
Also known as | Litchfield House | Source: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190604388 |
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Previous Address | known as 29 Hawke Street before 1889 | Source: Sands & McDougall Directory 1888 |
Constructed | 1872 | |
Style | Victorian, Mid: 1860-1875 | |
Architect | ||
Builder | brothers James, John & Albert Thurgood |
Timelapse Building Images

After re-painting, during re-installation of original restored lacework.
photographer Stephen Hatcher

LHS 43 to RHS 51 Hakwe Street West Melbourne, North & West Melbourne Conservation Study 1983.
Photographer Graham Butler
Land Details
1. 1895 MMBW map, part of the allotment between 15 and 16 within Section 55.
The land where 49 Hawke Street is located is halfway on allotments 15 & 16 of Section 55 of the 1853 Crown land sale as seen on the map below.
Crown (VIC) Land Sale May 1853 Age Wed 4th May 1853
First Land Purchaser Allison and Knight Age Wed 4th May 1854
2. First crown land purchaser – John Alison & Andrew Halley Knight.
John Alison (or Allison) was a successful flour miller in Victoria.
Andrew Halley Knight was a politician in colonial Victoria, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Knight was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1838. He farmed sheep in Kalkallo, Victoria and later became a merchant in Melbourne.
Building Details

Originally constructed as a 6 rooms 2 story brick building with balcony, bluestone foundations and slate roof.
Notice of Intent to Build.
27th May 1872, Registration number 4839.
Fee paid: £2.10.0
Builder: James Thurgood & Co of Melbourne
Owner: William Sadler, 49 Hawke Street West Melbourne VIC 3003.
Other building works carried out by the Thurgood’s can be found here.
source: Public Records Office of Victoria
Subsequent Building Alterations
1872 glass conservatory at rear (later removed in the early 1920’s).
Original slate roof has been replaced with corrugated tin first in the 1950’s and re roofed again in 2009.

