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The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954) (about)
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Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2034683
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EARLY MELBOURNE.
THE WEST END.
By EDWARD C. O. HOWARD.
In an article on the West End, which was published in "The Argus" over four years ago, I mentioned the names of some of the colonists who lived in William street in the early days. I also alluded to a few of the buildings there at that time. I will now recall a few of the residents and structures in Queen street,
which was the eastern boundary of the resi- dential and fashionable part of the west end of Melbourne in the fifties and sixties. Beginning from Flinders street we find that Messrs. Rae Dickson and Co., soap and candle manufacturers; Dickson, Gil- christ, and Co., merchants; and Stubbs and Son, auctioneers, had their business premises on the west side of Queen street. On the opposite side, between Flinders lane
First Four-story House in Melbourne.
and Collins street, stood the first four-story house built in Melbourne. During the early fifties it was occupied by Dr. O'Mullane after which he resided in Bourke street west. In October, 1858, the National Bank of Australasia opened for the first time in this structure, and at a later period the Oriental Bank conducted its business there. At other periods the Oriental Bank was at the corner of Queen street and Flinders lane (west side), and also in Collins street. The Union Bank of Australia, which was opened by Mr.
William Highett on Octobet 8, 1838, at the corner of Queen street and Flinders lane, afterwards stood at the corner of Queen and Collins streets, the site being now oc- cupied by Prell's Building, while at the south west comer of those streets Mr.
Robert Glover, chemist, conducted his business in the fifties. The fine structure of the National Mutual Life Association is now on the spot.
Passing over to the north east corner of Queen and Collins streets we come to Lot No 1 which was purchased at the first land sale, on June 1, 1837, for £61. Three years after this allotment, upon which the premises of Dr. Barry Cotter, the William Tell Inn, and Messrs. Lazarus and Benja- min stood, was sold, with buildings thereon, by Mr. Mortimer, for £5,142/10/. In September, 1846, an alarming fire broke out on the premises of Mr. Hamilton, saddler, near the corner of Queen and Collins streets, and speedily communicated with the workshops of Messrs. Liddy and Pass- field, coachbuilders, in Queen street, ad- joining. The loss to Liddy and Passfield was very severe, nearly all their stock-in- trade being consumed. In the fifties An- nand's Chambers were at the north-east
corner of Queen and Collins streets, the following people occupying them, namely, F. T. Gell, solicitor; G. Millar, agent; John Trenchard, solicitor, notary public, and commissioner for taking affidavits, &c., and the People's Provident and Life As- surance and Guarantee Society; John Gal-
The Union Bank in the fifties, next to it being Tennent's Auction Room and Mackay and Baines, and on opposite corner Glover,
chemist.
vin, halter, also occupied the corner shop in this building. In the sixties Messrs. Smith and Adamson, seedsman and florists, carried on business there, and at a later period the corner was purchased by the English, Scottish, and Australian Char- tered Bank, who adorned the site with one of the finest buildings in Melbourne.
In the fifties Mr. George Crisp, a lead- ing jeweller and watchmaker, carried on his business on the east side of Queen street, not far from Collins street, and at the same period Mr. J. Graham had an
extensive butchering business on the west
side, not far from the Wesleyan Church, while at the corner of Queen and Bourke streets was Mr. J. P. Bears's horse market, which was enclosed with an ordinary six- rail bush fence, the spot being now occu- pied by Salisbury Building.
Farther on we come to the site of the Queen's Theatre, which was built in 1844 to the order of Mr. John Thomas Smith, who also annexed the St. John's tavern. It will be remembered that Mr. Smith was Mayor of Melbourne on seven different occasions. The shingle-roofed theatre was opened in April, 1845, and in the following June, Mr. and Mrs. Coppin, who came over from Launceston by the ship Swan (Cap- tain William Bell), made their first appear- ance there in the "Lady of Lyons," sup- ported by Mr. Charles Young, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Thomson and others. Later, Mr. Coppin engaged Mr. G. V. Brooke, who
Annand's Chambers, at North-east Corner of Queen and Collins streets in 1853.
