East Melbourne in the past was generally regarded as a purely residential suburb with little commercial or industrial activity except for the large and very visible enterprises of the Bedggood shoe factory in Jolimont and the Victoria Brewery in Victoria Parade.  But there were a number of smaller highly successful businesses, many tucked away down lanes and behind houses.  The firm o

  In mid-May I was crossing the wedge of green space on the north west corner of the intersection of Hoddle Street and Wellington Parade/Bridge Road known as Weedon Reserve. In that small park is a monument to someone who has slipped out of the public memory, but who in his day was a celebrity as a world record-holder in motor cycling events. 

On 15 March this year more than 5,000 people gathered in East Melbourne’s Treasury Gardens, many dressed in black, many carrying banners. They streamed up the steps from Parliament station, alighted from trams which had come from all over the city, and walked with determination from the nearby suburbs.

Dear Members,

It has been a topsy turvy year for us all but thankfully we seem to be headed in the right direction in managing the spread of the COVID virus.

On 10 November,  St Peter’s Plaza and the restored ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ were re-opened to the public. Dating from 1924, the cross is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War 1, modelled on wayside crosses in France and is the only one of its kind in Australia.

There was an excellent attendance at our event on Wednesday 21 June 2017 when Phil Ruthven took us on a trip down Memory Lane looking back to Australia, Melbourne and East Melbourne in 1853 and 1953 to the present day. He also had the courage, audacity some might say, to predict what the circumstances might be in 2053.

Dr. Ross McMullin is an historian and biographer whose major interests are Australian history, politics and sport. He has written extensively on the impact of involvement in World War 1 on Australia.

Bunjilaka Aboriginal Culture Centre contains a permanent exhibition, created by a shared enterprise between Museum Victoria and the Victorian Aboriginal Community. It brings together the knowledge, culture, stories, objects and images from the Koorie peoples of Victoria and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands communities in an exciting and informative self-guided exhibition.

An exhibiton of paintings by Joyce Meier will be held at the Bridget McDonnell Gallery, 130 Faraday Street, Carlton, from 9 to 30 November.

All shortlisted and winning entries from the biennial amateur photography competition, Snapped: Melbourne in a moment, are now on display upstairs at East Melbourne Library.

Drop in and be inspired by the work of our talented entrants.

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/MelbourneLibraryService/Pages/Snapped2012.aspx

When: Monday 14 January to Thursday 28 February

Where: East Melbourne Library, level 1

Our continuing campaign to improve the well-being of Yarra Park has achieved some modest improvements of late. Construction vehicles have been causing quite a bit of damage plane trees to the south-western corner near the hump-backed bridge. The cabman's shelter has also been under threat. (See our recent photographic study.) 

In response to telephone calls and emails to the MCG executive office there has been a higher level of consciousness of the issues and some immediate actions to protect some areas. We are hoping for continuing improvements, especially as the footy season gets under way.

If you have a strong interest in military history you may be interested in joining Military History and Heritage Victoria which currently has two vacancies on its executive committee. MHHV provides a forum for people and groups who are passionate about military history and heritage in Victoria. It promotes research, preservation, education, and commemoration of Australian and Victorian military history and heritage. Amongst others, MHHV is supported by the City of Melbourne, the RSL and the Shrine of Remembrance. More information can be obtained fron the MHHV web site. If you are interested in joining MHHV or serving on its committee please use the contact form on their site.

Pandora's Box is to acquire some new contents. And it relates to you! The East Melbourne Historical Society has agreed to a request from the State Library of Victoria for our website to be periodically archived on PANDORA, the web archive of the National Library of Australia. This will improve the accessibility of our website and ensure its continuing availability for future generations - even after your current committee has joined Pandora in Never Never Land.

"Widening roads to solve traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity,"says Walter Kulash, a traffic engineer from Orlando, Florida - something to keep in mind when contemplating the planned roadworks on Hoddle Street.

Yarra Park 2 August 2010The East Melbourne Historical Society has published a gallery of photographs recording the current condition of Yarra Park, perhaps at its worst in living memory.

As many residents of East Melbourne have noticed, car parking in Yarra Park throughout this wet football season has been severely damaging to the Park. As an estimate, 70% of the Park's surface is now down to bare dirt or mud. Scores of trees are damaged, dead or vanished. Trucks and cars are driving over the roots of trees and parking hard up against them. Even the historic Aboriginal trees have only thin, narrow fringes of grass around them. The gallery tells the story quite unambiguously.

To see what you can do, keep reading ...

Has anyone noticed? Yarra Park has gone the way of James James Morrison's Mother. She has disappeared! One wonders, was it despite or because of repeated warnings from the National Trust (commonly known as Jim) about green wedgies at the end of Town? In any case, Yarra Park donned her golden gown this autumn - and promptly disappeared from the City of Melbourne's records.

Greg de Moore was to speak to us on 16 June 2010 about Tom Wills, the co-founder of Australian Rules Football. Unfortunately Greg has had to reschedule. However, John Briggs, a heritage architect, known to many in East Melbourne, has agreed to speak to us on 16 June about heritage conservation, a subject dear to all of us. Please bring your friends but do call Deirdre first!

Project team members: - Jill Fenwick, Nik Iljin, Wendy BabiolakisThe East Melbourne Historical Society has received a grant of $2,290 from Museums Australia (Victoria) to digitise its collection. Digitising involves creating high quality electronic images of items in the collection and loading them onto the web site. The collection may then be searched or browsed via an on-line catalogue and digitised items can be viewed in detail. The grant provides funds to buy imaging equipment, software and services to begin the process.

The East Melbourne Historical Society catalogue is now on the web site. Just click on the Catalogue menu item at the top right or follow this link: http://emhs.org.au/catalogue.

You can browse the catalogue, search for any terms or look for specific topics, building names or addresses.

If you would like access to any items please don't hesitate to Contact us.