Brick shed constructed 1923, application number 4953.
Melbourne City Council records
Architectural Features
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Lacework
Cast Iron
Lyster & Cooke
Pattern VIC8
photographer: Stephen Hatcher -
Fence
Wrought Ironphotographer: Stephen Hatcher
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Lacework
Cast Iron
Lyster & Cookephotographer: Stephen Hatcher
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Hardware
Other metalphotographer: Stephen Hatcher
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Fence
Brickphotographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019
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Doors
Other metalphotographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019
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Windows
Glassphotographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019
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Windows
Glassphotographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019
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Building Ornamentation
Cast Ironphotographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019
Heritage Significance and Listings
Heritage Listings and Explanatory Notes |
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Intact detailed wrought iron lace work, veranda, original windows, fence and gate. Ornate and mostly intact masonry detail on the parapet front. North and West Melbourne Conservation Study – Graeme Butler 49 Hawke Street is a two-story brick and bluestone building containing building fabric from the 1872 period of construction and is unaltered and fully intact to its era. Its window glazing has been upgraded with double insulated glass but is in its original frames. Original verandah has restored cast iron panels and lacework. Original fence and gate with bluestone foundations intact. Original 4 panel solid wood front door with sidelights. 4 Original chimneys are all intact and operational. 49 Hawke Street was built by James Thurgood. He also built a number of churches and other houses in Melbourne. Of particular note Thurgood built sheds A to E at the Queen Victoria Market in the year 1877 at a cost of £10,422 |
Owners
From | To | Owner | More Info | Data Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
13/7/1992 | current | Private | Confidential | |
31/10/1985 | 12/7/1992 | Irene Azzopardi (daughter of Frank & Beatrice Borg) | Melbourne council rates book | |
9/8/1972 | 30/10/1985 | Frank Borg & Fred Calleja | Melbourne council rates book | |
May 1961 | 8/8/1972 | the Estate of Nicholas Constantine George | Public Records Office of Victoria | |
5/6/1923 | May 1961 | Nicholas Constantine George, owner and landlord | Melbourne council rates book | |
8/11/1922 | 4/6/1923 | Leslie William Booker | Melbourne council rates book | |
22/2/1898 | 7/11/1922 | Elizabeth Charlotte Sutherland, as landlord (neice of William Sadler) | Melbourne council rates book | |
8/5/1895 | 21/2/1898 | William Sadler, as landlord | Melbourne council rates book | |
10/12/1886 | 7/5/1895 | Robert James Dight & Louisa Dight nee Smith | Melbourne council rates book | |
4/5/1872 | 9/12/1886 | William & Susan Sadler | Melbourne council rates book | |
31/1/1871 | 3/5/1872 | Thomas Hulse (Land subdivided into the current block sold to William Sadler to build a house) | Public Records Office of Victoria | |
4/5/1853 | 30/1/1871 | John Allison and Andrew Halley Knight, first Crown land purchasers | Age Wed 4th May 1855 | |
abt 40 thousand years earlier | 1835 | Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Victoria |
Residents
From | To | Resident | More Info | Data Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | current | Private | current resident | |
1975 | 1992 | t.b.a. | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1971 | 1974 | Frank Borg & Fred Calleja | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1970 | 1970 | Fredland, Mrs J Cabela | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1967 | 1969 | Tony Abila or Abella | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1965 | 1966 | Andrea Kolokouris, Andrea Ekintavelonis & Elias Papandreau | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1964 | 1964 | Jonnie Sidachds | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1962 | 1963 | Anthony Didachous | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1956 | 1961 | Joseph Uka (rooms) | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1952 | 1955 | Milos Martin Yuritta | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1934 | 1951 | Nicholas Constantine George | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22442600 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1933 | 1933 | Sergeant William O’Keefe & Margaret O’Keefe nee McGann | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4508570 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1932 | 1932 | Harold Kelseth & Hannah Edith Kelseth nee Thomas | https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/ | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1931 | 1931 | Nicholas Constantine George | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1929 | 1930 | Archibald Robert Hardy | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1923 | 1928 | Nicholas Constantine George | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1921 | 1922 | Edwin James ‘Ted’ Morcom & Nellie Morcom nee McCarthy | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1920 | 1920 | Moran & Fisher | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1915 | 1919 | James Horatio O’Connell & Bridget O’Connell nee Dogherty | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1907 | 1914 | Thomas Edward Southgate & Sarah Jane Southgate nee Lawson | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196120948 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1903 | 1906 | Mrs. Mary Ann Walker | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1900 | 1902 | Agar Millinton Atkin & Jane Atkin nee Goldsworthy | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9810791 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1898 | 1899 | Patrick Minogue & Mary Ellen Minogue nee Ritchie | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198062613 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1896 | 1897 | (no council rate book) Patrick Minogue & Mary Ellen Minogue nee Ritchie | Sands & McDougall directory | |
1895 | 1895 | Henrietta Hilligest Blay nee Bradock & James Alexander Blay | https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/ | 1895 Sands & McDougall Directory |
1890 | 1894 | Robert James Dight & Louisa Eleanor Dight nee Smith | https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/ | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1889 | 1889 | James Dight | Melbourne Council Rate Book | |
1887 | 1888 | Sylvanus Partridge Reynolds & Annie Susan Southerwood Reynolds nee Young | https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/ | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1872 | 1887 | William & Susanna Sadler | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190599773 | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
1872 | 1872 | Construction site | Melbourne Council Rate Book |
Social History
Fred Calleja, co-owned 49 Hawke Street with Frank Borg. Fred was the brother of Frank Borg’s wife Beatrice.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
told to me by Fred’s wife Tessy in 2020.
Anthony Didachas lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1963/2. His occupation on the electoral roll in 1963 was a laborer.
Later years in 1977 he was a Melbourne tram driver.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll

Jusuf ‘Joseph’ Uka lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1961 to 1955 and was employed as a welder, according to the Australian electoral roll. He married Virginia Beskou in Victoria in 1955.
In 1923 at the age of 29 years, Jusuf, seeking a better life, emigrated from Germany, arriving in Melbourne on board the ship ‘Nelly’ on the 15th of August. His arrival records state he was born in Dobranja, Yugoslavia, and his occupation was a farm worker.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

