The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Melbourne Club entrance

The Melbourne Club

The club is a symbol of Australia's British social heritage and was established at a gathering of 23 gentlemen on Saturday, 17 December 1838, and initially used John Pascoe Fawkner's hotel on the corner of Collins Street and Market Street.[1]

The Melbourne Club 1860 State Library Victoria H82.277/6

The Melbourne Club moved to new purpose-built premises at the eastern end of Collins Street, designed by Leonard Terry in Renaissance Revival style, in 1859.[2] A dining room wing with a bay window was added at the western end in 1885, designed by Terry and Oakden. It includes, among other rooms, a library, main dining room, private dining room, breakfast room, billiard rooms, lawn room and bedrooms. The building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.[2]

At the rear of the Club building is a private courtyard garden, maintained by arborist-horticulturalist John Fordham, which is also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register,[3] and is the location of garden parties and private functions. The garden contains the largest plane tree in Victoria, according to the National Trust's Register of Significant Trees.[3]

The Melbourne Club courtyard garden

The Melbourne Club does not allow female membership.[4] The female-only Lyceum Club, located directly behind in Ridgway Place, enjoys views of the trees of the Melbourne Club's gardens.[citation needed]

In October 1982, a "lunch-in" protest was held by members of the unemployed workers' group Work for Today, followed the next month by an occupation, resulting from a march of trade unionists and unemployed people.[5]

Notable members

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Frederick Powlett (1811–1865) was a founding member in 1838 as well as being a founding member and the first recorded president of the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1838. He was a public servant, a police magistrate and later chief commissioner of Crown Lands.[citation needed]

Other notable members:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ McNicoll, Ronald (1988). Number 36 Collins Street (2008 ed.). Australia: Allen & Unwin/Haynes in conjunction with the Melbourne Club. ISBN 978-0-04378-008-4.
  2. ^ a b "Melbourne Club". vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Young, Helen (20 February 2016). "Open gardens: Melbourne Club's walled oasis". The Australian. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Men's clubs remain women-free zones". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  5. ^ Sparrow, Jeff; Sparrow, Jill (9 November 2020). "Stories of Unemployed Activism from Radical Melbourne: 1906-1982". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  6. ^ Melbourne Club (1857). Rules and regulations of the Melbourne Club, Victoria. Melbourne : Goodhugh & Hough, Printers.
  7. ^ "Exclusive clubs feud over highrise plan". ABC Radio. 15 February 2000. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  8. ^ Hardy, J. S. (1993). "Bassett, Sir Walter Eric (1892–1978)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

37°48′49″S 144°58′21″E / 37.81361°S 144.97250°E / -37.81361; 144.97250