An Overview of the Federation Era
1901 onwards
The Australian ‘Federation’ style began toward the end of the 19th century
and moved into the early 20th century, The official Federation of Australia, when the Australian colonies united and became the Commonwealth of
Australia - occurred on January 1st, 1901. It was a time in Australian history
where passion for an distinct Australian identity was high, and as it happened
the arrival of the bubonic plague in 1900 would have some impact on the
development of that new identity.
The plague was worst in the inner city area of
the Rocks in Sydney, people were forced to
migrate to outlying suburbs for pure survival.
The government was determined to rid the
cities of the ‘slum’ conditions that fed the
disease’s growth,, resulting in a number of
‘model’ residential developments being built.
Places such as Sydney’s ‘Haberfield’ and
Adelaide’s ‘Mitcham, were know as ‘garden
suburbs’ and were a break away from the
terraced, close knit communities of the inner
city. In some cases this meant bigger houses,
gardens, better water and sewerage
disposal.
3.