Milos Martin Yuritta lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1954 to 1952. He was employed as a metal worker, according to the Australian electoral roll. He was born in 1926 and married Maria Helen Majernik, in Victoria in 1949, she was born in 1927 in Slovakia.
Their children were Anne-Marie, Stephen and Katrina Yuritta.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245095671
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11330196
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

Sergeant William O’Keefe lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1933 with wife Margaret Catherine O’Keefe nee McGann.
William was born 1869 in Bendigo Victoria, the son of James O’Keefe & Mary Power.
Margaret was born in 1865 at Bungeet Victoria, the daughter of Arthur McGann & Mary Parlon.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171661731
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70787151
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

Harold Kelseth lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1932. Prior to this he lived with his wife Edith Hannah Kelseth nee Thomas at 155 Roden Street West Melbourne before her death.
Harold was born 1874 in Norway. His occupation was a Seaman according to his 1905 arrival papers to Australia, later employed at the Victoria Railways in 1934.
Harold was the son of Gustav Kelseth & Sophie Norman.
Edith Thomas was born in 1875, the daughter of Ellis Thomas & Elizabeth Hughes, she married Harold Kelseth in Melbourne in 1907.
1934 PEDESTRIAN’S DEATH http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10978531
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224558500
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4513119
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204810175
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

Archibald Robert Hardy lived lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1930 to 1929. He was born in 1909 at Kew Victoria, son of Robert Hardie or Hardy & Margaret, last name unknow.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Sands & McDougall & bdm.vic.gov.au

Nicholas Constantine George and his wife Kathleen were both residents at times and later became a landlords of 49 Hawke Street between 1968 to 1923. Nicholas was born in 1894 in Samos, Greece.
His occupation in later life was a taxi & café owner.
In 1949 Nicholas was employed as a mechanic according to the Australian electoral roll.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

1923/1922. Leslie William Booker purchased 49 Hawke Street from Elizabeth Charlotte Sutherland in 1922.
Leslie was born in 1895 at Newport Victoria, the son of William Henry Booker and Emily Muriel Ward.
Booker joined up at Broadmeadows in 1914 and served in WW1 at Gallipoli. Pte. L. Booker of the 2nd Anzac Light Horse Regiment returned to Australian in 1918.
In 1923 Leslie married Elizabeth Jane Lewis. She was born in 1897, the daughter of George Lewis and Louisa Harris of Allandale Victoria.
Leslie and Elizabeth had three children, June, Bill and Shirley Booker. His occupation was listed as a cafe manager.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206211071
In 1923 Leslie sold 49 Hawke Street to Nicholas Constantine George.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
PROV, www.bdm.vic.gov.au

James Edwin ‘Ted’ Morcom lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1922 to 1921 with his wife Nellie ‘Ellen’ Morcom nee McCarthy.
He was born sometime between 1887/9 in South Melbourne and was the son of William Morcom & Ellen Bibby.
Nellie McCarthy was born in 1892 at Charlton Victoria, the daughter of Patrick McCarthy & Ellen Knight. She married James Morcom in 1916 in North Melbourne.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Sands & McDougall & bdm.vic.gov.au

O’CONNELL — On May 2, at Mercy Hospital. East Melbourne. James Horatio O’Connell, M.A.. B.Sc., loved husband of the late Bridget Ellen O’Connell. loved father of Harold, Herbert. Violet and Frank, loved grandfather of Raymond (London), aged 70 years.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
The Age

James Horatio O’Connell lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1919 to 1915 along with his wife Bridget E ‘Bessie’ Doherty and sons James jnr and Claude O’Connell.
James was born in 1866 in Snowtown S.A. the son of John O’Connell & Bridget. He was listed as an Electrical Engineer of the Victoria Railways in 1924 and later as an Engine driver.
Bridget was born in 1865 at Woodend Victoria, the daughter of John Doherty & Bridget Ryan and she married James in 1890 in Victoria.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11861324
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203660012
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242046774
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11974585
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

