Heidelberg of the Heidelberg Artists: Mr Heale the pharmacist and druggist

Posted on Saturday, 13th September 2025 by Janine Rizzetti

We don’t tend to think of Yarra Street as a commercial area now, beyond Woolworths on the corner of Yarra Street and Lower Heidelberg Road.

But if you’d been here in 1888, as the ‘Heidelberg artists’ were, you might have called in to Mr Heale’s pharmacy. It was located “next to the Commercial Bank”, which was located approximately where Woolworths now is. The bank shifted to new premises on the corner of Hawdon and Burgundy Streets in April 1898.

Mr Heale, pharmaceutical chemist and druggist, had an interesting range of goods. As well as tending to your health, he sold seeds, trees, horse and cattle medicine, and he could pull or fill your teeth.

‘The Heidelberg of the Heidelberg Artists’ exhibition looks at Heidelberg and its people between 1880-1900. If you’ve seen the paintings at the Ivanhoe Cultural Centre, now come down and see the Heidelberg of the time. We’re open on Sundays between 2.00 and 5.00 p.m. Entry $5.00, members and children under 16 free.