3078 History: Fulham Grange
The farm of Mr Perry on the Yarra 1855 - Eugène Von Guerard
This painting of the farm Fulham Grange, is the first commissioned work by Eugene Von Guerard in Victoria (after he’d failed to make his fortune on the goldfields).
It depicts the Yarra in the foreground, the native vegetation being cleared, and the farmhouse, orchard and vineyard that were to become well-known as Perry’s Nursery Garden and Orchard. It’s a painting of our backyards 150+ years ago.
Richard and Elizabeth Perry purchased the uncleared land in the early 1850s, and with their 3 oldest sons, developed it into a successful business.
They capitalised on the demand for fresh fruit and vegetables following the goldrush. By the late 1860s the farm had 100,000 apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot, damson, quince, lemon, orange and pomelo trees and a canning facility that produced tons of jams, marmalades, condiments, jellies and bottled fruit each year.
The farm was also a tree nursery, which stocked almost every variety of exotic tree available in the colonies.
It was in 1884 that the property was subdivided and sold off in allotments to create one of Melbourne's first garden suburbs.
And, here’s a pretty fascinating picture of a house built in that first subdivision. Built by Thomas Stokes, completed in 1886. This house called Edgebaston is at 1 Tower Avenue, Alphington. Look at all the paddocks around! Maybe the next time you take a walk in the ‘hood you could wander past and see what it looks like today …
Edgebaston - one of the first houses built on the subdivided Fulham Grange farm.