Eyes on the sewers 1899 52/8/1

Eyes on the sewers 1899 52/8/1, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

In the late 19th century the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works commenced a massive undertaking which resulted in maps of metropolitan Melbourne essentially to map sewerage and drainage. These maps provide a wealth of information about areas, streets and properties at the time of their mapping.

I ended up on this 1899 map of Collingwood because I was searching for 36 Cambridge Street, Collingwood. From this map you can see that 36 Cambridge Street was on the eastern side of Cambridge Street, just opposite Cambridge Street Primary School and in the block just north of Victoria Parade which has the New Bendigo Hotel on the corner.


If you zoom in on the map and focus on 36 Cambridge Street itself, you can see quite a bit of detail. You can see that to the south there was a vacant block; that the house was a single fronted terrace with a small garden in front and a verandah indicated by the "v". There was another verandah on the side of house and a tap and the bath are also indicated. Buildings appear to extend to the back fence and there on the left (or south) is a closet (indicated by "c") conveniently located near the rear lane for collection by the night man.

And what you may ask has 36 Cambridge Street Collingwood to do with Boroondara? Government printer and stockbroker, Edward Khull (1804-1884) owned the estate "Tooronga" after whom Tooronga Road was named but by 1884 when he died he was living in 36 Cambridge Street, Collingwood. This terrace in Collingwood was certainly smaller than his estate in Hawthorn would have been and evidence of reverses he had on the exchange and insolvency.

Digital reading 52/7/2

Digital reading, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

If you want to read about the early days of Hawthorn in particular but more broadly the Boroondara area you can do no better than to hop onto the National Library of Australia's Trove portal and check out the South Bourke Standard which was produced in Burwood Road Hawthorn. The editor, Apollos Slatterie, was the second Town Clerk of the fledgling municipality of Hawthorn and later the librarian.

Digitized newspapers provide a fabulous new way for getting a flavour of the past, be it for descriptions of events, looking at advertisements or following what was going on at Council meetings.

City of Hawthorn Honour Roll 52/7/1

City of Hawthorn Honour Roll 52/7/1, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

The City of Hawthorn Roll of Honour records all the citizens of Hawthorn who enlisted in the First World War. There is also a separate section which lists those who fell in the war. The Honour roll has lived in the foyer of Hawthorn Town Hall for decades but due to the imminent renovation of the building it is now proudly on display at Hawthorn Library.

Next time you are at the library, come and have a read of it. You'll only be able to see one page but it is interesting to see what residents pop up so you might have to keep coming back! And if you want to see the whole list of people without coming back, there is a complete transcript available for viewing in the Hawthorn Library local history section.

Dappled light in Camberwell Library garden 52/6/2

Dappled light in Camberwell Library garden 52/6/2, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

This second photo for the #fp2012 reflects both light and shade. The dappled light showing through the trees make this seat a popular spot for the community to relax. It has been very hard to get a photo of this without members of the community on the seat. There always seems to be someone sitting there resting, reading or one day there was a mother having a picnic with her children.

Camberwell Library has been housed in temporary accommodation in this house in Inglesby Road for the last five years. The house was the former resident of the City of Camberwell Hallkeeper. Camberwell Library which was previously housed in Camberwell Road in the 1890 clocktower building moved here to allow that building to be renovated and returned to its former civic function. The adult library now houses the Council Chamber and associated meeting rooms.

Camberwell Library is scheduled to open in new premises in the former Camberwell Centre in Camberwell Road in October 2012 and we are looking forward both to the new premises but also to the relocation of the Camberwell local and family history collections to this library.

If you want further information on the history of Camberwell Library and to check out some more historical photos, search on "Camberwell Library" in the word cloud on the right.

Ex Umbra in Solem 52/6/1

Ex Umbra in Solem 52/6/1, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

The municipality of Hawthorn was formed in July 1860 as a split away from the Boroondara Roads Board. The embryonic community gave themselves the motto "Ex Umbra in Solem" which can be translated as from the shadows into the sun. It is hard to find any documentation about the source of this motto but I think it was a play on words relating to Boroondara which is said to be an Aboriginal word meaning "shady place". Hawthorn saw themselves as emerging from the shade and moving towards the bright light of the sun depicted here in gold.

