The Children of Erskine Place photographed by F. Oswald Barnett. One of a series illustrating a government report on slum housing during the depression of the 1930s.Courtesy of the Barnett Collection, North Melbourne Library.

3. Hotham Hill

Bordered by Dryburgh, Curran, Brougham, Melrose streets and Flemington Road is the area known as Hotham Hill. The detail of the MMBW plans shows a cross-section of the activities going on in the homes and backyards of the local residents. Details show fowl sheds, a cow and carriage shed, a coach house, a hen house, ferneries, a shoeing forge and a summer house.

Incomes and diets were supplemented by the production of food and other produce from the backyards. The well-to-do had gardens that were more decorative in nature. Rotting debris and effluent in open drains caused a major problem within the borough. Whenever heavy rains occurred the problem was only washed into the residential area of ‘the valley’ that bordered the Moonee Ponds Creek. A major landmark of this area was the house Milton Hall built by local entrepreneur and one-time Mayor of Hotham, Robert Langford.

* Students could take pictures of their area, school or shopping centre now. Investigate and record the changes that have occurred.

Next: The Railway

Summary | Markets and Metal | Asylum, Town Hall and Shops | Hotham Hill | The Railway | Football and Gas

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