Melbourne Australia

Brunswick has an amazing assortment of independent shops you most likely won't find anywhere else. There's no glitz here, not by a long stretch. But what there is is colourful, cheap, and totally unpretentious. You'd be hard pressed not to get a bargain here. Many post World war II European migrants moved here, and this is reflected in shops like the amazing Mediterranean Wholesalers. More recently people from Islamic countries have settled in Brunswick. The city end of Brunswick Street has some interesting alternative-esque clothing stores. There is a live music scene here too.

The full experience of the Brunswick Market is hidden from the street. Inside you'll find a cavernous space filled with so many shops selling all manner of edible delights. The stalls in Brunswick Market really capture the multi-cultural essence of Sydney Road, and the variety here is impressive. Within this huge building you'll find halal butchers, a mini supermarket, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, aromatic spices, exotic sounds from far and away, and vibrant fabrics. Location: 661 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Vic.

Brunswick itself is relatively flat and is ideal for cycling. Brunswick East is bounded by the Merri Creek Trail; and Brunswick West by the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail, though neither of these can be described as flat. The Upfield Bike Path follows the Upfield railway line from Fawkner, through Coburg and Brunswick, joining the Capital City Trail at Park Street. Streets in Brunswick vary, from too narrow for two cars to pass to reasonably wide. Many of the wider streets have cycle lanes, though riding on these lanes, like the narrower streets, often means riding close to parked cars, presenting a significant hazard to cyclists from opening car doors.

Brunswick takes its name from Queen Caroline (nee Princess Caroline, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel), the wife of George IV.

The Brunswick area was known as Iramoo by the Aboriginal people who inhabited and hunted in it. Occupied by the Wurundjeri people who spoke the Woiwurrung dialect, white settlement began in the 1830s, with Assistant Surveyor Darke surveying the area  under the instruction of Robert Hoddle. North and south boundaries were drawn up, running in an east-west direction between Moonee Ponds Creek and Merri Creek. These boundaries would become Moreland Road and Park Street, respectively. A narrow road was surveyed down the centre to service what were intended to be agricultural properties, which would eventually become the major thoroughfare of Sydney Road. Ten allotments were drawn up on each side of this road, with each block of land running all the way to either Moonee Ponds Creek or Merri Creek. These wide strips of land are still reflected in the current street layout.

The land was sold at auction in Sydney and attracted speculators, many of whom would never see the land they purchased. Only one original buyer, James Simpson, settled on his land. Simpson subdivided his land and marked out two streets, Carmarthon Street (later Albert Street) and Landillo Street (later Victoria Street). Because the land was too marshy he left the area in 1859 with much of the land unsold. In 1841 two friends, Thomas Wilkinson and Edward Stone Parker, bought land from one of the original buyers. Stone soon left but Wilkinson stayed on and subdivided his land for sale or rent. He marked two roads which would eventually become extensions of the roads marked out by Simpson. Wilkinson named the streets Victoria Street (after Queen Victoria) and Albert Street (after her husband Prince Albert). Wilkinson had been an active campaigner for the rights of Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of King George IV, and thus named his estate Brunswick in her honour. When the area's first post office opened in 1846 it took on the name of Wilkinson's estate thus establishing the name of the whole area.

In October 1842 Miss Amelia Shaw became the licensee of the first hotel in the area, the Retreat Inn. The hotel also had a weighbridge so bullock drivers could refresh themselves whilst their wagons were weighed. The establishment was rebuilt in 1892 and renamed the Retreat Hotel; it still stands today. Also in 1842 work began on a new road along the central surveyors division. The road was originally known as Pentridge Road for it led to the bluestone quarries of Pentridge (now Coburg). In 1843 William Lobb established a cattle farm on his allotment and the area became known as Lobb's Hill. A laneway down the side of his property, originally called Lobb's Lane, would later be named Stewart Street. In 1849 Michael Dawson, one of the original land purchasers, completed work on an ivy-covered mansion on his property called Phoenix Park. The property was named after Phoenix Park near Dublin, Ireland. Dawson cited his address not as Brunswick, but Philiptown, after a town in Ireland which has since reverted to its original name Daingean. Philiptown eventually grew into a village along the track which led from Phoenix Park to Sydney Road. This track was later named Union Street.

Goldrush era

Henry Search opened a butcher's shop in 1850, on the south-west corner of Albert Street and Sydney Road. This was the first retail establishment in Brunswick. By 1851, gold diggers began making their way through the area, on their journey from the populous suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood. Brunswick provided a convenient place for lunch, before the diggers reached the beginnings of the roads to the goldfields, near present day Essendon. A small village sprung up to meet the needs of the travellers, near the present day Cumberland Arms Hotel. The village included a tent market, described as being like a bazaar, where miners could buy goods needed for the goldfields. Brunswick Post Office opened on 1 January 1854.

In 1859 Wilkinson established The Brunswick Record, the area's first newspaper. This changed its name in 1858 to The Brunswick & Pentridge Press. By 1857 the local population was estimated at 5000. The Brunswick Municipal Council was established in that year at the Cornish Arms Hotel, which still stands. The first municipal chambers were established in 1859 on Sydney Road at Lobb's Hill, between Stewart and Albion Streets. The present Brunswick Town Hall is an imposing Victorian edifice built in 1876 near the centre of Brunswick on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road.

In the 1850s quarries, and a large brickworks were established in Brunswick using the local clay and bluestone. This quickly became the largest industry in the area. In 1884 the first Brunswick railway line opened running from North Melbourne to Brunswick and Coburg. The line ran directly into the Hoffmans Brickworks, reflecting the importance of the brickworks industry to the local community. Prior to World War I, Brunswick was the "brickyard capital of Victoria". Remnants of the brickyards are still visible in some parts of Brunswick but most of the yards have long been converted to residential housing or parks. A few years later  in 1887  a cable tram line was laid along Sydney Road.

Post-goldrush era

A worker's cottage, built in the early 20th century. Many have now been extensively renovated at great cost. In 1908 Brunswick officially became a city. Textiles became a large industry in the area in the early decades of the 20th century, while quarrying declined with the depletion of reserves. By 1910 the population of Brunswick had grown to 10,000 people. 'Free Speech' campaigns occurred in Brunswick during 1933, as protestors countered the actions of police who sought to prevent 'street meetings' of communists. On 19 May 1933, two incidents occurred on Sydney Road, Brunswick. Large numbers of police officers were in the area to prevent expected street meetings and, when Reginald Patullo was spotted addressing a crowd from the roof of a tram, the police gave chase. As Patullo attempted to evade capture, one of the pursuing officers tripped and shot Petrullo in the thigh.

On the same night, a "well-dressed young man" appeared in a cage on the back of a lorry. He used a megaphone to address the crowd and the cage itself bore slogans such as "We want free speech". Police dispersed the crowd and the young man was eventually freed and then arrested. By June 1933, Brunswick residents and local council members were criticising the police action, and Councillor Wylie stated: "Without any discretion, mounted troopers drove men, women, and children off the footpaths in Sydney road into the path of traffic on Friday nights."

Post-World War II era

In the post-World War II era, Brunswick became the home of a large number of migrants from southern Europe  particularly from Italy, Greece and Malta. More recently, migrants from Turkey and other Islamic countries have arrived. The brickworks and much of the textile industry have also begun to close, as gentrification began in the 1990s, and considerable amounts of renovation and new residential development is occurring. In 2004, Brunswick and nearby Carlton were the location of several murders in what has been widely reported in Melbourne's media as an "underworld war"; the violence occurring between a group of organised criminals, leaving the majority of residents unaffected.