The residents of Hawthorn identified themselves with progress and nothing typified this more to them than the extension of the train line over the river to Hawthorn Station. Again the train is a key element of the crest with the railway bridge and the Yarra shown.

This crest was produced for the new Hawthorn City Library building opened in Glenferrie Road on 21 November 1969 and celebrated the municipality there until 31 May 1989 when the building was closed for renovations.

#fp2012 Coloured bricks fp52.2.3

Coloured bricks fp52.2.3, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

One of the fascinating things about walking about Hawthorn is the beautiful brickwork that can be seen on buildings and in the case above on a fence in Oxley Road, Hawthorn. Hawthorn had a number of busy brickworks in the nineteenth century, some of which were still functioning well into the twentieth century. This is a whole separate topic of fascination. This post is really about the theme of colour as we have submitted the above photo into the Flickr Friday Photos 2012 theme for this week: Colours.


There are many examples of colourful brickwork to be seen in domestic architecture in Hawthorn but two buildings absolutely stand out on the horizon and they are both churches. The Hawthorn Presbyterian Church in Glenferrie Road Hawthorn is shown above. This photo was taken on a very dull wintery day in summer but even so you can see how the building's colours stand out against the sky. It is even more stunning against a bright blue summer sky.

The first Presbyterian Church was built in Hawthorn in 1865 on this site and this building was opened in 1891. Like many of Hawthorn's churches, the Presbyterian Church relied heavily on local patronage. In the case of the Presbyterian Church members included Dugald McDougall, a partner in Sands & McDougall's stationers who were the publishers of the Sands & McDougall Directories, Andrew Murray, former editor of the Argus, Thomas Everist, surveyor and owner of "Spring Hill", James Fergusson, later MLA, and David Swan of Rathmines Road, father of Hawthorn Councillor James Swan.


The other, and perhaps more obvious building on the horizon as it can be seen for miles around is the Oxley Road Uniting Church, formerly the Oxley Road Methodist Church. This building is part of a complex which comprises of church, Sunday school, parsonage, and caretaker's cottage and was constructed between 1888 and 1890 from the designs of Alfred Dunn.

This church is of significance as the best example of Lombardic Romanesque church design in Australia, for the major complex amongst the Wesleyan establishments in Australia and for the major work of architect Dunn. It is also significant as a key local landmark in Hawthorn. The photo here of the tower gives a good impression of the colours to be found in the brickwork and the architecture generally. These just stand out for passers by.

Next time you are in Hawthorn get out of your car and walk around for a bit. Look at the brickwork to be found in the houses and wonder at the colours and designs that have been created out of the colours. But above all, stop and look at these two nineteenth century churches which are such great examples of the colours to be found in bricks.

#fp2012 Pink oleander frames Grainger house

Pink oleander frames Grainger house fp52.2.1, a photo by Boroondara Libraries on Flickr.

This house at 36 Oxley Road Hawthorn was built in 1881/82 for market gardener and dairyman, John Cam, a member of a family with long associations with Hawthorn and has been submitted by the City of Boroondara Library Services as part of the Friday Photos 2012 on Flickr. However, today the real significance of this house depends on the fact that composer and musician, Percy Grainger, lived in the house between the ages of five and nine.

The house is typical of weatherboard garden villas of the period for this area and has historical significance for John Cam and Percy Grainger, but also for his father, John Grainger. John Grainger, architect, designed the new Princes Bridge in 1879 and from 1897-1905 was Chief Architect in the West Australian Department of Public Works.

Percy Grainger as a child stands before the house, then named Kilallah, in the photograph below:


The house is commemorated in the City of Hawthorn plaque in the pavement in front of the house for John Cam, John Grainger and Percy Grainger.

Next time you are going down Oxley Road, take a moment to stop and look at this house and the plaque in front of it and remember the people who lived there.