Travancore is an inner-city suburb in

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 ...

, north-west 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 Moonee Valley The City of Moonee Valley is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the north-western suburbs between 3 and 13 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre, and in June 2018, th ...

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 ...

. Travancore recorded a population of 2,116 at the . The suburb is located between the

Tullamarine Freeway The Tullamarine Freeway (commonly referred to as "The Tulla"), is a major urban freeway in Melbourne, linking Melbourne Airport to the Melbourne city centre, Melbourne City Centre. It carries up to 210,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australi ...

and

Mount Alexander Road Mount Alexander Road (and its northern section as Bulla Road) is a major road in Melbourne's inner northern suburbs, connecting the northern edges of the city district to just south of Essendon Airport. It was named after its original destina ...

, south of Ormond Road, although the northernmost section of the area is still incorrectly referred to as

Ascot Vale Ascot Vale is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Ascot Vale recorded a population of 15,197 at the 2021 c ...

. Travancore was initially supposed to encompass the entirety of the area flanked by Ormond and Mount Alexander Roads and the Tullamarine Freeway. The Moonee Valley City Council has taken steps to bring the remainder of the proposed area of Travancore into the suburb. That will reflect what was originally intended and, in turn, will reduce the area of the suburb of

. Travancore takes its name from the Travancore Mansion and Estate, a property in the area owned by Henry Madden. Madden purchased the property, previously Flemington House, from the relatives of

Hugh Glass Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear. No rec ...

in 1906, and renamed it. Madden exported horses to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, hence the property being named after the former southern Indian kingdom of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

, now part of the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. When the land around Travancore Mansion was sub-divided, many of the streets were named in keeping with the Indian theme, such as Baroda Street, Lucknow Street, Bengal Street, Cashmere Street and Mangalore Street. Some of the houses reflect the Old English architecture of the former Travancore region of India. Travancore Mansion was purchased by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

and became a

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

school. The building was demolished in the 1940s, and the area is now occupied by the Travancore campus of

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia. As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...

Mental Health. The Flemington Primary School has the ornate gates that once belonged to the Travancore Mansion. The

Essendon tram depot Essendon tram depot is located on Mount Alexander Road, Travancore, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operated by Yarra Trams, it is one of eight tram depots on the Melbourne tram network. Despite the name, the depot is located three kilometres ...

, located on Mount Alexander Road, Travancore, is on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

. Travancore, only from Melbourne's CBD, has seen a transformation in recent years, following a fire that destroyed the Lombard Paper Factory. The former factory site is now occupied by residential towers that flank the suburb on its southern side.

References

Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Moonee Valley {{melbourne-geo-stub

See also

References