Glimpses of Old Melbourne 

Beginnings of the Project

I started this project in 2007. 

The title and home photo is as I used in 2007. As you will see from the many photos taken since then I am equal parts interested in the old signs, (both masonry relief and hand painted), the building(s), the community in which it exists and the history of the creation, the subject and the people. So, I have a basic curiousity in the sign as it relates to the local history and the community.

It is devoted to photographs of signage used long ago by businesses and other enterprises in old Melbourne - some retained by people who care and incorporated in a revitalised building. Also devoted to uncovering some stories of how the old businesses used to operate and the human endeavour underlying the sign.

The general organisation of the Blog will be photo and then any details pertinent to the sign, building, product, business, people etc

Chinese Mission Church Melbourne

My first photo is the one above of the Chinese Mission Church in Little Lonsdale St Melbourne. The lovely decoration of the main sign and the other detail on the building is what attracted me. 

The Chinese Mission Church is of heritage significance and was built in 1872 by the Wesleyan Methodists and is known today as the Chinese Parish Office of the Uniting Church. The Wesleyans provided missions to the Chinese on the goldfields, and this building brought that mission into the Chinatown quarter of Melbourne. Many Chinese came to Victoria during the gold rushes of the 1850s, large numbers of whom were young men from the Canton Delta area of the southern province of Guangdong. Economic hardship and political upheaval forced many to emigrate and provide for family back in China. The two storey building was designed in the Gothic style with simple pointed arch windows and slate roof by architects Crouch and Wilson, and is an early example of polychromatic brickwork incorporating diaper work to the facade and polychromatic voussoirs to the windows. 

Source: http://www.onmydoorstep.com.au  Everything Happening on my Doorstep web site