What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Tony Press]

I can still remember going into Melbourne with my mother nearly 80 years ago and going up in a lift with a rope in the corner which when pulled caused the lift to magically rise.

From a paper which covered the origin and development of hydraulic power equipment and systems in Britain that led to the public utility manifestations in Hull, London and Liverpool in 1876-1885, the entrepreneurial formation of the Melbourne Hydraulic Power Company in 1888 and its early success as a public utility for motive power applications for the City of Melbourne. From enjoying an initial virtual monopoly as a motive power utility, the company faced increasing competition from the development of electricity distribution for both light and power from 1900, but continued to operate profitably. In 1925, in accordance with the original enabling legislation, the assets and business of the company reverted to the City Corporation. With some restructuring of the central plant, the Council continued to operate the hydraulic power service until 1967.

[squeak]

as an officeboy in Melbourne in the sixties I roamed all over the city delivering messages. Goods lifts were often water powered (there was a rope in the corner which ran from the roof to a valve in the basement). The passenger lift that I remember most was near the corner of king and collins, it was an ornate wire cage with a bench seat for the operator and stationary rope outside. The operator would stick his hand through a hole in the wall and give the rope a tug up or down. His only company for most of the day was his budgerigar (also caged) as passengers were not very frequent.

[Tony Press]

Hi Russell,

So Melbourne hydraulic lifts were still in operation twenty years after my first experience, amazing. 

Unfortunately, I don't believe we have kept any solid history of these amazing hydraulic powered systems. As with our excellent cable tram system (although I believe some cable cars survive).    

Most of our museums here seem to concentrate on other history and ignore our amazing technical history- back when we often had to make our own.  

Cheers, Tony.