ST. KILDA
A General History

St. Kilda - A General History
By Catherine Woo, City of St Kilda 1991 ©         ^Footnotes


THE TRADITONAL OWNERS

         When white settlement began in Victoria in 1834, the lands around Melbourne were occupied by the Kulin Nation, one of several nations of Aboriginal people who lived in Victoria. It is unknown when humans first came to the region, but archaeological evidence indicates that people lived in the south-east of Australia up to 60,000 years or more. The Kulin People consisted of four language or dialect groups-the Wathaurung, Woiworung, Bunurong and the Taungurong –which were in turn divided into clans. The Bunurong territory included the Mornington Peninsula and the catchment area of Western Port Bay, and also the coastal strip of Port Phillip Bay. The land that we now know as St.Kilda was part of the estate of the Bunurong group, and was occupied by the Yalukit Willam Clan. ¹
         The coastal environment provided the Bunurong with valuable marine resources, including fish, seals, eels, snakes, lizards, frogs, and a wide variety of edible plants. Given the wealth of the resources, the Bunurong would have been able to live in the area throughout the year. Piles of shells-or middens- noted by the first settlers along the St.Kilda and Elwood foreshore were evidence of the many shellfish feasts that were had there. According to J.B Cooper, St.Kilda was originally known as Euro-Yroke after the red sandstone along the beach, which was used for sharpening axes.
         The impact on the land and people of Aboriginal Victoria by the arrival of Europeans was devastating. Even before colonization of Victoria, the Aboriginal population, estimated at around 50,000, had already bee decimated by two epidemics of small pox since arrival of the British in Sydney in 1788, and the Bunurong in particular had been subject to often violent contact with sealers and whalers from the beginning of the 19^th century. Within 10 years of the Hentys squatting at Portland in 1834, and Baxter and Fawkner posseing Melbourne in 1835, most of central and lower-western Victoria had been turned into grazing land, and the 30,000 European newcomers far outnumbered the Koori inhabitants. Dispossession and murder, disruption of local economies and religious contact with the land, and the introduction of diseases, led to the massive de-population. By 1850, the Aboriginal population had fallen to 2000, a decrease of over 80% in less than twenty years. At the first census of Aboriginal people made in 1839, there were only eighty-nine Bunurong recorded, in 1863 there were only eleven. The consequences of these initial meetings are still being resolved. ²


