The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne.
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 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 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]
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Melbourne Club". vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ a b Young, Helen (20 February 2016). "Open gardens: Melbourne Club's walled oasis". The Australian. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
- ^ "Men's clubs remain women-free zones". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ 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.