Spencer Street, Melbourne

Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the western-most boundary of the Hoddle Grid.Spencer Street is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, former Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.LocationRunning roughly north-south, Spencer Street forms the western edge of the original Hoddle Grid. To the north Spencer Street becomes Dynon Road, whilst to the south it becomes Clarendon Street after crossing the Spencer Street Bridge over the Yarra River.Spencer Street denotes the boundary between Melbourne and Docklands to the west, West Melbourne in the north and Southbank in the south, near Batman Park.HistorySpencer Street was the site of the first permanent buildings in the settlement now called Melbourne. The home of John Batman was built on nearby Batman's Hill where he lived until his death and the early camps of Captain William Lonsdale and Charles La Trobe were located along the street.