Toorak () is a suburb of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, south-east of Melbourne's
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, located within the
City of Stonnington
The City of Stonnington is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner south-eastern suburbs, between , from the Melbourne CBD. The city covers an area of .
Within twenty years ...
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
, on Boonwurrung Land. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the
2021 census.
[
The name Toorak has become synonymous with wealth and privilege, the suburb long having the reputation of being Melbourne's most elite, and ranking among the most prestigious in Australia. It has the highest average property values in Melbourne, and is one of the most expensive suburbs in Australia. It is the nation's second highest earning postcode after ]Point Piper
Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.
Point Piper has been historically r ...
in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
.
Located on a rise on the south side (or left bank) of a bend in the Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower s ...
, Toorak is bordered by South Yarra
South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Sto ...
, at Williams Road on the west, Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
, at Glenferrie Road on the east, Prahran
Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...
and Armadale, at Malvern Road to the south and the suburbs of Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
and Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
on the north side of the river. The suburb's main street is considered to be Toorak Road
Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warrigal Road, and finishes in Bel ...
, on which the commercial area of Toorak Village is located.
Toorak is named after Toorak House
Toorak House is a mansion located in Melbourne, Australia built in 1849 by well-known Melbourne merchant James Jackson. It is notable for its use as Melbourne's first Government House and having inspired the name for the suburb of Toorak.
...
, the 1849-built residence of James Jackson, a merchant.
The suburb has also been a preferred location for many consulate offices and their residences, including China, Britain, Monaco, Sweden, Turkey, and Switzerland.
History
Toponymy
Toorak was named after Toorak House, an Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
residence built by James Jackson, a merchant, in 1849. The name of the house may have originated from Woiwurrung language
The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance.
The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria extended from north ...
, with words of similar pronunciation meaning ''black crow'' or ''reedy swamp''.
Toorak House
From 1854 Toorak House served as the residence of the first Governor of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...
, Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
Charles Hotham
Sir Charles Hotham, KCB, RN (14 January 180631 December 1855)B. A. Knox,Hotham, Sir Charles (1806–1855), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 429-430.
was Lieutenant-Governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, A ...
KCB RN and his successors, until the completion of the present Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries.
Gover ...
(1876) in the Kings Domain
Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance.
T ...
.
Toorak Post Office opened around June 1858.
1880s land boom
During the land boom of the 1880s, many large and elaborate mansions were erected in Toorak, often in the Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
style. Following East Melbourne
East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...
and then St Kilda, Toorak, along with Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, became the new favored location for the wealthy.
1890s depression
The suburb was hit particularly hard by the 1890s economic depression and many wealthy landowners declared bankruptcy and were forced to sell. Nonetheless, the suburb remained and is still Melbourne's home of " old money". During the Interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, many houses were built in the Tudor revival
Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...
style; many houses were also designed by society Architect Marcus Martin
Marcus Martin (born November 29, 1993) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC.
Early years
Martin attended Cre ...
in the Moderne style over a Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
building form.
Post-war era
In the period of post-World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
prosperity, rising standards of living and land values caused Toorak to become highly sought after by a new generation of the wealthy, thought by some to be social climber
A ''parvenu'' is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb ''parvenir'' (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something).
Orig ...
s and nouveau riche
''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...
. For some of these people, the focus was simply to have the postcode of Toorak, which was SE 2 and now 3142. As a result, many of the larger mansions were demolished and large holdings were subdivided to make way for flats, townhouses and apartments.
In the 1980s, larger houses in Neo-Georgian and Neo-Classical styles began to appear.
Contemporary Toorak
While large mansions have survived in neighbouring Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
, Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
and Armadale, only a few of the original 19th-century mansions in Toorak remain, due in part to the high land value. Two of the most notable are Illawarra House, which was acquired by the National Trust; and Coonac, the most expensive house in Melbourne. In Toorak, some of the old property names live on as street names or the names of blocks of flats, carved out of or built on their sites; Dunraven Avenue, Millicent Avenue, Iona Avenue, Woorigoleen Road, Myoora Road, and Scotsburn Grove are examples.
Demographics
In the 2016 census, there were 12,909 people in Toorak.
* 63.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
and Taiwan) 3.6%, England 3.1%, New Zealand 2.2%, India 1.8% and Malaysia 1.2%.
