From sly grog to flat whites: the hidden histories of Melbourne’s lanes

Melbourne’s lanes are celebrated worldwide for their street art, cafes and character-filled charm but rewind a hundred years, and these bluestone lanes had a much darker past.

In the early 20th century, behind the shopfronts that now proudly serve up lattes and pho, Melbourne’s lanes were a labyrinth of shadowy secrets where brothels, sly grog houses, and criminal mischief were more common than coffee.

Today, Degraves St is filled with hip baristas and espresso machines. But back in the 1920s the scene was quite different. Degraves and other inner-city lanes were hotspots for sly grog shops – illicit “speakeasies” operating under the noses of authorities.

Melbourne’s strict liquor laws intended to curb public drunkenness, had the opposite effect They created the ugly “six o’clock swill” and they fuelled an underground market that met the thirst for “something a little stronger” than legal hotels could offer.

Operating out of makeshift bars hidden in back rooms, enterprising bootleggers sold homemade gin and rum, often laced with who-knows-what to stretch profits. Many a Melburnian stumbled out of these dens with more than just a hangover; a sip of dodgy grog could lead to temporary blindness … or worse.

One of the more infamous cases linked to Melbourne’s lanes occurred in 1921 in a series of narrow lanes off Little Bourke where sly grog shops and back-alley brothels stood side-by-side. One night a confrontation over a gambling debt escalated and the underworld figure Harry “The Hat” Dobson was found dead in an alley with a single gunshot wound to his chest.

The lanes running between Queen and Elizabeth streets, now home to coffee shops and bespoke clothing stores, saw Harry take his last steps as he tried to flee his assailant in the dark.

Dobson’s murder stirred the city’s imagination and rumours flew thick and fast; some said his killer was a rival gang member while others swore it was an ex-lover. But, like so many murders in the twisted lanes of Melbourne, the case went cold. No one ever faced trial and Dobson’s ghost reportedly still lingers forever waiting for justice that never came.

But murder wasn’t the only crime festering in Melbourne’s lanes. A stone’s throw from bustling Hardware Lane, now a thriving hub of cafes and rooftop bars, was the notorious “Rat’s Castle”, a decrepit boarding house on Little Lonsdale where petty criminals, drunks, and down-and-outs gathered. Run by the infamous Maggie Binks, “Rat’s Castle” was less of a home and more of a hideout for Melbourne’s outcasts. In 1923, this derelict haunt found itself at the centre of one of Melbourne’s most chilling mysteries.

A prostitute known as Sweet Alice was found strangled in a corner room, her belongings strewn across the floor as though she had fought for her life. Witnesses saw a man in a dark coat flee the scene, but he was never identified.

Today, Hardware Lane hums with lively chatter and the clinking of wine glasses, but back then, it hummed with a different kind of nightlife.

Brothels, too, were common fixtures in these lanes, especially around Little Bourke St, where Madame Brussels ran one of Melbourne’s most infamous establishments. By all accounts Madame Brussels was a shrewd businesswoman who ran a “classy” establishment catering to high society. Judges, politicians, and even the occasional priest were rumoured to have crossed her threshold.

Madame Brussels’s brothel had an elaborate warning system so, if authorities showed up, a series of bells would sound throughout the building, giving clients and workers time to make a hasty exit. Her knack for evading police raids became the stuff of local legend.

Now the surrounding area is known more for its food and drink scene but, if you listen closely, you might hear an echo of Madame Brussels’s whispered warnings in the clamour of Melbourne’s restaurant district.

Today, it’s hard to imagine that these lanes, now lined with coffee shops and boutiques, were once the backdrop for illicit and often brutal transactions. The grime has been scrubbed away but the stories of these lanes live on.

Many of these wretched recollections, like those of Harry Dobson and Sweet Alice, have lost currency with time, yet if you scratch beneath Melbourne’s bluestones you will find cautionary tales of a raw and unforgiving world.

For anyone curious to dig deeper into these lanes’ layered histories, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria has just published The Stories of Melbourne’s Lanes: Essential but Unplanned.

So, next time you’re savouring a flat white on Degraves, take a moment to ponder those that came before you as their stories still linger just beneath the superficial frothed foam of modern life.

The Stories of Melbourne’s Lanes: Essential but Unplanned is available in the Royal Historical Society of Victoria bookshop, 239 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne 3000, online or in person. See www.historyvictoria.org.au/product/the-stories-of-melbournes-lanes •