Dr Robert Martin's row houses, 86-88 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Dr Robert Martin's row houses, 86-88 Collins Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102158
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Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
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Graphic materialsTextual material
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Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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Period: Early VictorianConstruction date: 1872-3Notable features/significance:1. (88) 'Opera Box' plan to balcony. 2. Remnant doctor's surgery/residence. 3. Low integrity (ground level).ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites MURPHY ARCHITECTS, JOHN AND PHYLLIS 1976. HISTORIC BUILDINGS STUDY OF PART OF THE C.B.D. MELBOURNE : { AREA 1} WITH MURPHY, JOCK, FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS PRESERVATION COUNCIL. ,p2,7 item 7.31`86-88 Collins StreetConstruction Date : 1873A study of the M.C.C. Rate Books shows that Dr. Robert Martin was the owner of three three storeyed brick town houses, built in 1873. They were substantial buildings, each of sixteen rooms and a stable. 1 Two of these buildings stand today at 86 and 88 Collins Street and in spite of verandah infill and shop front defacement, the original form of the two storey verandahs and its delicate ironwork may be clearly seen.The two-storeyed stable at the rear of No. 88 still exists, and it must be one of the very few, if not the only one remaining in the centre of the city. It is entered from the bluestone cobbled Pink Alley.The houses were let in 1874 to three doctors - Dr. F.T.W. Ford, surgeon, Dr. C.H. Hardy, Government vaccinator, and Dr. Richard Youl, coroner. Doctors and dentists continued to use the premises for many years; now the eastern building has been demolished and the ground floor of ~he two remaining is used for commercial purposes .1. M.C.C. Rate Books, Latrobe Ward Nos. 621, 622, 623, 1973.2. Sands & McDougall's Directories 1875-1890. '.LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEXRecord 74476 Gall, James-Martin, Dr R Melbourne VIC Houses Martin, Dr R - Heidelberg 1872 09 17 5011, MCC registration no 5011 [Burchett Index]. Fee 12.0.0 three 3-storey houses, Collins east - nth side between Russell & Stephen (Exhibition).HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSTwo surviving of three three-storey terrace houses to a design by the architect James Gall and built in 1873 for a Dr Martin. The houses were primarily let to doctors and dentists until the 1920's. The buildings have been marginally altered at the front and their stables at the rear have been removed but are otherwise greatly intact externally (including significantly their rear two-storey wings). The houses are a rare survivor of the elegant and high-quality residential buildings for which Collins Street was famous in the 19th century and especially significant for their integrity of external form..National Trust of Australia (Vic),HERMES 64648Two surviving and altered houses of a terrace of three designed in 1872 by the architect James Gall, and distinguished by the refinement, quality and advanced character of the facade treatment to Collins Street. The top storey is largely intact with its panelled pilaster divisions, consoles, classical window architraves with pendant garlands, egg-and-dart impost band, dentillated cornice, modillions and cast iron spouting with lions' heads. The wing walls have boldly designed consoles carrying corbel blocks decorated with a lyre-like relief. One balcony has been altered and the other at No. 88 has had glazing inserted but still displays an interesting treatment with an opera box balcony of very broad decorative cast iron panels, totally detached Corinthian iron shafts, timber frieze bar and brackets with extremely elegant turned drops and cast iron spandrels and frieze in elegant leafwork patterns.The ground floor facades have been altered and the original stables to Pink Alley at the rear have been demolished.Classified: 15/07/1976.Australian Medical Pioneers index web site, 2021http://www.medicalpioneers.com/http://www.medicalpioneers.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?detail=1&id=2100.AUSTRALIAN DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY (ADB )Boyd, Edith Susan (1880–1961)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-edith-susan-5611`.….Arthur Merric (Boyd) was born on 19 March 1862 at Opoho, New Zealand, son of Captain John Theodore Thomas Boyd, formerly of County Mayo, Ireland, and his wife Lucy Charlotte, daughter of Dr Robert Martin of Heidelberg, Victoria.….'.Youl, Richard (1821–1897)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/youl-richard-4900`...On 15 September 1855 Youl had married Sarah Ann Jane (Annie), daughter of Dr Robert Martin of Heidelberg. They had eleven children of whom five daughters and four sons survived both parents. Mrs Youl died on 8 January 1881 of Bright's disease. Youl was gout stricken and in poor health with heart disease throughout the 1890s but continued to fulfil his duties as coroner until a few days before his death, precipitated by bronchitis, on 6 August 1897. He was buried beside his wife in the Anglican section of the Heidelberg cemetery.'.