* 73.7% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.5%, Cantonese 1.8%, Italian 1.4%, Greek 1.3% and French 0.9%.
* The most common responses for religion were no religion 30.9%, Catholic 17.6% and Anglican 14.9%,
* Of the employed people in Toorak, 4.0% worked in legal services. Other major industries of employment included hospitals 3.7%, real estate services 3.1%, general practice medical services 2.9% and clothing retailing 2.7%.
* The proportion of Toorak residents with a Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
or higher is 46.7%.
Housing
Toorak has an unusual mix of high-, low- and medium-density housing
Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of m ...
, due to intense subdivision of larger lots in the 1880s, 1920s and 1960s. The predominant housing in Toorak (49.6%) is apartments, particularly walk-up flats.
Single-family detached homes are also prevalent (30.2%). Some of these homes are in the form of traditional mansions or newer large residences on significant-sized estates, owned by Melbourne's wealthy and social elite. The architectural style of the mansions is predominantly Italianate and colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
.
There are also extant stands of semi-detached housing (20.1%), including terraces, which were traditionally fashionable with the middle class and later gentrified.
Politics
Toorak falls within the federal electorate of Higgins. The seat of Higgins was created in 1949 and held by Harold Holt CH 1949–1967, Sir John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...
PC GCMG
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
AC CH 1968–1975, Roger Shipton
Roger Francis Shipton (5 August 1936 – 18 January 1998) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1990, representing the Melbourne seat of Higgins.
Early life
...
OAM 1975–1990, Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...
AC 1990–2009, Kelly O'Dwyer
Kelly Megan O'Dwyer (born 31 March 1977) is a former Australian politician. She served in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019, representing the Liberal Party, and held senior ministerial office from 2015 to 2019.
O'Dwyer was a solic ...
2009-2019 and Katie Allen 2019-2022 (all on behalf of the Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
). However, the seat would fall to the Labor Party for the first time ever in the 2022 Federal Election, with candidate Michelle Ananda-Rajah
Michelle Renuka Ananda-Rajah (Tamil: மிசேல் ஆனந்தராஜா; born 10 December 1972) is a Tamil Australian member of the Australian Labor Party for the Division of Higgins elected in the 2022 Australian federal election. ...
winning the seat as Labor took government from the coalition.
At State level, it mostly falls within the electorate of Malvern (currently held by the Liberals' Michael O'Brien) since the 2006 Victorian State Election, with the western part of the suburb falling within the electorate of Prahran (currently held by Sam Hibbins
Samuel Peter Hibbins (born 18 February 1982) is an Australian politician. He has been a Australian Greens Victoria, Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the electoral district of Prahran. Along wi ...
on behalf the Australian Greens). At local council level, Toorak falls within the City of Stonnington.
Toorak has historically voted for conservative political parties. The Liberal Party retained the seat of Malvern in the 2018 State Election, although there was a 10.1% swing to the Australian Labor Party.
Toorak Village
The Toorak Village is a strip of shops and cafes, located centrally in Toorak Road.
Places of worship
* Saint John's Anglican Church, an 1862 Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
bluestone church, designed by William Wardell
William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...
, dominates the skyline of Toorak, with a large tower including a peal of bells and a distinctive sandstone broach spire. The church was formally established at a meeting held on 21st November 1859. Those present were Messrs Alfred Ross, H.W. Dauglish, J Goodman, Allan Spowers, John Steavenson, Jas Blackwood, J Quarterman, W.M. Hammill, H.W. Farrar, George Hull, Captain Sawell, W.T. Wood, P Gunning, E Davis, J Slater, G Guillaume and son. Construction began in April 1860, and was completed on 23rd October 1860. The ground for the church buildings was selected by Bishop Parry at what was the entrance to the Orrong Estate, which was the property of Mr Alfred Ross. The foundation stone was laid by the Governor, Sir Henry Barkly
Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences.
Early life and education
Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...
. Saint John's, Toorak is one of the most popular wedding venue churches in Australia.
* Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church, built in 1876 in the Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...
and extended in 1934. A campanile was added during renovations in 2018.
* Toorak Uniting Church (1876), in the Frenchified Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style
* Swedish Church
The Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
Church (1877), formerly on the corner of Toorak and Williams Roads, was illegally demolished in 1990 by developers and later replaced by a block of flats.
