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ASSESSMENT REPORT ENDORSED BY THE
HERITAGE COUNCIL TO AMEND AN
EXISTING REGISTRATION
27 November 2014
NAME:
JOB WAREHOUSE (OR CROSSLEY’S BUILDING)
DATE REGISTERED:
3 September 1980
VHR NUMBER:
VHR H0435
LOCATION:
54-62 BOURKE STREET
CATEGORY:
HERITAGE PLACE
FILE NO:
603521, 13/007592
HERMES NUMBER:
700
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION TO THE HERITAGE COUNCIL:
To amend the existing registration of VHR H0435 under Section 54 of the Heritage Act 1995:
 So that it applies to both the exterior and interior of the building and the land on which the
building sits.
 By adding a permit policy and permit exemptions pursuant to Section 42(4) of the Heritage Act.
Reason for the amendment:
The 1980 gazettal for Job Warehouse (Victorian Government Gazette No 74 - 3, September 1980, p
3047) registered only the internal fabric of the building. The 1980 recommendation to the Minister for
Planning to include the exterior of the building was never enacted. No land was able to be registered
under the Historic Buildings Act until 1982. This amendment seeks to include land within the registered
extent. The Statement of Significance is also updated and a Permit Policy and Permit Exemptions
added.
The existing registration documentation is provided at Attachment 1 of this report.
Recommendation Date:
Heritage Council Determentation Date:
23 May 2014
27 November 2014
EXTENT OF REGISTRATION
All of the place known as Job Warehouse, shown hatched on Diagram 435 encompassing all of Lots 1, 2 and
3 on Title Plan 904987T
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
What is significant?
Job Warehouse, also known as Crossley’s Building, a row of four two-storey shops built in 1848-49.
History Summary
This row of shops was built in two stages. A large shop (which is now divided into two) and a residence
above it were built on the Crossley Street corner in 1848 by a well-known butcher, William Crossley. The
premises were used as a meat-preserving works, with the land adjacent used as a slaughter yard. The
adjoining shops to the east were added in 1849 in the same style, so that the completed building extended
between Crossley Street (then called Romeo Lane) and Liverpool Street (then Juliet Lane). The architect is
not known. The shop on the Crossley Street corner was occupied in the early 1850s by the butcher Henry
Crossley, and by Mrs Ann Crossley from 1855-58. Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century it was
occupied by a succession of butchers, including William (later Sir William) Angliss (in 1896-99), and by a
grocer and fruiterer until 1969 when it became a book shop. The other shops have been used since the
1850s by many businesses, including variously a shoe shop, drapery, photographic studio, cafe, grocer, wine
and spirit merchant, tailor and mercer. The prominent artist Eugene von Guérard, who dominated Victorian
landscape painting during the late colonial period, occupied number 56 in 1857-58, when he was beginning
to establish his career as an artist. Several of the shops were occupied from 1956 by Jacob Zeimer, a postWorld War II European migrant. He eventually owned the whole building, and Job Warehouse became wellknown in Melbourne for its wide range of fabrics for home dressmakers, dress designers and theatre groups.
Description Summary
Job Warehouse consists of a row of four two-storey rendered brick shops in a simple Victorian Georgian
style. The external render is ruled, there is a simple parapet and cornice above, and the shop on the corner
of Liverpool Street has a splayed corner. Each of the four shops has a former residence located at the rear of
and above them. The internal stairs which once led to the upper floors have all been removed, though a
new stair has been built at number 60-62. Externally the building retains much of its original simple form,
except for alterations to the shop windows, and the upper level retains original features such as the window
openings and surrounds and the parapet. The interiors appear to retain few original features.
This site is part of the traditional land of the Kulin Nation.
How is it significant?
Job Warehouse is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following
criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history
Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and
objects.
Why is it significant?
