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Melbourne Historical Crime Tours
Things To Do Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Cultural and Theme Tours
Melbourne true crime tours created and hosted by writer and historian Michael Shelford as featured on ABC and BBC Radio and SBS Secrets of our Cities.
Take a trip back to the early 1900s where Melbourne’s inner-city crime district was controlled by female syndicates and the nearby suburb of Fitzroy was home to Australia’s largest-ever gang war.
All attendees receive a booklet containing photos of the characters discussed. Night tours feature a handheld laser projector, used by your host to project images of the historical characters discussed onto the buildings and streets they once inhabited.
The two hour walking tours take place every: Friday night (Melbourne CBD), Saturday late afternoon (Melbourne CBD) and Sunday afternoon (Fitzroy).
Included as part of the tour is your own copy of the official tour booklet, which contains photos of the criminals discussed and other interesting information. Night tours feature a hand-held projector which is used to beam photos onto the old buildings and streetscapes.
Tour numbers are limited so please book online in advance at the website or on Facebook.
Services
From $35 to $40
Take a walk through downtown Melbourne and learn of an era in which there was much more on offer at the local confectionery store than just lollies and soft drinks.
Explore Melbourne’s underworld c.1870’s to 1930’s, an era in which Melbourne’s downtown slum district, ‘Little Lon’, was mostly run by women. Learn about the battle for supremacy, madams who stood their ground against well-known gangsters such as Squizzy Taylor, and an all-female crime syndicate known as ‘The Combine’. Stop outside buildings which were once brothels and sly grog shops, and hear the stories of what occurred within their walls and on the streets and laneways around them.
Shootings, bombings, bashings, brothels, robberies, opium, cocaine and sly grog (speakeasies).
The tour is designed and delivered by writer and historian, Michael Shelford.
Disabled Access
From $20 to $25
Explore Melbourne’s oldest suburb, a place where the city’s most notorious criminals lived 100 years ago. Along the way you will stop outside buildings which were once brothels, sly grog shops (speakeasies) and dens of thieves.
The narrative follows Fitzroy’s journey from a wealthy and fashionable suburb through to the post World War I era when the district erupted into Australia’s greatest ever gang war. The tours are designed and delivered by writer and historian, Michael Shelford, and based on original source material from the old police files. You will receive a free 32 page booklet with photos of the criminals featured on the tour.
Disabled Access
From $25 to $30
Take a walk through downtown Melbourne’s ‘Little Lon’ district and learn of an era where there was much more on offer at candy stores than just confectionery and soft drinks.
Explore an underworld predominantly run by women and discover stories of the way they stood their ground against well-known gangsters such as Squizzy Taylor. Along the way you will stop outside buildings which were once brothels and sly grog shops (speakeasies) and hear the accounts of what occurred within their walls and on the streets and laneways around them.
Your tour guide will utilise the latest in hand-held laser projection technology to project images of the characters discussed onto the buildings and lanes they once inhabited.
Disabled Access
