Events - Richmond Historical Society, Vic. Australia

Peter has published the book:
From cottages to Colosseums – Clements Langford – A Melbourne Master Builder’s Lasting Legacy.

Clements Langford is Peter’s great-great grandfather. Clements, aged 18 moved to Melbourne in 1868 with his family.  His father George became a grocer on the corner of Church and Kent Streets, Richmond. Clements became apprenticed to David Mitchell in 1879. While working under Mitchell, Clements would have worked on jobs such as Scots Church in Collins Street (1874) and the Exhibition Buildings in 1880. Clements entered a partnership with Robert and Henry Hutchinson, a Richmond father and son carpentry and building team.    Clements made significant progress and established his own business in Bridge Road, Richmond, with the factory extending around to Church Street. He was very involved in the Richmond community, the St Stephen’s Church and was responsible for the construction of many significant Richmond and Melbourne landmarks.

The next talk in their series on Richmond's villages will take Chris McConville and Robert Pascoe into the half-forgotten world of "the Richmond Irish". This event will take place on Sunday 5 October. The first Irish in Richmond were the Anglo-Irish who settled Richmond Hill, in streets like The Vaucluse and Erin Street, in the colonial era. They were followed by the working-class Catholic Irish. The Loughnans, the O'Connells, the Cremeans -- these clans came to define twentieth-century Richmond. Prominent Richmodites of Irish background also included Francis Bourke, Jack Dyer (on his mother’s side), and Dan Minogue. Our suburb was shaped by their politics, their language, and their outlook on life. They bequeathed Richmond its glorious pubs, its bitter-sweet humour, and its inclusivity. Despite their relatively diminished numbers, the Richmond Irish still make their presence felt in so many ways.