Schools
Schools in Toorak include St Catherine's School, Loreto Mandeville Hall
, motto_translation = While I live, I believe in the Cross
, location = Toorak, Victoria
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne
, pushp ...
, St Kevin's College, Glamorgan (now Toorak Campus, the junior school of Geelong Grammar School
, motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom)
, city = Corio, Victoria
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, ...
) and Toorak Central School (1890).
Sport
The Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1884 and is located in Toorak. Kooyong Stadium
Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is an Australian tennis venue, located in the Melbourne suburb of Kooyong. The stadium, was built in 1927, and has undergone several renovations.
It has a seating capacity of slightly more t ...
, former home of the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, is located on Glenferrie Road.
Transport
The most popular form of transport in Toorak is the automobile. CityLink
CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two ex ...
runs along north eastern Toorak, though there are no interchanges
Interchange may refer to:
Transport
* Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways
* Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies
* Interchange station, a rai ...
within the suburb, although there is access to the freeway via MacRobertson Bridge
The MacRobertson Bridge is a road bridge that carries Grange Road from Toorak on the south bank into Burnley, over the Yarra River and the Monash Freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The first river crossing at the site was Twickenham F ...
and interchanges at Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. Main arterials running north–south are Williams Road (at the eastern boundary), Grange Road, Orrong Road, St Georges Road and Kooyong Road. The east–west arterials include Alexandra Avenue (at the northern boundary), Toorak Road (which runs midway through the suburb) and Malvern Road (at the southern boundary). Alexandra Avenue becomes St Georges Road and both along with Grange Road feed onto the MacRobertson Bridge, Toorak's main river crossing.
Toorak's road planning is an example of street hierarchy
The street hierarchy is an urban planning technique for laying out road networks that exclude automobile through-traffic from developed areas. It is conceived as a hierarchy of roads that embeds the link importance of each road type in the netw ...
. As a result, there are numerous quiet pedestrian streets. However, traffic congestion is an increasing problem along Toorak Road and Williams Roads. There is limited street parking along the main roads with just a couple of multi-storey car park
A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bui ...
s and parking lots within proximity of the main Toorak Road shopping strip. There are no level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
s in Toorak. There is a perception in popular culture of the luxury 4WD as a status symbol, (controversial for their comfort rather than for their off-road abilities) and this has been associated with the suburb of Toorak, such that in popular Australian culture, the term 'Toorak Tractor' has become well established in Australian slang
Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn ...
. An example of this was an episode of the popular program ''Top Gear Australia
''Top Gear Australia'' was an Australian motoring reality television series, based on the British BBC series ''Top Gear''. The programme first premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008. A second season was ordered following the high ratings for ...
'', aired on SBS TV
SBS may refer to:
Broadcasting
* SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries
* Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands
** SBS6, Dutch television channel
** SBS9, Dutch television channel
* Special Broadcasting Service ...
, in which the presenters, tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...
, drove a $200,000 tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
along Toorak Road.
Toorak's only railway station is Heyington, on the Glen Waverley line, which crosses the Yarra from Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
on the Heyington Railway Bridge, to the suburb's north. Despite its name, Toorak railway station
Toorak railway station is a Commuter rail, commuter railway station on the northern boundary of Armadale, Victoria, Armadale, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and was opened on ...
is located in Armadale. The Pakenham, Frankston and Cranbourne railway line group to which this station belongs runs close to Toorak's southern boundary. Other nearby stations include Hawksburn, in South Yarra and Kooyong, in Kooyong.
Trams have run down Toorak Road since 1888. Route 58 runs along Toorak Road to Glenferrie Road, at the suburb's eastern boundary. Route 72 runs along Malvern Road, the suburb's southern boundary.
Cycling facilities are poor, with few marked on road lanes. MacRobertson Bridge and Gardiners Creek
Gardiners Creek, originally known as Kooyongkoot Creek, is a waterway in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and part of the Yarra River catchment.
In a few sparse locations remnant riparian bushland survives, however the majority of its length has ...
pedestrian bridge, however, the bridge provides pedestrians access to the Main Yarra Trail
__NOTOC__
The Yarra Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Yarra River through the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The trail follows the river from near its mouth, through the city ...
and shared bicycle and pedestrian paths in nearby Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. Pedestrians are serviced by an extensive network of footpaths and pedestrian crossings.