EUROPEAN ARRIVAL

         The first records of white perception of the area around St.Kilda come from the survey party sent from Sydney in 1802, which described the land around Elwood and Albert Part as ‘low and swampy’. From the Bay a green knoll (St.Kilda Hill) could be seen rising above the surroundings swamplands, and was seen to be the area’s only habitable land.
         Even before the Government decided to establish a village there, the Green knoll was attracting attention as a superior place to live. The Prince Regent had made seaside living fashionable in England, and combined with the fact that drainage and sewerage problems in the city were often unpleasant and unsanitary realities, the area quickly gained a reputation as a resort away from the stresses of city living. Particularly during the warmer months, temporary dwellings could be found scattered in picturesque spots around the bay.
         In 1839 The Green Knoll was leased to Captain Benjamin Baxter as grazing land, and his stockyard existed at the corner of where Acland and Robe Streets meet today. The first building to be erected in St.Kilda was Baxter’s hut, probably the dwelling place of Baxter’s stockman, and a plaque in Alfred Square commemorates the site.
         Thomas Enscoe and Co. had taken over Baxter’s lease, and were in possession of the land when the Government decided to establish a village there in 1842. Even though its first locality name was Green Knoll, in the first Government surveys the area was officially called Fareham, after a watering place near Portsmouth. However, the name that stuck was St.Kilda, named after a schooner The Lady of St.Kilda, anchored long enough in the bay to be associated with the shore nearby. The lady in question was supposedly Lady Grange, imprisoned on the Hebredian island of St.Kilda in 1734 by her husband, ‘for 17yrs until her death, remonstrating with him about his schemes to restore the fortunes of Bonnie Prince Charlie.’
         Administratively, the village was initially part of the Corporation of Melbourne, which was formed in 1842. However, the great expansion of Melbourne following the first gold rush of 1851, led in 1885 to the proclamation of municipal districts, of which one was St.Kilda. At first the municipality comprised the area around the village, but not the village itself. After two years of resident protest, the anomaly was removed and the St.Kilda Council was established.
         Its northern and eastern boundaries were defined much as they are today, Dandenong and Hotham Road already existing as casements on the surveys. Though the tracks meandering through the dense bushland bare little resemblance to the major arterials that now serve the modern metropolis, St.Kilda Road is an exception, being the original bush track that enabled residents of St.Kilda to travel to Melbourne. In the 1840’s a punt boat was the means used by residents of the St.Kilda, Prahran and Southern districts to cross the Yarra. The punt sank and a new one replaced it, but the demand was increasing, so in 1845 a bridge made of red gum piles and hardwood planks was built, and opened to the public in October of that year. By 1855 there were horse-drawn omnibuses between St.Kilda and the city.
         The southern border of the settlement was initially defined by the higher ground, for the swampland to the south was even less attractive, as it was the site of a nightsoil depot and some abattoirs whose waste products were thrown into a lagoon nearby. The area was Elwood, named by Governor La Trobe after a Quaker whom he admired. It was not until the end of the century that the swamp was filled with sand and clay from the foreshore and stone from the bluff, and a channel was built along the Elster Creek to drain the marshlands. Reclamation of the swamp was completed by 1905.
         Beaconsfield Parade, completed in 1890, in the north and the St.Kilda and Brighton Electric Street railway in the south provided the necessary link to stimulate property development. The growth of St.Kilda was rapid, and the suburb was subdivided into 4 wards in 1914, giving it boundaries close to those it has today.


GOLD

         After the discovery of gold in 1851, both Melbourne’s population and economy were booming. Melbourne was fast becoming the largest and most prosperous city in Australia, and a major financial and business centre of the British Empire. The first railway in Australia was opened in 1854, by the Melbourne and Hobson Bay Railway Co., running from the City to Port Melbourne. In 1857 a branch of the railway was opened to St.Kilda.
         By the mid 1850’s St.Kilda was a thriving settlement and by the 1860’s it had become the most fashionable place to live in Melbourne. It was regarded as a prestigious bayside suburb, and reflected Melbourne’s newly found wealth in its luxurious hillside residencies. It was also important t Melbourne as its most accessible seaside resort. There were a number of bathing and recreation facilities, but these were privately owned and remained the domain of the prosperous elite. At this time there was a sharp social/topographical delineation- the wealthy resided on the Hill; the poorer residents occupied timber cottages on the low ground of the Balaclava flats, and generally were the servants and workpeople of the their wealthier counterparts. ³ In comparison with suburbs such as South and East Melbourne there were relatively few residences for the middle-income earners. This delineation would soon change. With the increasing density of building, the advent of cable cars in 1888 which made St.Kilda more accessible to daytrippers and the lower classes, and the burgeoning entertainment industry, the wealthy began to move to less developed areas such as Toorak and South Yarra. As a consequence many estates were converted to other forms of accommodation, such as rooming houses and hotels.


THE LAND CRASH

         The end of the land boom in the late 1880’s was a pivotal period in the history of Melbourne and wrought great changes in St.Kilda. It was the first depression and impoverished many wealthy families and reduced poorer families to penury. ⁴ Many estates were abandoned as the exodus of the wealthy continued. The character of St.Kilda, particularly of the Hill area, changed radically, as mansions were converted to boarding houses and estates were divided. Some wealthy families did remain however and new money was infused into the area, as flat living first became fashionable in the 1900s and 1910s.
         These changes were turned to St.Kilda’s advantage as a resort area. Converted mansions became respectable guesthouses and hotels for holidaymakers and entertainments on the foreshore proliferated. The propulsion of St.Kilda toward a pleasure resort was officially endorsed by Council with the establishment of the Foreshore Committee in 1906 which had the task of managing the four hectares of land between Fraser and Dickens streets. An Order-in-Council stated that it be reserved as a site for the ‘Recreation, Convenience and Amusement of the people’. During the 1900s and the 1910s the Esplanade became the centre for a variety of vaudeville entertainments. The English Pierrots were amongst the first and an open-air theatre was constructed around no.s 23 and 24 Esplanade. With changes in public taste however, and the introduction of new amusements, this early style of entertainment gradually diminished. The Council’s legacy of public works during this period, along with private investment in entertainment venues such as Luna Park and the Palais, are today central to St.Kilda’s identity.


