49 Hawke Street

49 Hawke Street
West Melbourne VIC 3003
photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019

Also known as Litchfield House Source: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190604388
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

1992

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

photographer Stephen Hatcher

1983

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.

Powered milling commenced in February 1841 when Allison and Knight’s Steam Mill commenced operation at the foot of William Street near the Yarra River. [MILLS OF THE PLENTY, Gary Vines]

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




  • Lacework
    Cast Iron
    Lyster & Cooke
    Pattern VIC8
    photographer: Stephen Hatcher


  • Fence
    Wrought Iron

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher


  • Lacework
    Cast Iron
    Lyster & Cooke

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher


  • Hardware
    Other metal

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher


  • Fence
    Brick

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019


  • Doors
    Other metal

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019


  • Windows
    Glass

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019


  • Windows
    Glass

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019


  • Building Ornamentation
    Cast Iron

    photographer: Stephen Hatcher, 2019



Heritage Significance and Listings

Heritage Listings and Explanatory Notes

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.

Sergeant William O’Keefe, of West Melbourne, having reached the retiring age, severs his connection with the Victorian police force after 33 years’ service. With the exception of ten months in charge at Castlemaire and eighteen months at Elsternwick, the whole of Sergeant O’Keefe’s service was in the city.

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

Precinct

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

Zoning
This information must be verified with the relevant planning or heritage authority.

Streetscape

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.

Other Information

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