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
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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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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Yarra Park State School Comes Back To Life
Yarra Park State School In East Melbourne was located in a very prominent position - the intersection of Punt Road and Bridge Road. The building that still occupies the site and which housed the former school is familiar to generations of Melburnians who have passed through that intersection on the busy roads north-south and east-west.
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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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Mary Gilbert: Melbourne's First Mother
There has been much publicity lately about the large imbalance in the numbers of statues of men as opposed to women in Melbourne. A google search puts it at 580 to 10! One of these ten statues is in the Conservatory in the Fitzroy Gardens, hidden away amongst the foliage.
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Recent acquisitions
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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Interview with Geoffrey Borrack (1936-2025)
In 2007 the East Melbourne Historical Society collaborated with the Australian Catholic University to conduct oral histories with East Melbourne residents. This was the second year the program took place.
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Interview with Nora Riches (1908-2011)
An interview with local resident and actress, Nora Riches. 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 2005 by Elizabeth Cam and Sylvia Black and transcribed by Sylvia Black.
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Interview with Eileen Davern (1932-2010)
In 2006 the East Melbourne Historical Society collaborated with the Australian Catholic University to conduct oral histories with 15 East Melbourne residents.
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Forthcoming activities
Sands and McDougall Directories
Fiona Campbell, local history libarian at East Melbourne Library, has the knack of wringing juice out of the driest of subjects. In this talk she will take on the Sands and McDougall Post Office Directories. These massive volumes were produced from 1857 to 1974 and are an invaluable resource for local and family history research. Fiona will teach us how to acces
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Living at Parliament House
AGM followed by a talk by Darren Howarth
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