THE GREAT WAR AND THE 1920s

         The First World War dominated the years 1914-18 in St.Kilda as it did all Australia. As J.B. Cooper said “St.Kilda was but a point, in the British Pleiad, of the loyal workers for the British Empire”. Patriotism and allegiance to King and country was unfaltering. Within days of the announcement organisations were established to prepare for wartime contingencies. The St.Kilda Patriotic League consisted of a local branch of the Red Cross, the Australian Comforts Fund, the Homemade Cakes and Jams Shops, and was highly active in the recruiting movement. The St.Kilda’s Soldier’s Lounge was established, run primarily by Mrs R. Hallenstein to provide a place for soldiers to relax and recreate. The presentation of the Colours to the 14^th Battalion of the Australian Imperial forces took place on the St.Kilda foreshore on December 13^th , 1914 and are now held in safekeeping at the St.Kilda City Hall. An estimated three thousand St.Kilda men served in the Great War. St.Kilda itself was also active during the War Years, the foreshore being the ideal site for gala events, a Mardi Gras festival, open air concerts and other festivals to raise funds for the War effort. Fundraising carnivals were also held at Luna Park. The St.Kilda War Memorial Hall was opened on Armistice Day, November 11, 1924, in memory of lives lost during the War, as a place where returned soldiers could congregate, and to raise funds for soldiers and their families.
         Regal and vice regal receptions were also a major feature of St.Kilda activities in the early 20^th century, particularly during the 1920s. Before the predominance of air travel, foreign dignitaries would arrive in Australia by boat, and when visiting Melbourne they would alight at St.Kilda Pier lending the suburb and its municipal duties a certain prestige. The receptions were grand affairs and people from all over Melbourne would gather on the foreshore to watch the proceedings.
         Flat living increased in popularity after the Great War and was encouraged by Council policy. Many old houses were converted to apartments, and new flats were constructed with an emphasis on spaciousness and visually distinctive styles, displaying an ingenuity of design which was not to be repeated in the next spate of flat construction 50ys hence. Concurrent with these physical changes were dramatic social changes. The large number of rental properties and flats encouraged a younger and more mobile population. ⁵


THE GREAT DEPRESSION

         With the troubled years of the Depression, St.Kilda’s image was to change yet again. Increasing unemployment and the limited spending power of the public meant that St.Kilda’s entertainment industry was at threat. Many businesses reliant on the commerce of pleasure were ruined and even Luna Park, the bastion of amusement in St.Kilda, was in financial difficulties and went into voluntary liquidation.
         St.Kilda became the centre for less innocent pleasures. Sly-grog trading, prostitution, cocaine smuggling and organized crime increased markedly during the years of the Depression, consolidating St.Kilda’s reputation as a favourite haunt of the underworld. St.Kilda had natural advantages which made it a popular venue for such activities- the seaside, extensive parklands and vestiges of grandeur, but the main factor influencing the increase of prostitution in the area were amendments to the South Melbourne’s by-laws in 1937 which increased penalties and encouraged prostitutes to go elsewhere. ⁶
         Many citizens relied upon Government sustenance, and without any other system of welfare, it became the responsibility of Council to issue payments, organize relief work, raise funds and distribute emergency supplies. Albert Jacka V.C during his Mayoral term exemplified the compassion and empathy, which for many of the poor and unemployed was to be a saving grace. However, with the continuing years of the Depression, and conservative movements at both State and Local Government levels, increasingly stringent measures were introduced for sustenance payments, and for the poor the suffering continued. St.Kilda’s building stock was also adversely affected by the Depression years, as rooming houses for holiday makers- once luxurious mansions- now became overcrowded accommodation for the poor.


