Built on Gold

The Old Treasury Building was erected as a storage facility for the Victorian Gold Rush.

While the upstairs rooms are grandly proportioned and furnished, they sit upon a number of gold vaults.

Its construction was funded by massive government revenues flowing from the central Victorian goldfields. Its purpose was two-fold to provide government offices, and to house the colony's stock of gold bullion.

You can tour the vaults which are now set up with multimedia displays on different themes tracing the journey of the gold from the diggings and its impact on the state - the Gold Escorts, shipping & trade, colonial bureaucracy, the gold rush in Melbourne, and the gold market, etc.

Old Treasury building

Have you ever looked up Collins Street in Melbourne to the grand buildings at the top at Spring Street? Next to Parliament House is the Old Treasury building, regarded as one of the finest nineteenth century buildings in Australia.

Looking south, the nearly completed Treasury building, with the Yarra River in the background & Macarthur Street in the foreground

The building occupies a unique position in the history of Melbourne. Its origins lie in the 1850s Victorian Gold Rush, which brought great wealth to Melbourne, and its construction between 1858 and 1862 was symbolic of the city's rapid development. The Old Treasury was designed by 19-year-old architect J.J. Clark. His design was in the Renaissance Revival style. The elegantly proportioned three-storey rectangular building is 200 feet across, 55 feet deep and 70 feet tall, with three main entrances to the ground floor, a central section portico with upper story colonnaded arcade and elaborately detailed window pilasters and pediments.

The floor above the barrel-vaulted basement is a metre thick -

The exterior of the building is finished in Bacchus Marsh sandstone, its bluestone foundations were mined from Bald Hills Quarry and As well as being built to store the colony's gold, the Treasury Building provided offices for the leaders of the young colony, including the Governor, the Premier (at the time called Chief Secretary), the Treasurer and the Auditor General.


A leading public building, located in a prominent position with open space around it, the Treasury has been the focus for celebrations and major public events. The Victorian Governor continues to meet there with the Executive Council to sign off legislation in the magnificent first floor Executive Council Chamber.
But sometimes they'll let ordinary people in!

Entry is free between 10am -4pm on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Pioneering families

"The Armytages of Como : pastoral pioneers" by Anita Selzer Patriarch George Armytage was born at Ticknall, Derbyshire in 1795, and died of gangrene on 12th July 1862. He and his wife Elizabeth had 11 children. He had owned a number of pastoral holdings which included: Mt Cotterell, Geelong, Ingleby on the Barwon River, Murrandara (Mundarra) near Edenhope, Ganoo Ganoo near Chetwynd, Fulham at Kanagulk on the Glenelg River near Balmoral, and Buntingdale (Portland Bay district) (a total of more than 225,000 acres!). George was a pioneer in the pastoral industry and a leader in promoting wool as a major export.

Como watercolour by Penleigh Boyd (1910)

In 1857 George gave his son Charles Henry (1824-1876) Mostyn and Fulham stations. George also acquired Mt Sturgeon in 1863. Fulham became the home for Charles and his wife Caroline in 1857. Eight of their ten children were born at Fulham (50 miles from the nearest doctor). Fulham's remoteness encouraged them to purchase Como as a town house.   Como House in South Yarra was purchased by Charles and Caroline in 1864, and they raised the children here. The home remained in Armytage family hands until 1959 when the last surviving children - Constance & Leila - handed it over to the National Trust. The house is still stocked with the Armytage family furniture, and provides a glimpse into the lives and times of a dynasty.

The Fulham homestead

In the late 1880s Charles' son George Herbert (1861-1925) lived at Fulham as the manager. In 1885 Harold Augustus (Charles' 3rd son) took over management of Mt Sturgeon. His brother Ernest Adolphus lived at Clunie Station near Harrow till he died in 1898. The Armytages finally sold the Fulham and Mt Sturgeon in 1948 to the Soldier Settlement Commission.

Fulham's formal gardens from the verandah

The Armytages were one of the colonial squattocracy families, made rich on the wool from the sheeps' back, their genteel lifestyles relied on tough management, skilful raising of livestock, and an army of farm workers and servants (Mt Sturgeon at one time employed 130 men).
This book showcases their history, and the legacy Como provides, preserving their elegant way of life.

Looking towards the homestead from the Fulham railway bridge

Your story, our history

The National Archives are holding an Open Day on 25th February as part of their "Shake your family tree" programs.
The Victorian Archives Centre has information in their vast collection about many Australian families – possibly your own.
If members of your family migrated to Australia in the 20th century, served in the defence forces, or worked for, or had any other dealings with, the Australian Government, then the Archives are likely to have something to interest you.
At the Open Day, you can take part in a range of free activities including talks, demonstrations, preservation workshops and introductory research training.

Link to the program