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Goldsborough Mort Building, 516-526 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Scope and contents

The Goldsborough Mort Building is historically significant as the surviving element of a complex of distinctive bluestone wool stores and offices located in this area of the city. It was the centre of the Goldsborough empire and the nucleus of one of the world's greatest wool broking firms.

Record details

Title:

Goldsborough Mort Building, 516-526 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 101175

Level of description:

Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)

Type of materials:

Graphic materialsTextual material

Part of:

Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)

Access restrictions:

UnrestrictedOpen access.

Use restrictions:

UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.

General notes:

Period: Early VictorianASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0104https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/704Last updated on - February 17, 2000What is significant?The Goldsborough Mort Building was built in 1862 to designs by architect John Gill and was Richard Goldsborough's first warehouse in what became an extensive complex in this area of the city. The original design was a four storey bluestone building divided into offices and a wool warehouse. Internally cast iron columns and wrought iron beams support the timber floor joists which carried the weight of wool in storage. The top floor was added in 1882, possibly at the same time as an extension to the north end of the building on William Street. . The structure was considerably altered and enlarged throughout the twentieth century. New floors, ceilings, partitions and lifts were added in the 1930s and 1940s. The facades to Bourke and William Streets are of rusticated bluestone with a horizontally coursed base. Fine ashlar work is prominent around the openings. Stylistically, the building sparingly employs some Renaissance motifs, such as voussoirs and quoins. The building is capped by a deep parapet topped at intervals by stone chimneys and a segmental arch pediment. The roof is of a sawtooth type construction.How is it significant?The Goldsborough Mort Building is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Goldsborough Mort Building is historically significant as the surviving element of a complex of distinctive bluestone wool stores and offices located in this area of the city. It was the centre of the Goldsborough empire and the nucleus of one of the world's greatest wool broking firms. This building is all that is left of six properties on the hill of Bourke Street, three of which contained vast wool stores. The building is significant for its associations with Richard Goldsborough whose firm moved from a single rented weatherboard building in Flinders Lane in 1848 to a company who were pre-eminent in the development of the wool trade from Australia.The Goldsborough Mort Building is architecturally significant as the largest and most imposing of the remaining bluestone warehouses. It is a fine example for its variety of finishes of bluestone construction. The shouldered voussoirs and quoin work to the ground and first floor openings are unusual classical motifs but emblematic of architect John Gill's work.FURTHER REFERENCES:GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY BUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites Keith & John R Reid, 1976, CBD STUDY AREA 7,pps 58-59, 147;Keith & John R Reid, 1976, CBD STUDY AREA 7,Contextual History:(p.58-59)Richard Goldsborough was born in 1821 in Shipley, Torkshire, England. He supposedly arrived in Melbourne in 1848 and commenced business from a rented weatherboard building on the corner of Flinders Lane and Williams Street. By 1853 he had entered into partnership with Edward Row and George Kirk and had developed interests in squatting properties on the Riverina. The firm’s wool broking business expanded rapidly and in 1862 the warehouse on the corner of Bourke and William Streets was begun. In 1873 John Sutcliffe Horsefall became a partner in the firm. Goldsborough became a household name in Australia, and the business expanded to include trade in grain, hides, tallow and skins. Goldsborough never entered public life and died in 1886. The warehouse was bought freehold by the Sydney wool broking firm of Mort and Co. The two firms merged to become the world’s leading wool broker.Associated People: Richard GoldsboroughVICTORIA HERITAGE DATABASEhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/704

Names:

City of Melbourne

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesEarly-mid Victorian period (1851-1875)WarehousesWool industry1860-1869Bluestone

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1188879