East Melbourne from its earliest days was full of schools.  The larger, purpose-built church schools eventually grew too big for the small parcels of land available and moved to more spacious suburbs; and the smaller privately run schools generally died a natural death when their principals retired or failed to make a go of it. 

Ball and Welch was once one of Melbourne’s landmark department stores, along with others such as Buckley and Nunn.  History tells us that the store was founded by Charles Ball and his nephew, William Henry Welch.  But perhaps there is more to the story.  It is likely that their wives had more than a little to do with the store’s establishment.

With Remberance Day coming up it seems a fitting time to acknowledge one of East Melbourne’s many residents who enlisted to serve their King and Country in the Great War. Shown here is Henri Joseph Lamande, in one of the more diverting photos in our society’s collection. For him perhaps there was the added incentive to visit the land of his ancestors.

On 24 June 2022, in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling, made as result of the now famous Roe v Wade case, that gave a fundamental right to women to access abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment.

East Melbourne is rightfully known for its Victorian era streetscapes.  However, between the wars it went through a period of re-development resulting in a scattering of buildings that are markedly different in style.

In the Victorian era when architectural style leaned heavily towards the Italianate one East Melbourne house stood out.

If you stand on the corner of Powlett Street and Wellington Parade looking east, there’s the 7-Eleven store, the dry cleaner, a couple of cafes, the Il Duca restaurant and, at the end of the line, the Post Office, an unassuming, utilitarian modern building.

The East Melbourne Historical Society is undertaking a project on the history of the former Yarra Park State school.

This tiny Spotted Pardalote was recorded in a cottage garden in Agnes Street, just up the road from a huge demolition taking place on Jolimont Street. It was nervously flitting between a branch and a small verandah ledge. The noise from the jack-hammers and diggers was too great to hear or record its call. We were quite concerned that its habitat had been destroyed, but a couple of days later we saw it again in the same garden before it flew next door into a much more protected bushy garden. We can only hope that it lives and thrives with its family without further disturbance. See a video at: https://emhs.org.au/catalogue/emdf0455

On November 11 every year we remember the dead of the Great War and especially our Australian dead, those young men who, in loyalty to England and with a sense of adventure joined up in their thousands, leaving behind families, jobs, friends and thinking they’d be ‘home by Christmas’.

Eastbourne House stands on the corner of Wellington Parade and Simpson Street in East Melbourne.  It is a two-storey building of 16 rooms, with a large balcony overhanging Simpson Street, and is classified by the National Trust.  It was built for Dr Samuel Peacock in 1902.  He used Eastbourne House as a residence, a surgery and a private hospital solely for female patients.

Ask those who live in East Melbourne about the different styles of local architecture and they will identify the rare houses still existing from the 1850s and 1860s, the beautiful long  lines of terraces in Powlett St and the iron lace-trimmed free standing mansions which are the pride of the neighbourhood.

East Melbourne’s first crown land sales were held on 16 June 1852.  Prior to this the area had been a popular place for local Aboriginal groups who were attracted to its swamps and lagoons as fishing grounds.

Article in the Australian 24 August 202 midst covid-19

The East Melbourne Historical Society has recently nominated Jolimont Station for inclusion on the Heritage Victoria register.  The station has been a long overlooked part of our history.  It does not appear even on the City of Melbourne's Inventory of Heritage Places. 

On Monday, March 9 2015 The Age ran an article by Clay Lucas under the headline 'Towers make city hostile. says minister'.  In the article Mr Wynne said to have significant concerns over the levels of density that been approved for Melbourne's CBD.  Asked about his favourite architecture he listed East Melbourne as one of his choices.  

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.

Index to MMBW plansWith the permission of the State Library of Victoria, the East Melbourne Historical Society has published a (nearly) full set of MMBW plans drawn between 1895 and 1900 covering East Melbourne. The easiest way to access the plans is from the Index to MMBW plans.

The plans are highly detailed showing house outlines, out-houses, facilities, pipes, drains, ground surface types and many other details applying at the time. As a historical record of East Melbourne they are extremely informative and quite unique.