Peckville Street was named after Mr. Hugh Peck, an English born migrant who arrived with his wife Emma in Melbourne in 1852 on the Great Britain. Peck had a number of careers in his lifetime, one of which was land speculation. (More to follow soon)
Avon Place
Avon Place once ran in a north south direction on a block bounded by Abbotsford, Molesworth, Haines and Curzon Streets, with entry viaHaines Street, North Melbourne. (see the 1895 MMBW map below) All the dwellings seen in the above black and white photograph were demolished in the 1950s under the slum clearance works by the Housing Commission.
Hardwicke Street
Hardwicke Street runs in a north south direction between Molesworth and Haines Street, North Melbourne.
Carroll Street
Carroll Street North Melbourne, near Pleasance Gardens running between Canning and Erskine Streets was built on an early bluestone quarry site (1) once owned by Hugh Peck. Early 1860’s the piece of land known as Crown Section 85A had been set aside as a proposed reserve for a public park, however for some reason the land got subdivided up by the Crown into house blocks with a road down the middle and sold off. Carroll street is thought to have been named after a local Hotham identity of Irish background, Councilor James Carroll (1815-1895) Esq. J.P. (2) Carroll Street sits between Canning Street, also named after an Irish politician, George Canning and Erskine Street, said to have been named after Thomas Erskine known as the “Advocate of All” for his contribution as a Lawyer and later politician. North Melbourne did well to sandwich Carroll Street between Canning and Erskine streets — symbols of Politics balanced on Law. If you know any more about the history of this street or its people and would like to share, please contact us today. source: (1) North Melbourne Advertiser, 4th May 1875 page 2. (2) Men of Hotham, author Heather McKay, publisher Hotham History …
Cobden Street
Named after Richard Cobden, apostle of Free Trade, and relentless crusader for the repeal of the Corn Law – a protectionist device which, he said, “took from the poorest of the poor to add to the richest of the rich”.(1) Source. (1) Northern Advertiser, 1972. Blanchard collection, What’s in a Name” at North Melbourne Library. (2) Melbourne Council Street Card Number #520, street gazetted in 1867.
Wood Street
Wood Street is quite short, running in an east west direction between Abbotsford and Dryburgh Streets on the side of Hotham Hill. When settlers arrived in 1835 the area was the lightly treed grassland of a clan of the Kulin Nation. To the north the land rose up to what became Royal Park. One block north of Wood Street is the current Pleasance Gardens which had a rocky outcrop, said to have caves, and this spot was likely a gathering place for the local clan. In the 1850s rock was quarried where Carroll Street now meets the Gardens. To the south the land sloped down to a creek and a vista containing a blue saltwater lagoon. Initially the settlers used the land to graze their cows. As Melbourne expanded in a north-west direction the Hotham Hill locality was divided into “town allotments”. There were seven allotments on the north side and seven on the south side of Wood Street (as yet unnamed), see detail from Public Lands Office map 14 October 1858. These allotments were auctioned at government land auctions on the 28 December 1865 (north side) and 8 January 1866 (south side). The persons buying there allotments were likely …
Vale Street
Named after William Mountford Kinsey Vale who came to Victorian from London in March, 1853. (1) Source. (1) Northern Advertiser, March 1, 1973. Blanchard collection, “What’s in a Name” at North Melbourne Library. (2) Melbourne Council Street Card Number #1147, street gazetted in 1867.