1901. James Horatio O’Connell, an engine driver on the Victorian railways, should be an example to young Melbourne artisans who wish to improve and better their positions.
For some years past, he has been studying alone, asking advice occasionally of Dr. McFarland, master of Ormond College, in regard to his work. At the recent University commencement, when HRH the Duke of York was present, Mr. O’Connell received the degrees of Bachelor of Sciences and Master of Arts that his studying has not been carried on at the expense of midnight-oil and health was quite apparent from his burly build and fine physique. He stood head and shoulders over his neighbors, and looked a remarkable figure. He deserves to succeed.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Albury Banner

Thomas Edward Southgate lived at 49 Hawke Street from 1914 to 1907 along with wife Sarah Jane Southgate nee Lawson as well as sons Frederick and Thomas jnr.
Thomas was the son of Edward Southgate & Annie, last name unknown. Thomas’s occupation was listed as boot-maker. Sarah married Thomas in 1884 in Victoria.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23185428
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22779179
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206835065
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22317128
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Australian electoral roll & bdm.vic.gov.au

Tenants of 49 Hawke Street in 1903 included the son of Charles & Caroline Atkin nee White and his wife Jane Goldsworthy, who was the daughter of James & Mary Goldsworthy nee Prout.
The photo is held by the State Library of Victoria, Mr. Ager Millington Atkin and wife Jane Atkin nee Goldsworthy with their daughter Alice Mabel Atkin.
Other photos
Ager on horseback – http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/73672
Jane on horseback – http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/463113
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Sands & McDougall directory

Agar Millington Atkin lived at 49 Hawke Street along with his wife Jennie Atkin nee Goldsworthy and daughter Alice Mabel Atkin from 1902 to 1900.
Agar was the son of noted Hotham chemist Charles Agar Atkin and Caroline H White.
His occupation in 1903 was a manufacturer.
Jennie was the second daughter of Mr. Goldsworthy, also from Hotham.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155043326
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221122230
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160273556
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
The Argus & bdm.vic.gov.au

1902 a Wine and Spirit Merchants’ License was issued to Mr. Ager M. Atkin for shops at 57 Errol Street & 21 Atkin Street North Melbourne.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Government Gazette

Patrick Joseph Minogue lived at 49 Hawke Street with his wife Mary Ellen Minogue nee Ritchie from 1899 to 1896.
Patrick was born in 1859 in Clare Ireland and worked for the Victorian Railways. He was the son of James Minogue & Bridget Mason of Clare Ireland.
Mary Ellen Ritchie was born in Frankston in 1866, the third daughter Thomas Ritchie and Margaret Ritchie nee Kennedy of Frankston, http://www.morningtoncemetery.com/Denominations/Methodist/Ritchie/Ritchie-Janet.shtml.
Mary Ellen married Patrick in 1888 at Frankston Victoria.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Melbourne Leader, Trove & bdm.vic.gov.au

Mrs. Jane Rutherford Standish nee Brown and husband William Thomas Standish lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1893.
She was born in 1885 at Coleraine Victoria, the daughter of Thomas Brown & Helen ‘Ellen’ Douglas.
William Standish was born in Benalla in 1875, the son of James Standish and Martha Little.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
The North Eastern Ensign & bdm.vic.gov.au

Mrs. Henrietta Blay nee Bradock lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1895 with her husband James Alexander Blay. She was born in 1874 at Winterbertinyana S.A. the daughter of Edwin Bradock & Minna Hillegast.
James was born in 1867 at Butchers Gap South Australia, the son of James Blay & Christina M Johnston.
Henrietta married James in 1891 at Clare in South Australia and they had 14 children in 25 years.
21 October 1891 at the Residence of Mr. E Bradock of Crystal Brook, South Australia.
BLAY—BRADOCK.—On the 31st October, at the residence of the bride’s parents, by the Rev W. T. Penrose, James Alexander, eldest son of Mr. James Blay of Lake Hindmarsh, Victoria, to Henrietta Hillegeist, third daughter of Mr. E. Bradock.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48245171
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Sands & McDougall & bdm.vic.gov.au

