Preston, now a strong centre of commercial, residential and industrial interests, has grown on the gently undulating terrain of sandy loam and basalt outcrops north of Melbourne. Its growth has been particularly rapid in the last fifty years and its character has changed dramatically. From small agricultural beginnings, Preston has achieved a population of some 90,000 and an area of 14 and a quarter square miles, a local growth of national significance. Such places as Preston are, to some, but a section of the work-a-day world. To the discerning, they possess a significance that demands examination. Harley Forster has put Preston under his microscope and drawn an illuminating diagram of a living entity typical of our largely urban civilisation.

CONTENTS
Map: locating Preston in the original survey (after Hoddle 1837) xii. Lands and people 1838-1870 p1. The Preston lands p1. Proprietors, Sable and White p2. Officialdom and the first survey p6. The first land speculations p8. Map: present area of Preston comprised in twelve allotments sold 1838-9 p10-11. Goldrush needs p18. Map: the County of Bourke p19. Non-conformists, Irish Catholics p20. The village of Preston p25. German settlers p27. The village of Gowerville p28. South and West Preston p31. Non-conformity and dissent p33. Local government and its problems p37. The seventies and eighties p43. Early Preston industries p44. The land boom and collapse 1887-1895 p51. The land boomers p52. The depression in Preston p56. Retrenchment in education p57. Private schools p59. The period of recovery 1896-1918 p61. Towards a municipal library p62. Sporting (sport) life p65. Social life p68. Growth of church and school p71. Political representation p72. Frank Anstey MHR p77. Sewerage, Electricity, Roads p80. The Great War p83. The city 1919-67 p86. The bustling twenties p86. The great depression p96. The Second World War p102. Preston - key city of the north p104. Population changes p104. Housing and street construction p105. Parks and gardens p108. Map: Northern Regional Park - police paddock, Preston p110. Preston and Northcote Community Hospital (PANCH) p114. Myer Northland Shopping Centre p115. Health and social services p116. Cultural activities p118. APPENDICES: City of Preston 1968-9 elected representatives p122. Preston's Presidents and Mayors 1872-1968 p123. TABLES Preston: first land purchases p10. Preston: Common Schools 1868 p30. Victoria: Religions (i) Principal denominations 1841-1961 (ii) Clergy and churches (iii) Sunday schools p34. Members of the Legislative Assembly - East Bourke electorate p73. Preston: Municipal Statistics p88. Preston: Private street construction p107.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Wood’s Pioneer Store, High Street, established 1850; Doolan’s Smithy, Plenty Road p2. Original All Saints’ Anglican Church; Modern St Raphael’s Church, West Preston p3. Rural scene in Preston early this century; Lyon’s ‘Pleasant View’, Wood Street p18. The old Rose, Shamrock and Thistle Hotel, Plenty Road; The modern Summerhill Hotel p19. Rowe’s Coachbuilding Works; McGeorge’s Shoeing Forge p34. A sub-divisional land sale – La Mascotte Estate p35. Frank Anstey as a boy; The original Municipal Library about 1907 p50. Clifton Hill – Preston Cable Tram; Preston Fire Station, last horse-drawn unit p51. Preston Church of Christ, built in a day p66. Preston Ladies’ Rowing Club, Edwardes’ Lake; Original Preston Bowling Green, High Street p67. Football: Northcote versus Preston 1929, Bull Adams in foreground; Preston Olympic Swimming Pool p82. The original Preston Shire Hall; Preston Council Chamber 1926 p83. Looking north from Preston Town Hall along High Street about 1907; Preston Children’s Annual Picnic Committee p106. The Governor of Victoria, Sir Rohan Delacombe, examines historical exhibits in the Preston Town Hall p107.

SURNAMES / FAMILY NAMES from the index:
Aberdeen. Adams. Alexander. Allchin. Allen. Andrews. Anstey. Archer. Arndt. Bacchus. Baillieu. Bailey. Baker. Balfour. Bamfield. Barling. Barrow. Barry. Bartlett. Batman. Beard. Beauchamp. Bedford. Berry. Bird. Black. Blackburn. Blackie. Boadle. Bolton. Bourke. Braithwaite. Bramham. Bransgrove. Brazil. Brennan. Broadhurst. Brock. Brown. Buckley. Bull. Burke. Burrell. Burton. Cain. Campbell. Carey. Carr. Carson. Cashman. Cazaly. Chandler. Clarke. Clauscen. Clinch. Clifton. Coates. Cochrane. Cole. Collins. Connor. Cook. Cooper. Crawley. Crispe. Curr. Curran. Curtin. Dadswell. Darke. Davidson. Deakin. Denny. Devers. Dickenson. Dinan. Donath. Donovan. Doolan. Downey. Dredge. Drew. Edgar. Edwardes. Ellison. Emery. Ems. Eva. Fairhall. Farrell. Fawkner. Fethers. Fink. Fisher. Foley. Foreman. Fyfe. Gair. Gardiner. Geary. George. Gilbert. Glenn. Godfrey. Goodwin. Gower. Graham. Grant. Gray. Gregory. Grey. Hamilton. Hanna. Hannah. Hannan. Hardenach. Harper. Harris. Hayes. Heath. Hext. Hoddle. Hodgson. Hogan. Howard. Howe. Hughes. Hill. Hurleston. Hutton. Hyatt. Hyett. Ibsworth. Jacobs. James. Jamieson. Jeffrey. Johnson. Jones. Juniper. Kay. Keele. Kilborn. Kimber. King. Kingsbury. Kozminsky. Krieger. Kronborg. Kupsch. Lambert. Landells. La Trobe. Lawry. Leehy. Liddle. Lonsdale. Lynch. Lyons. McArthur. Macauley. McCarthy. McFadzean. McKenzie. McKinley. Maclean. Macleod. McMahon. MacMickin. MacMeikan. McPhee. McPherson. Madden. Madsden. Malpas. Malzahn. Mann. Marshall. May. Mayer. Membrey. Merrall. Methven. Michie. Millar. Mitchell. Mitchelson. Molden. Molloy. Morgan. Mott. Nankervis. Newnham. Newton. Nisbett. Nock. Norris. O’Brien. O’Callaghan. O’Connor. Ogilvey. O’Grady. O’Keefe. Oldfield. Olney. Olver. O’Malley. Osborne. Paterson. Patterson. Phelan. Poole. Pratt. Railton. Ralph. Ralston. Ramsay. Richardson. Robb. Robertson. Robinson. Rodda. Rusden. Russell. Ruthven. Sault. Schneider. Schofield. Scott. Scullin. Sedgwick. Shann. Shaw. Sheffield. Shepherd. Short. Showers. Smith. Spark. Splatt. Stanlake. Staples. Stephenson. Stewart. Story. Stott. Sullivan. Summers. Sutton. Swain. Sweet. Syers. Thomas. Thomson. Thompson. Trudgeon. Tudor. Tunaley. Turner. Tyler. Van Norten. Vincent. Walker. Walkerden. Wallis. Walsh. Warr. Waterdale. Watson. Webb. Webber. Wedge. Whalley. White. Wilcox. Wild. Wilkie. Wilkinson. Willis. Winnett. Wong. Wood. Yann. Young. Zwar.

Full index available on library computers: Electronic resources \ indexes (alphabetically by name of place).