Captain John Marshall was born in Dundee, Scotland c.1833. Within eleven years of his arrival in Melbourne in 1852, he had established an important colonial shipping company, Anderson & Marshall, and married Mary Austin, the eldest daughter of Thomas Austin Esq of Clifton Villa in Cotham Road. Elected to the Kew Borough Council in 1869, he remained an active member until 1875. During this period, he was elected Mayor of Kew in 1872. A Scottish Protestant by birth and conviction, John Marshall was, with David Beath, a member of the inaugural committee that began planning for a separate Presbyterian Church in Kew, lending the Committee the funds to purchase land on the corner of Cotham Road and Highbury Grove. John Marshall lived at his home, 'Maryfield', at what was then 239 [now 197] Cotham Road until shortly before his death at the age of 70 in January 1903. He was buried on 14 January in Grave 493, Presbyterian Compartment A, Boroondara General Cemetery.Family portrait of an important civic figure in Kew in the 19th century who was also a notable businessman and shipowner in the Colony of Victoria.Albumen Silver photograph on card of Captain John Marshall and family, Mayor of Kew 1872-73.The inscription was added by the family and at one stage modified. In addition to the title, the sitters' names are inscribed beneath the photograph on the mountCaptain John Marshall and family / Mayor of Kew 1872-73 Webster - Maud - Austin - Mary Marshall - John Marshall - May - Andrew - Polly / Residence “Maryvale” 197 Cotham Road. john marshall, maryvale (cotham road, kew), maryfield (cotham road, kew), webster marshall, maud marshall, austin marshall, mary marshall, may marshall, andrew marshall, polly marshall

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.The Clifton Estate was an ambitious subdivision. It included 61 allotments bordering Cotham and Park Hill Roads, and Florence and Adeney Avenues. It is difficult to ascertain the exact year when the ‘Clifton Estate’ was surveyed, subdivided and first auctioned. The uncertainty may be due to allotments being released during the First World War. The subdivision took its name from the house ‘Clifton’ (lot 5) on the corner of Adeney Avenue and Cotham Road. The outline of Clifton (since demolished) and the extent of its land following the subdivision are represented on the plan. The auctioneers have also shown ‘Maryfield’ and ‘Wimba’, the neighbouring properties in Cotham Road, on the plan."B"subdivision plans - kew, clifton estate, cotham road, adeney avenue, florence avenue, park hill road

Captain John Marshall was born in Dundee, Scotland c.1833. Within eleven years of his arrival in Melbourne in 1852, he had established an important colonial shipping company, Anderson & Marshall, and married Mary Austin, the eldest daughter of Thomas Austin Esq of Clifton Villa in Cotham Road. Elected to the Kew Borough Council in 1869, he remained an active member until 1875. During this period, he was elected Mayor of Kew in 1872. A Scottish Protestant by birth and conviction, John Marshall was, with David Beath, a member of the inaugural committee that began planning for a separate Presbyterian Church in Kew, lending the Committee the funds to purchase land on the corner of Cotham Road and Highbury Grove. John Marshall lived at his home, 'Maryfield', at what was then 239 [now 197] Cotham Road until shortly before his death at the age of 70 in January 1903. He was buried on 14 January in Grave 493, Presbyterian Compartment A, Boroondara General Cemetery.Family portrait of the relatives of an important civic figure in Kew in the 19th century who was also a notable businessman and shipowner in the Colony of Victoria.Albumen silver photograph on card of the Marshall family grouped in three rows in a garden setting. The twenty-three members of the extended family do not include John Marshall so the photograph presumably dates from after his death in 1903. His wife, Mary Marshall, is in the middle row, five from left. marshall family, john marshall -- mayor of kew