Carlton: A History

Preface - Peter Yule

The history of Carlton since its initial subdivision in the early 1850s is traditionally seen as having three main epochs. In the decades after its first subdivisions in the 1850s, Carlton was a socially diverse suburb, home to many middle- and upper-class families, but also with many poor families, a large proportion being of Irish origin. From its early years areas of south Carlton became highly industrialised, with many large factories such as the Carlton Brewery, and a large number of smaller manufacturing businesses, notably iron foundries that produced the decorative cast iron that is a feature of so many terrace houses in the suburb. By the 1890s the wealthier families had moved across the Yarra and in the first half of the twentieth century Carlton was widely regarded as a slum suburb, fit only for demolition and redevelopment. In the 1960s the Housing Commission of Victoria committed itself to clearing whole blocks of Carlton houses and replacing them with high-rise blocks of flats. Ironically by the time this occurred, the social profile of Carlton had begun to change in the process termed ‘gentrification’. Within a few years houses that had been condemned as slums became some of the most desirable properties in Melbourne and Lygon Street was transformed from a decayed strip-shopping centre into one of the city’s most popular retail and restaurant precincts.

Alongside this picture of long-term social changes, one of the defining features of Carlton has always been seen as being its role as the first home to successive waves of immigrants. Among the earliest institutions in the suburb was the Wesleyan Immigrants Home and over the years English and Scottish workers, Irish peasant families, Jews fleeing Tsarist or Nazi persecution, Italians, Greeks, Lebanese and, most recently, Somalis and Eritreans, have all formed distinctive communities in Carlton for a generation before dispersing into the broader Australian community.

Yet it is important to remember that these generalisations do not cover the experiences of all or even most Carlton residents. In particular, they take little account of the experience of the largest single group of residents, the Anglo-Celtic working class. In recent years rising property prices have forced most remnants of this group to leave the suburb, with only a small number of elderly people remaining, but from the 1850s to the 1970s Anglo-Celtic manual workers and their families made up the majority of Carlton’s population.

The essays that make up this book attempt to encompass all the many strands that have gone to make up the history of Carlton from its pre-history and the earliest days of white settlement to such aspects of Carlton life as theatre, books, shopping and the rich musical heritage of Carlton’s organs. However, there is a glaring omission — there is very little on the Anglo-Celtic working class, particularly during the first half of the twentieth century. Indirectly, of course, it is discussed in the essays on tenants, slum clearance, politics and welfare, but there is no analysis of the origins, composition or eventual fate of the suburb’s major ethnic grouping, or of related issues like the impact of World War I conscription debates in Carlton. The main reason for this is that there has been no research on these topics and the gaps could not be filled in time to include such work in this collection.

Carlton has never had its own local government, it has no town hall and in recent years it has been split between two separate municipalities. Despite this it has maintained its distinctive identity, and its residents have shown a determination to work together in defence of the things that define Carlton. This book is indirectly a result of this determination as it is a project of the Carlton Residents Association, formed in 1996 to maintain the ambience of the suburb. The book would never have been completed without the extraordinary drive and determination of the Association’s president, Sue Chambers, and on behalf of everyone involved in the project I thank her for her efforts. The contributors all have strong ties to the suburb through residence, work or education and their understanding and affection is expressed in the essays that make up this volume. The sum of their efforts is an evocative and fascinating account of the development of an inner-urban suburb and the major institutions located within its boundaries.