Robert James Dight (1846-1931) was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, the son of Falmouth store-keepers, William Pollard Dight and his wife, Elizabeth Kneebone Trebilock, both natives of Cornwall.
Robert’s parents, seeking a better life for their family, decided to emigrate from Cornwall to Melbourne with six sons aged from 13 years to 7 months.
Robert who was the fourth son, was aged just 5 years when the ship, the ‘Abermarle‘, arrived at the Port of Melbourne 7 July, 1853. Curiously the passenger list gives the father’s occupation as a “smith” which differs from the occupation stated on his marriage records.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139701719

In 1868, aged about 22 years, Robert joined the Victorian Railways department as a cleaner and rose through the ranks to the position of engine driver and in his later years a foreman.
In 1870, he married Louisa Eleanor Smith in Fitzroy. The couple appear to have had five sons; Herbert Robert Edward Dight (b. 1872- d.1872); Ernest James (1874- 1946); Charles Gower (b. 1875); Percy Robert (b.1882) and Leslie Henry (or Leslie Alfred, b. 1890) and three daughters, Lily Elizabeth (b. 1880); Clara Eleanor (b. 1885) and Pearl Cecilia (b. abt 1892).
By 1872, Dight was living in Hotham (now North Melbourne/ West Melbourne). The birth registration of his children establish that the family were residents there continuously from this time.
Robert was part of a larger group of railway employees who lived in and around Hawke Street, West Melbourne in the late 1800s.
Robert and family lived in West Melbourne from at least 1875 until 1903.
In 1903, after retiring from the Railways the family moved to Hawthorn, where Robert lived until his death in 1931.
In 1884, Robert Dight was the driver of a passenger train which struck a woman who had run onto the tracks. She sustained horrific and fatal injuries. Robert was a witness at the woman’s coronial inquest.
In 1885, he was a witness for the Railways in an inquest into another death on the railway lines. It is possible that these experiences radicalized Dight. After this, he became a passionate supporter of public safety and a harsh critic of the Railways’ administration.
In 1885, Robert became embroiled in a controversial industrial dispute, in which he emerged as the key spokesperson of the Locomotive Employees Society (a forerunner to the Union). At the time, he was not an elected official of the society, but it appears that he was chosen as the mouthpiece based on his ability to draft a letter and use powerful arguments. His letters show that he was a careful and considered man with a high level of intelligence and a strong social conscience.
Throughout his entire life, Dight remained active in community affairs serving on the committee of the North Melbourne YMCA and YWACA (from at least 1899 to 1903), the Lighthouse mission (1915), and in his later years on the School Committee for West Hawthorn School and was an elected Church Officer at Christ Church in Hawthorn (1913-1919). His wife was also active as a fund-raiser for the Women’s Hospital.
Robert Dight’s story written and researched by Bronwyn Higgs. Footscray, 2017

Sylvanus Partridge Reynolds commenced business c.1875 and established the firm of S. P. Reynolds & Co., Victoria, a Tannery, on Macaulay Road, North Melbourne.
He later became a member of the Legislative Assembly for a short time for North Melbourne from 1 June 1893 to 1 September 1894.
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/component/fabrik/details/24/800
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Parliament Victoria

1887 The Age.
Lost – Lava Brooch, Collingwood Town Hail, 26th May.
Reward. S. P. Reynolds, Hawke Street, West Melbourne.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
The Age

Sylvanus Partridge Reynolds and his wife Annie Susan Southerwood Reynolds nee Young lived at 49 Hawke Street in 1888/87.
He was born in a ‘diggers tent’ on the goldfields in 1858 at Mt. Blackwood Victoria, son of Hotham councilor William Thomas Reynolds & Harriet Caroline Cresswell.
Annie Young was born in 1864 in Melbourne, the daughter of ex-Sydney Lord Mayor John Young and Eleanor Southerwood and she married Sylvanus in Sydney in 1887.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70972778
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145711161
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23018316
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Trove & bdm.vic.gov.au