(Original sketched by George Gordon McCrae.)
came from England, and appeared at the Queen's Theatre in Othello in February, 1855, supported by Fanny Cathcart, Charles Young, and J. P. Hydes. Coppin brought
out with him an iron theatre in sections, which he erected at the corner of Lonsdale and Stephen streets (now Exhibition street) and which was afterwards, known as the
"Iron Pot." Another gifted artist, whose sweet and true voice made her famous, was Catherine Hayes who sang in the Queen's Theatre in the fifties, two con- certs producing a large sum for the chari- ties. So popular was she that steps were taken to present her with a testimonial, and when she departed from the colony it was amidst general regret. One of the features in the performance at this theatre was the introduction of native dances, or
corroborees, performed by aboriginal natives. These performances were well attended, many new arrivals conceiving it to be a treat to witness the dances of the aborigines. In the Queen's Theatre political addresses were given urging separation from New South Wales, and meetings were held there protesting against ticket-of-leave men being sent out here
from England as labourers for the squat- ters, for it seemed like convict immigra- tion in disguise. This old theatre was afterwards used in other ways, being finally demolished, not so long ago, to make room for another imposing structure-the Law
Courts Chambers.
On the opposite corner of Queen and Little Bourke streets stood the Pastoral Hotel, which was the scene of an alarm- ing riot in July, 1846. The members of the Orange Society resolved to hold a dinner on the 13th of that month at the Pastoral. Accordingly, flags were unfurled in front of the hotel, projecting from the windows. The rumour of the display was soon spread far and wide, and hundreds wended their way to the spot. The mob assembled in front of the Pastoral commenced shouting, and some unpleasant demonstrations were shown. Calls were made to take in the banners, which, however were unheeded at the moment, but eventually the flags were removed. Parties outside, who were armed, fired at the windows of the hotel, and were quickly replied to by shots from within. The excitement ran high, the win- dows, doors, and part of the furniture of the Pastoral being smashed to atoms, while many people were wounded. The hotels were all closed. Then the soldiers and police arrived on the scene, and through their appearance, and the interference of the magistrates, peace was in some measure restored. The Pastoral Hotel was subse- quently known as the Harp of Erin, which was pulled down about a year ago to make way for shops, facing both Queen and
Little Bourke streets.
The block of land at the corner of Queen and Lonsdale streets was purchased by my father in 1837. In 1842 Mr. David Boyd, M.A., erected a building upon a por- tion of it, facing Queen street and in this structure Mr. I. H. Craig conducted a school. He was afterwards succeeded by Mr. George W. Groves, who was a man of high attainments, and took much interest in scientific matters. Mr. Groves also taught navigation, and as he had been a sea captain his experience in this direc- tion helped him in the elucidation of the subject. It was widely thought at the time that he would have been the first official head of the Victorian Observatory. In an article published in "The Argus" about three years ago I gave the names of some of the boys who attended Mr. Groves's Academy, of whom, I think, I am the only survivor. The building known in the early days as the Crown Hotel still stands at the corner of Queen and Lonsdale streets, a portion of which is now being used as a tearoom. Between Little Lonsdale and Latrobe streets is also standing the former residence of Mr. John Thomas Smith. It was originally a two-story dwelling, a third story being added afterwards. When the business of the Treasury was transferred to this place from a building in William
QUEEN'S THEATRE.
Opened in Queen street, 1845.
street, of somewhat similar appearance a new structure for a gold office was added.
At the north end of Queen street, only a short distance from Mr. Smith's dwell-
ing was the cemetery, which had an area of about 10 acres, being fenced in by Messrs. Laing and Merry, contractors, in 1840. From correspondence in the papers it would appear that as far back as 1852 the cemetery was not even then well looked after, and again in 1870 the press directed attention to its dilapidated condi- tion and the want of reverence shown for the dead. Subsequently the original fence, or what was left of it, was removed and replaced with an iron railing on a blue- stone base, for the erection of which Par- liament voted the sum of £2,000. It was said at the time that the new fence had
the effect of improving the general appear-
ance of the burial ground.