“ST.KILDA THE BEAUTIFUL”

         As the Depression seemed to be easing, the main priority of St.Kilda Council was to secure the City’s place as Melbourne’s uncontested pleasure resort. A special Shore Publicity Committee was formed of Councillors, Foreshore Committee members and managers of local amusements. Tourist brochures advertised St.Kilda as the “Lido of the South”, and a 52-page booklet called St.Kilda the Beautiful, promoted St.Kilda’s many attractions. New entertainments were introduced on the foreshore in the hope of reviving flagging interest and the flagging economy. The Palais de Danse was a popular venue for dance competitions and bands at this time. The streets of Paris Dance Salon, which had been F.W. Thrings Wattle Path film studio, was converted to an ice skating called St.Moritz.
         Rising land prices and increasing confidence in investment created massive changes in St.Kilda’s building stock. With real estate agents exerting considerable influence on and within Council, flat construction boomed, and within a few years St.Kilda had the highest density of flat development in Melbourne. The flats cost less to construct than houses, could demand high rents, boosted rate revenue enormously, and were seen as excellent profit turners. Little consideration however was paid to the increasing densities of housing and the traffic problems and health risks that were to ensue.
         St.Kilda’s population increased rapidly, and the Village Belle became one of the busiest shopping centres in Melbourne. Yet, despite developments in construction and commerce of the later 1930’s, many St.Kilda residents were still suffering the deprivations of the Depression. Unemployment was still high and many continued to rely upon food rations and sustenance payments to survive. The polio epidemics of 1937 and 1938 exacerbated the situation for many poor families, mostly affecting those living in crowded and poor conditions.


WORLD WAR II

         While the pressure of a strained economy continued, many people sought foreign causes. Anti-Semitism and fear of communism increased as the world rolled towards war. Peace activists were suspected of being communist conspirators, and the lamentable sentiments displayed by Hitler in Germany were echoed in St.Kilda as the influx of immigrants from Europe increased. As there was an established community there, with some of Melbourne’s most eminent Jewish families based in the area from the 19^th Century, St.Kilda was an obvious destination for many Jewish refugees. The orientation of the community had always been towards cultural integration and the new refugees were encouraged to follow suit, to disguise their alieness in the face of suspicion and racial hatred. As the persecution continued overseas and racist attitudes were endorsed by Council the policy of cultural integration caused a dilemma for many, for it seemed more important now than ever to vigorously maintain their distinctive cultural identity, not suppress it. ⁷
         Yet despite the patriotic zeal of some of the preparations undertaken by Council and other organisations, many in St.Kilda felt far removed from the war games on the other side of the world. Apathy was expelled suddenly, however, with the announcements of Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour, Singapore and Darwin, and with Melbourne being a possible target, St.Kilda began emergency procedures and obeyed the restrictions imposed by war. Brown out conditions were enforced from the 12^th December 1941, the Town Hall was barricaded with sandbags, and trenches were dug throughout the municipality to provide bomb shelters. Evacuation procedures and air-raid drills were practiced by citizens in the street and students at school.
         On 26^th February 1942, American troops arrived in Melbourne, marching down Beaconsfield Parade, and signaling to some degree St.Kilda’s safety, as it was unlikely American soldiers would be permanently stationed in a city likely to be blown up. Emergency preparations gradually slowed, people’s fear abated, and St.Kilda entered a new phase as the focus of soldiers on leave and the pressure valve for a city on edge. The war gave St.Kilda’s entertainment industry a great boost. Soldiers and citizens sought relief at Melbourne’s famous playground. With petrol rationing, St.Kilda enjoyed the pre-eminence it had known before cars had allowed visitors to travel elsewhere for recreation.
         Even though direct threat had diminished, the war nevertheless took its toll. As labour and money were diverted to the war effort, public spaces and Council buildings were neglected and fell into disrepair. The housing shortage became extreme. Residential areas affected by the depression continued to deteriorate. Formerly grand buildings deteriorated rapidly under overcrowded conditions and once expensive apartment blocks wire severely degraded.


