Prue 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.Subdivision plans are historically important documents used as evidence of the growth of suburbs in Australia. They frequently provide information about when the land was sold on which a built structure was subsequently constructed 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 ‘Oswinia Estate’ subdivision in East Kew was planned and auctioned in the first half of the 1920s. 169 allotments were created in the triangular section of land bordered by High Street, Burke Road and the Government Boulevard (later Kilby Road). The only piece of land excluded was that where the previous Kew Pound had been located at the east tip of the triangle. Allotments were created fronting Glass, High, Namur, Oswin Streets, Irymple Avenue, and the Government Boulevard. The name for the Estate was derived from Oswin’s farm, which had been one of the largest landholdings in East Kew. The selling agents annotated the plan in our collection with crosses indicating those lots that had been sold. The inset locality plan is particularly interesting as it shows the route and stations of the Outer Circle Railway. When the subdivision plan was created, it included the proposed bridge over the Yarra at Burke Road. The bridge was to be officially opened in 1926.subdivision plans - east kew, oswinia estate, high street, glass street, namur street, government boulevard - kilby road, irymple street, oswin street