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CHAPTER 1
Reading the Mapped City
William Cartwright
Introduction
Maps are used by readers to locate information and by cartographers to represent geography. They show three-space + time. They also provide geographic narratives of place and space. They can show what is here now, what was once here, and what could be here in the future. It could be said that they allow one to travel in time, to better comprehend what a certain landscape once was or what, considering certain constraints and projected developments, it could be like in the future.
When considering maps of a city, the topic of this contribution, maps can provide a rich resource to historians and the layperson alike. They can provide snapshots when viewed individually, or a narrative when 'read' in a chronological sequence.
The focus here is the City of Melbourne, Australia. It is now a city of some 4 million+ inhabitants, and growing. The narrative that will be explored is a historical one: how maps can illustrate the establishment of a town and how certain planned developments nurtured its growth into a city.
Four maps have been selected for this discussion, around which a narrative of the city will be built. The maps are:
• 'Map shewing the site of Melbourne and the position of the huts & buildings previous to the foundation of the township by Sir Richard Bourke in 1837', Robert Russell;
• 'Plan of the city of Melbourne embracing Collingwood, South Melbourne and Sandridge, shewing part of Richmond, Prahran & St. Kilda, compiled under the direction of Thomas Ham, 1854';
• Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) Survey Field Book 678 and associated Detail Plan 1368, 1908; and
• Railways and tramways map of Melbourne and suburbs: showing railways, cable tramways, electric tramways. Collins Book Depot, 1920s.
They were selected to provide a chronological story about the early development of the city and its infrastructure. As well, they depict aspects of Melbourne from different perspectives: establishing the town; growing; consolidating; connecting.
This chapter develops a narrative of Melbourne from these maps by addressing these aspects of the city.
Melbourne
Melbourne was proclaimed a town in March 1837, named after Lord Melbourne, the British Prime Minister at the time (Museum Victoria 2015; Boyce 2015). Its founding is linked to John Batman, John Wedge and John Pascoe Fawkner. Batman and his business partner Wedge formed the Port Phillip Association in order to develop their interests in this southern part of the Colony of New South Wales, which had been established as a Colony under the New South Wales Act 1823 (Imp).
In 1835, Batman, Wedge and Fawkner arrived in the Port Phillip District, as known then by Europeans. Even though Batman had signed a treaty with the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung people (Broome 2008) for 500,000 acres on Port Phillip Bay in May 1835, it was Fawkner's party that arrived first, in August that year from Van Diemen's land (now known as Tasmania), while Batman and Wedge arrived, also from Van Diemen's land, to start their settlement on 2 September. However, who actually founded the town first is still a point of debate (State Library of Victoria 2015a).
Batman and Fawkner established their settlements in different locations. Batman's location for the town was where Port Melbourne is currently located. Fawkner's party settled in roughly the area where the current city grid is — on the northern bank of the Yarra River (State Library of Victoria 2015a) (Birrarung in the Wurrunjeri language; Eidelson 1997).
However, the settlers were deemed to be trespassers by the Government of New South Wales, and Batman's deed was declared null and void. At this time the Governor of New South Wales was vested with authority for legal, economic and social life throughout the Colony. The Sydney-based government dispatched Captain William Lonsdale to Port Phillip in September 1836 to govern the area. Formal land alienation (from the Crown to individuals) soon began. By 1838 there were 177 settlers in the area. This number grew to 23,000 by 1851, when Victoria was established with governance and legal status as a Colony separate from the Colony of New South Wales. (Victoria and New South Wales were established legally as separate states by parliamentary enactment of the Australian Constitution, 1900; from 1900 Australia was a Federation of states, territories and a central government.)
Surveying and Mapping the Port Phillip District
The first surveys of the District to determine its suitability for settlement were undertaken in 1803 — by Charles Grimes (1772–1858) (State Library of Victoria 2015b; Currey 2002). Grimes reported that Port Phillip was unsuitable for settlement (Australian Dictionary of Biography 1966). This followed Matthew Flinders' detailed survey of the bay and the surrounding country in the ship The Investigator in April 1802 (State Library of Victoria 2015b).
Detailed mapping of the settlement was conducted under the direction of Robert Russell (1808–1900). His map (Figure 1) shows the position of the central area of the settlement and the general landscape surrounding it.
Interestingly, similar to the debate about who actually founded Melbourne — the John Batman and John Wedge's Port Phillip Association or John Pascoe Fawkner — there is a continuing debate about who came up with the original layout of the grid for Melbourne. Even though Russell's map showed the central street grid, Russell is not generally attributed to this key feature of Melbourne. Rather, it is attributed to surveyor Robert Hoddle (1794–1881) and Governor Bourke. In March 1837, Bourke appointed Hoddle as senior surveyor, ahead of Russell, even though Russell had been undertaking work in the Port Phillip District since 1836 (McVicker 2010).
