For pre-Torrens system land sales records, the Memorial Books (1837 onwards), which recorded evidence of land sales (conveyances, mortgages, etc.), are available at PROV.
topography:
‘Travelling east from Melbourne along Victoria Parade, one finds several sharp changes. First, there is a hill, known as Melbourne’s Eastern Hill. The hill’s crest, about three quarters of a mile [1.207 km] from Melbourne’s General Post Office [modern day H&M], lies in southern Fitzroy, in Portions 48,49,50 and 51. When one reaches East Collingwood at Smith Street (about a mile from the GPO), the scene changes rather abruptly. There is a steep slope down Portion 52 to Portion 53, but this is short – only about two hundred yards [1.82m]
Most of Collingwood, the mile or so from Portion 53 to the Yarra, is a plain, known colloquially as Collingwood Flat. The Flat is a result of prehistoric flows of basalt from volcanic activity north of Melbourne. The basalt flows partially filled the ancestoral valley of the Merri Creek (a tribuatory of the Yarra), and flowed down the ancestoral valley of the Yarra from about a mile above Collingwood (near the present site of Fairfield) to Spencer Street, Melbourne.
…the low hills such as the Eastern Hill in Fitzroy protrude through the basalt. Until the 1840s the region was wooded, especially the Hill. The Flat, however, was heavily encumbered with boulders; furthermore it was the receptical from storm-water from the Hill and the Slope….
source: pp14,15 The Inner Suburbs: The Evolution of an Industrial Area by Bernard Barrett, Melbourne University Press, 1971
-I would say this places exactly the first nations name for modern fitzroy as Higher Ground.
The government’s pre-auction survey created only paddocks. The ground-plan adopted was the conventional gridiron – straight boundaries and uniform distances, easily surveyed and transacted. source: p 15 The Inner Suburbs: The Evolution of an Industrial Area by Bernard Barrett, Melbourne University Press, 1971
The gridiron ground plan was was ideal for speculation. [[ie for each parcel of land to be purchased not for farming or use of paddocks but put back on to the market and subdivided]] Its standardisation facilitated a maximum number of building allotments, all allotments oblong, all allotments fronting on to a thoroughfare, all prices measured in frontage feet
first crown land sale:
At the first sale of suburban lands, held in Sydney on 13th February 1839 about 1000 acres of what are now Fitzroy and Collingwood were sold in lots of from 12 to 28 acres, at an average price of £7.11s. an acre. The government reserved from sale the roads which bound South Fitzroy: Nicholson Street, Alexandra Parade (formerly Darebin and then Reilly Street), Smith Street and Victoria Parade (formerly Simpsons’ Road) but within the area the only road reserve was that of Johnston Street.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
where are the primary sources tho???
here is the advertisement for auction in 3 months time
-outlines measurements and costs per section
PORT PHILLIP. (1838, November 14). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 981. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230387676
i think this person is referring to the sale a week earlier complaining about inflation
1839 ‘PORT PHILLIP.’, The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 – 1842), 20 February, p. 2. , viewed 06 Jan 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12857425
1839 ‘PORT PHILLIP.’, The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 – 1839), 15 February, p. 4. , viewed 06 Jan 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4160102
1 may 1839 these must be further subdivisions
Classified Advertising (1839, May 7). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 – 1842), p. 4. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2547814
where are they held
what accounts are there of the event of the sale
what are the names of all the first title holders
who were these people. what research has been done on them.
as far as I can figure the purchasers didnt get titles they got DEEDS OF GRANTS. as per this article from gov gazette explaining the new process for land sales for Purchasers of Lots.
source: CROWN SALES. (1839, January 9). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 22. Retrieved January 5, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230382472
also is there a witness description of the auction? how was it actually done and where in NSW.
I still dont know where primary info has been sourced from, but here’s the table for Fitzroy
from Victoria St to Alexander Pde
from Nicholson st to Smith.
I’ve sourced these numberings of lots from ‘Environs of Melbourne as Conceived By Robert Hoddle c1840’ from p9 Fitzroy, Melbourne’s First Suburb
FROM SOUTH TO NORTH
| LOT 48 |
description:
‘Of all this suburban land, the prime site was the one closest to the
town lot 48′ and also part of a broaded ‘pleasant wooded hill’ area
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
Purchaser:
‘bought by the partnership of John Terry Hughes
and John Hosking of Albion Wharf, Sussex Street, Sydney, a prominent
firm of merchants who maintained an agency in Melbourne for discounting
bills. Hughes and Hosking bought in all five of the twelve lots which
now comprise South Fitzroy’.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
more on John Terry Hughes here:::
Post Purchase:
Lot 48 and its neighbours, apart from being the closest to the town,
were also on a pleasant wooded hill, so that they were subjected to
conflicting demands for dense subdivision and for fashionable villas.
