The move to Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne's population had reached 280,000 in 1880 and 445,000 in 1889. For a time it was the second-largest city in the British Empire, after London. During the boom, Melbourne had reputedly become the richest city in the world. In terms of area, Melbourne was already one of the largest cities in the world. Rather than building high-density apartment blocks like European cities, Melbourne expanded in all directions in the characteristic Australian suburban sprawl so Australians were afforded their Australian Dream of a "quarter acre block" in the suburbs, much like the American model.
Melbourne's civic pride was demonstrated by the huge edifice of the Royal Exhibition Building, built in 1880 to house the Melbourne International Exhibition.In the 1880s the long boom culminated in a frenzy of speculation and rapid inflation of land prices known as the Land Boom. Governments shared in the wealth and ploughed money into urban infrastructure, particularly railways. Huge fortunes were built on speculation, and Victorian business and politics became notorious for corruption. English banks lent freely to colonial speculators, adding to the mountain of debt on which the boom was built. In 1891 the inevitable happened: a spectacular crash brought the boom to an abrupt end. Banks and other businesses failed in large numbers, thousands of shareholders lost their money, tens of thousands of workers were put out of work. Although there are no reliable statistics, there was probably 20 percent unemployment in Melbourne throughout the 1890s.
The Beach Family moved from New Zealand to Melbourne around 1887. All the children except Hubert moved to Victoria with their parents. Milson rapidly established a sawmill and a building construction business in the Oakleigh area of Melbourne. Unfortunately the economic recession started around the late 1880’s and in 1889, Milson Beach as a partner in the Timber Merchant business, Beach & Nelson, were reported as bankrupt.
The Beach Family moved from New Zealand to Melbourne around 1887. All the children except Hubert moved to Victoria with their parents. Milson rapidly established a sawmill and a building construction business in the Oakleigh area of Melbourne. Unfortunately the economic recession started around the late 1880’s and in 1889, Milson Beach as a partner in the Timber Merchant business, Beach & Nelson, were reported as bankrupt.
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