Residents
Celebrities, philanthropists, cultural figures
* Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
AM – singer/songwriter
* Dame
''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...
Zara Bate
Dame Zara Kate Bate (; previously Fell and Holt; 10 March 190914 June 1989) was an Australian fashion entrepreneur. She was best known as the wife of Harold Holt, who was prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his disappearance in 1967.
...
DBE – Fashion designer and wife of Harold Holt
* Martin Clemens
Major Warren Frederick Martin Clemens (17 April 1915 – 31 May 2009) was a British colonial administrator and soldier. In late 1941 and early 1942, while serving as a District Officer in the Solomon Islands, he helped prepare the area for event ...
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
MC AM - war hero
* Albert Dadon
Albert Dadon AM (born 1957) is an Australian businessman, philanthropist and musician. He was born in Morocco and grew up in Israel and France before immigrating to Melbourne, Australia in 1983. He is prominent in promoting cultural and business ...
AM – Chair of the Australian Israel Cultural Exchange
* Gina Liano
Gina Liano (born 1966) is an Australian barrister, author, entrepreneur and television personality. She is best known for her role in ''The Real Housewives of Melbourne''.
Early and personal life
Liano was born Georgina Caroline Italiano in Bri ...
– Real Housewife of Melbourne
* Paul Little AO and Jane Hansen – business people, philanthropists, Little was a former president of the Essendon Football Club
* Peter Hudson
Peter John Hudson AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the ...
– television chef and entertainer, born in Toorak in 1930
* Eddie McGuire
Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional '' Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionai ...
AM – Journalist, sports commentator, television and radio personality, Australian republic advocate and former president of the Collingwood Football Club
* Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE
* Dame Merlyn Myer
Dame Margery Merlyn Myer (; 8 January 19003 September 1982) was an Australian philanthropist, who was notable for her charitable work.
Birth and marriage
Born as Margery Merlyn Baillieu in Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia, to George Franci ...
DBE – philanthropist
* Sir Norman Myer – philanthropist and chairman of the Myer Emporium
* Sidney Myer
Sidney Myer (born Simcha Myer Baevski (); 8 February 18785 September 1934) was a Russian-born Jewish-Australian businessman and philanthropist, best known for founding Myer, Australia's largest chain of department stores.
Early life
Myer was ...
– philanthropist and founder of the Myer Emporium
* Livinia Nixon
Livinia Helen Nixon (19 March 1975) is an Australian television presenter and actress.
Nixon is the chief weather presenter for ''Nine News Melbourne''.[Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...]
– his family owns a house in Toorak
* Lady Susan Renouf – socialite
* Peter Robb – Australian author, born in Toorak in 1946
* Dame Hilda Stevenson DBE – philanthropist
Politicians
* Ted Baillieu
Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...
– Victorian Liberal Party politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
* Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Fraser was raised on hi ...
AC CH – Liberal Party politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia
* Duncan Gillies
Duncan Gillies (14 January 1834 – 12 September 1903), was an Australian colonial politician who served as the 14th Premier of Victoria.
Gillies was born at Overnewton near Glasgow, Scotland, where his father had a market garden. He was sent ...
– Colonial politician, 14th Premier of Victoria
* David Hamer
David John Hamer (5 September 1923 – 14 January 2002) was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Navy officer.
Early life and naval career
Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Australian Nav ...
AM DSC DSC may refer to:
Academia
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
* District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India
* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Educational institutions
* Dalton State Col ...
- Director of Naval Intelligence, Liberal Party Senator
* Sir Rupert Hamer
Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981.
Early years
Hamer ...
AC KCMG KCMG may refer to
* KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour
* KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA
* KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
ED - Liberal Party politician, 39th Premier of Victoria
* Harold Holt CH - Liberal Party politician, 17th Prime Minister of Australia
* Sir William Murray McPherson KBE - Philanthropist and politician, 31st Premier of Victoria
Businesspeople
* John Munro Bruce
John Munro Bruce (10 October 1840 – 4 May 1901) was an Australian businessman. He was born in Ireland to Scottish parents and arrived in the colony of Victoria at the age of 18. He became the managing director and eventual majority shareholder ...
- retail businessman, father of prime minister Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party.
Born ...
