A pair of two storey, single fronted houses of brick and stone, now cement rendered
Two four roomed houses were built by William McLean to separately accommodate his father, Peter McLean, and father-in-law, Andrew Arnot. The houses were built on, what was at the time, low-lying floodway land, prior to the construction of the Collingwood railway line in 1901. When the railway cutting was excavated under Wellington Parade and Hoddle Street, this low-lying section of George Street was built up with the excavation material(1).
Looking at the houses on the opposite side of the street, especially No. 49, it is unlikely that the level changed dramatically. The bulk of the fill was probably dumped on the vacant land next door to Nos. 40 and 42 as the buildings now there have their entrances at street level.
McLean was a partner in McLean Bros. & Rigg, a large and prosperous firm of ironmongers and general merchants with a major store in Elizabeth Street, a warehouse in Collins Place, an iron yard in Bourke Street and offices in London and New York. The company had branches throughout Victoria and Western Australia . In Victoria the company eventually merged with McEwan's in 1903, but continued to operate in Western Australia until the 1970s when it was sold to Metro Industries. William McLean was the general manager from 1887 to 1900. He died in 1905.
In 1886 William McLean built the mansion on the corner of Vale Street and Wellington Parade South which later became St. Ives, an Anglican Church hospital. In 1887 he was elected president of the YMCA and was a leading member of the Collins Street Baptist Church and the Victorian Baptist Fund. He was also chairman of the board of the Federal Bank.
Past occupants of 40 George Street:
1868-c.1875 Mrs. Ainslie. Prior to living here Mrs. Ainslie had run a girls' school in the building that is now Magnolia Court, 101 Powlett Street. The school under its next owner was named Ormiston and was the first girls' school in Victoria, starting in 1848.
c.1876-1890+ Peter McLean, cabinet maker and father of owner, William McLean. The McLean family arrived in Melbourne in 1853, and Peter McLean, already a cabinet maker in his native Dumfries in Scotland, quickly established a business here. He was the creator of an outstanding piece of Australian furniture described in a recent Sotheby's catalogue [Melbourne 25 & 26 October 2010] as 'an important Australian cedar and specimen wood sideboard of grand proportions carved with the pictorial history of the foundation and progress of the colony of Victoria.' It was exhibited at the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australia 1866-67, where it won a medal. It was then redesigned and enlarged and shipped to England to take part in the Victorian display at the London International Exhibition of 1873, where it won a bronze medal. The Argus considered it the finest piece of furniture ever manufactured in Australia. It remained in the McLean family until the 1920s and then disappeared. It resurfaced in the 1980s. Much literature has been written about it, refer to Sotheby's catalogue.
Past occupants of 42 George Street:
1871-1891 Andrew Arnot, carpenter and storeman and father-in-law of owner, William McLean.
(1) Letter from Elizabeth Barter to unknown recipients, dated 11 Nov 1976, in collection of East Melbourne Library.
Melbourne City Council Intents to Build Reg. No. 2800, 4 Sept 1868
Melbourne City Council Rate Books
Melbourne City Council List of Citizens
Lederman, Bobbie, City of Melbourne Heritage Review. Submission to Melbourne City Council. 2000