THE 1950s

         After the Second World War, Menzies and the Cold War dominated the political scene, and the Australian Dream was the prevailing ethos. New marketing trends reflected American idealism, and chain stores such as McEwans in Fitzroy St. were soon commonplace. St.Kilda however was spurned as a respectable residential area. Old, run-down and inner city it was anathema to the quarter-acre clock envisaged in the suburban dream. It was associated with immigrants, prostitution, drugs organised crime, Bodies and Widgies, tenancy, the single, the divorced, the old and the poor. The availability of the motor car meant that people no longer had to live so close to the city or rely upon public transport. Entertainments and holidays could be sought further afield, and the advent of television to a large extent superseded the live entertainments that were available in St.Kilda. After the heady days of its popularity during the War, St.Kilda was now overlooked and went into decline.
         The headlong rush toward newness and Americanisation, an underdeveloped sense of a public history, and little awareness of the value of St.Kilda’s heritage, paved the way for the shoe-box and high-rise flat constructions that would radically alter the face of the suburb. Council fully endorsed high-density building, convinced that the boost to rate revenue and the replacement of old dilapidated buildings with high-rises were a service to the community. An amendment to St.Kilda’s Uniform Building Regulations in 1959, which reduced minimum site areas for flats and the open spaces surrounding them, meant that flat construction could go ahead unheeded throughout the 60’s.
         McCarthysim and the fear of communism was mirrored in Menzies and in turn reflected by Council. Despite the growth in the population due to the massive increase in flat construction, Council was reluctant to provide social services for its residents. It associated services such as a free library, home help, and childcare provisions with socialist objectives, and also failed to see why it should assist a transient population at the expense f its rate payers who elected them. Nor did it acknowledge the specific needs of St.Kilda’s migrant population which had increased markedly during and after the war. Refugees came from all over Europe and St.Kilda was, for a number of reasons, often their first port of call. Many did not stay long, moving to different areas; others did, however, and made St.Kilda one of the most cosmopolitan suburbs in Melbourne,. Many new restaurants opened in St.Kilda offering alternatives to the regular Australian fare, such as Leo’s in 1956 and the Scheherezade in 1958.


THE ‘60s AND ‘70s

         St.Kilda’s transformation from a once prestigious residential area to one dominated by cheap high-density apartment blocks continued throughout the 60’s. The suburb’s identity as a family entertainment venue further declined, and its reputation for less savory activities became notorious. The graciousness of the foreshore was eroded as public works of former years were neglected. The Canary Island Palms that had been planted along the Esplanade in 1934 had been removed in 1954, and the ornamental wrought iron balustrade on the Upper Esplanade was replaced by a Besser brick fence in 1962. The once elegant City Baths build in 1931 deteriorated, housing one tawdry nightclub after another. The lack of adequate building controls and height restrictions permitted a density of development that resulted in problems related to car parking, health and safety, and a drastic reduction of gardens and open spaces. Between 1961 and 1971 flats increased from 38% of the municipalities dwellings at 62%. The figure was later to peak at 75%, proportion unapproached elsewhere in Melbourne. The highest population recorded in St.Kilda was over 61,000 in 1971.
         St.Kilda was also reshaped in other ways to accommodate increased traffic through the area. St.Kilda Junction was totally restructured in 1967, High St was widened in 1970, destroying one of the area’s most important shopping and retail precincts, and the fun fair near Luna Park was removed in 1973 when Marine Parade was widened.
         Changes occurred on political and social levels as well. A strong and vibrant culture had evolved in St.Kilda, comprised not only many ethnic groups, but a diverse range of lifestyles and professions as well, with a particularly strong artistic community. Political awareness increased in the 60’s and resident action groups were established to counter the planning decisions made by Council that were stripping St.Kilda of its grace. Council plans released in 1970 to re-develop the foreshore, including further reclamation, a mono-rail, and entertainment facilities at the head of the Pier, were met with strong protest, as were rumours of another marina to be built on West Beach. The first marina, built in 1969 adjacent to Marine Parade, was generally regarded as an eyesore, and made a large section of the foreshore inaccessible to the public. Residents were becoming more aware of St.Kilda’s valuable assets, and wanted to prevent St.Kilda being turned into a glitzy tourist resort, which was the political impetus at the time.
         Council was shaken from its complacency and reluctance to provide social services after the election of Ivan Trayling in 1967, who had campaigned vigorously on issues such as the need for a free library and child minding centers in St.Kilda. The library was officially opened in 1973. A Municipal social worker was employed in 1969, and the first municipal Child Care Centre opened in Town Hall grounds in 1971. The first female Councillor, Helen Halliday, was elected to Council in 1975, followed soon after by Elaine Miller, who became the first female mayor in 1982.


