Historical information

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.

Significance

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.

Physical description

The ‘Myrtle Park Estate’ was a subdivision bounded by Victoria Road (now Lansdowne Street), Buchanan Avenue and Dight Avenue. Other streets that were created by the subdivision included Eurolie Street, Boorahman Street and Moody Street (now Sylvan Street). The Estate took its name from Myrtle Park (later changed to Macleay Park), which had been created in 1923 by Camberwell Council. The Park adjoined the southeast corner of the new subdivision. The Estate included 74 regular allotments characterised by narrow frontages and long blocks. Confusion may have greeted prospective purchasers as the Estate was advertised in the daily newspapers as being in East Kew, rather than in Camberwell, where it was at that stage located.