Travancore is an inner-city suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, north-west of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

, located within the

City of Moonee Valley The City of Moonee Valley is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, on Wurundjeri, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. It comprises 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. 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, Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne Airport to the Melbourne City Centre. It carries up to 210,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia ...

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. 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 Ascot Vale. 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, Trapping, 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 ...

in 1906, and renamed it. Madden exported horses to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

, the present-day city of

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

, now part of the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

. When the land around Travancore Mansion was subdivided, many of the streets were named in keeping with the Indian theme, including 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 the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

and became a

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

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), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

Mental Health Service. The Flemington Primary School has the ornate gates that once belonged to the Travancore Mansion. The Essendon tram depot, 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. ...

. 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