Job Warehouse is significant at the State level for the following reasons:
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
Job Warehouse is historically significant as among the oldest surviving buildings in Melbourne. It is probably
the oldest surviving shop row in the city and forms an important link to pre-gold rush Melbourne. The
various businesses which occupied the four shops during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reflect the
residential nature of this part of Melbourne until the second half of the twentieth century, and the various
businesses required to provide everyday goods and services to local residents. It also demonstrates the
nineteenth and early twentieth century practice of people living in close proximity to the businesses which
they ran. [Criterion A]
Job Warehouse is a rare surviving example of a pre-gold rush commercial building, and of an early shop row,
a type which was once common in the city but has now almost completely disappeared. [Criterion B]
Job Warehouse is architecturally significant as an example of the small-scale austere Georgian style buildings
typical of pre-gold rush Melbourne. This style was the basis for most architecture in Australia from the time
of European settlement until at least the mid-nineteenth century, but is not common in Victoria, as after
1851 the wealth generated by gold soon led to the popularity of more ornate styles and the replacement of
earlier buildings. [Criterion D]
Job Warehouse is also significant for the following reasons, but not at the State level:
Job Warehouse is significant for its ownership in the post-World War II period by Jacob Zeimer, which
reflects the effect on Melbourne’s economic fabric of the immigration of post-World War II European
refugees and immigrants.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
PERMIT POLICY
Preamble
The purpose of the Permit Policy is to assist when considering or making decisions regarding works to a
registered place. It is recommended that any proposed works be discussed with an officer of Heritage
Victoria prior to making a permit application. Discussing proposed works will assist in answering questions
the owner may have and aid any decisions regarding works to the place.
The extent of registration of Job Warehouse on the Victorian Heritage Register affects the whole place
shown on Diagram H0435 including the land and all buildings. Under the Heritage Act 1995 a person must
not remove or demolish, damage or despoil, develop or alter or excavate, relocate or disturb the position of
any part of a registered place or object without approval. It is acknowledged, however, that alterations and
other works may be required to keep places and objects in good repair and adapt them for use into the
future.
If a person wishes to undertake works or activities in relation to a registered place, they must apply to the
Executive Director, Heritage Victoria for a permit. The purpose of a permit is to enable appropriate change
to a place and to effectively manage adverse impacts on the cultural heritage significance of a place as a
consequence of change. If an owner is uncertain whether a heritage permit is required, it is recommended
that Heritage Victoria be contacted.
Permits are required for anything which alters the place, unless a permit exemption is granted. Permit
exemptions usually cover routine maintenance and upkeep issues faced by owners as well as minor works.
They may include appropriate works that are specified in a conservation management plan. Permit
exemptions can be granted at the time of registration (under s.42 of the Heritage Act) or after registration
(under s.66 of the Heritage Act).
It should be noted that the addition of new buildings to the registered place, as well as alterations to the
interior and exterior of existing buildings requires a permit, unless a specific permit exemption is granted.
Conservation management plans
It is recommended that a Conservation Management Plan is developed to manage the place in a manner
which respects its cultural heritage significance.
Cultural heritage significance
Overview of significance
The cultural heritage significance of Job Warehouse lies in it being one of the oldest buildings in Melbourne
and a rare example in Melbourne of a shop row in the Victorian Georgian style, typical of pre-gold rush
buildings. While little remains of its original interiors and the shop fronts have been replaced, the building
retains the small scale and austere external form typical of the style and period, particularly the first floor
windows and window surrounds, the pilasters between the shopfronts of numbers 54 and 56, and the
simple parapet.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
PERMIT EXEMPTIONS (under section 42 of the Heritage Act)
It should be noted that Permit Exemptions can be granted at the time of registration (under s.42(4) of the
Heritage Act). Permit Exemptions can also be applied for and granted after registration (under s.66 of the
Heritage Act)
General Condition: 1.
All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric
of the registered place or object.
General Condition: 2.
Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of works that original or previously
hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place
or object, then the exemption covering such works shall cease and Heritage Victoria shall be notified as soon
as possible.
General Condition: 3.
All works should be informed by Conservation Management Plans prepared for the place. The Executive
Director is not bound by any Conservation Management Plan, and permits still must be obtained for works
suggested in any Conservation Management Plan.
General Conditions: 4.
Nothing in this determination prevents the Heritage Council from amending or rescinding all or any of the
permit exemptions.
General Condition: 5.
Nothing in this determination exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant
planning or building permits from the relevant responsible authority, where applicable.
Specific Exemptions:
Exterior
 Minor repairs and maintenance which replace like with like.
 Removal of non-original items such as air conditioners, pipe work, ducting, wiring, antennae, aerials etc
and making good using appropriate materials.