Lot 48 very soon became a canvas town inhabited by tent dwellers on
leased lots.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
questions – first known buildings on this lot?
title subdivisions?
| LOT 49 |
LOT 49
Thomas Walker … ‘Sydney merchant bought, (partly on his own behalf
and partly on that of his uncle’s firm of William Walker and Co., of
which he was a member) lots 49 and 70, the next best land to lot 48
which adjoined it to the east along Victoria Parade and to the north
along Nicholson Street’.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
More on Thomas Walker:
‘Walker had previously ridden overland from Sydney to Melbourne and had published his journal as ‘A Month in the Bush of Australia1 in 1838; in 1843 he was to be elected one of Port Phillip’s representatives in the Legislative Council of New South Wales’.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
FURTHER SUBDIVISION:
JULY 1839:
Thomas Walker’s lot 49 passed to Captain Benjamin Baxter in July and was subdivided and sold as early as October of 1839 to become the village of Newtown.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
OCT 1839:
further subdivisions:
also:
Richard Howitt in 1839 described Newtown as being on higher ground and
cleaner and healthier than Melbourne, and R.D. Murray named it as
“the chosen resort of the principal inhabitants, whose residences are
dispersed throughout the many lovely spots with which it abounds.
Certainly nothing can be more romantic and secluded than the sites of
many of their villas.” Here in the 1840s, lived the city merchant
Charles Payne, the solicitor J.W. Dunbar, the barrister Eyre Williams,
the public magistrate Major St. John, and the Deputy Registrar of the
Supreme Court, J.D. Pinnock.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
POST OCTOBER 1839:
When Baxter subdivided lot 49 he quartered his block with the two streets which have ever since remained the most important non-government roads in Fitzroy, Brunswick and Gertrude Streets.
SOURCE: p8 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
To the north Brunswick Street was continued by R.S. Webb, who had bought
Walker’s other allotment, no. 70, running in from Nicholson Street. In
the 1840s Gertrude Street was continued west to meet Nicholson Street, so as to provide new frontages in lot 48. This level of co-ordination was not maintained. In some of the smaller subdivisions adjoining
property owners sometimes quite ignored the layout developing on each
others land.
SOURCE: p8 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
| LOT 50 |
LOT 50
J.T.E. Flint
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
“The remaining lots in Victoria Parade were bought by the London
based ship owner J.T.E. Flint and by Thomas G. Gore, and elsewhere by
Gordon Sandeman and R.H . Way.”
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
shipping intelligence: arrivals: Jan 16 1839 Flint from London on ship the Aldred carrying cargo and immigrants.
APA citationShipping Intelligence. (1839, January 19). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 – 1840), p. 2. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31722415
linked to agents W. WALKER and CO
SITUATION OF SHIPPING IN THE HARBOUR OF PORT JACKSON. (1838, January 26). The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 – 1838), p. 2 (EVENING). Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32158799
his full name here:
John Thomas Edward Flint
connected to Lot 66 here on p1157
TITLE DEEDS. (1839, October 16). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 1158. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230384715
JOHN T.E. FLINT:
in newspaper::::
To J. T. E. Flint, Esq, H.C.S, Commander of the ship Alfred.
Dear Sir, — The time has at length arrived when we must necessarily separate from each other, but we cannot allow ourselves to do so without recording the sense we entertain of the uniform kindness and gentlemanly deportment we experienced fro you on our recent voyage from England under your command. To this we feel we are mainly indebted for the harmony and good feeling which existed during the passage, to which we shall often revert, with feelings of sincere pleasure; it is but justice also to the Charterer, Mr. Marshall, to add that the whole of the arrangements which devolved upon him have been performed with liberality and good faith. In requesting your acceptance of the accompanying testimonial of our united regard and esteem, we beg to assure you that you will carry with you, on your return to England, our best wishes for your future health and prosperity, and a happy meeting with those who form your domestic circle at home. We remain, dear Sir, Yours, very sincerely, Major William Russell | H. Harper E. D. F. Hamilton | J. D. Hunt A. M. Hentig | William Davis E. Cole Bowen | Mrs Major Russell T. W. Campbell | Mrs Campbell John Russell |Miss Campbell W. Windeyer | Miss Jackson Sydney, January 21, 1838
–
To the Ladies and Gentlemen, who came from England to New South Wales as Cabin Passengers in the Alfred. It is a source of sincere pleasure to me to know that my humble, though anxious, desire to give general satisfaction to you during our voyage, has been so kindly and liberally thought of by you as to induce you to make me so handsome a present; for which I beg you will accept my most grateful thanks. On my return to England, I shall make a point of informing Mr Marshall, of the feeling of satisfaction evinced by you to him, which will, no doubt, be duly appreciated. With the highest feelings of respect to you, individually and collectively, and wishing that your most sanguine hopes and expectations may be realised, I remain, Your obliged and obedient servant, JOHN T. E. FLINT. Ship Alfred, } Sydney, January 12, 1838. }
SOURCE:::
APA citationTo J. T. E. Flint, Esq, H. C. S, Commander of the ship Alfred. (1838, January 26). The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 – 1848), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36858505
| LOT 51 |
LOT 51
Thos Gore
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
| LOT 70 |
LOT 70
the second allotment purchased by:
Thomas Walker – see lot 49.