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)Saturday 8 April 1933 - Page 5https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204893449MELBOURNE'S HISTORIC HOMES . . IV— BANYULE.A Link with Pioneering Years, BY C.E.S.The village of Heidelberg lies snugly in a valley, its lower boundary the winding Yarra. The main street is a steep drop from the railway station. Drop down this street and cut across the main Plenty-road, then take a winding road past the old church of St. John, and you come to Warringal Park. A grassy ridge forms a natural grand stand for the two playing areas of the park. Warringal Park is one of the prettiest playgrounds near to Melbourne. The road winds through the valley here bordering one side of the park; the river borders the other three sides. After passing through a private gate, the road trickles across a stretch of rich river flats, and then sprinting steeply up a limestone ridge, it comes to a sudden, breathless stop before Banyule, a two-storied, picturesque home stead perched on the top of the ridge. The natural grand stand of Warringal Park hides the village, and shuts off Ban- yule from the rest of the world. Above the ridge beyond the river the modern homes of Eaglemont peep. To the west the towers of another old homestead, gleaming white in the sunlight, are just visible, and beyond on the Yarra boulevard all that remains of Hartlands, Captain Sylvester Brown's homestead, where Rolf Boldrewood spent his boyhood. Further round towards the south is another hill, similar to the one on which Banyule stands. It slopes sharply towards the river, and still visible are the remains of what was once one of the most attractive terraced gardens in Melbourne, the garden, of Dr. Robert Martin's homestead, Viewbank. Most prominent now of the remains is a huge old Moreton Bay fig tree. Those two hills are the only rising ground on, the stretch of flats that form the main part of the Banyule estate, now 350 acres. Crops of maize, stands of lucerne, top-dressed pasture form rich feeding ground for a famous Jersey herd. Banyule is almost as old-as Melbourne. Its history - is the history of several pioneer families— the Hawdons, the Boldens, the Martins, the Grahams and the Lyons. There is something homely about this old homestead; there is wonderful attraction in its secluded location, in its old gar dens, its regiment of sturdy oak trees down near. the river, its mild brick stables that in days gone by have housed many noted hunters, and in its fringe of pine trees. There is very little that is modern about the house, by which is meant there is very little that is changed. Indeed, a one-horse gig is still used to do the daily errands of the household. the most modern feature of the homestead is the dairy, where the most up-to-date -methods are practised, and yet even here the milking is still done by hand. Banyule is a sturdy home that has housed sturdy people. Its sandstone walls, three feet thick, were hewn from quarries on the estate. A soft stone it is that crumbles quickly unless coated thick with cement. A queer feature is that there are no windows in the front of the house on the lower floor. Embrasures are there, which suggest that they were part of the design, but this theory is exploded by reference to the original plan. The timber tor the ceilings, rafters, and doors and floors was imported from England. It is mostly cedar and teak. There is not a nail in the whole of the joinery. Ship work— joisting, dovetailing and wooden pegs hold the timber in its appointed place. There are more than twenty rooms in the home, several of them in surprising corners. A plain, narrow, substantial stairway leads from a rambling large hall, off which march spacious dining, drawing and lounge rooms, filled now with the antique furniture treasures, chinaware, prints and pictures that Mr. Gordon Lyon, its present occupant, has collected over a period of years. From these rooms tall, wide French windows frame attractive views of the domain and of the river to the west. The homestead belongs definitely to the early pastoral era of Victoria, and to the days when Heidelberg was regarded as the most desirable country residential district nOne writer has said of the district at this period:— "Until 1850 it was regarded as the distinctly aristocratic locality; the beauty of the river scenery and the quiet, romantic aspect of the place gave it an early reputation among the Melbourne men of means as a site for country residences." Amongst the earliest of the gentry to become possessors of these considerable estates were Joseph Hawdon, than whom no more picturesque personality was associated with the establishment of settlement in Victoria; Captain Robert Brunswick Smith, after whom Brunswick was named; David C. Macarthur, one of the pioneer sheep breeders of the State; John Bolden, famous for his cattle breeding work; Dr. Robert Martin, whose table at Viewbank was one of the most sought- after, because most hospitable in all Melbourne, and that irascible judge, Mr. Jus tice Willis. These gentlemen, told, were all local celebrities who built good homes, laid out line parks, with pleasant drives, and luxurious gardens, and made the place notable for its elegance." Banyule is one of the few of this notable group of homes of the-forties still remaining. It has been shorn of many of its acres much of the glory of its gardens is gone, but it is still a place full of quiet romance— the romance chiefly of the families who have presided over its domain since it was built more than. ninety years ago. First, Joseph Hawdon. Actually, need anything more be said of him than that he was one of the first and the most notable of the men who droved stock over land from Now South Wales in the late thirties and early forties. Sir George Grey wrote of these daring fellows:— " Urged on by the hope of profit, they have overcome difficulties of no