 Installation and repairing of damp proofing by either injection method or grouted pocket method.
Interior
 Painting of previously painted walls and ceilings provided that preparation or painting does not remove
evidence of any original paint or other decorative scheme.
 Removal or replacement of non-original carpets and/or flexible floor coverings.
 Installation, removal or replacement of non-original curtain tracks, rods and blinds.
 Installation, removal or replacement of hooks, nails and other devices for the hanging of mirrors,
paintings and other wall mounted art.
 Demolition or removal of non-original stud/partition walls, suspended ceilings or non-original wall
linings (including plasterboard, laminate and Masonite), non-original glazed screens, non-original flush
panel or part-glazed laminated doors, aluminium-framed windows, bathroom partitions and tiling,
sanitary fixtures and fittings, kitchen wall tiling and equipment, lights, built-in cupboards, cubicle
partitions, computer and office fitout and the like.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700

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

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
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

Removal of non-original door and window furniture including, hinges, locks, knobsets and sash lifts.
Installation of stud walls which are removable.
Refurbishment of existing bathrooms, toilets and kitchens including installation or replacement of
sanitary fixtures, mirrors, wall and floor coverings.
Removal of tiling or concrete slabs in wet areas provided there is no damage to or alteration of original
structure or fabric.
Installation, removal or replacement of ducted, hydronic or concealed radiant type heating provided
that the installation does not damage existing skirtings and architraves and that the central plant is
concealed, and is done in a manner not detrimental to the cultural heritage significance of the place.
Installation, removal or replacement of electrical wiring provided that all new wiring is fully concealed
and any original light switches, pull cords, push buttons or power outlets are retained in-situ. Note: if
wiring original to the place was carried in timber conduits then the conduits should remain in situ.
Installation, removal or replacement of bulk insulation in the roof space.
Installation of new fire hydrant services including sprinklers, fire doors and elements affixed to plaster
surfaces.
Installation of new built-in cupboards providing no alteration to the structure is required.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
RELEVANT INFORMATION
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY
Melbourne
HERITAGE LISTING INFORMATION
Heritage Overlay:
Yes
HO Number:
HO532
Other Listing:
Listed as a Heritage Inventory site (H7822-1550) by Heritage Victoria
Graded B and listed as a Notable Building by the City of Melbourne
UPDATED HISTORY
The City of Melbourne ‘CAD Conservation Study’ notes that the two shops at 60-62 Bourke Street were built
in 1848 and numbers 54-58 were built in 1849. The Notable Building Citation notes that the four shops were
constructed for William Crossley, a noted early Melbourne butcher. Existing statements of significance for
the property provide further information: Crossley was said to have occupied the shop and residence at
numbers 58-60 (on the corner of Crossley Street) and rented out the other shops in the block. He also
maintained a slaughter yard nearby. He is said to have been a well-known butcher who trained many of
Melbourne’s leading butchers in the 1880s.
The early Melbourne Directories list a Henry (not William) Crossley, butcher, in Collins Street from 1842 to
1847, and he is at 205 Bourke Street (which became number 60 when the street numbering system changed
in 1889) by at least 1853, to be replaced by Mrs Ann Crossley (possibly his wife) from 1856-58. The building
was constructed between two city lanes: Romeo Lane (called Crossley Street since 1877) to the west and
Juliet Lane (called Liverpool Street since 1889) to the east. Although the Crossley family owned the entire
building until at least 1900, they did not occupy it after 1858.
It is understood that the transcript for a Historic Buildings Council hearing held when the building was
recommended for the Register in 1978 notes that the western shop was built as a meat-preserving works
with a slaughter yard and boiler (the chimney of which appears on the 1888 Mahlstedt plan) at the rear.
Some time between 1881 and 1923 the premises ceased to be used for that purpose and the yard was built
over. After 1923 the corner shop was divided into two separate shops.
The divisions between the four shops have been altered over the years and the shops have been occupied by
a variety of businesses since the 1850s. The rooms at the rear and above the shops would have been used
as residences by the occupiers.
The Crossley’s butcher shop on the corner of Crossley Street was occupied for the rest of the nineteenth
century by a succession of butchers, including William Angliss, who occupied it between 1896 and 1899, and
from then until 1969 it was mostly used as a grocery shop and fruit shop. Since 1969 it has been a book
shop.