* Lindsay Fox
Lindsay Edward Fox (born ) is an Australian businessman. In 1956, Fox founded the Australian logistics company Linfox, where as of 2015 he serves as non-executive chairman.
Early life
Lindsay Fox was born around 1937 and brought up in Pra ...
AC - Former Australian Rules footballer, owner of the Linfox
Linfox is an Australian transport and logistics and supply chain business founded in 1956 by Lindsay Fox.
History
Linfox was established in 1956 by Lindsay Fox as Lindsay Fox Cartage with one truck in Melbourne. In 1958, a contract with Schwep ...
transportation company
* Michael Gudinski
Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne to Jewish Russian immigrants, Gudinski form ...
AM - Entrepreneur and businessman
* Solomon Lew
Solomon Lew (born 22 March 1945) is an Australian businessman. His principal commercial activities involve importing apparel, toys and other goods into Australia from China and investments, mainly in retail companies.
As a teenager, Lew suppli ...
– Importer and retail supplier, current resident of Toorak
* Peter Lew – managing director of Witchery
Witchery is a Swedish blackened thrash metal band formed by former members of Satanic Slaughter in 1997. The current lineup consists of guitarists Patrik Jensen and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, vocalist Angus Norder, a ...
clothing, son of Solomon Lew
* Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation.
Early life
Murdoc ...
- journalist and newspaper owner
* Ziggy Switkowski
Zygmunt Edward "Ziggy" Switkowski, (born 1948), is a Polish Australian business executive and nuclear physicist. His most public role was as the chief executive officer of Australia's largest telecommunications company Telstra from 1999 to 2004. ...
AO – former CEO of Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
* Sir Donald Trescowthick
Sir Donald Henry Trescowthick, Order of Australia, AC, Order of the British Empire, KBE (born 4 December 1930) is an Australian businessman.
Business activities
Trescowthick was involved in several Australian business enterprises.
Swann Insuranc ...
AC KBE
* Alex Waislitz
Alex Waislitz (born 1958) is an Australian businessman.
Waislitz was elected to the Collingwood Football Club Board of Directors in 1998, elected as vice-president in 2009, and has provided philanthropic support to the club.
Early life and e ...
- Chairman & CEO of Thorney Investment group, vice president of the Collingwood Football Club
* Ron Walker AC —CBE – Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Sportspeople
* Nathan Buckley
Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator.
He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...
– Australian rules footballer and current head coach of the Collingwood Football Club
* Andrew Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou (born 14 April 1961) is an Australian businessman, sports administrator, and former Australian rules football player who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Australian Football League (AFL) up to June 2014. Demetriou play ...
– Former Chief Executive of the AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
* Walter Fellows – English-born vicar who hit a cricket ball for 175 yards, considered the world record
* Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
– Australian tennis player
* Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill (18 March 18775 September 1945) was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolifi ...
– Australian test cricketer
* James Hird
James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...
– Australian Rules Footballer and former Head Coach of the Essendon Football Club
* Ed Langdon- AFL footballer- grew up in Toorak
* Tom Langdon
Thomas Langdon (born 9 June 1994) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
State football
Langdon played junior football with Prahran and with ...
- AFL footballer- grew up in Toorak
* Charlie McLeod
Charles Edward McLeod (24 October 1869 – 26 November 1918) was an Australian cricketer who played in 17 Test matches between 1894 and 1905.
McLeod was a patient batsman and accurate bowler who represented Victoria in first-class cricket from ...
– Australian test cricketer
* Lou Richards
Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards, (15 March 1923 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played 250 games for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1941 and 1955. He captained the tea ...
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
– Australian Rules footballer
* Jack Saunders – Australian test cricketer
* Tup Scott
Henry James Herbert "Tup" Scott (26 December 1858 – 23 September 1910) was an Australian cricketer who played first-class cricket for Victoria and Test cricket for Australia. He acquired his nickname during a cricket tour of England in 1884 ...
– cricketer
See also
* City of Malvern
The City of Malvern was a Local government in Australia, local government area about southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1856 until 1994, when ...
– Parts of Toorak were previously within this former local government area.
* City of Prahran
The City of Prahran was a local government area about southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994, when it was merged with the City of Malvern to create the ...
– Parts of Toorak were previously within this former local government area.
References
{{Authority control
Suburbs of Melbourne
Suburbs of the City of Stonnington