About

Princes Park was originally part of a 1,000 hectare reserve set aside by Govenor La Trobe in 1845, which included land now occupied by Royal Park, Melbourne Cemetery and the University of Melbourne.

Until the early years of the 20th century, sporting activities had to co-exist with grazing, once an important source of revenue
for Melbourne’s parks and gardens.
The tennis courts were well established by 1921, when a children’s playground was built next to them so a supervisor could manage both at the same time.