The other shops have also had a varied history. The shop on the corner of Liverpool Street has been used as
a shoe shop, drapery, photographic studios and other uses, but from 1909 until the 1970s was mainly used
as a cafe. One of the early occupants of the adjacent shop, number 56, was the artist Eugene von Guerard,
who is listed at that address in the Sands & McDougall Directories of 1857 and 1858. From 1858 until the
end of the nineteenth century number 58 was mainly occupied by a grocer and wine and spirit merchant,
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
after which it became a boot shop. From the 1920s it was occupied by a tailor and mercer, and from then on
by a draper.
From 1956 the occupant of no 58 is listed as J Zeimer, draper, who occupied it for almost half a century.
Jacob Zeimer, a post-World War II European migrant, arrived in Melbourne in 1948 with his brother Max.
Their family had been in the textile trade in Poland for generations. Within a decade Jacob was able to
purchase the Bourke Street shop, possibly, according to his son David, from the sale of machinery owned by
the family in Poland. It is likely that the ‘Job’ in the name ‘Job Warehouse’ on the front of the building was a
shortening of his name. From 1958 Zeimer occupied the two shops at nos 56-58, and he eventually occupied
the three shops at 54-58 Bourke Street. He stocked a vast range of fabrics, piled seemingly haphazardly
from floor to ceiling throughout the space, with his brother Max running the haberdashery section. The
shop became well-known for its range of fabrics, and was a magnet for home dressmakers as well as actors
and fashion designers. It was also well known for its rustic cage doors and seemingly haphazard window
displays. Max died in 1988 and Jacob in 2005, when the shop was taken over by Jacob’s son David, and the
business closed in 2012.
Jacob Zeimer in his shop in 1998 (NLA)
Eugene von Guérard (1811-1901)
Von Guérard was an Austrian painter who migrated to Victoria in 1852 to try his luck gold mining, and
produced a number of studies of life on the Ballarat goldfields. He abandoned the goldfields in 1854 to
pursue a career as an artist, and painted throughout Victoria and New South Wales, venturing into many
remote areas in search of his landscape subjects. By the early 1860s he was recognized as Australia’s
foremost landscape painter. During the 1850s, von Guérard had occupied studios in Collins Street and
Bourke Street Iincluding at number 56 Bourke Street from 1857-58), and in 1862, he and his family moved to
a house called 'Little Parndon' in Gipps Street, East Melbourne, where they lived for the next twenty years.
In 1870 he was appointed the first Master of the School of Painting at the National gallery of Victoria, where
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
he influenced the training of artists, including Frederick McCubbin and Tom Roberts, for the next eleven
years. He returned to Europe in 1882.
Sir William Charles Angliss (1865-1957)
William Angliss was a butcher, pastoralist, pioneer meat exporter, businessman, politician and philanthropist
who was knighted in 1939. He learned the butchers trade as a youth, working first with an uncle in London
before migrating to New York. After two and a half years in North America he migrated to Queensland in
1884 and moved to Melbourne in 1886, where he set up a butchers shop in North Carlton. He opened larger
premises in Bourke Street, Melbourne in 1892 and started exporting frozen meat, becoming a pioneer of
meat refrigeration. His meat export business expanded into New South Wales and Queensland and his
business also diversified into owning or managing pastoral leases and cattle stations, some jointly with
Sidney Kidman. From 1912 to 1952 Angliss was a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria. In 1940 he
donated money to start a specialist trade or technical school specialising in providing vocational education
and training opportunities for the hospitality and foods industries. Initially called the William Angliss Food
Trades School, it is now known as the William Angliss Institute of TAFE.
VICTORIAN HISTORICAL THEMES
02
05
Peopling Victoria’s places and landscapes
2.5
Migrating and making a home
Building Victoria’s industries and workforce
5.3
Marketing and retailing
UPDATED PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Job Warehouse is a two storey row of four rendered brick shops in a simple Victorian Georgian style. The
render is ruled, there is a simple parapet and cornice, and the shop on the corner of Liverpool Street has a
splayed corner. The four shops each has a former residence located at the rear of and above the shops. The
1978 the Historic Buildings Council hearing transcript notes that the stairs leading up from the ground floor
to the residences above had by then all been removed (a stair has since been added at the rear of the shop
at numbers 60-62). It also noted that the shops had been stripped of all original features. Externally the
building retains much of its original simple form, except for alterations to the shop windows. The ground
floor shopfronts have all been replaced, but the upper level retains original features such as the window
openings and surrounds and the parapet.
