William Loveday

 (1811-1902)

Born in 1811 William Loveday was one of Northcote’s earliest settlers. He arrived in Port Phillip Bay in April 1844 on the Sea Queen from London and Cork. Thirty-three years old at the time, he had settled in Northcote by 1856 where he owned a small freehold farm in Clarke Street which was then in the Pentridge district of East Bourke. During the 1850s William Loveday grew cabbages to take to Melbourne for sale. He was colourfully described by W. Swift as wearing:

“a smock frock which came down to his knees, just such an old time figure as one would expect to meet in a country lane in one of the Shires of England.”

Maps from the 1860s indicate that Loveday may have had his home in Vauxhall Road. Loveday died in 1902 at the grand age of 91 and is buried in the German Cemetery in Separation Street Northcote.

Swift, William George (1928). The history of Northcote: From its first settlement to a city. Northcote, Vic: Leader Publishing.

Sands and McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1864- 1974. [Microfiche]. (1974). Melbourne, Australia: Sands & McDougall.