ordinary kind, which have made the more timid and weak hearted quail and relinquish the enterprises in which they were engaged, while the undaunted have persevered, and the reward- they have obtained is wealth, self-confidence in difficulty and dangers and a fund of accurate information in many interesting points. Hence, almost every overlander you meet is a remark able man." Another writer said of the overlanders: — "The gentlemen overlanders effected a banditti style of hair- and costume. They rode blood or half-bred Arab horses, wore broad brimmed sombreros trimmed with fur and eagle plumes, scar let flannel shirts, broad belts filled with pistols, knives and tomahawks, tremendous beards and moustachios." Joseph Hawdon was a member of the first party of overlanders from New South Wales to Melbourne. Hawdon arrived in Sydney in 1834 with (considerable capital. He had had experience in cattle- breeding inEng land. A -brother,. John, had big grazing interests outside the settled districts of New South Wales as early as 1828. In later years he too came to Victoria and joined with Joseph in overlanding enter prises, their main station being at How- long, on the Murray. Joseph Hawdon's most famous overlanding adventure was to drive a two-horse gig from Melbourne to Lake Alexandria in South Australia, 540 miles in 27 days. In the early forties he acquired. Banyule, engaging mostly in sheep raising. He became a leading figure in the social life of young Melbourne, Banyule, under him, becoming a noted centre for entertainment. From the homestead in those-early years began many of the famous drag hunts, which worked through the Greensborough district across to Preston, invariably pulling up at the Old England Hotel at Heidelberg the wav home. During a period he was in England, Sandford Bolden occupied Banyule, breeding cattle. Hawdon disposed of the property in the late fifties, and went to New Zealand, where for a time he was a member of the Legislative Council. He was never a prominent public man. however. The greater part of his later years were spent between England and New Zealand where he died in 1872. Dr Robert Martin purchased Banyule from Hawdon, and a few years later went into partnership with James Graham. They were both overlanders, and eacDr Martin was a native of Skye where he was born in 1708. Coming to Australia, he was attracted by the reports of rich pastoral country in Port Phillip district, and he overlanded his own stock in 1839. View bank, his home at Heidelberg, was built in England and imported in sections, as was that famous old home in Anderson- street, South Yarra, Fairlie House. A link between Fairlie House and Banyule in that the present lessee of Banyule is a grandson of Colonel Anderson, who built Fairlie House. Viewbank was pulled down during the war and sold for its lead and copper, the purchaser making considerable profit on the small price he paid for the old property. Dr. Martin lived in the Heidelberg district until 1874, the year of his death. He practised in Collins- street- and was a well-known identity in the social life of the city. James Graham was a native of Innes, County Clare, where he was born in 1810. He arrived in Australia in April, 1839, and overlanded to Melbourne. In the same year he became a merchant, and in 1853 he formed the firm of Graham Bros., which is still in existence. He was twice a member of the Legislative Council, 1853- 54 and 1866-85. The eldest son of James Graham married a daughter of Dr. Martin. and Banyule was settled on them. The estate was entailed, and its present owner is a daughter of the above couple, Mrs Warren. The trustees of the estate are Graham Bros., who are the sons of James Graham. Mr. Gordon Lyon, the present lessee, has led an adventurous life. He too comes of pioneer stock, his father, Charles Hugh Lyon, having arrived here from Scotland in 1843. For many years he occupied Gnarkeet, in the Western district, and he was one of the pioneers of pasture top dressing in Australia. His son has spent most of his life in mining ventures, He was at Broken Hill in 1886: he was the first man to drive a wheeled vehicle into Coolgardie, he was one of the pioneers of gold mining on the west coast of Tasmania. Thirty years ago he leased Banyule. and on its rich flats laid the foundations of a famous Jersey herd. Mr Lyons still is prominently associated with mining, but the most of his time is now spent at Ban- yule, for which lie has a great love. The old home is well preserved: it is in loving hands, and is likely to remain so for many years. A feature of its history calling for remark is that everyone of its occupiers has boon associated with the first years of Melbourne and each has used its acres for stock breeding. Also to be remarked in that not one has at tempted to alter the home in anyway or sought In destroy its charming seclusion..The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Tuesday 21 July 1953 - Page 17Recollections of pioneers.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23257014`IF you could turn back the calendar a mere 100 years it might be worth while buying a block in Hamilton....THE first settlers, the Wedges, had gone, but others founded great stations-the Camerons and Dr. Robert Martin and James Manning, round Mount Sturgeon; the Whytes, Dr. Griffin, a ship's surgeon, Skene, Dinwoodie, the Craigs, later of Bendigo, theMcKellars, and Captain William Lonsdale.….Architect: James GallOwner: Dr MartinSign: Westpac/Elvid Hill
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| Original | 102158 | 1 PDF : 1,068 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |