Ngarveno Estate
Photo courtesy of the State Library of Victoria: Ngarveno House: J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria
The two properties that are situated at numbers 71 & 73 Ngarveno Street Moonee Ponds, used to be one house. The house is of particular significance because the street name is derived from it. It was, and still is, known as 'Ngarveno'. Ngarveno house was situated on an estate built by John Davies in 1862.
Its original resident was John Davies, who was the local Chief Magistrate of the Moonee Ponds Court and chairman of the Bench in the Essendon district for over 32 years. Sixteen acres of the property was under grape vines. John Davies named the house 'Ngarveno' after hearing about a local aboriginal word meaning "rising sun". Whether this is true or not remains unclear. The house had an easterly aspect which would face the rising sun of another glorious day.
In its early days, Ngarveno estate was the starting point of the sport of-the-time, fox hunting. The Boundaries of the estate ran from Dean St, Mt Alexander Rd, Ormond Rd and down to Moonee Ponds Creek. The house had a frontage of 100 feet and a depth of around 140 feet.
Ngarveno Estate had a large underground cellar where barrels of wine were stored. In the 1870s to 1880s, Ngarveno estate was renowned for its winemaking ability. The vineyard that ran on the 16 acres at Ngarveno estate was tended to by a man named James McNae. James McNae lived on the neighbouring property, and was also a very good friend of John Davies.
John Davies came to Moonee Ponds and bought the property allotments of seven, eight and nine in section five of the Moonee Ponds district in 1855. The John Davies Estate did not include all of allotment seven when he purchased the property rights. The 1883 directory shows that a Mr. W.S. Cox, who had built and just started a new racecourse on Feehans farm, was also a resident on Davies St.
John Davies then went about and built Ngarveno Estate so that it would remind him of his Welsh heritage. It was commonly called the "Davies Estate," probably due to no-one being able to say or pronounce the word ngarveno correctly. John Davies sold the property to a speculator by the name of Matthew Davies in 1884 (no relation to John Davies). Two years later the estate was subdivided.
On the 23rd of August in 1911 at 3.00pm, the Ngarveno Estate was placed under the instructions of a Mr. W.W. Greene Esq. The estate was sold into six splendid Villa sites and the house was separated and became two semi-detached houses.
The Auction drew special attention to the many advantages the property held including extensive views (long since gone). It has a gentle sloping ground, ensuring prefect drainage and was and still is, in close proximity to the up-to-date business of Mt Alexander Rd and Puckle St. The property was also close to the electric tram lines that ran into central Melbourne and the CBD.
The house had a frontage of 100 feet to Ngarveno St and a depth of 170 feet. Both homes came with seven bedrooms, stables, outbuildings (toilet) and rear lane access.
As the photo above shows, the house is still in wonderful condition and its rich history remains intact.
Ngarveno Estate Compiled by:
Alush Ibrahim
Research Documents obtained from:
Chalmers, R.W, The Annals of Essendon: Volume 1: 1850's to 1924, Essendon Historical Society, Australia,1998
Gibb, R., Early Landowners, Parish of Doutta Galla, 2001
JT Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.
Street Names of Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale and Strathmore, 2nd edition, Essendon Historical Society Inc, Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia , 2001
Essendon Gazette,14/09/1911, p14
Essendon Gazette,15/06/1977, p5