canvas town

CANVAS TOWN DEC 1852 to end of 1853

–a large block of land on the west side of St Kilda Rd allocated by La Trobe for those who had brought tents. note, he also authorised the hiring of two ships, to house people. what ships? plus other housing initiatives etc all basically inadequate for population increase.
‘…Many of the residents were from poverty-stricken families of those trying their luck on the fields, ‘forlorn, wretched, outcast’. Many had pitched their tents on swampy ground and paid the penalty, for in the summer the encampments was swept with low fever, ague and children’s diseases….By winter many had managed to move across to the new houses built in Emerald Hill (South Melbourne). Late in 1853, when ‘Canvas Town’ had become the refuge of the shiftless, the criminal and the sly-grogger, it was closed down.’ pp68-69 The Golden Age: A History of the Colony of Victoria 1851-1861 by Geoffrey Serle, 1977 Melbourne University Press.

also see more info:
https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/our-stories/canvas-town-a-floating-city-devoured-by-the-sun/