The Kew Historical Society's map collection includes a substantial number of real estate subdivision plans, mainly of Kew but also of surrounding suburbs in Melbourne. Most of the subdivision plans date from the 1920s and 1930s when the districts old homes and local farmland were being split up to accommodate residential growth in the postwar period. These early plans were assembled by a local firm, Jas R Mather & McMillan, which had an office in Cotham Road. Many of the plans, and sometimes photos, were annotated by the agents.Subdivision plans are historically important documents used as evidence for the growth of suburbs in Australia. They frequently provide information about when the land was sold as well as evidence relating to surveyors and real estate and financial agents. The numerous subdivision plans in the Kew Historical Society's collection represent working documents, ranging from the initial sketches made in planning a subdivision to printed plans on which auctioneers or agents listed the prices for which individual lots were sold. In a number of cases, the reverse of a subdivision plan in the collection includes a photograph of a house that was also for sale by the agent. These photographs provide significant heritage information relating house design and decoration, fencing and household gardens.The photograph may also be aesthetically significant depending on the importance of the photographic atelier.An undated and untitled hand-drawn and coloured subdivision plan detailing the boundaries of a number of irregular allotments bordering Cotham Road, Glenferrie Road and Stirling Avenue (now Stirling Street). The plan predates the actual subdivision that led to the creation of the eight commercial properties occupying 118-132 Cotham Road. The plan may represent an old subdivision that was further subdivided at a later date, or it may be a subdivision that never eventuated. On MMBW Detail Plan 1575 (1903), the area represented by the proposed subdivision was residential rather than commercial. The irregularity of lots is also apparent in the MMBW Plan. The largest of the unnumbered blocks on the hand-drawn subdivision plan may relate to the boundaries of the nineteenth century mansion identified as ‘Kelso’ on the MMBW Plan.subdivision plans - kew, cotham road - kew,, glenferrie road - kew , stirling avenue street - kew

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.A ‘proposed’ subdivision of the area in the vicinity of Cotham and Glenferrie Roads and Belmont Avenue depicts an alternate vision for how the land might be divided into lots. When comparing this undated proposed subdivision with a modern map, it is possible to see why the subdivision did not eventuate. The right-of-way shown in the plan as beginning in Belmont Avenue was to be extended much further, preventing the lower lots from being created in the proposed shapes. Identifying the date of the name change may assist in the dating of the proposed subdivision. In faded writing at the top of the plan is an annotation referring to ‘Abbotsford’ and Finlayson’s Agency.subdivision plans - kew, glenferrie road, cotham road, belmont avenue, stirling street