbourne, where it formed the faced of the Old Commerce Building in 1938. In 2014 the building was incorporated into a new building for the Melbourne School of Design. This photograph also shows Ferguson and Mitchell (lithographers and engravers) to the left of the bank, and, to its right, Gemmel, Tuckett & Co., within which were offices of the Victorian Stock Exchange, and some of its traders.
Collins Street 1871
Horse-drawn cabs wait in the middle of Collins Street for passengers. In the 1870s this section of Collins Street was well removed from the hustle and bustle of the city’s retail and commercial core and had become a fashionable residential area. It was particularly popular with doctors and dentists who had their practices on the ground floor and lived in style on the upper floors. Most of the houses had large gardens planted with vegetables and fruit trees and several even boasted their own vineyards. A few of the early residences still remain today as banking premises, or as general offices and professional rooms. Further along Collins Street, beyond the cabs, the statue of Burke and Wills stands at the Russell Street intersection.
Collins Street 1886
The coming of the cable tram in 1886 did little to disturb the quiet elegance of Collins Street East. A tram, slightly blurred, approaches Spring Street, while the slower horse- drawn vehicles are captured more clearly by the camera. The carriage in the foreground is a hansom cab, with the driver seated above and behind the enclosed coach. The motor car was still many years away, and by the turn of the century there was one horse in Australia to every two people. Today, the figure is around one horse every 30 people. The grand building with the twin cupolas is the Freemason’s Hall, the most select building of the day for a ball or reception. Opposite the Freemason’s Hall, and still there today, is the Melbourne Club, the most exclusive club in town. In 1875 its members persuaded the City Council to plant trees in this section of Collins Street, further enhancing its appeal. Looking down Collins Street is the Treasury Building, completed in 1862 to the plans of a 19 year old government architect, John Clark. Built to hold the gold from the mining towns, the Treasury has 10 basement vaults with outer walks 30 cm thick and doors of iron.
Collins Street circa 1890
The North Fitzroy tram makes its way up to the Collins Street hill on an fine Melbourne morning. Just visible at the top right of the photograph is the flag of George’s, long regarded as Melbourne’s finest department store. The building began life as warehouse, being built in 1884 by David Mitchell, well known builder of the day and father of opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba. In 1888 land speculator and politician Benjamin Fink bought the building and extended it to provide nearly 8000 square metres of floor place. He acquired George’s Federal Emporium, then located further down Collins Street on The Block and moved it to his new building. A pedestrian walks casually up the middle of Collins Street and, to the left, a young man stares at the camera while leaning against the cast iron verandah post of Madame de Courtet, French stay maker.
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV A-299
Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace circa 1890
This hotel at 555 Collins Streets became a Melbourne landmark and was for a time Australia's largest hotel. In 1885, local businessmen James Mirams and James Munro held a contest to design the finest hotel in the city, but one devoted to temperance, not alcohol. William Pitt won with a design combining a variety of historic styles influenced by the prevealing Second Empire School. It was completed in 1888, with 5 millions bricks at a cost of £ 110.000. It had a highly elaborate stone facade topped with a domed roof. Its interior had impressively appointed dining and entertaining rooms on the lower 2 floors, and an open plan 4 storey marble lobby leading to the 370 guest rooms. It contained a penthouse style suite in the tower. In 1923 the management obtained a liquor licence and re-named it the Federal Hotel. It remained a leading Melbourne hotel until sold in 1972. It was demolished in 1973 after an unsuccessful public campaign to save it.
Source : Remembering Melbourne 1850 - 1960 Royal Historical Society of Victoria
RSHV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV GS-CS-35
Collins Street looking east from intersection with Elizabeth Street 1892
This image shows the Royal Bank and the Victorian Street cable tram. Melbourne's cable tram system was constructed in the 1880s and replaced earlier horse-drawn buses. The Victoria Street line was completed in 1886. By 1891, Melbourne had 44 miles (70 kilometres) of double track tramway, powered by 11 engine houses. Cable trams were replaced by electric versions from the 1920s.
