Lalor () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Lalor recorded a population of 23,219 at the 2021 census.

Lalor was named in honour of Peter Lalor, a leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion and later a member of the Victorian parliament. The suburb was named after the Peter Lalor Home Building Co-operative Society. In recent times, the mispronunciations has become predominant, whilst the Federal electorate of Lalor is still predominantly pronounced .

The eastern and western borders of Lalor are defined by Darebin Creek and Merri Creek respectively.

History

Lalor was originally a part of Thomastown. In 1945, Leo Purcell, while a patient at a military hospital on the Atherton Tableland, worked out a scheme to provide low-cost homes, that in February 1947 became known as the "Peter Lalor Co-operative Family Scheme", and with a group of ex-servicemen, formed the Peter Lalor Home Building Co-operative Society.Victoria Gazette, No. 28.-22 January 1947—Page 198NOTICE is hereby given that a society called "The Peter Lalor Home Building Cooperative Society Limited" is registered under the provisions of the above Act. Given under my hand, this sixteenth day of January 1947, A. E. RASMUSSEN, Registrar of Friendly Societies.Key is give and take , Mr McVicar and his brother joined the Peter Lalor Home-Building Co-operative Society, building the home the couple have lived in for 60 years. 8 February 2011, by Melissa Merrett, Whittlesea Leader The scheme was sponsored by the ex-servicemen's committee of the central executive of the Victorian Labor Party. They chose two hundred and fifty-eight acres east of today's Lalor railway station to be the site of the new developments, and the town planner Saxil Tuxen was hired to design a garden suburb.Thomastown & Lalor -WCF Areas-Whittlesea Community Futures

Lalor Post Office was opened on 1 August 1949.

Although the Co-operative succeeded in beginning a program of house building, under-capitalization resulted in the venture being taken over by the War Service Homes Commission in 1954.Lalor-Place-eMelbourne-The Encyclopedia of Melbourne OnlineLalor overcame early set-back, 6 September 1977, The Age

Originally built as the Mentone Fire Station, on the corner of Brindisi Street and Mentone Parade in Mentone in 1906, the building was relocated to 24 Vasey Street, Lalor, in 1957, to become the Lalor Fire Station.Did You Know?: Foundation of the Mentone Fire Brigade , The Mentone station on the corner of Brindisi Street and Mentone Parade continued to serve the local community until 1956 when a new building was constructed.. The Station was opened 30 January 1958, and was closed in 1997, and now served by the Epping Fire Station.Epping's new fire brigade captain ready for challenge , 4 December 2008, by Saeed Saeed, Whittlesea Leader$4.3m BUILDING PROGRAM FOR YOUNG DISABLED ADULTS—NAPTHINE, Saturday, 12 April 1997., LALOR. Whittlesea ATSS in Lalor will receive $50,000 towards the refurbishment of a house. Whittlesea ATSS redeveloped the old Lalor Fire Station into a community options day service and will now renovate the fire station house adjacent to expand the day service and cater initially for two consumers.

In 2010, Stockade Park was redeveloped. This site, enclosed by Paschke Crescent and leading to Rochdale Square, marks the location of the Peter Lalor home building co-operative's Stockade — an area that housed the tools and materials for the workers of the Co-operative that built Lalor.Stockade Park, Lalor, Fitzgerald Frisby Landscape ArchitectureStockade Reserve Yarra Plenty Regional Library

Street names Many streets in Lalor were named by the Peter Lalor Home Building Co-operative Society after prominent civilian and military figures.List of Australians Awarded the Victoria Cross , ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland)Lalor, Whittlesea Street Names – WikiNorthiaA Community portrait Lifetimes in the city of Whittlesea, by Robert Pascoe, 2001 page:144 A Country Viewpoint-John Waghorn, Lalor, Victoria., 30 August 2005, ABC Rural Bush Telegraph

Education

In 1954, Lalor Primary School was opened, reaching an enrolment of 1,000 by 1971, when a further three primary schools were founded.Lalor Primary School -School Profile Lalor North Primary School was established in 1971. Lalor East Primary School was established in 1972. Lalor West Primary School was opened in 1973 and merged with Lalor Park Primary School in 2011, to form Lalor Gardens Primary School.Farewell to Lalor West school , 17 November 2009, by Mark Smith] Whittlesea Leader

Lalor Primary School was built on land owned by the Evans family, and held its 50th anniversary in 2004. Several of the surrounding streets are named after members of the Evans family (Evans Street, Ruth Street).

Lalor has two Catholic primary schools: St. Luke's Primary School Lalor, established in 1961,History of the parish , St Luke's Parish Web Site and St Catherine's Primary School, established in 1983.

Lalor also has three public secondary schools: Lalor Secondary College, previously known as Lalor High School, established in 1963, Peter Lalor College, previously Lalor Technical School, established in 1968, and reopened as the Peter Lalor Vocational College in 2012, and Lalor North Secondary College, previously known as Lalor North High School, established in 1977.

Shopping

The Lalor Shopping Centre is located between Station Street and May Road, which parallels High Street—the main thoroughfare through Lalor—on the opposite side of the railway line. The land was previously owned by the Mann family. David Mann and his wife May (née Thomas, of Thomastown), who purchased it in 1920, and carried on dairy farming until it was sold in 1954.Recollections of Lalor Shopping Centre (1960-1995)-WikiNorthia Retailers consist of many small specialty shops, as well as Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.