In 1898 William Sadler transferred ownership of the house at 49 Hawke Street to his neice Elizabeth Charlotte Sutherland. She held it as a landlord until 1922.
1886. William Sadler sold 49 Hawke Street to Robert Dight but he bought the house back only 9 years later in 1895.
It is not known if Robert Dight became insolvent or not. During the 1890’s many Melburnians and financial institutions (Banks) fell into financial hardship during burst of the ‘land speculation’ bubble.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), Friday 25 November 1892, page 13
The total liabilities of the open Melbourne insolvencies and secret compositions in connection with the land speculation since 1889 amount to so many millions that anyone unacquainted with the peculiar nature of the transactions, would imagine that a financial collapse, worse than that of the Argentine Republic, had overtaken the colony of “Victoria.
The crisis is undoubtedly serious, but there is by no means such an utter collapse as might have been anticipated. In the first place, it must be recollected that just as the number of land sales was exaggerated by every auctioneer and agent (acting in conjunction with half-a-dozen others) taking credit for having sold the whole himself, including dummy purchasers as well as bona, fide investors, so the insolvents assume the whole of liabilities which in reality they share with others or have incurred contingently on the security not realising its estimated value. The other reason for the lessening of the crisis is to be found in His Honour Judge Molesworth’s remark that a land speculator was “like a man betting £10,000 on a horse race to win £100,000. If his horse came in first, he won a big fortune, but if it did not, he was not able to pay the £10,000.
The simile correctly defines the boom.
Neither punter nor bookmaker were able to pay the bets they made, because both depended on the general public to find the cash. Unfortunately for the community, these bets were recoverable at law, and thus pressed, the speculators discovered an ingenious method of swindling the public out of the money they were wise enough to withhold from the gamble by professing to take it on deposit only. The cash deposits were inadequate for the colossal transactions, and they were largely inflated by a system of promissory notes called deposit receipts.
For instance, a building society or land company would purchase a property from an individual or a syndicate, on condition that part or whole of the purchase money should remain on deposit for a fixed period (generally from one to three years) in the institution taking the property. The Mercantile Bank, it will be recollected, elaborated the process by issuing deposit notes as a means of discounting bills instead of handing over cash. It is this enormous paper inflation of values and the complicated financing that ensued which makes the proposal to establish an assets purchase company virtually another attempt to make the public pay the debts of the boomers.
The latest proposal simply amounts to selecting the best assets of the various bankrupt institutions and paying, for them half in 5 per cent, debentures, half in 6 per cent, “cumulative” preference shares, that is, the shares receive no dividend till the debenture interest has been earned, and “as a bonus for the prospective recovery in values” 20 per cent, in ordinary shares.
Whatever the motives of the promoters of this plausible scheme may be, the result would be a prolongation of the inflated values of properties and a general hushing up of scandalous if not fraudulent transactions. The imperative necessity of absolute liquidation is dealt with in another article in Table Talk, and it is satisfactory to find that the majority of business men in Victoria recognise the futility of any attempt to galvanise the corpse of the land boom into the semblance of vitality. The creditors of an insolvent company can purchase their own assets or divide them amongst themselves, but it is outrageous that because individual purchasers cannot be induced to buy at valuations made by “experts” a company is to buy at that figure.
No one thinks it is sound business to keep up the price of produce by forming a company amongst the farmers to purchase their own wheat, butter, and eggs, when the public will not buy at cost price. The farmers reckon that it is cheaper to sell for what they can get. They lose at first, but experience tells them that if the public gets cheap food manufactures become cheap in proportion, so if they receive less, they spend less. Sometimes the loss is much greater than the gain, and then those who have not a reserve fund of savings are ruined.
If ruin overtakes a large number at once the Government inquires into the cause of the depreciation of the price below the cost of production and legislates accordingly. The people who are so anxious to “make a market” in real estate could do so at once by selling at a valuation based on the present interest earning capacity of the property, for there are still buyers enough willing to invest on the prospect of the property earning more within the next few years.
If there are any people who wish that restitution should be made to the victims of the boomers, they should assist those ruined to obtain special legislation, enabling shareholders and others to rescind ” boom priced” contracts of purchase on payment of a fair compensation.
Table Talk