UPDATED INTEGRITY/INTACTNESS
The exterior of the ground floor level has been altered, with the replacement of all the original shop fronts
and the probable insertion of new openings to Crossley Street. A detailed inspection of the place was not
possible due to the lack of access to the first floor and the large amounts of fabric on the ground floor. It is
thought there are no original interior finishes or features on the ground floor, but it is possible that the first
floor is more intact. (November 2013).
UPDATED CONDITION
The shop at the rear of number 62 was converted for use as a cafe in 2007 and at that time conservation
works were carried out, and that part of the building is in good condition. A new staircase was added at that
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
time. The exterior of number 54 along Liverpool Street is in poor condition. The interiors of the three shops
at numbers 54-58 were unable to be inspected, but are thought to be in poor condition. (November 2013).
KEY REFERENCES USED TO PREPARE RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Melbourne Directories (Kerr 1841, 1842, 1846; Butterfield 1855; Needham 1856; Sands & Kenny 1857; Sands
& McDougall 1858-1974)
Graeme Butler, ‘Central Activities District Conservation Study’, 1985
City of Melbourne iHeritage database, at
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/BuildingandPlanning/Planning/heritageplanning/Pages/iHeritagesearchre
sults.aspx?heritageid=1178
Historic Buildings Council hearing transcript in HV File 603521.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Bourke Street elevation
No 54, on Liverpool Street corner, has a splayed corner.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
Rear of number 54
Crossley Street corner: the first two shops, which made up the original
butcher’s shop on the site, was built in 1848.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700
ATTACHMENT 1
Former registration details
FORMER EXTENT OF REGISTRATION
Historic Building No. 435 Job's Warehouse, (or Crossleys' Building), 54-60 Bourke Street, Melbourne (to the
extent of the total internal fabric of the building).
[Victoria Government Gazette No.74 - 3 September 1980 p.3047]
(There is no current plan showing the extent of registration.)
FORMER STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
What is significant?
Job's Warehouse was erected in 1848-49 as a two storey row of stucco rendered brick shops on a basalt
plinth. The architect is not known but the building is designed in a chaste Colonial Georgian style. The stucco
is ruled and there is a simple cornice. The building stretches from Crossley Street to Liverpool Street and
retains much of its original simple form, except for alterations to shop windows and the pediment.
Alterations and additions took place to no.54 in 1853, and it has a splayed corner to Liverpool Street.
The western part of the building, nos. 60-62 Bourke Street, were built by a well-known butcher William
Crossley as a shop, slaughter yard and residence. The Crossleys trained many of Melbourne's leading
butchers in the 1880s. The distinguished landscape painter Eugene von Guerard lived in no.56 in 1857 and
1858. von Guerard was the son of the court painter to the Emperor Francis II of Austria. For sixteen years
after his arrival in Australia he travelled throughout Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New Zealand
painting landscapes. Together with Buvelot and Chevalier, von Guerard dominated landscape painting during
the late colonial period. He was appointed first Master of Painting at the National School of Art in Melbourne
and curator of the National Gallery.
How is it significant?
Job's Warehouse is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
Job's Warehouse is historically significant as one of a handful of surviving buildings in central Melbourne
dating from before the first gold rushes. It has additional historical significance for its associations with
Eugene von Guerard, who occupied part of the building during the 1850s. von Guerard was one of the leading
colonial period artists of Australia and helped to establish the Victorian Society of Fine Arts.
Job's Warehouse is architecturally significant as a rare intact example of the simple Georgian style of design
that characterised central Melbourne during the first few decades of settlement, characterised by plain walls
and regular but simple unadorned openings. It is a rare example of the commercial row type of development
of the period.
FORMER PERMIT POLICY
There is no existing permit policy.
FORMER PERMIT EXEMPTIONS
There are no current permit exemptions.
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Name: Job Warehouse
VHR number: VHR H0435
Hermes number: 700