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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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From the beginning of Melbourne's European settlement, locally caught fish were traded from the banks of the Yarra River on the grassy slope between the Yarra Falls and Queens Wharf. In 1841 a small wholesale and retail fish market was incorporated into the Western Market. However, in need of more space, the expanding wholesale fish trade moved to Princes Bridge from the late 1850s, supplying both hawkers and private shopkeepers. The first official fish market was built in 1865 at the Flinders Street corner of the approach to Princes Bridge. Increased health regulations and congestion saw the market moved to new premises, designed by Robert George Gordon - complete with railway access for fish cargoes, and unique refrigeration and freezing chambers - on the south side of Flinders Street between Market and Spencer streets in 1892. Game and rabbits were also sold at the market. Until subsumed by the development of Flinders Street Station, the old Flinders Street site operated as a bicycle stable and vegetable market. By the mid-1950s, the Melbourne City Council approached the State Government to locate a more suitable site, ahead of construction of the new King Street Bridge. With the fruit and vegetable wholesalers also experiencing congestion at the Queen Victoria Market, both markets were relocated in 1959 to their current 4.6-hectare site in Footscray Road, West Melbourne, and the old market building was demolished.