Pru Sanderson, in her groundbreaking ‘City of Kew Urban Conservation Study : Volume 2 - Development History’ (1988), summarised the periods of urban development and subdivisions of land in Kew. The periods that she identified included 1845-1880, 1880-1893, 1893-1921, 1921-1933, 1933-1943, and Post-War Development. These periods were selected as they represented periods of rapid growth or decline in urban development. An obvious starting point for Sanderson’s groupings involved population growth and the associated economic cycles. These cycles also highlighted urban expansion onto land that was predominantly rural, although in other cases it represented the decline and breakup of large estates. A number of the plans in the Kew Historical Society’s collection can also be found in other collections, such as those of the State Library of Victoria and the Boroondara Library Service. A number are however unique to the collection.The Kew Historical Society collection includes almost 100 subdivision plans pertaining to suburbs of the City of Melbourne. Most of these are of Kew, Kew East or Studley Park, although a smaller number are plans of Camberwell, Deepdene, Balwyn and Hawthorn. It is believed that the majority of the plans were gifted to the Society by persons connected with the real estate firm - J. R. Mathers and McMillan, 136 Cotham Road, Kew. The Plans in the collection are rarely in pristine form, being working plans on which the agent would write notes and record lots sold and the prices of these. The subdivision plans are historically significant examples of the growth of urban Melbourne from the beginning of the 20th Century up until the 1980s. A number of the plans are double-sided and often include a photograph on the reverse. A number of the latter are by noted photographers such as J.E. Barnes.Undated Plan of Subdivision of Crown Portion 84 in what is now Kew. The area shown is bordered by Burke Road, Harp Road, Arglye Road and Normanby Road.subdivision plans -- kew (vic), harp road, burke road, normanby road, lady loch's drive, gladstone street, second avenue, first avenue

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) plans were produced from the 1890s to the 1950s. They were crucial to the design and development of Melbourne's sewerage and drainage system. The plans, at a scale of 40 feet to 1 inch (1:480), provide a detailed historical record of Melbourne streetscapes and environmental features. Each plan covers one or two street blocks (roughly six streets), showing details of buildings, including garden layouts and ownership boundaries, and features such as laneways, drains, bridges, parks, municipal boundaries and other prominent landmarks as they existed at the time each plan was produced. (Source: State Library of Victoria). This plan forms part of a large group of MMBW plans and maps that was donated to the Society by the Mr Poulter, City Engineer of the City of Kew in 1989. Within this collection, thirty-five hand-coloured plans, backed with linen, are of statewide significance as they include annotations that provide details of construction materials used in buildings in the first decade of the 20th century as well as additional information about land ownership and usage. The copies in the Public Record Office Victoria and the State Library of Victoria are monochrome versions which do not denote building materials so that the maps in this collection are invaluable and unique tools for researchers and heritage consultants. A number of the plans are not held in the collection of the State Library of Victoria so they have the additional attribute of rarity.Original survey plan, issued by the MMBW to a contractor with responsibility for constructing sewers in the area identified on the plan within the Borough of Kew. The plan was at some stage hand-coloured, possibly by the contractor, but more likely by officers working in the Engineering Department of the Borough and later Town, then City of Kew. The hand-coloured sections of buildings on the plan were used to denote masonry or brick constructions (pink), weatherboard constructions (yellow), and public buildings (grey).The streets and built structures in MMBW Detail Plan 1294 & 1295 were surveyed in 1903 and released to contractors in 1904. This plan is one of two in the collection where the lithographers amalgamated two separate plans. Both plans include sections of Studley Park. Dominating the south and west corners of Kew Junction are the Clifton and Kew Hotels. The Kew Hotel, owned by Patrick O’Shaughnessy was one of the oldest in Kew. MMBW plans were amended over time to take account of new subdivisions such as that which created Merrion Place. Of the four mansions shown in Studley Park Road, three remain – ‘Field Place’, the home of Frances Henty, ‘Leaghur’ and ‘Darley’. ‘Byram’ (later ‘Goathland’, then ‘Tara Hall’) was an architectural marvel. Designed in 1888 by E.G. Kilburn for the paper magnate George Ramsden, it was demolished in 1960. While an earlier sale of the southern section of Byram had created Tara Avenue in 1927, the demolition of the house in 1960 enabled the extension of Tara Avenue northward.melbourne and metropolitan board of works, detail plans, mmbw 1294, mmbw 1295, cartography