1865 Yarra from South Bank

This amazing image captures the state of the Yarra's south bank around 1865. The collection of ships, boats, hulks, dingeys in this small pocket of the river highlights the conditions and industries of that time in that area. We can see a couple of men working their way through a scrapyard of discarded maritime junk, just to the west of The Falls. This looks like a cemetery for old boats.

The south bank was prone to flooding (there was a massive flood in 1863) and therefore the area south of the Yarra all the way to Emerald Hill was not suitable for residential use or even industrial purposes of any magnitude. On the far left of the image we can see a raised wooden boardwalk, of which there were dozens in that area, that allowed pedestrians to move along the sodden south bank and progress to the south-west of the city, on the way to Emerald Hill. 

Notes from the State Library tell us that this image is a "View of a large ship docked at the water's edge. There are structures and fixtures on the dock".

Photograph attributed to John Jones (1817-1872). 

This is a digitally retouched reproduction of the original held by the State Library of Victoria.

Our team of conservators have worked on a high resolution digital image in order to remove blemishes and artifacts such as stains, mould, scratches and damage caused by the handling of the original. We strive to provide authentic representations of the original work that are suitable for enlargements that retain the tones and character of the original.