eHive Object Details

Name/TitleBourke Street looking west from Swanston Street, Melbourne, c. 1900

About this objectThis photograph has been taken from the intersection of Bourke and Swanston streets, looking west.

The photographer is standing in the road on the south side of the intersection, nearly getting themselves knocked down by a passing horse-drawn vehicle, as seen by the horse's head in the bottom-left foreground. Another horse and empty cab has just crossed Swanston Street and heads west. A cyclist waits on the left before venturing forth.

A policeman wearing the "on duty" stripes on his lower-left cuff, chats to a man holding a white flag. Before traffic lights were installed in the 1920s it was up to these early traffic police, with their noticeable white helmets, to stop collisions and gridlock at main intersections. Two cable trams cross Elizabeth Street further west.

Bourke Street rises in the distance densely lined with buildings on both sides. The Leviathan Clothing Company is seen on the south corner on the left of the image. Its premises were rebuilt in 1913. Part of the signage of the Hotel Metropole can be seen further along the south side.

On the north side of Bourke Street is Buckley & Nunn, a drapers and importers, and Robertson & Moffat, drapers and clothiers. Both stores have "sales" on. The clock on the GPO building says ten minutes to ten.

One of the many glass slides purchased from retailers or specifically made for illustrated lectures given by Isaac Selby between c. 1930 and c. 1955 to raise money for the Old Pioneers Memorial Fund.

For more information about this image contact Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Measurements8.2 x 8.2 cm

Period1900-1910

Object TypeGlass slide

Subject and Association KeywordsSelby, Isaac, 1859-1956

Subject and Association KeywordsBourke Street (Melbourne, Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsLeviathan Clothing Store

Subject and Association KeywordsBuckley and Nunn (Company)

Subject and Association KeywordsPolice

Subject and Association KeywordsHoddle Grid

Subject and Association KeywordsMelbourne (Victoria.)

Named CollectionImages collection

Object numberGS-CS-12

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved