Queen+Victoria+Market+(History)

Queen Victoria Market

On the 20th of March 1878, the long anticipated Queen Victoria Market finally open. After the closure Western Market, the public had been in desperate need of a wholesale market. Along with a very similar to the Eastern Market, it is also the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the end of the Gold Rush in the 1870’s, many of the unsuccessful gold miners resorted to market gardening to make money. With a suddenly huge influx of market gardeners, an official market was needed to support the new marketeers. Many requests were sent to the Market Trust to build a larger, stronger and more assessable market.

In 1857, before the official opening, the ‘lower market’ of QVM was reserved for fruit and veg sales because of congestion in the Eastern Market. However, the location wasn’t very popular so many stall holders wouldn’t use it. In 1866 it was used as a Livestock and Hay Market. The following year the Lower Market was reserved for a Meat Market and an extra building was made to house the new area. The site soon became unpopular (There’s a bit of a theme here…) and moved to the Metropolitan Meat Market. It was then turned into a slaughter house until the official opening when the market had a makeover and was restored to a cleaner and more attractive market.

By the 1920s, a strong sporting and social culture had developed between the stall holders and merchants at Queen Victoria Market. Football, cricket, bowls and golf clubs were formed and matches were held all throughout the 1920s. In the 1930s matches began between city traders and business associations. The market football team competed in a local competition every Wednesday.

The Chitty family started their rabbit business in the early 1900’s in the days when rabbits were cheap and readily available; they regularly sold 6,000 a week. The release of the calcivirus (calcivirus is a deadly virus which affects rabbits) in the 1990’s meant that rabbits was no longer plentiful and the rabbit business failed. The Chitty family went to sell seafood and continue as fish mongers in the meat/seafood hall today.

The market has been born, raised and thrived on the wealth of produce and people. The market continues to grow and prosper as one of the world’s oldest and most famous.