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Scrip - Essendon Land, Tramway & Investment Co Ltd, Issued Victoria, Australia, 1889
Reg. No: NU 43818
- Summary:
- Essendon Land, Tramway & Investment Ltd. Scrip issued to John Brown of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
[Registered Office not listed]
10 January 1889
50 Shares
Capital: 1,000,000 Pounds in 200,000 Shares of 5 Pounds each
Certificate No. 973 - Description:
- Printed on white stock, black printed lettering and black, handwritten text. Elaborate panel with central, circular cartouche at left side of page bears company details.
- Statement Of Significance:
- The scrip is significant as an example of the extensive land speculation that occurred in Melbourne in the 1880s.
The Essendon Land, Tramway & Investment Company was formed by landboomer by James Mirams, newsagent owner in Collingwood, and its elected member of parliament from 1876-86; Mirams was a deacon of the Congregational Church and early member of the YMCA. He was a close friend and business associate of James Munro, member for Carlton, and subsequently Premier, 1890-92, whose speculative businesses also collapsed. With a board that included 6 members of parliament, and Mirams as company secretary, the Essendon Land, Tramway & Investment Company was formed in July 1888 to build a tramway from Essendon railway station westwards along Buckley Street to the municipal boundary with Keilor, a distance of 1.5 miles; Mirams owned land along Keilor Road.
From money raised with investors, the company paid Mirams more than 200,000 pounds for his otherwise useless land. In 1891 a new company, the Essendon Land & Finance Association, was formed to purchase the assets of the first company, allowing the original company's promoters to avoid paying calls on their shares. The tramway was never built, and the public investors lost their money. [R. Gillespie, 12 Jan 2006; from Michael Cannon, The Land Boomers, 1972]
| Discipline: | Numismatics |
| Dimensions: | 17.5 cm (Height), 24.6 cm (Length) |
More information
| Tagged with: | banking industry, finance industries, real estate, share certificates |
| Themes this item is part of: | Land Boom in 1880s Melbourne, Domestic & Community Life Collection, Numismatics & Philately Collection, Public Life & Institutions Collection |
| On Display at: | Melbourne Museum |
| Primary Classification: | COMMERCE & RETAILING |
| Secondary Classification: | Real Estate |
| Tertiary Classification: | share scrip |
| Issued By: | Essendon Land, Tramway & Investment Company Limited, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 Jan 1889 |
| Issued To: | John Brown, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 10 Jan 1889 |
Themes
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