Author Archives: Rach

“The Beswick Building of eight 3 storey shops was built in Brunswick St by 1888-89 for the Australian Property and Investment Co. Ltd. The architect was John Beswick and the builder was Ralph Besant. Three storey frontages face the street, and there are two storey wings at the rear of each shop. The asymmetric designContinue reading “244 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy”

“The Beswick Building of eight 3 storey shops was built in Brunswick St by 1888-89 for the Australian Property and Investment Co. Ltd. The architect was John Beswick and the builder was Ralph Besant. Three storey frontages face the street, and there are two storey wings at the rear of each shop. The asymmetric designContinue reading “242 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy”

“The Beswick Building of eight 3 storey shops was built in Brunswick St by 1888-89 for the Australian Property and Investment Co. Ltd. The architect was John Beswick and the builder was Ralph Besant. Three storey frontages face the street, and there are two storey wings at the rear of each shop. The asymmetric designContinue reading “240 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy”

“The Beswick Building of eight 3 storey shops was built in Brunswick St by 1888-89 for the Australian Property and Investment Co. Ltd. The architect was John Beswick and the builder was Ralph Besant. Three storey frontages face the street, and there are two storey wings at the rear of each shop. The asymmetric designContinue reading “236 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy”

“The two-storeyed poly-chrome brick building on the north-east corner of Fitzroy and Argyle Streets was built-during the late 1880s and spent much of its early years as a boot factory , being occupied first by Richard Norgrove and L.F. Colbath in the 1890s.” Lina Favrin – Yarra Past Port “It was later occupied by IronContinue reading “71 Argyle Street, Fitzroy (Fitzroy House)”

“The MacRobertson’s Steam Confectionery Works operated on this site from the early 1880s. MacPherson Robertson, born on the Ballarat Goldfields in 1859, began his own confectionery company in his bathroom in Fitzroy in 1880, and demand for his products from local shopkeepers led to his purchasing land at 214 Argyle St to construct his firstContinue reading “416-428 Gore Street, Fitzroy”

“Started at the back of his mother’s small cottage in Argyle Street, MacPherson Robertson confectionery empire was well established in a single-storied timber factory at 145-9 Argyle Street by 1885. MacRobertson was one of the first manufacturers in Fitzroy to use electricity to drive all his machinery. By 1923, MacRobertson was making 700 different typesContinue reading “408 Gore Street, Fitzroy”

On Friday 29 April 1859 the following advert ran in the Argus: In 1899, the store was again for sale as a “Fruit and Confectionery Business, good stand for sale, on account of owner, leaving the district, 333 Smith St, next Birmingham Hotel, Fitzroy” (The Age, 23 Feb 1899, p.3, Advertising)

The house was likely built between 1890 and 1893 (Sands & MacDougall, 1890-1910). I am speculating that the house may have been built by William Reynolds and James Oliver, or that it is a fair copy of the houses that they built in 1885 at 427-431 Napier St. However, this is just speculation as RichardContinue reading “441 Napier Street, Fitzroy”

Background In the late 1830s the land of Fitzroy was subdivided into sections along with other areas north of the city. Within Fitzroy there were 12 sections, the most undesirable, being section 85 which consisted of majority swamp lands. I am not sure who purchased section 85 of Jika Jika parish, but, at some pointContinue reading “443 Napier Street, Fitzroy”