Plan - Subdivision Plan, Central Park Estate, Deepdene - Camberwell, 1923

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

An agent’s board on which parts of an advertisement for the Central Park Estate have been pasted. [The State Library of Victoria holds a complete plan]. Whereas the original plan included black and white photographs and effusive prose about the virtues of the Estate, the item in our collection includes only the actual blocks. The agent has annotated particular blocks to indicate that they have been sold.

Back to top