Melbourne Club 3.44

The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne; adjacent to the Lyceum Club, which is located in Ridgway Place, Melbourne.The club is a symbol of Australia's British heritage and was established at a gathering of 23 gentlemen on Saturday, 17 December 1838 and initially used John Pascoe Fawkner's public house on the corner of Collins Street and Market Street. The Melbourne Club building is of architectural significance as a rare intact example of a nineteenth-century purpose-built clubhouse in the Victorian Renaissance style.At the rear of the Club building is a private courtyard garden, maintained by arborist-horticulturalist John Fordham, which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and is the location of garden parties and private functions. The garden contains the largest plane tree in Victoria according to the National Trust's Register of Significant Trees.