Samuel Nathan

Samuel Nathan, builder of "Rosebank" in Alphington, arrived from London in 1869 on the threshold of the investment boom in Melbourne. Within 2 years he had his own furniture business in Russell Street which then moved 3 years later to Bourke Street East. He opened another in Elizabeth Street during 1882 and then expanded to Chapel Street, Prahran. His business grew, and he boasted in the 1880s that his was the first business house in Melbourne to introduce time payment. He practised this himself and mortgaged "Rosebank" to the London Chartered bank and improved the household with the addition of an exotic conservatory to the side verandah.

Our proud Past - held in the Darebin Libraries Archive ref: LHRN 1228