First Flush at the All England Eleven

1-IMG_0831 — corner Princes and Rouse Streets, Port Melbourne, October 2015

This unprepossessing corner was once the site of the All England Eleven Hotel. The hotel was demolished in 1953 according to this account in The Herald of this week’s date:

“If you stand in Princes Street, Port Melbourne and look in through the windows of the derelict All England Eleven Hotel, you can see the sky. The hotel has lost its roof and is fast losing everything else, too, as demolition works go on. Eventually, it will disappear and a block of flats go up in its place.

But memories will linger …

One of the port’s ‘old-timers’, Mr G Porritt, who lives a few doors away, remembers when the All England Eleven was the busiest spot in town.

The last licensee, Mrs M Cass – she is now the licensee of the Queens Bridge Hotel, South Melbourne, said it was delicensed before the First World War. Later it became a guest house. For many years its present owners Swallow and Ariell Ltd have used it as a store. Mystery surrounds its name. But the first official English Test team visited Australia in 1876 a year before it was built. Another hotel, in Bay St, was called the All Australian Eleven (sic). That is a factory now.” (Herald 23 February 1953, p9)

All England Eleven Hotel in Port Melbourne

This corner is more significant for being the first place in Melbourne to be connected to the sewerage system in 1897.

FIRST FLUSH 1897: “The sewerage connections at the All England Eleven Hotel have been passed by the Metropolitan Board of Works’ officers, and the drains are now in full working order. We understand that this is the first completed connection in the Port. Mr. W. Robertson, of 431 Law Courts Place, was the plumber who carried out the work”. (Standard 21 August 1897, p2)

The plaque in the footpath on Princes St marks this very important milestone in public health. The anniversary of this event is marked on 17 August each year.

cnr Rouse and Princes Streets, Port Melbourne

Postscript: when a planning permit was issued for the redevelopment of the property in 2015, a condition on the permit required the reinstatement of the plaque in the footpath. The City of Port Phillip took care of the plaque during the protracted development. The plaque was reinstated into the Princes St footpath in November 2019.

Post Postscript: these pictures from August 2023 show the apartment block on the corner of Princes and Rouse Streets including the location of the plaque.