
Also known as | known lately as 573-579 Spencer St. |
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Previous Address | 375 Spencer before Melbourne council re numbered the street |
Constructed | 3/7/1856 |
Style | Victorian, Early : 1840-1860 |
Architect | |
Builder | Alexander Edward Short |
Timelapse Building Images

Blended image.

Three buildings in this old photograph were once owned by Mr. Andrew Edward Short, 573, 575 then 579 Spencer (once called Short’s Hotel) on right hand side, on Spencer Street in West Melbourne.
http://www.picturevictoria.vic.gov.au/site/melbourne/NorthMelbourne/17919.html
Land Details
1. MMBW map
2. Compiled Crown Record Plan
3. First crown land purchaser was a Mr. A. E. Short, lot 10 section 56.
Alexander Edward Short was born, the sixth of nine children, around 1831 in London to parents Thomas Short and Elizabeth Sarah Hastings. He married Jane Allen in 1852 at St John’s Church in Newtown Hobart at the age of 21, while she was 16. Jane Allen was born in 1836 at Hobart town to father John Allen. Alexander and Jane had eleven children, all born in the district of Port Phillip between 1856 to 1880.
Sometime around the early 1880’s Mr. Alexander E Short J.P. of Tambo Park Preston was elected as a councilor for the Gowerville district of the Shire of Jika
Building Details

Notice of intent to build.
Street: Spencer-near Hawke Street.
Number: 462. Date 3/7/1856
Owner & Builder: Alexander Edward Short – Spencer Street.
Fee: 1.10.0
Type: house, with a private back yard garden.
Other significant building works carried out by Alexander Short can be found here.
Burchett Index
Subsequent Building Alterations
Mr. Short’s brick house was demolished when the Hotel next door expanded.
Architectural Features
Heritage Significance and Listings
Heritage Listings and Explanatory Notes |
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Owners
From | To | Owner | More Info | Data Source |
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1856 | Alexander Edward Short | Hatcher Index |
Residents
From | To | Resident | More Info | Data Source |
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to date | Private | Hatcher Index | ||
1974 | Moomba Hotel (571-577) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1970 | Moomba Hotel, Marsh, E. J. (573-577) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1960 | 1965 | Moomba Hotel, Marsh, E. L. (573-577) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | |
1955 | vacant (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1950 | Ross, W. boot repairer, and Martin, R. F. (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1944/5 | Ross, W. boot repairer, & Clarke, Mrs Margaret (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1940 | Ross, W. boot repairer, and Monaghan, John (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2024 | ||
1935 | Ross, W. boot repairer, and Monk, Abraham R. (shop 573) | http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148559372 | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | |
1925 | 1930 | Burge, Frederick boot repairers & Abraham R. Monk (573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | |
1915 | 1920 | Monk, Abraham R. (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | |
1910 | Gibbon, C. J. confectioner (shop & house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | ||
1905 | Turner, Arthur E. (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | ||
1900 | Foster, Mrs E. fruiterer (shop & house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | ||
1895 | Nash, Michael confectioner (shop & house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | ||
1889 | 1890 | Poynter, Mrs confectioner (shop & house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | |
tba | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 | |||
John Leach (house 573) | Sands & McDougall directory, transcribed by Stephen Hatcher 2025 |
Social History
1895 from the MMBW map we can see Short’s Hotel had a name change to the Recreation Hotel under its new ownership.
1856 Alexander Edward Short was the first crown land purchaser of lot 10 section 56, and built a number of homes and a Pub on his corner of Hawke & Spencer Streets in West Melbourne.
http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/794

1861 Mr. John Leach lived at this address when it was a 2 room brick house.
PROV

1861 page 2
PROV

Context and Streetscape
Precinct |
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The current 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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Zoning |
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The controls listed below affect this property: |
Streetscape |
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