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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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Chancery Lane was the previous name of Little Collins Street between Queen and Williams streets. In the 1850s, Chancery Lane was home to Graham's slaughter house.
The sights to be witnessed in this filthy golgotha is [sic] a disgrace to a Civilized community ... the Beasts are slaughter the entrails being torn out & left stinking 3 or 4 days before they are removed & on a hot day the stench is horrible & when removed it is done in the middle of the day & that in Carts so crowded with the offal that it drops off at every jolt of the Cart & lies disgusting the eyes and nose of the inhabitants by its filthy stench the very dogs even they avoid.
In the 1890s, Chancery Lane contained the Victorian Creamery and Butter Company, which discharged 10-15 tons of buttermilk into the surrounding laneways daily. Alex Crawford, the managing director of the butter company, insisted that the buttermilk then found its way into channels of Chancery Lane and Queen Street and was washed away by the constant stream of water produced by their engines, and that 'the buttermilk only smells when allowed to lie and get stagnant'. Nonetheless, it is clear that Chancery Lane must have contained many of the pools of waste and unpleasant smells of the smaller laneways.