FURTHER SUBDIVISION:
To the north Brunswick Street was continued by R.S. Webb, who had bought
Walker’s other allotment, no. 70, running in from Nicholson Street.
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
THOMAS WALKER (1896, May 16). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 – 1931), p. 2 (EVENING NEWS SUPPLEMENT). Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108782696
BIO:::
Mr. Thomas Walker. (1932, May 11). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 – 1933), p. 14. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21974462
Mr. Thomas Walker. (1886, September 11). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 – 1889), p. 2. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62099741
THOMAS WALKER ESTATE. (1939, August 3). Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 – 1954), p. 9. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169833176
| LOT 69 |
LOT 69
Sandeman
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
TO GORDON SANDEMAN, Esq. (1855, January 30). Moreton Bay Free Press (Brisbane, Qld. : 1852 – 1859), p. 4. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article288068086
“The remaining lots in Victoria Parade were bought by the London
based ship owner J.T.E. Flint and by Thomas G. Gore, and elsewhere by
Gordon Sandeman and R.H . Way.”
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
A BIOGRAPHY!!!!
THE NEW PARLIAMENT. (1857, January 27). The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser (Ipswich, Qld. : 1856 – 1862), p. 4. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78850740
and a great scandal
Mr. Gordon Sandeman and the “Express.” (1870, August 20). Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld. : 1867 – 1919), p. 4. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82099806
some kind of legal action
IN CHANCERY. (1843, February 14). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 255. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230103129
some kind of enquiry
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. (1874, July 11). Dalby Herald and Western Queensland Advertiser (Qld. : 1866 – 1879), p. 2. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215603808
dont get this
MR. GORDON SANDEMAN’S SPEECH ON THE PAYMENT OF MEMBERS BILL. (1874, May 28). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169519726
articles I havent read/edited
(Copy.) (1857, April 14). The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser (Ipswich, Qld. : 1856 – 1862), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78850966
TO GORDON SANDEMAN, ESQ., M.L.A. (1856, October 30). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12988481
insolvent!!!
In the Insolvent Estate of Gordon Sandeman, (1851, August 8). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 1309. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230770630
LAW INTELLIGENCE. (1851, October 30). Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60124832
MR. SANDEMAN IN EXPLANATION. (1874, May 23). Dalby Herald and Western Queensland Advertiser (Qld. : 1866 – 1879), p. 2. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215606670
getting boring
“MR. SANDEMAN’S CASE.” The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 – 1939) 18 November 1871: 3. Web. 10 Jan 2026 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27268427>.
IN the assigned estate of Arthur Willis, the elder, Arthur Willie, the younger, and Gordon Sandeman, trading under the (1886, March 2). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 1525. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227664803
there is SOOO MUCH on this guy
CORRESPONDENCE. (1867, October 10). Queensland Daily Guardian (Brisbane, Qld. : 1863 – 1868; 1883 – 1884), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article288313182
THE SANDEMAN CASE. (1870, August 2). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908), p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130843264
| LOT 71 |
LOT 71
A modest instance of progressivesubdivision is lot 71, bought orginally by Hughes and Hosking, sold to Thomas Jeffrey in February 1840, and sold from June 1841 by Jeffrey and later his heirs. Brunswick Street was reserved in this subdivision and the new streets Victoria and Bell were provided. Only in July 1855 did Thomas Mahoney buy a number of allotments which he later subdivided to continue the line of Fitzroy Street, and to create Greeves
and Mahoney Streets. (See map (2))
SOURCE: p8 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
| LOT 72 |
LOT 72
>>>>
not sure what this means, but THOMAS WALKER is associated with LOT 72 as per 16 OCT 1839 – – I guess thomas purchased this land off Sandeman after the original sale in Feb????
p1157
TITLE DEEDS. (1839, October 16). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 1158. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230384715
| LOT 83 |
Hughes & Hosking
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
| LOT 82 |
Hughes & Hosking
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
| LOT 84 |
Henry Way
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
“The remaining lots in Victoria Parade were bought by the London
based ship owner J.T.E. Flint and by Thomas G. Gore, and elsewhere by
Gordon Sandeman and R.H . Way.”
