Dr Sarah Hayes

Against the backdrop of embryonic Melbourne, John Thomas Smith, publican and builder, left behind his currency roots to become an influential member of society. A widely recognised figure about town, smoking a cutty pipe and wearing a white top hat, in 1851 he became Lord Mayor of Melbourne; he went on to be re-elected seven times. His scandalous marriage to...

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Melbourne's Little Lonsdale—locally known as 'Little Lon'—was notorious as a foul slum and brothel district, occupied by the itinerant and the criminal. The stereotype of 'slumdom' defined 'Little Lon' in the minds of Melbournians and became entrenched in Australian literature and popular culture. The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne tells a different story. This...