Skip to main content

121 Rose Street, Fitzroy, Victoria

At 121 Rose Street Fitzroy is where my great-grandfather, William Arthur Empey, was born in 1866. Nearly six years beforehand, Fitzroy was proclaimed the first suburb of Melbourne. Previously, the land of Fitzroy had belonged to the Woiworung tribe. 

 Progressively over time, crown land and privately owned hectares of land were sold. They were broken up into smaller lots. The swamps and paddocks were developed. Buildings and roads were built. Fitzroy became surrounded by suburbs. It developed into an inner city of Melbourne.

 In 1866, the juxtaposition of brick cottages, stone houses, terrace houses, wood and tin roof cottages, interweaved the diverse character of Fitzroy’s residents. Chimneys dotted the skyline. Wooden picket fences lined the unpaved footpaths. Roads were made of dirt with bluestone kerbs. Cast-iron gas street lamps lit the starry nights. Wooden stables stood at the back along unpaved lanes. 

Its people walked. They rode on horses. They sat in open-aired and roofed carriages pulled by horses. Men wore top hats. Women wore dress hats. The unpleasant odour of horse manure laid where it dropped.

In 1905, Ironfounders, Anderson & Ritchie Pty Ltd, set up shop. The property, situated at the corner of Rose and Young Streets, encompassed 121 Rose Street. Since then, the property was redeveloped into housing, in 1994. 

 Nowadays, the red brick building has a pitched tin roof, and nine-squared window frames. The name of the ironfounders is still embossed in black over white painted bricks. On the second floor, glass doorways open up to verandahs with black metal railings. Underneath, metal roller doors give cars access to garaged parking. 

 The road and pavement are made of black bitumen. On the walkway, concrete lids access underground cables. White painted lines mark the spot to park a car on the road. Overhead, electric lights and wires connect to the poles lining the streets. Metal signs display street names and road rules.

The last time, I had driven down Rose Street Fitzroy was in the 1990s. I knew then, it would not have resembled the property of 1866.

Jennifer Empey

Bibliography

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Private Walter Lindley: A Soldier, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Brother-in-Law

The life of Private Walter Lindley was cut short when it abruptly ended in the killing fields of Flanders amidst the ‘Third Battle of Ypres’, now acknowledged as ’Passchendaele’, in 1917. [1] The same year World War One broke out, 1914, he married, his first daughter was born, and his brother died on the Western Front. He was one of more than 330,000 volunteers who served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) overseas resulting in over 61,000 deaths. [2] Amongst other reasons, he likely volunteered for the patriotic cause. Some photos and postcards survived and in addition to his war records, they underpinned his life in the AIF. Walter was born between 1892-1894 in Balby, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England to John Lindley and Adelaide Lewis. [3] When he was about seven years, his father died. [4] In 1910, he enlisted in the British Navy and about three years later he did a runner in Sydney. [5] The next year, Sarah Lovett became his wife, in Port Melbourne. [6] Then within six ...
Post a Comment
Read more

8 January 1969 Fires in Victoria. (Content Warning: May be Distressing)

On 8 January 1969, the temperature climbed to a century . Sixty miles per hour winds swirled in a west-northwesterly direction. Percy and Ivy, my grandparents, left Bookaar and travelled home to West Footscray. Outside of Geelong they rattled along the Geelong-Melbourne highway and neared Lara. ‘Look at the dark black smoke, Perc,’ exclaimed Ivy. ‘Something must be wrong,’ said Percy. Sweat ran down his face. ‘Cars are turning back. There must be a fire.’ He made a U-turn and headed back in the direction they had come. They pulled up on the side of the road, got down low in the car, and covered themselves with the blanket. A knock at the driver’s window startled them. Percy peeled back the blanket and wound down the window. ‘Are you alright’, said the policeman. ‘Yes, thank you. We are fine’, said Percy. Ivy peered out from under the blanket. ‘The fire has moved on. You can move out now. Be careful! Electric wires have fallen along the road. Up ahead, a pole...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tree attached to his Bicycle

“My father said, his father used to ride a bike with a tree attached to it,” said my dad, "to stop it from going too fast". In the 1890s bicycle riding and races were a common occurrence. Bikes were categorised as ‘machines’. They could be hired or bought new and second-hand at the local cycle agent. Cash or terms could be negotiated. Old ones could be traded in as partial payment for another. Some brands included: Red Bird, Beeston Humber, Singer, Swift, Raleigh, Coventry Cross, Dunlop, Popular Star, James, Dux, Massey Harris, and Rudge Whitworth. My great-grandfather, William Arthur Empey, was a contender in bicycle races. A fine day prevailed on 17 th  March 1898 at the St. Patrick’s Day Sports. They were held at the show grounds in Heathcote, Victoria. ‘Bookies’ and ‘Spielers’ were not welcome. Trees supplied shade. Stalls had fruit. Competitors were allocated up to 250 yards in the one mile and 300 yards in the two-mile races. In the one-mile, my great-grandf...
Post a Comment
Read more