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
| LOT 85 |
Hughes & Hosking
source: Woods, G. A. (1856) Jika Jika [cartographic material] / G.A.W. online here: https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170391
ARCHIBALD MOSMAN, Melbourne connected lot “lot 85” make sure this is not a lot within CBD but actually jika jika.
did he buy this off Hughes and Hosking? see p.1157
TITLE DEEDS. (1839, October 16). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 1158. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230384715
//////////////////////////////
“The remaining lots in Victoria Parade were bought by the London
based ship owner J.T.E. Flint and by Thomas G. Gore, and elsewhere by
Gordon Sandeman and R.H . Way.”
SOURCE: p6 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
and:
One of Sandemann’s allotments
in Fitzroy was originally bought at a somewhat higher rate £168 for
28 acres but sold even without subdivision to John Hodgson for £840, ;
or five times the purchase price, in February 1840.
Next April Hodgson sold 22 acres of it to the solicitor J.W. Thirton for £1540, and soon Thirton sold three acres to Anthony Beale for £252. The price had
increased from £6 to £84 per acre.
SOURCE: p8 SOUTH FITZROY CONSERVATION STUDY Commissioned by the Fitzroy City Council and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council
prepared by Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects in conjunction with: Dr. Miles B. Lewis and the Fitzroy Urban Planning Office. March 1979
online: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/south-fitzroy-conservation-study-1979.pdf
THE STAGES according to BERNARD BARRETT
Stage 1 is the…the government’s sale of 1838-9
Stage 2 began in 1839 on the Hill. There, Benjamin Baxter intersected his field (portion 49) with a neat crossroad pattern (Gertrude Street and Brunswick Street) and began disposing of the new frontages.
…being protected from Melbourne’s dust, mud and noise, it was a more attractive site than Melbourne itself. A village – at first called Newtown but more commonly Collingwood West – developed there, apparently stimulated by the government’s slowness in doling out land in Melbourne proper before 1840. The first settlers were ‘gentlemen’ from Melbourne.
In Stage 3, the owner of Portion 70, R.S. Webb, continued Brunswick Street northward into his land, creating further marketable frontages. Downhill from Newtown, several other portions (Nos. 69 and 72 to the north and Nos 54, 55 and 67 on the East Collingwood Flat) were subdivided, chiefly by John Hodgson, but, being more remote and less elevated, these portions were less valuable than Portion 49….
Stage 4 began on the Hill in the late 1840s with Gertrude Street being expanded to create new frontages in Portion 48.
—-the fact that the people subdividing portions and creating streets were not necessarily coordinating with neighbouring subdivisions, for instance…..
‘When subdividers extended Gertrude Street through Portions 50 and 51 through to Smith Street in 1850 (Stage 5), it was blocked there by Charles Hutton’s different planning logic; removing such bottlenecks became a major theme in the local politics of the 1850s and 1860s.
—that it was great for the spectator since they got to subdivide and run and it was the people on the ground trying to coordinate their lives and transportation who suffered the costs of lack of town planning.
Stage 5…these subdivisions were faulty in failing to allow for the continuation northward of Brunswick Street or Wellington Street – another burning issue for the 1850s and 1860s.
source: p20- The Inner Suburbs: The Evolution of an Industrial Area by Bernard Barrett, Melbourne University Press, 1971
c1850s.
..The gentlemen, being concentrated on the Hill, were high and dry and virtually in Melbourne proper. Their two major streets (Gertrude Street and Brunswick Street) were kept in repair by the Melbourne City Council. This was not surprising, since gentlemen were well representated on the Council. The working men, however, were scattered down the slopes to the north…’
source: p20- The Inner Suburbs: The Evolution of an Industrial Area by Bernard Barrett, Melbourne University Press, 1971
regarding streets and landways – specifically about modern day collingwood but same would apply to fitz:
‘These alleys were originally intended as rights-of-way, giving access to stables and the like at rear of properties, but in the early 1850s the alleys received names…
In addition to named streets or alleys, there also developed by the 1880s many unnamed rights-of-way, or back lanes, of about 10 ft [[3m]]or less, often with a dead end. These had no frontage worth selling, but the stables and shacks along them eventually harboured tenants, especially during economic depressions’|
–this totally applies to Little Gore St and alley behind me.
source: p28- The Inner Suburbs: The Evolution of an Industrial Area by Bernard Barrett, Melbourne University Press, 1971
burrows & co 