THE ‘80s AND ‘90s

         In the later ‘70’s and ‘80s, St.Kilda’s status was changing again. Inner Urban living was regaining popularity, and the gentrification process was affecting not just the physical appearance of the area, but the social character as well. Tourist based and commercial developments were accelerating and were endorsed at State and local Government levels. The Art Bank established in 1970 attracted thousands of visitors to St.Kilda on the weekends, and the first St.Kilda Festival was held in 1980. Although many-welcomed St.Kilda’s rising status and increased commercial development, others felt overwhelmed or helpless in the face of changes which favoured only the wealthy or the business minded.
         In 1985 Jack Downey, under the banner Turn the Tide, was elected to Council. Turn the Tide formed in response to the lack of representation on Council of a number of issues, including the rights and concerns of tenants in the area, and the pro-development and tourist strategy of Council which put the social and environmental character of St.Kilda at risk. In 1987, when the ward boundaries of the municipality were redrawn, the whole Council stood for reelection. The result of this unusual situation was that 8 out of the 12 Councillors elected were affiliated with Turn the Tide. The political disposition of Council thus changed. Procedure on the new Foreshore Redevelopment Scheme, a vamped up version of the 1970 plan, was halted until a more thorough study of the possible effects was made. Council also implemented new more stringent height controls for the municipality to prevent high-rise development destroying the skyline. New schemes were introduced in an attempt to prevent low incomes St.Kilda tenants being bulldozed out of the area by commercial interests and gentrification.
         The power of Council to control or restrict development on social grounds, resting on an amendment to the planning and Environment Act, was tested and failed in 1988 with the Mandalay case. Since then Council has entered into property market itself, buying properties to be reserved for low income tenancy, and has initiated a 5 year Joint Venture Plan with the Ministry of Housing and Construction to further facilitate this. The famous Venue site on the Upper Esplanade for instance has been developed to provide accommodation for elderly residents of St.Kilda, despite claims by commercial developers that this is a wasted opportunity on a prime piece of St.Kilda real estate. ⁸
         The ‘80s and ‘90s in St.Kilda have been dominated by these conflicting interests, and while there has been action taken to protect the existing social and physical fabric of the city, change has, and will continue to, take place. Fitzroy and Acland Streets in particular have changed in recent years, with considerable financial investment in a cleaner and more sophisticated character. Many new cafes and restaurants have opened, replacing their older and somewhat disreputable counterparts. The George Hotel on the corner of Fitzroy and Grey Streets encapsulates the major changes, which have taken place in St.Kilda’s history. It has evolved from being one of the most prestigious hotels in Melbourne in the 1890s, through a period of gradual decline while St.Kilda’s reputation as a prestigious suburb diminished, then into a popular if seedy music venue in the 70’s and has now regained some of its former grandeur as a stylish establishment, replete with exclusive apartments and a French patisserie.
         St.Kilda’s proximity to the sea and the city, and the early developments which established its resorts character, ensure that it will always be highly valued as a residential area and entertainment venue, whatever its current status rating. Whether its role is as children’s funfair, haunt of the underworld or for the delectation of the haute monde St.Kilda’s unique position in relation to Melbourne’s geography and in its history will continue.