Ever wondered where Footscray got its name? For the answer, you have to go half way around the world to south-east London.
One of Melbourne’s oldest suburbs, Footscray dates back to a settlement known as Saltwater, which grew at a crossing point on the Maribyrnong River in 1839.
By the late 1800s, it was already well developed and accounted for a large amount of Melbourne’s industrial output.
Footscray station became a major transport junction and the markets attracted visitors from across the city.
In England, Foots Cray took its name from Godwin Fot – a Saxon landowner recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086 – and from the Cray River, which passes through a village that was situated on the old Maidstone Road leading from London to Kent.
Footscray has Footscray Park on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, while its English namesake has Foots Cray Meadows, a heritage-listed 89-hectare park formed from two mid-18th century landscaped parks.
While Footscray has a rich industrial heritage and was home to the likes of Kinnears, Olympic Tyres and an ammunition factory, Foots Cray has a large Coca-Cola bottling plant and was the base of a company producing radio and television sets as early as 1928.
Few people are better qualified to discuss the origins and links between Footscray and Foots Cray than Footscray Historical Society secretary Catherine Reichert. She will present a free talk about the history of both areas, in Australia and England, this Sunday.
Historical society committee member Carmel Taig said Ms Reichert was passionate about the heritage and connections between the two areas, despite them being separated by more than 17,000 kilometres.
“We have Catherine to thank for sustaining the vital links between Footscray and Foots Cray,’’ she said. ‘‘On each trip to England, she makes a point of visiting Foots Cray.’’
Ms Taig said Ms Reichert, who has been secretary of the historical society for two decades, had a particular interest in the period when Footscray was founded.
“If you want to know more about what was here in Footscray in 1848, and what the two towns have in common, come along and Catherine will take you on a journey.”
The free event is at Ercildoune, corner of Hyde and Napier streets, Footscray, from 2pm.
For more details, visit www.footscrayhistoricalsociety.org.au