Source RHSV Rosemary McConnell
Pictures Charles Rudd Photographer. Courtesy State Library of Victoria H39357/240
The Athenaeum circa 1892 - 1900
The site at 188 Collins Street was occupied from 1839 by the Melbourne branch of the Mechanic's Institute, an organisation devoted to literary culture and self improvement. It was used as the Melbourne Council Chambers from 1842 until 1852 until a town hall was completed. The Melbourne Mechanic's Institute changed its name to the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872. The present building was designed by Smith and Johnson and completed in 1886. The statue of the goddes Minerva in the niche on the roofline was considered appropriate for an institution of learning. Films were shown in the hall from the 1890s, and it was remodelled as cinema in 1924, and in 1929 was the first venue in Australia to exhibit 'talkies' films with soundtracks. The building hosted a museum/art gallery until 1971 and still hosts a subscription library.
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV S-45
Equitable Building, corner Collins and Elizabeth Streets circa 1899
The Equitable Building (also known as the Colonial Mutual Life Building), was for many years after its completion in 1896 the benchmark of commercial architecture in Melbourne. It was built for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America and sold to CML in 1923. Designed by American architect, Edward Raht, it was built on a lavish scale with imported marble, elaborate plasterwork and fine timbers. The exterior was clad in granite from Phillip Island and Harcourt near Bendigo. High ceilings in the offices gave them beautiful proportions but meant that the building had far less floor space than other structures of comparable height.
In 1959 CML decided to replace it with a more space efficient building. Pieces of the Equitable Building are dotted around Melbourne. The foundation stone is in the basement of the new 1960 building on the site. Fragments of the granite facade are displayed on the forecourt of the Royal Exhibition Building, near the Melbourne Museum. The magnificent bronze statuary group, representing the 'Equitable' protecting the 'Family', is in the gardens of the University Melbourne, near the Baillieu Library.
The Block circa 1905
Not a bare head in sight at the turn of the century when fashion dictated hats for both men and women. The northern side of Collins Street teems with a sea of hats while the southern side is virtually deserted. Collins Street, on the north side between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets was part of what was known as The Block and “doing the Block” was a fashionable pastime. On Thursday and Saturday afternoons it was almost a social must to be seen here. Today’s Aussie Rules fans might find it hard to believe, but in the 1870s even football took second place to The Block. Saturday games were timed to start after people had finished lunching and promenading. The Block was home to smart coffee houses, booksellers and music shops and was the ideal place for a young lady to meet a beau. In 1890 the Block Arcade was built to link Elizabeth and Collins Streets, making the area even more fashionable.
(Inset) “Doing the Block” circa 1905 “Beaux, too, of the most elegant description, may be seen from two to four o’clock in the afternoon marching up and down in good step, two or three abreast; and occasionally standing, in most formidable group, around the fashionable lamp-post at the corner of Swanston Street and Collins Street, from whence they contemplate the fair promenade.” Clara Aspinall, Three Years in Melbourne (London 1862)
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures RHSV GS-CS-17
A crowd outside T.H. Nott, confectioners, 222 Collins Street circa 1900
Thomas Nott was a confectionary manufacturer and retailer from 1854. He advertised his boiled sweets in the 1951 Sands & McDougall Directory as 'the best sweets for children... In handsomely decorated tins: thoroughly wholesome, absolutely pure'. His business is shown at this address on the north side of Collins Street near Swanston Street from 1889. Nott's Confectionary then moved to No. 226 Collins Street until 1926.
Source RHSV Jillian Nicholls
Pictures RHSV PHN-00992
George's Emporium circa 1900
These premises at 162 - 168 Collins Street were designed by John Grainger and Charles D'Ebro and built in 1883 by David Mitchell for the Equitable Co-operative society store. In 1887 the developer, B.J. Fink, extended it through to Little Collins Street. In 1888 the society sold the business to George & George Limited, whose own premises on the site of the present Block Arcade had been destroyed by fire. Brothers William and Alfred George had established George & George Emporium in about 1880. From their new premises, the brothers sold exclusive clothing and millinery, drapery and fancy goods, as well as furniture and groceries. The small boat atop the verandah perhaps commemorates the centenary of Bass and Flinders' circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), completed on 11 January 1799. George's Emporium remained in business until 1995. Today it houses several shops and a bar.
