MELBOURNE "PADDOCK"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18895, 18 December 1924, Page 13

MELBOURNE "PADDOCK"

BLOCK PURCHASED FOR £120. WORTH MILLION AND A-HALF. ROMANCE OF THE EARLY DAYS. [from our own correspondent.] SYDNEY. Deo. 11. Nearly ninety years ago a Captain Howey selected and purchased for £120 a block of land fronting on tho Yarra River in what was then the Port Phillip district of New South "Wales. That block to-day stands in the heart of Melbourne. During tho week a descendant arrived from Berkshire, England, on the American liuer Sierra to inherit the property, which at a conservative estimate is now valued at £1,500,000. When originally acquired the block was portion of a wild field within easy distance of a creek running into the Yarra. Apparently tho hardy ancient mariner of nearly a century ago did not lack foresight. The creek to-day is known as Elizabeth Street, ono of Melbourne's leading thoroughfares.

The paddock is a substantial block of palatial buildings bordered by Swanston, Collins, Elizabeth and Bourke Streets. And the prizo plum of the paddock is tho Howey estate —better known as Stewart Dawson's corner, which faces the Town Hall on ono side, and has a frontage to Collins Street on the other. In recent years this property has increased so greatly in value that it is now regarded as ono of the most valuable city sites south of tho equator. Tragedy and romance are blended in its early history. Shortly after making tho original purchase Capt. Howey, with his wife and seven children, were drowned when tho vessel in which they wero travelling for a trip home foundered in the Pacific — almost within sight of Sydney Heads. Tho title deeds concerning tho inheritance wero claimed and kept a close secret for many years. What time Howey succeeded Howey and struggled to maintain families in their native Berkshire unaware that an estate and a fortune left them by their nautical relative lay unclaimed in far away Australia. It was not until ono member of tho family decided to try his luck at the diggings that the secret was disclosed and tho Iloweys came into their own. Unlike his ancestor, the present millionaire owner of the estate,; Capt. J. E. Howey, is a military man. During tho war ho was ono of Britain's most daring flying aces in France aud a hussar who hunted the Turks and Arabs in Mesopotamia. He is also a racing motorist of note, having recently won tho world's record for 16 miles at Brooklands, U.5.A.,. against allcomers. He accomplished the journey at the rate of miles an hour with a flying start. After a brief visit Capt. Howey, who is accompanied by his wife and brother, is returning to his native Berkshire.