Russell, while not claiming to have actually laid out the grid, did suggest that it was he who developed the concept, as depicted in his map of 1837 (Figure 1). About this he wrote the following to the Editor of the Melbourne newspaper, The Argus, in 1881:
Sir, — Permit me to correct a small mistake in your narrative of this date concerning the late Mr. Robert Hoddle. You state that, 'Messers. Darke, D'Arcy, and Russell, at one time were hard at work defining the outlines, fixing the boundaries, and marking the corners of the streets' of Melbourne. This is a thorough fiction. I never defined, fixed, or marked one outline, boundary, or corner of the incipient city. It is true I accompanied Mr. Hoddle on horseback when he started from Batman's-hill, and began his round to his starting-point, but I was merely a looker-on. That I was the first 'surveyor in charge' at Port Phillip; that I was superseded, as I then thought and still think, unfairly; and that Mr. Hoddle drew his lines of street on the plan of my survey, drawn by Mr D'Arcy, under my instructions, prior to Mr. Hoddle's arrival, and which may still be seen at the surveyor-general's office, are facts much more to the purpose. — I am, &c. ROBERT RUSSELL East Melbourne, Oct. 29.
Hoddle and Bourke disagreed over the width of the streets, but Hoddle won the day and streets were laid out 99 feet wide, rather than Bourke's preferred 66 feet wide. However, Hoddle compromised on the width of the little streets, which were laid out to a width of 33 feet wide. Hoddle's map for the layout of Melbourne was drawn by superimposing his grid over Russell's earlier map (Scurfield n.d.).
Robert Hoddle became the first Surveyor-General of the new colony of Victoria, when it was established in 1851 (McVicker 2010). This role gave him responsibility for determining land grants for new settlers in Victoria. Robert Russell continued his career as an artist, architect and surveyor (Preston 1967).
Reading Russell's Map
Russell's map tells the story of the early settlement. It shows the central grid that is particular to this town that grew into a city. It is evident from viewing Russell's map that the layout of the grid ignored existing buildings and land ownership as well as the physical geography of the site. Looking at the grid in particular, it can be seen that the formal layout of the town completely ignored the settlement infrastructure. Any buildings that happened to be in the path of planned new streets would simply have to be removed! Ignoring the physical geography led to the constant flooding of some streets, like Elizabeth Street which was positioned on a natural watercourse (most recently inundated by a flash flood in 1972; Blainey and Foley 2005). And, the width of the little streets caused later social and environmental problems (State Library of Victoria 2015c). These narrow streets became strewn with garbage and were deemed to be places to be avoided by the more 'respectable' members of the city's population.
As well as the grid, Russell's map showed the general topography and vegetation at and nearby the settlement. What can be seen are the Yarra River, Batman's Hill and swamps to the south of the settlement.
But the map includes other stories. It provides evidence to support the argument about who settled first — Fawkner's house is marked on the map, but the map does not go far enough to the South West to show the Batman settlement at present-day Port Melbourne. It shows how future plans for transportation of the city, and the desire by citizens of the city to have the railway running into the heart of the city, demanded that a primary feature of the terrain — Batman's Hill — be removed altogether to provide a steady gradient for trains to continue from what is the current-day Southern Cross Station to today's Flinders Street Station.
However, perhaps the most poignant story from this map is that it is a reminder of how Russell's idea for the grid to be laid parallel to the Yarra River, a source of fresh water and a conduit for trade, was somewhat pushed aside by Hoddle. It was Russell who first represented the grid on his map, but it is Hoddle who is generally regarded as the 'father' of Melbourne's grid. Russell's grid remains in the physical geography of Melbourne, where it was placed graphically on his map of 1837.
Growth
With the growth of the settlement into town then city, the Crown, in principle deemed it necessary to alienate and then have land occupied after survey (Dalrymple et al. 2003). In order to do this systematically, the land was surveyed, cadastral plans produced (demarcating the lots to be sold, and later noting the subsequent purchaser) and the land sold at auction. Cadastral systems in Australia register the legal ownership of ownership texturally and graphically (Dalrymple et al. 2003). The cadastral map (or plan) is used to delineate land parcels and land ownership graphically.
The first land sales in Melbourne, authorised by Governor Bourke and conducted by Robert Hoddle were conducted in 1 June 1837. Three city blocks were sold (City of Melbourne 2015). Soon thereafter, as demand for places in the city increased, similar auctions were held to alienate land.