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures Frazer and Vallance photographers. RHSV A-596.001
Scott's Chotel circa 1914
Scott's, one of Melbourne's grand hotels, was at 444 Collins Street. The site was first occupied by the Lamb Inn, re-modelled as the Clarendon Family Hotel in 1852, and purchased and re-built by Edward Scott in 1860. William C. Wilson assumed ownership in 1868 and his descendants re-modelled the building in 1913-14. Scott's was patronised by wealthy country families, the racing fraternity and celebrities such as Dame Nellie Melba and visiting English test cricketers because of the quality of its food and drink. Yet it was once rumoured to house an abortion clinic in the basement. The building was purchased by the Royal Insurance Company in 1961 endings its clain to be the oldest continuously licensed site in Victoria. It was demolished in 1962 and the AON Centre, built by the Royal Insurance Group, won a Victorian architecture prize in 1967 for the sleekness of its black granite facade.
Source RHSV Jillian Nicholls
Pictures RHSV D-711
The Block Arcade circa 1915
The elegant L-shaped and richly decorated Block Arcade, designed by David Askew to reflect the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, were built between 1891 and 1893. It was named after the 19th century Melbourne custom of 'doing the block', This described Melbourne's high society penchant for promenading the block formed by Collins, Swanston, Little Collins and Elizabeth Streets in order to be 'seen'. The footpath was often crowded, escpecially on a Saturday. Marcus Clarke satirised it in 1869 and wrote a song entitled 'Doing the Block' in 1872.
Source RHSV Brad Underhill
Pictures RHSV PH010127
Australian Provident Assurance Tower circa 1934
This view, looking east along Collins Street from west of its intersection with Queen Street, shows the National Mutual and Australian Provident Assurance (APA) buildings. An Art Deco tower with a classical temple motif, reminiscent of Deco towers of Chicago and New York, was added to the existing APA building in 1929. Reaching 76 metres, the APA became instantly one of the city's tallest buildings until the 1950s. During the inter-war years no true skycrapers were built owing to a 40 metre height limit. However, owners such as APA connived to building towers and taller turrets by exposing a special clause inserted in the city bylaws that sanctioned tall towers provided they were erected only as architectural features and not for occupation for business purposes. Taken over by the firm Legal & General in the 1950s, the APA building with tower was demolished in 1969.
Source RHSV Elisabeth Jackson
Pictures Egbert Spencer photographer. RHSV PH-150077
Western Market 1959
This evelated view of Western Market, Collins Streets, look west along Collins Street from the corner of Market Street, showing Fletcher Jones Store. The Western Market was bounded by Market, Collins and William Streets and Flinders Lane. The site was reserved for market purposes in 1837 and the market opened in 1841. In 1847 the Melbourne Town Council erected 2 rows of brick stalls connected by an arcade. During the day homeless immigrants sold their belongings from suitcases in the market. The Western Market was Melbourne's wholesale fruit and vegetable market until 1930 when this function moved to the Queen Victoria Market. In 1934 part of it became a car park and the buildings was demolished in 1961.
Most of the images are drawn from the RHSV’s collections and many appear in the RHSV’s recent publication Remembering Melbourne 1850 - 1960 Royal Historical Society of Victoria . A Superb Portrait of Melbourne .This book is an exceptional collection of images not so readily known. Every photograph is identified and explained in extended captions written by over 75 volunteers from twenty suburban historical societies and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, the latter being Melbourne’s history society. Caption writers also assisted in the final selection of photographs.The book, an imaginative collaboration by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and the QBD, and based on the voluntary efforts of over 100 people, has established a new benchmark in recording the early history of one of the world’s most liveable cities.
Sources/ References (Text and Pictures)