1872. William Sadler (1829-1898) of Staffordshire England, settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush period. Sadler was listed as the first home owner on title, his occupation in 1872 was Gentleman and Vinegar manufacturer.
Sadler also owned a number of other properties including the Commercial Hotel in Yarraville, Scotts Hotel in Ararat, a block of land 54′ wide by 128′ long near the corner of Stanley & Spencer Streets in West Melbourne.
He also owned a shop on the corner of Errol & Arden Street North Melbourne and he was listed as the owner of 4 shops in Melbourne’s CBD at 213, 215, 217 & 219 Bourke Street.
William & Susanna Sadler lived at 49 Hawke Street for a period of 14 years along with one female servant.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Thomas Hulse, (1834-1915) born in Poynton, Cheshire England was the son of Peter & Martha Hulse nee Downs. His wife was Elizabeth Gibbons (1835-1907), baptized in Mullinahone, Tipperary, Ireland, was the daughter of William Hunt and Harriet Hodges.
Thomas emigrated from England via Liverpool onboard the ship ‘Mermaid’ to Melbourne, arriving on the 16/12/1858. Upon arrival Thomas’s age was 24 and his occupation was listed as a Locomotive Engine Driver.
Elizabeth Gibbins arrived in 5/2/1855 onboard the ship ‘Nabob’, she was 21 years of age.
Thomas and Elizabeth married in 1860 in Melbourne.
In 1871, Thomas purchased land from the first crown land purchasers Alison and Knight and subdivided land and on sold it for housing.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66165843
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241163765
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188645406
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241573394
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10671911
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1559412
Trove, PROV, www.bdm.vic.gov.au

1871 Transfer of land document between Thomas Hulse and William Sadler.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8619880
Public Records Office of Victoria

Thomas & Elizabeth Hulse lived on the south side of Adderley Street between Hawke & Abbotsford Streets in 1871.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
Sands & McDougall directory

1853. Allotments 1-7 and 13-20 were originally purchased by Mr. John Alison & Mr. Andrew Halley Knight, land speculators who later sold land in 1871 to Mr. Thomas Hulse, an Engineer of Adderley Street West Melbourne.
Thomas subdivided the land and on sold this house block to Mr. William Sadler in 1872.
Researched by Stephen Hatcher
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145709192
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/re-member/details/24/622

Alison and Knight. Office and private residence, Collins Street West, opposite St. James’s Church.
Port Phillip Gazette

