59102
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Burnley School of Horticulture
Description
Agent TypeOrganisationIdentifierUMA-AG-000000283Activities & OccupationsHorticultural CollegesHistoryThe Burnley Gardens are situated on a peninsula of land bounded on three sides by the Yarra River, about six kilometres east of the City of Melbourne. The land’s first use was as the Richmond Survey paddock which was reserved in 1836 to graze Survey Department animals. In August 1862 most of the area was reserved as public parkland, Richmond Park.
By then a section had been granted to the Horticultural Society of Victoria which had been established in 1849 and from 1885 would have the prefix Royal. Its principal role was to experiment with and facilitate the acclimatisation, ‘improvement’ and distribution of introduced flora - essentially fruit trees, vegetables and exotic garden plants. To do this well the Society needed a substantial piece of land and in late 1860 the Minister for Lands granted the Society twenty-five acres of Richmond Park. In 1865 the grounds were increased to 35 acres with an extension stretching north-west along the Yarra as far as the Hawthorn railway line. Despite minor changes to the boundaries the extent of the property remained the same until the 1990s.
The Gardens were opened on the first weekend in January 1863. By then many of the hundreds of different varieties of fruit trees were planted together with some of the magnificent conifers and other trees, and planting continued.
A large exhibition pavilion, designed by Alfred Kursteiner, was opened in October 1884. The construction of the Pavilion and other factors proved to be a financial drain on the Society and in December 1890 it handed back the grounds to the government in exchange for having its debts cleared.
Under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, the Burnley School of Horticulture was opened in May 1891 with the Pavilion used as the school room. It was the first Horticultural College in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the first in the world. The first Principal, who was appointed in 1897, was Charles Bogue Luffmann. Much of the design of the Gardens which remains today is attributed to him. He is also responsible for allowing women to attend lectures at the school.
In the following years several changes of name and administration occurred but the Department of Agriculture retained control until 1982 when the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture was formed with an independent governing Council answerable to the Minister of Education. The five agricultural colleges, Dookie, Longerenong, Gilbert Chandler, Glenormiston and Burnley Horticultural College were brought together under the VCAH.
In November 1992 the VCAH became a school of The University of Melbourne. In 1995 the University created the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture and in 1997 it merged with the VCAH. This created the Institute of Land and Food Resources which became the Faculty of Land and Food Resources in 2005. Another change in 2008 renamed it the Melbourne School of Land and Environment. In 2014 the Burnley Campus became the School of Ecosystem & Forest Sciences in the Faculty of Science.
By then a section had been granted to the Horticultural Society of Victoria which had been established in 1849 and from 1885 would have the prefix Royal. Its principal role was to experiment with and facilitate the acclimatisation, ‘improvement’ and distribution of introduced flora - essentially fruit trees, vegetables and exotic garden plants. To do this well the Society needed a substantial piece of land and in late 1860 the Minister for Lands granted the Society twenty-five acres of Richmond Park. In 1865 the grounds were increased to 35 acres with an extension stretching north-west along the Yarra as far as the Hawthorn railway line. Despite minor changes to the boundaries the extent of the property remained the same until the 1990s.
The Gardens were opened on the first weekend in January 1863. By then many of the hundreds of different varieties of fruit trees were planted together with some of the magnificent conifers and other trees, and planting continued.
A large exhibition pavilion, designed by Alfred Kursteiner, was opened in October 1884. The construction of the Pavilion and other factors proved to be a financial drain on the Society and in December 1890 it handed back the grounds to the government in exchange for having its debts cleared.
Under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, the Burnley School of Horticulture was opened in May 1891 with the Pavilion used as the school room. It was the first Horticultural College in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the first in the world. The first Principal, who was appointed in 1897, was Charles Bogue Luffmann. Much of the design of the Gardens which remains today is attributed to him. He is also responsible for allowing women to attend lectures at the school.
In the following years several changes of name and administration occurred but the Department of Agriculture retained control until 1982 when the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture was formed with an independent governing Council answerable to the Minister of Education. The five agricultural colleges, Dookie, Longerenong, Gilbert Chandler, Glenormiston and Burnley Horticultural College were brought together under the VCAH.
In November 1992 the VCAH became a school of The University of Melbourne. In 1995 the University created the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture and in 1997 it merged with the VCAH. This created the Institute of Land and Food Resources which became the Faculty of Land and Food Resources in 2005. Another change in 2008 renamed it the Melbourne School of Land and Environment. In 2014 the Burnley Campus became the School of Ecosystem & Forest Sciences in the Faculty of Science.
Dates
Date1891-
Names
Other NamesBurnley Horticultural College
Description Control
Source of DescriptionAssociate Professor Don Garden, Chapter 1 of the unpublished manuscript, “The Designers' Legacy: 150 Years of Burnley Gardens".
Burnley School of Horticulture (1891-), [UMA-AG-000000283]. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 18/04/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/59102