A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST KILDA

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST KILDA



       A surveying party sent by Governor King from Sydney anchored in Port Phillip Bay in January 1803 and recorded hot, northerly winds blowing along the swamp, which became Elwood, where they saw two large emus, and around the area now known as Albert Park Lake a large lagoon, shown in old survey maps extending close to where St. Kilda Railway Station stands.

       In August 1835, John Pascoe Fawkner's schooner Enterprize investigated the coast around Red Bluff headland and landed a small party further along the shore, where they noted lovely green knolls around the lagoons, with flocks of teal ducks, geese and swans, but no fresh water. They sailed on along the bay until they reached the Yarra River.

       St. Kilda's first locality name was ‘Green Knoll' and ‘The Village of Fareham' was chosen by authorities prior to the first land sale. The name of St. Kilda is romantically linked with a legendary picnic held in the beautiful ti-tree scrub which surrounded the beach towards the end of 1841, attended by Charles Joseph La Trobe, Superintendent of Port Phillip Settlement and other notable Melbourne residents. Governor La Trobe is reported to have pointed to the schooner Lady of St Kilda anchored offshore and suggested that the village be named St. Kilda.

       St. Kilda soon became popular as an escape from the dirty, dusty, unmade streets of Melbourne town, which had the added disadvantage of sewage collecting in the lower parts of the city.

       The St. Kilda ‘Hill' offered good drainage, clean air and attractive views of the sea. By the 1840's, St. Kilda was a thriving settlement, with excellent hotels catering to the needs of the holiday-makers, and some fine houses side by side with more humble dwellings. The road connecting St. Kilda with Melbourne (St. Kilda Road) was certainly rough and at times dangerous, with the possibility of bushrangers ready to rob and ill-treat travellers. A rough and sandy track had been worn to Brighton from what is now St. Kilda Junction. Horse-drawn omnibuses carried passengers to their destinations.

       The St. Kilda railway line, commenced in 1856, was a great boon to the residents and to the visitors who thronged to the beach on Sundays and holidays. The St. Kilda Railway Station, when it was opened on 14th May 1857, was resplendent with refreshments and waiting rooms, a large bar and barmaid.

       By the 1860's and 1870's, St. Kilda had become a sought after area, particularly amongst merchants and professional men, who built magnificent homes which eventually stretched across St. Kilda Road and High Street to the Chapel Street and Alma Road area.

       Some fine churches had been built, including Christ Church in Acland Street, All Saints in Chapel Street, St. Mary's in Dandenong Road, the Methodist Church in Fitzroy Street and the Presbyterian Church in Alma Road. The St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation held services in the Wesleyan Church Hall in Fitzroy Street prior to the building of the synagogue in Charnwood Road in 1872.

       St. Kilda has a rich heritage of churches woven into the history of the area. Men and women from various parishes have contributed much to the colourful fabric of this city spiritually, socially and economically.

       There were a number of church and private schools in the area, many of which went out of business after the Educational Act in 1872 provided for the establishment of free, secular and compulsory education.

       St. Kilda has continued to be popular as an area for relaxation, with its cosmopolitan restaurants, weekend trading and Sunday Market along the Upper Esplanade. From the mid-1990's people began re-discovering St. Kilda as a desirable place to live and it experienced a renaissance as a desirable residential suburb.