Welcome
Welcome to the East Melbourne Historical Society.
East Melbourne is a tiny suburb adjoining the city of Melbourne bounded by Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens to the west, Victoria Parade to the north, Hoddle Street to the east and Yarra Park to the south, home of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground. East Melbourne was included in Robert Hoddle's original 1837 plan for the city but the first private house was not built until 1853. The suburb today reflects a history of Victoria with its beautiful gardens, grand houses of the gold rush era and workmen's cottages. Cast iron lacework adorns the houses, bluestone cobbled lanes lead to old coach houses and brick dunnies. Artists, scientists, politicians, judges, educators, priests, explorers, entrepreneurs, courtesans, philanthropists and social activists lived here and many a tale is told of characters wild and exotic.
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Recent articles
More than a Kindergarten
An interesting side-light on the changing demographic of Melbourne in the years after the second world war was the decision to relocate the existing City Free Kindergarten in Exhibition Street (on the corner of Little Lonsdale Street) to Powlett Reserve in East Melbourne.
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Jolimont and Repatriation
By 1917 it was apparent that repatriation services for returning service men and women were inadequate. Soldiers were arriving back in the country in large numbers, most of them damaged by illness or injury. Many of them would not be able to return to their pre-war occupations.
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The Curious Mr Stanford: from East Melbourne to California
Thomas Welton Stanford arrived in Melbourne in 1860 to make money. He achieved this by quickly securing the sole licence to import Singer sewing machines. But it is not for his business success that he is primarily known.
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Pros and (Mod) Cons
In aid of the Red Cross and War Comforts Funds Melbourne City Council has transformed the Treasury Gardens into a Garden City with an extensive lighting scheme. It will be open on Monday at 1 p.m. for one month, with daily sessions from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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Bedggood: Friendly Footwear
Daniel Bedggood arrived in Melbourne in 1854. Almost immediately he set up a boot and shoe factory in Richmond. A successful business from the start, succeeding generations kept it going and his son, John, oversaw the transition to a new and bigger factory in Jolimont, at 22 Agnes Street, in 1899.
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Forthcoming activities
Recent acquisitions
Jolimont, 21 Agnes Street, Fintona Villa
Photo of Fintona Villa, 21 Agnes Street, Jolimont
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Victorian Railways Newsletter July 1972
The Victorian Railways Newsletter of July 1972 includes an article titled Melbourne's Underground Takes Shape. It is accompanied by an annotated photograph of the route the tunnels will take under East Melbourne and nearby. The MCG and houses in Jolimont Road are visible giving a good sense of location.
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Railways. January 1978
Railways was a monthly newsletter published by the Vic Rail Board. In the January 1978 issue an article appeared which described the creation of a garden behind the Jolimont Workshops. A small group of workers clubbed together to create the garden. It struggled until the Moscow Circus set up in nearby Yarra Park. The workers were able to obtain an abundance of elephant m
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Elizabeth Cotton Clark of 190 George Street
Life story of Elizabeth Cotton Clark compiled by Margaret Clark with additional notes by Jason Clark. Elizabeth was a photographic colourist as well as a talented botanical artist. The house at 190 George Street was built for her in 1909. She died only a year later.
She was the sister of John James Clark, architect, noted for the Old Treasury building.
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Interview with Joan Mercer (1911-2004)
An interview with local resident and actress, Joan Mercer. It was one of a number of interviews conducted by members of the East Melbourne Historical Society as part of an on-going oral history project.
The interview was conducted in 2003 by Elizabeth Cam and transcribed by Sylvia Black.
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