The Mann farmhouse, Bella Vista, stood just north of the Lalor Library in May Road.

Lalor Plaza in McKimmies Rd opened 1979 and Lalor Hub in Kingsway Drive are small enclosed shopping malls located respectively in the eastern and western residential areas of the suburb.Lalor Hub shops left in lurch , 13 October 2009, by Mark Smith – Whittlesea Leader

There are also a number of small shopping strips, including Rochdale Square Shops (named in commemoration of Rochdale, the first town built on co-operative principles), located near the Lalor railway station.

Population

In the 2021 census, there were 23,219 people in Lalor. 47% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 5.1%, Italy 4.7% and Macedonia 4.6%. 31.8% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 10.6%, Macedonian 7.6%, Vietnamese 6.8%, Italian 6.3% and Greek 5.8%.

The most common responses for religion in Lalor were Catholic 22.7%, Islam 15.4 %, Eastern Orthodox 13.9% and No Religion 16.6%.

Culture

The Whittlesea Community Festival, celebrated since 1998, is held on the third Sunday in March in Lalor at the Whittlesea Public Gardens on Barry Road, regularly attracting more than 15,000 people.Whittlesea, Mernda, Doreen Star, Community Celebrates , 15 March 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2011City of Whittlesea Community Festival , When: Third Sunday in March, Come See Whitlesea St Luke's Church holds La Festa di San Donato (The Festival of San Donato) annually in August.La festa di San Donato, City of Whittlesea, Melbourne, Australia

Recreation and leisure

The main public spaces for active recreation include the City of Whittlesea Gardens, which provides access to the Craigieburn Bypass Trail, Huskisson Avenue Reserve, a favourite spot for picnickers, V.R.Michael Reserve, Partridge Street Reserve, Lalor Reserve and W.A.Smith/Sycamore Reserves along the Darebin Creek, that provides a number of recreational facilities.

Community facilities

An Lac Hanh Amitabha Hall, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, is located in the suburb.

Lalor library is managed by Yarra Plenty Regional Library.

Sport

Lalor United Sloga Football Club was established in 1979.

Lalor have had up to three local Australian Rules Football teams competing in the Northern Football League: Lalor Bloods Lalor Stars folded in 2014 West Lalor Dragons, established in 1973 folded in 2013. Ground now used for rugby league.

Lalor has two tennis clubs: Lalor Tennis Club, established in 1957 in Sydney Crescent, Lalor. West Lalor Tennis Club

Other sports include: The Lalor Bowling Club was established in 1962, and is located on the corner of Sydney Crescent and Gordon Street. The Lalor Stars Cricket Club was established in 1979, and is located at the W.A Smith Reserve in Darebin Drive. Lalor Parkrun was established in 2016, and meets every Saturday at 8am at City of Whittlesea Public Gardens, 158 Barry Road Lalor. Parkrun is a free 5 km timed walk or run put on for the community by the community. The Lalor Running Club was established in 2017, and organises several group runs for all abilities in Lalor and surrounds.

Transport Bus Eight bus routes service Lalor:

: Wollert West – Thomastown station via Epping station. Operated by Dysons. : Thomastown station – Thomastown station via West Lalor (clockwise loop). Operated by Dysons. : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre via Lalor, Thomastown and Reservoir. Operated by Dysons. : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre via Keon Park station. Operated by Dysons. : Thomastown station – Thomastown station via West Lalor (anti clockwise loop). Operated by Dysons. : Thomastown station – Thomastown station via Darebin Drive (anti clockwise loop). Operated by Dysons. : Lalor – Northland Shopping Centre via Childs Road, Plenty Road and Grimshaw Street. Operated by Dysons. : Thomastown station – RMIT University Bundoora Campus. Operated by Dysons.

Cycling The Craigieburn Bypass Trail, which follows the Hume Freeway, runs to the west of the suburb and provides facilities for recreational and commuting cyclists.

Train One railway station serves Lalor: Lalor, located on the Mernda line.

Further reading

– This book is an edited version of Moira Scollay's PHD thesis entitled: "Homes for the People: The Peter Lalor Home Building Co-operative 1946 – 2004", ANU, 2010. The thesis was in two volumes. Only Volume One has been edited into the book. Volume Two is available from the following website and provides additional information, including the prosopography tables to support the book and Video interview by Moira Scollay at the "Peter Lalor Public Meeting Lalor Library and Oral Testimony 2005–2009". Peter Lalor Oral History Project, Ford, Ruth, (Book – 1999) Volume 1: Project report, Volume 2: Transcripts. (This oral history is available as both transcripts and video)

See also Westgarthtown, an historic village within Lalor

References

Sources Lalor – Post Office and related history, Item barcode: 1349800, Series number: B5846, Contents date range: 1901 – 198, Physical format: Paper files and documents.

Images from the National Archives of Australia: Men unloading tiles from a Peter Lalor Co-operative truck in Melbourne, Victoria, (1940s) Lalor Post Office, (Years identified: 1958, 1968), Image no. : B5919, 1103, Barcode : 9719680 1968—Migrants in their homes—Maltese Co-operative Housing Scheme—first home., The house in Lalor, Melbourne being handed to Mr and Mrs Charles Scicluna by the Maltese Emigration Attaché Mr JJ Tabone. Image no. : A12111, 1/1968/21/2, Barcode : 7427419

External links