The cadastral map shown in Figure 2 illustrates the expansion of the city in the 1850s: Hotham (later re-named North Melbourne in 1877 [Carrol 2008], East Melbourne), Emerald (later re-named South Melbourne when city status was attained in 1883 [Priestly 2008]); and Sandridge (later re-named Port Melbourne in 1884 [City of Port Phillip 20n.d.]). North Melbourne and East Melbourne were later incorporated into the City of Melbourne, with South Melbourne and Port Melbourne operating for some time as separate cities, until their incorporation into the City of Port Phillip.
Looking firstly at the south-west corner of the map, at Sandridge, located on Hobsons Bay. Here, the first auctions of land took place in 1850 (Dryrenfurth 2008). The map shows that Sandridge was bounded by a rail line, to the west, providing a direct link to the railway station in the city (now Flinders Street Station) with the 'Railway Pier', and a shallow 'large and noxious saltwater lagoon' (Dryrenfurth 2008) to the east. (The lagoon was slowly filled-in, and completely reclaimed by 1929. This area now comprises the aptly-named 'Lagoon Reserve' [Wikipedia 2015b]. Sandridge is linked to the city by both the rail and the 'Sandridge and South Melbourne Road', which leads to a crossing of the Yarra River via the Princes Bridge built in 1845 [Priestly 2008].) Victoria's first railway was built in Melbourne in 1854.
Moving clockwise takes us to North Melbourne and Parkside (now Parkville). North Melbourne became the most densely populated part of the city during the 1880s land boom (Carrol 2008). The 1880s was a time of economic boom fuelled by the wealth from the goldfields and the wool industry. In 1880 the grand Royal Exhibition Building was built in Carlton Gardens to host the 1880 World Fair and by 1901 the building became the site of the Australian Federation's first parliament. North Melbourne comprises wide roads, the city's 'Flag Staff' (the site of today's Flagstaff Gardens), a 'Burial Ground' reserve (Melbourne's original cemetery and now the Queen Victoria Market) and a 'cattle yard' and a 'Benevolent Asylum'. In Parkside 100 acres is marked as 'Site-Granted for University' and a site is set-aside for a 'Fever Hospital'.
Then, moving clockwise on the map to East Melbourne: Robert Hoddle surveyed East Melbourne in 1839–40. Land sales were first held in East Melbourne between 1852–54 and then again in 1858. Later surveys being done in 1859, laying-out parks and squares between residential streets. As well, reserves were established for the future Parliament House and government buildings, Fitzroy Gardens and the Treasury Gardens (Murdoch 2008). The map shows these as 'Fitzroy Square' and the site of the present Parliament House is named the 'Legislative Assembly Hall'. Moving south of Victoria Street, and north of the Yarra River, a 'Cricket Ground' (the site of the present-day Melbourne Cricket Ground) sits in the middle of the 'Government paddock'. The map also shows the original course of the Yarra River before it was 'moved' further north to accommodate the expansion of the Botanic Gardens, marked on the map as being in Prahran, South Yarra having not yet been named as a separate suburb.
Then to South Melbourne, linked to the city by 'Sandridge and South Melbourne Road' and Princes Bridge (Priestly 2008). Individual plots of land, assigned for or already alienated are shown, as are reserves. The 'Reserve for Orphan School' is the site of the former City of Emerald Town hall. Today's St Kilda Road, the land between South Melbourne and the 'St Kilda Brighton and Gt. Arthurs Seat Road' (3 chains wide!) is set-aside for 'City Park Lands'; today, unfortunately, this proposed site for parklands is completely built-over. Today's Toorak Road was called then 'Gardners Creek Road'. One interesting notation on the 'Sandridge and South Melbourne Road' shows the existence of a 'Toll Road', predating Melbourne's current 'City Link' toll road system (which is quite near-by) by 150 years or so.
The story of this map reveals an account of the expansion of the city and development of the early suburbs, which expanded in all of the directions of the compass. The cardinal points determined the naming of these early suburbs. The alignment of major roads and the extension of the town to the north and east abandoned the link to the banks of the Yarra River and were laid-out to accord with magnetic north. This would have sped-up early surveys, which used compasses extensively for determining azimuth. The map also reflects the desire of the city leaders to design and demark the city in a most formal manner, mimicking the English town as this was done. Generous acreages were assigned to parklands and formal gardens, albeit assignations that were depleted quite dramatically when the plans for parkland to the southwest of today's St Kilda Road are considered.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Transformations Art and the City"
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