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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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(3019, 10 km W, Maribyrnong City)
A surveyed township straddling the crossing (Solomon's Ford) on the Maribyrnong River, Braybrook gave its name to the Road Board (1860) and the Shire (1871). The Braybrook Hotel (established in 1854 and still operating) catered for goldfields traffic on the Ballarat Road. From the 1870s the reserve south of the river became a slaughtering and noxious trades centre with an unenviable reputation for river and air pollution. Light industry remains significant there. Housing spread to Braybrook from Braybrook Junction and Maidstone, but substantial residential development came only with the Housing Commission of Victoria's estate of detached concrete houses, planned during World War II and built in the 1950s. This estate, the subject of D. Scott and R. U'ren's pioneering study of the development of social and recreational activities for public housing residents, resettled many from the notorious Camp Pell. Braybrook became part of the City of Sunshine created from Braybrook Shire in 1951, and was incorporated into the City of Maribyrnong in 1994. A high proportion of the labour force works in the manufacturing industry, and of the 328 Melbourne suburbs surveyed at the 1996 census, Braybrook had the second highest rate of rental of dwellings from the government, and 41.2% of households in the lowest income quartile. Recent migrant and refugee settlement has created an ethnically diverse population, and a responsive Maribyrnong Council has developed community and health facilities in consultation with residents. Quang Ming Buddhist temple serves a thriving Vietnamese community.