Summary

One of 360 photographs taken in the last years of the Newmarket Saleyards, culminating with the last auction held in 1987. These photographs were taken by a number of Newmarket employees and were compiled into eight albums held at the Queen Victoria Market archives. Vince Crupi, who was employed by the City of Melbourne, compiled the albums into eight volumes. He also took some of the photographs contained in the albums. The eighth album has not been found. This image is from Newmarket Album 7.

The collection documents the nature of working life, physical environment, operations and built structure of the Saleyards. The photographs provide an important visual record of the following areas: aerial views of the saleyards; night operations; construction and design of the stock yards, laneways and bluestone paving; proximity to housing and Melbourne's CBD; livestock auctions; maintenance; peppercorn trees; stock dogs; buildings on site; workers; sheep and cattle and the logistics of moving stock across the site.

Description of Content

Cattle transport trucks at Newmarket Saleyards. William Morton of 'Dalgook' property sits in the green truck on the left as cattled are unloaded. His truck, a 1956 International AS-160 was built to army specifications so has air brakes which was unusual for the time. The museum was notified in December 2025 that the truck is still used on nearly a daily basis to cart water by road in the Western district.

Physical Description

Digital image.

Significance

Statement of Significance
This collection is a rare visual document of the Newmarket Saleyards in the final few years leading up to and including the final stock auctions in 1987. The photographs provide insight into the day to day work, organisation and physical nature of the saleyard site, and its proximity to Melbourne suburbs and CBD. These images also help provide a context for interpreting a number of the artefacts in the Newmarket collection.

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