eHive Object Details

Name/TitleCollins Street (south side) looking east from Russell Street, Melbourne, c. 1890

About this objectA view down Collins Street taken looking east from Russell Street, focussing on the busy road and buildings on the south side of Collins Street towards Swanston Street.

The first building on the left of the image with a human figure on the top holding a flag pole was built between 1885 and 1890. According to the Sands & McDougall directory of 1890, this building was occupied by the Daily Telegraph and Weekly Times newspapers company (No. 193). A written sign running across the top of the building possibly reads, "The Herald & Weekly Times". In 1895, the Sands & McDougall directory states that the building is occupied by The Herald Standard and The Weekly Times.

Next door to the right, is a building with a rounded parapet topped by a sphere. This new three-storey building, again built between 1885 and 1890, is occupied by the Argus and Australasian newspaper business, which has occupied this site for a number of years.

Again to the right is a small building seen just above the trees. This is the City Club Hotel, formerly the Yorick Club Hotel.

The large building with the tall, triangular roof, on the south-east corner of Collins and Swanston Streets is Queen Victoria Buildings, whose main occupant was the Freehold Investment and Banking Company of Australia. At street level Queens Walk was an arcade which ran through this building between Collins and Swanston streets. A statue of Queen Victoria crowned the corner of the building (RHSV BL008-001, and Remembering Melbourne, p. 167). This building was demolished to create City Square.

The next roof with a square top, railing and flag pole, belongs to Premier Buildings at No. 229. The scaffolding seen towering from the street in the middle of the image is probably being used for the construction of the Equitable Building, completed in 1896. Behind the scaffold is the dome of the Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace, completed in 1888.

On the north side of Collins Street the tall building, Pleasance Buildings (No. 178), is occupied by a variety of businesses. "Martin & Pleasance" at No. 180 is a homeopathic chemists. The top of the Melbourne Athenaeum can be seen in front of the Town Hall clock.

At midday Collins Street is very busy with cable trams, hansom cabs, and well-attired pedestrians.

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.

Selby probably showed this slide during his many lectures on old or early Melbourne, given during the 1930s. "When Melbourne Takes Rank as a City", was given on 12th February, 1948, at the Assembly Hall, Collins Street.

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

Measurements8.2 x 8.2 cm

Period1890-1900

Object TypeGlass slide

Subject and Association KeywordsSelby, Isaac, 1859-1956

Subject and Association KeywordsCollins Street (Melbourne, Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsHorse-drawn vehicles

Subject and Association KeywordsStreetscapes

Subject and Association KeywordsHerald (Newspaper)

Subject and Association KeywordsWeekly Times (Newspaper)

Subject and Association KeywordsArgus (Newspaper)

Subject and Association KeywordsAustralasian (Newspaper)

Named CollectionImages collection

Object numberGS-CS-23

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved