In 1851 Crown land sales occurred in the area. One of the purchasers, Nicholas Fenwick, subdivided his land and named streets after English statesmen, with the subdivision being called Kew. The area quickly became a sought-after suburb for the well-to-do in the colony of Melbourne.
Access to Kew was originally via Bridge Road Richmond crossing the Hawthorn Bridge to Burwood Road, until the Johnston Street bridge was built in 1858.
In 1856 a site was reserved for a mental asylum next to the river. By 1871 the Willsmere Hospital, also known as the Kew Lunatic Asylum, now known as the Willsmere apartments was completed. The Kew Cottages for children were added in 1887. The hospital was built despite objections by residents and the borough council and provides an historical example of NIMBYism. Kew Cottages and Willsmere Hospital are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Various churches opened in the 1850s, with the first school opened by the Anglican Church in 1856. The first private schools were opened in 1878, being Ruyton Girls' School (non-denominational) and Xavier College (Catholic in Jesuit order), with other private schools soon following, including Methodist Ladies' College (Methodist) in 1882, Genazzano FCJ College in 1891, Trinity Grammar School (Anglican) in 1903, and Carey Baptist Grammar School (Baptist) in 1923. By 1990, Kew had six government campuses and twenty-eight non-government campuses, the highest concentration of education institutions in the Western world[citation needed].
Kew was proclaimed a town on 8 December 1910, and a city on 10 March 1921. The population of the area tripled between 1910 and the World War II.
Kew has grown steadily since the early the Bridge Road crossing development and is now one of the most prestigious suburbs in Melbourne. Town Planners were not constrained by the smaller lot allocations found just to the west over the Yarra and allotments in Kew were developed usually with much greater size and fronted wide, leafy boulevards.
As a consequence, many of these residences now attract some of the highest residential resale values in Melbourne. In many cases, the large allotments have been subsequently redeveloped into townhouses or duplexes and have thus appealed to a newer demographic (primarily dual-income parents with one or more children), keen to be close not only to the Melbourne CBD but also the excellent schooling facilities available nearby.
Streets within the Sackville Ward (bounded by Barkers, Burke, Cotham and Glenferrie Roads) such as Alfred, Rowland, Wellington, Grange and Sackville have some exceptional examples of Edwardian, Victorian and contemporary architecture. There has also been a recent trend towards the development of larger retirement-living complexes aimed principally at downsizing couples wishing to remain in the area. However one negative aspect of this increased living density is that the infrastructure within Kew is becoming taxed and will need continuous government and private-sector investment to operate efficiently.
Nonetheless, Kew has convenient access to public facilities and transport. The 109, 16 and 72 Tram Routes pass through on three of the abovementioned thoroughfares and the City/Lilydale/Belgrave train line is easily accessed at Auburn and Camberwell Stations. Kew Station was closed in the 1950's, and is now the headquarters of VicRoads.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kew".