The suburb is located between the Tullamarine Freeway and Mount Alexander Road, south of Ormond Road, although the northernmost section of the area is still incorrectly referred to as Ascot Vale. Travancore was initially supposed to encompass the entirety of the area flanked by Ormond and Mount Alexander Roads and the Tullamarine Freeway.[2] The Moonee Valley City Council has taken steps to bring the remainder of the proposed area of Travancore into the suburb. That will reflect what was originally intended and, in turn, will reduce the area of the suburb of Ascot Vale.
Travancore takes its name from the Travancore Mansion and Estate, a property in the area owned by Henry Madden. Madden purchased the property, previously Flemington House, from the relatives of Hugh Glass in 1906, and renamed it. Madden exported horses to India, hence the property being named after the former southern Indian kingdom of Travancore, the present-day city of Trivandrum now part of the Indian state of Kerala.[3] When the land around Travancore Mansion was sub-divided, many of the streets were named in keeping with the Indian theme, such as Baroda Street, Lucknow Street, Bengal Street, Cashmere Street and Mangalore Street.[4] Some of the houses reflect the Old English architecture of the former Travancore region of India.
Travancore, only 5 km (3 mi) from Melbourne's CBD, has seen a transformation in recent years, following a fire that destroyed the Lombard Paper Factory. The former factory site is now occupied by residential towers that flank the suburb on its southern side.
See also
City of Melbourne – Travancore was previously within this local government area.
