In its 120 plus years, Queen Victoria Market has had a colourful and sometimes controversial history. During that time, the site has been a cemetery, a Livestock Market and a Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market. Each of these uses has their own history and an element of controversy.
The Queen Victoria Market was officially opened on 20 March 1878, despite markets operating from the site in varying forms prior to that date.
The Lower Market (bounded by Elizabeth, Victoria, Queen and Therry Streets) is the oldest part of the Market. It was originally set aside in 1857 for a Fruit and Vegetable Market due to over-crowding and congestion at the Eastern Market but the location was unpopular and the market gardeners wouldn’t use it. Instead it was used as a Livestock and Hay Market until it was permanently reserved as a Market in 1867.
The following year a substantial brick building was erected on Elizabeth Street and this became a Wholesale Meat Market. However, the wholesale meat trade soon became dissatisfied with the site and relocated to the Metropolitan Meat Market building in Courtney Street, North Melbourne. With no other use for the building, it was turned over to a Retail Meat and Fish Market and slaughterhouse.
In 1878, the Market sheds G, H, I J were also built on the site and wholesaling and retailing of fruit and vegetables occurred for the first time. Whilst H & I Sheds still stand, G Shed was removed to construct the current Meat Hall loading bay and a block of public toilets. The original J Shed burnt down and is now a public plaza. In 1880, the Elizabeth Street shops were constructed following the realignment of Elizabeth Street. This also allowed the Meat Hall to be extended and the present facade was constructed in 1884. The Dairy Produce Hall (also known as the Deli Hall) was the last of the buildings to be built on this part of the Market, and was constructed in 1929.
The Upper Market (bounded by Queen, Victoria, Peel and Franklin Streets) was not originally reserved as a market but had a number of other uses including a school and drill hall. Its predominant use, however, was as Melbourne’s first cemetery. Construction of A- F sheds began in 1877 at the northern most edge of the Market. This site was chosen because it contained the school, drill hall and the least used section of the cemetery.
By 1930 the remainder of the site had been built upon. Between 1903 and 1905 A-C Sheds were extended to Peel Street, whilst D-F Sheds had to wait until 1922 before they were extended. That same year the Queen Street and Peel Street verandahs were also constructed. The roofing of the centreway occurred in 1927. In 1929/1930 the large K & L Sheds were constructed for growers.
In 1929/30 the City of Melbourne constructed 60 brick stores on the current car park to house the wholesale agents and merchants. However allegations of corruption and racketeering and a Royal Commission in 1960 lead to the decision to relocate the Wholesale Market to Footscray in 1969. A single row of the Agents stores along Franklin Street is all that remains of the Merchants section of the Market.
The separation of the Wholesale Market from the Retail Market lead to a plan to redevelop the Queen Victoria Market site into a trade centre, office and hotel complex in the 1970s. However, public outcry prevented this and resulted in the Market being classified by the National Trust. This was later followed by the Market site and its buildings being listed on the Historic Buildings Register.
Queen Victoria Market survives today as one of the largest and most intact examples of Melbourne’s great 19th century markets.