Saturday in Jolimont Saturday in Jolimont

This is our story of how we spent a Saturday afternoon in 2003 retracing the steps of History Trails in Melbourne by W. Lloyd Williams about the origins of Jolimont.

It was a relatively quiet Saturday given it was one of those crazy Melbourne weather days, everything from cold and rain to hot and sweltery, but that never stops a Melburnian.

I had read a story about the origins of Jolimont in the book mentioned above and we were retracing the steps of the author written in 1957 walking down Agnes Street, telling us what we would have seen in 1839.

In Chapter 10 - Jolimont, Mrs La Trobes exclamation on seeing the hill for the first time came its name. She merely exclaimed, "What a beautiful little hill" but the tongue that said the words were French-Swiss, and the words themselves were, "Quel joli month!". It is a charming story; let us hope that since the good, the lovely, and the true are held to be one and the same thing, it is also true.

The Latrobes later built their home on that hill, which became Victorias first Government House and raised a family whose names now adorn the street names around Agnes Street.

We too witnessed much change compared to the story, although amazingly it is still possible to see the current Government House from the site of the first Government House erected in 1839. A number of buildings have been refurbished into apartment buildings, while the old Government House has been moved to the Domain gardens, near to the serving Government House.

We wandered around the streets and lanes of Jolimont for an hour or so in search of the house, before the heat finally took its toll. You see, we hadnt known that the old wooden Government House had been moved. We felt let down that we could not see what our author saw. In hindsight, it also seems odd that no plaque commemorates the location of the first Government House in Agnes Street?

[NOTE: there is a plaque at 22 Agnes Street, affixed to a section of grey wall, but its most inconspicuous.]

Resolving to right-this-wrong, and get to the bottom of the missing Government House it was time to move on. Heading under the railway for the calmingly cool Fitzroy Gardens, home to many days of my youth.

My partner had to endure a second history lesson for the day as I journeyed back through a collection of days spent in the gardens scouring the lake for yabbies.

Having said that, the day I remember most in Fitzroy Gardens was a sunny February morning in 2002 that I laid on the grass opposite The Mercy calling family and friends, announcing the birth of our son. What a day!

Red Helmut

❊ Address ❊

 ⊜  Agnes Street, Jolimont  View Map

➼


Update Page