Context and Streetscape
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North and West Melbourne Heritage Precinct and the HO3 (North & West Melbourne Precinct) This property resides within the municipality of the City of Melbourne. We respectfully acknowledge it is on the traditional land of the Kulin Nation.
source: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/history-city-of-melbourne.pdf
historical map source: https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-format/maps/maps-melbourne-city-suburbs
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The controls listed below affect this property: This information must be verified with the relevant planning or heritage authority.
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Hawke Street and the surrounding streetscapes in part, were indirectly influenced by news about the discovery of Gold by Dunlop and Regan in Victoria at Poverty Point, Ballarat in 1851. News of that find led to a great influx of migrants arriving in old Melbourne, seeking fortune and a better life, but housing in old Melbourne was in short supply. The sheer volume of arrivals led to pressure on authorities to expand the size of the colonial settlement, described by Albert Mattingley in his recollections of The Early History of North Melbourne, in 1916. In 1852, government surveyor Charles Laing’s ‘Plan of the City of Melbourne and its Extension Northwards’ helped alleviate dramatically the pressure for more housing. Vacant building allotments were pegged, surveyed, and allocated for sale towards the north, on La-Trobe, Adderley, Jeffcott, Spencer, Batman, King, Dudley, Rosslyn, Stanley, Roden and Hawke Street. Blocks of land were auctioned, with Hawke Street land first offered for sale in May, 1853. By October 1853, W.M. Tennent wrote in the Argus newspaper: “Hawke Street is most desirably situated, is in a most healthy and elevated position and commands extensive views of the shipping in the bay and of all surrounding districts” The race to be the first to have an influence on Hawke streetscape was won in July 1853 by Scotsman, Colin Campbell, who created two stone and brick rendered dwellings and a timber workshop at 19, 21 and 23 Hawke. He was quickly followed a week later by Thomas Stevens who built four wooden cottages on the corner of Hawke and King Streets. Steven’s wooden dwellings were later replaced in 1920 by S. J. Marshall’s architect- designed pharmaceutical laboratory while Campbell’s buildings were demolished in 1972 when the three-storey red brick Miami hotel was created in their place. In the 1890s, the Hawke residential streetscape began to slowly change with the introduction of industry. The largest of the early industrial buildings that had moved out of Melbourne’s CBD, made its new home on the corner of Hawke and Adderley Streets. It was designed by architects Oakden, Addison & Kemp and built in 1889 by John Dunton for Brisco & Co. who were cast iron merchants of Elizabeth Street Melbourne. At the most southern end, an 1868 resident and engineer, Gideon James, and his wife Catherine, once lived at 207 Hawke while Gideon operated the Avon Tool Works business located next door at 199 Hawke until 1909. Their double- fronted Victorian home and garden and nearby workshop both were demolished in the 1920s and replaced by a two-storey red brick industrial building that has since been converted into 12 townhouses. The southern end of the Hawke streetscape in the late 1860s was also home to a handful of important greengrocer and butcher shops. Among their owners were names such as James Ibbetson, William Wood, and Mrs. Mary Ann Smith. In 1881, the streetscape continued to change with the arrival of Miss. J. Hutchinson’s mantle & underclothing factory at 96 Hawke, and Francis Gillman, who lived and operated a boot factory at 62 Hawke. The streetscape continued evolving when both Victorian period homes and workshops were demolished and replaced Number 96 is now a park and number 62 is a modern red and cream brick construction built in the 1980s. Following World War Two, the Hawke streetscape received a rush of extra industrial buildings, from the Spencer Street corner southwards. These factories made all manner of items from electric batteries to spark plugs and baby carriages, marketed nationwide. In 1895, the street contained 89 Victorian era dwellings. Seven Federation dwellings followed soon after. As of 2022, Hawke Street has lost 43 heritage dwellings, removed from its streetscape forever. Without stronger heritage protection laws, by the year 2150, the number of heritage dwellings in this streetscape potentially could face total obliteration. The remaining historic dwellings on Hawke Street are important to the area because they are socially and historically significant buildings that retain private back yard gardens and they relate directly to the early development of West Melbourne. The Hawke streetscape today contains a collection of outstanding Victorian and Federation dwellings, which are a particularly well-preserved group from important architectural periods in time. These dwellings are interspersed by some industrial buildings, with two early hotels predominantly on the southern side south of the Hawke and Spencer Street intersection. The North and West Melbourne Precinct is of historical, social, and aesthetic/architectural significance to the local residents and to the City of Melbourne. It is of historical significance, as a predominantly Victorian-era precinct associated with the nineteenth century growth of Melbourne to its north and west. The residents living in the heritage dwellings along the streetscape are impacted by a push to increase residential density through conversions of the two to three storey red brick industrial buildings into six to eight story blocks of flats, blocks that offer little or no onsite car parking or onsite garden space. It is imperative existing heritage regulations within the wider built environment be strengthened and laws be strictly followed. All development that occurs in future on Hawke Street ought to be architecturally respectful of the existing style, low scale heights and the hand-crafted materials utilised in keeping with the historic style. Some might say the residents of Hawke Street and the surrounding streets of greater Melbourne owe a debt of gratitude to the wise Victorian settlers who created the beautiful terrace homes found along these streetscapes of today. |
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