Crouch & Wilson was established in 1857 as a partnership of Tasmanian-born Thomas J. Crouch (1833-1889) and Ralph Wilson (1827-1886) who had recently emigrated from London. They conbined to set up a prominent and distinguished architectural firm in Melbourne during the nineteenth century, designing some of St Kilda's most prestigous buildings.
The firm designed numerous residential, commercial and community buildings, including many Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches, several of which are now included on the Victorian Heritage Register. Some of their notable commissions include the St Kilda Wesleyan Methodist Church (1857-58, H818), ‘Longerenong’ Homestead (1862, H290), the Victorian Deaf & Dumb Institution (1866-71, H2122), Prahran Town Hall (1860-78, H203), Welsh Church & Hall (1871, H536), and Malvern Town Hall (1886-1890, H2288) (VHD).
The firm also designed a number of buildings for Melbourne’s Jewish community. Apart from ‘Toldara’ and Rondebosch’, they also designed ‘Wilgah’ at 6 Burnett Street St Kilda for Denis Eisenstaedtler (1864, H760, H761), Orwell for Michealis, ‘Ensor’ in East Melbourne for Joseph Levy (1875, H860), ‘Ardee’ in East Melbourne for Lawrence Benjamin (1881, H859), the first St Kilda Hebrew Congregation Synagogue (1872, demolished) and the East Melbourne Synagogue (1877, H495) (VHD).
T.J. Crouch lived in St Kilda and was a member of the local Wesleyan Methodist Church. In partnership with Wilson they designed some of the most prestigious buildings including Toldara and Rondebosch in East St Kilda and also the beautiful Evora in Elwood as well as Raglan Terrace and Orwell in Robe Street. Crouch & Wilson had a business association with the St Kilda builder and developer, Thomas Newton constructing his house at 12 Waterloo Crescent, St Kilda (HO275) where Crouch lived for several years from 1866 until the early 1870s. In 1868 Crouch & Wilson designed the house at 12 Jolimont Terrace, East Melbourne that Newton constructed for Alexander Leslie (H513) and it is possible that they designed some or all of the houses constructed by Newton in the Charnwood Estate and elsewhere in St Kilda in the 1860s and 1870s.
