The Sackville Ward is a large residential precinct in the suburb of

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Sackville Ward was an electoral ward a part of the

City of Kew The City of Kew was a local government area about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the southeast bank of the Yarra River. It covered an area of and existed from 1860 until 1994. History Kew was first incorpo ...

Geography

Bounded to the east by

Burke Road Burke Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. It runs from Ivanhoe East to Caulfield East and through the major shopping district at Camberwell. It is aligned with the western boundary of Elgar's Special Survey, ...

to the north by Cotham Road and to the south by Barkers Road, its western boundary is technically

Glenferrie Road Glenferrie Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. It runs from Kew to Caulfield North, and includes major shopping districts at both Hawthorn and Malvern. There are a number of rail transport options on Glenferrie ...

but more often deemed to be east of Edgevale or even Davis Streets. The Ward takes its name from the broad east–west avenue running through its centre.

History

Land in the area was purchased during the mid-1840s Government land sales by developers, two of whom were

Edward Dumaresq Edward Dumaresq (16 June 1802 – 23 April 1906) was a landowner, magistrate and acted as Surveyor General of Tasmania, Surveyor General of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Dumaresq was born in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, the youngest son of Col ...

and Peter Davis. Dumaresq (a Captain in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and one-time

Surveyor General of Tasmania Surveyor General of Tasmania is a position originally created for the colony of Van Diemens Land (Tasmania from 1855 now a state of Australia). List of Surveyors General of Tasmania See also * Surveyor General of New South Wales * Surveyor Gener ...

, then Van Diemen's Land) subsequently named some of the streets in the area after his sons, Rowland, Edward, John, Alfred and Thomas. In the resultant economic boom created by the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

, many grand mansions were constructed in the ward, most of which remain to this day. Dumaresq himself lived in Alfred Street and helped develop ''St Hilary’s'' Church of England, opening in 1889 and rebuilt in 1939. A brick house at 34 Rowland Street was constructed in 1890 to serve as the vicarage. There was further development when land adjacent to the Kew Reservoir (near the corner of Burke and Cotham Roads) was subdivided in the early twentieth century, and this area is home to some fine examples of

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

and

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

architecture. Sackville Ward was created as a ward of the

in 1988, being put forward as a ward name by then sitting councillor, Philip Barnes. This occurred as a result of the reduction from 15 councillors representing the whole of Kew to 12 councillors, and a reduction from 5 wards to 4 wards with 3 councillors representing each ward. Sackville Ward included the previously named College Ward and adjacent areas. After the 1994 council amalgamations, council functions are now administered by the

City of Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

. File:Sackville Street House, Melbourne.JPG Image:St Hillary's Vicarage.JPG Image:St Hillary's 1.JPG Image:La Verna Sackville.JPG

Today

The ward is now sought-after due to its proximity to reputable private schools such as

Carey Baptist Grammar School Carey Baptist Grammar School, commonly known as Carey, is an private school, independent, co-educational, Baptists, Baptist day school in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school has five campuses: Kew, Victoria, Kew (ELC to Year ...

(1923), Methodist Ladies' College (1882),

Ruyton Girls' School Ruyton Girls' School, commonly referred to simply as Ruyton, is a non-denominational and independent day school for girls, located on Selbourne Road, Kew, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Ruyton was established in 1878 ...

(1879), Trinity Grammar School (1902),

Genazzano FCJ College Genazzano FCJ College is a Catholic, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1889 by the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ Sisters), the college has a non-selective ...

(1889),

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

(1878) and the alternative education school Preshil.Melbourne's Best Performing Suburbs This Year. http://www.realestatesource.com.au/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1268 In August 2008 an IT executive paid more than $12 million in an off-market sale for ''La Verna'', a 120-year-old mansion built in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style. The sale was the highest in value for Melbourne for the year to date and created at the time, a new record for Kew. The ''La Verna'' sale was for a property much reduced in size. Controversially, what had previously been a Catholic monastery and retreat for Franciscan Friars with 1.2 hectare gardens and stables was sold by the Church in 2002 to developer Phillip Watts for $8.3 million. In February 2004 150 local residents lobbied the Boroondarra Council in an attempt to save the gardens of the estate by attempting to create a site-specific heritage overlay. At that time the estate also had a significant frontage to leafy Rowland Street. The remaining land was however subdivided into seven large blocks and all have since been developed with large residential dwellings. What were originally the stables for the property (also fronting Rowland Street) have now been sympathetically developed into a coachouse-style accommodation. Photographs of the ''La Verna'' development can be found on the Walking Melbourne website dedicated to discovering and protecting Melbourne's mansions.Walking Melbourne. Discarding History to Make Money. http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695 Prior to the ''La Verna'' sale, the previous record had been $6.6 million at auction for 19 Grange Road Kew to businessman and politician

Evan Thornley Evan William Thornley (born 1964), is an Australian social entrepreneur, philanthropist and impact investor. Thornley is the founder and executive chair of LongView, with a mission to find solutions to Australia's housing crisis. Based on his ...

and his wife Tracey Ellery (founders of internet company

LookSmart LookSmart is an American search advertising, content management, online media, and technology company. It provides search, machine learning and chatbot technologies as well as pay-per-click and contextual advertising services. LookSmart a ...

). Thornley is now an ALP member of the Upper House in the Victorian State Government and the property has been extensively redeveloped. In spite of the global economic crisis of the time, Kew as a whole recorded a 44.8% increase in median values for the year to 31 July 2008 (to $1.495million) buoyed largely by sales in the Sackville Ward. The exclusive nature of the ward notwithstanding, there are a number of facilities within the area aimed at the elderly and the homeless. Prague House in Sackville Street is operated by the Sisters of Charity caters for homeless men and was redeveloped in 2006 using both funds from the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and donors (who contributed $200,000 for furniture and fittings).Prague House: New housing for homeless people opens in Kew. http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/humanservicesnews/oct06/kew.htm The Yarralee Residential Aged Care Facility is located at 48 Sackville Street.

References

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Geography

History

Today

References

Further reading