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Early records show residents began living in this street as early as the 1850s’. Roden Street in West Melbourne is thought to have been named after an Irish Tory politician, Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden who was best remembered for his strong support for Protestant causes in the north of Ireland. Robert had been appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827 The street crosses King, Spencer and Adderley streets and ends at Railway Place near the train line between Southern Cross station and North Melbourne station. An old map shows numbering on Roden Street began in the north at number one near the National Trust-classified West Melbourne State School that was built in 1875. Tens of thousands of children from North & West Melbourne attended that school over its lifetime. The building was designed by architects Leonard Terry and Percy Oakden. In 1992 the building and playgrounds were sold to the Salvation Army. In 1874 at number two, opposite the school, T. Richardson & Co operated a boot factory that employed many locals. The site of that unique early Victorian building is now a five-storey block of flats. In 1895 Roden Street …

West Melbourne section of William Street was gazetted in 1860.

Named after Charles Bowyer Adderley, 1st Baron Norton KCMG PC DL JP (2 August 1814 – 28 March 1905) who was a British Conservative politician. Source. Melbourne Council Street Card Number #S371, street gazetted in 1860.

Spencer Street was named after Lord Spencer, former leader of the Whig party in the House of Commons. Road section running from Flinders Street northwards was gazetted 29 March 1837 by Sir George Gipps, Govener of NSW and the street is thought to have been named after John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, a British statesman. He was notably Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from 1830 to 1834. Due to his reputation for integrity he was nicknamed “Honest Jack”. Garryowen’s Chronicles of early Melbourne (1888) quotes from a supposed journal of surveyor Robert Hoddle, suggesting that Bourke instructed Hoddle as to the names of the streets. Such a journal has never been subsequently located, and the precise origin of some names remains a matter of speculation. Spencer, King and William Streets were all later extended in a northerly direction to LaTrobe Street in 1838. In 1860 Sir William Denison, Governor of New South Wales approved the gazettal of a further extension to Spencer, King and William Streets starting from LaTrobe street heading north into the suburb of West Melbourne. Source.(1) John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782-1845) by Henry Pierce Bone.(2) NSW Government Gazette,(3) Victorian …