Port Melbourne History – Page 2 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Survey Markers around Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 10, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Have you ever wondered what all those nails with coloured markings around them are on footpaths? Or have you come across an odd metal disc lurking in the grass or an unusual cover plate amongst the shrubs on the nature strip? If they look like any of the following, then they are part of the system…

Tom Griffin

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 3, 2023

by David Thompson Thomas Griffin's grave at Lancefield Cemetery, 2024. Photograph by Daniel Brueckner. On Sunday, 8 Nov 1953 Port Melbourne Mayor, Cr E J Purchase with Crs J P Crichton and T G Douglas accompanied by the Port Melbourne Municipal Band attended the grave of the late Cr Tom Griffin at Lancefield. [1] This had become an annual pilgrimage since…

‘Roar Like a Bull!’

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 20, 2023

Growing up in Port Melbourne in the middle of the 20th Century by Albert Caton I was born in 1942 in the maternity ward of the Women’s Hospital in North Melbourne, the son of Edward Harold (‘Ted’) Caton and Muriel Lily (Reed) Caton. Soon afterwards, my mum and I moved to Sydney where my father was stationed in the Navy…

Kyme Place

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 6, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Kyme Place runs off Liardet Street behind the burnt-out old Port Melbourne Theatre. It provides access to the rear of commercial premises on Bay Street and a public parking garage. A distinctive building, also called Kyme Place, utilises the airspace above the car park. Constructed in 2012, it was designed by MGS Architects to provide self-contained apartments as well…

A Coal Mine in Sandridge?

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 18, 2023

by David Thompson “The Sandridge people are anxious to have a coal mine within their municipality”[1]. So reads the opening stanza of an article titled “Scientific Gossip” from the Leader newspaper on 4 October 1873. Indeed, The Argus reported that a deputation consisting of Messrs Allison, T Dickson and W H Gresham representing the Victorian Coal Company (Limited) visited the Victorian Minister of Mines,…

James Garton: Hospitality and Horses

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 8, 2023

by David F Radcliffe James Garton was granted the licence for the Pier Hotel in May 1853. Over the next decade or so, there wasn’t much that happened in Sandridge that did not involve him. Born in Bath, Somerset, he arrived in Melbourne aged 24 with his brother Richard in March 1850.[1] A brewer by trade, Garton is reported to have started out…

Garton Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 1, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Garton Street is a quiet cul-de-sac at the northern boundary of Port Melbourne. Gazetted in March 1860, this short street was settled soon after, as Sandridge expanded rapidly under the population pressures of the gold rush. Today it has an eclectic range of dwellings from different eras. There is also a disused factory. The street was…

Dogs in Port

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 17, 2023

A Random post about dogs from 2013 mentions that the Society holds a Register of Dogs in Port Melbourne from 1892 (Cat No 1730). In fact PMHPS holds six items relating to the registration of dogs covering the period 1882 to 1915 so let's take a closer look at the book that covers the years 1892 to 1901. Dog Register…

Cyril Letts Reserve

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 4, 2023

by David Thompson Cyril Letts Reserve, 2023. Photograph by David Thompson. The triangle-shaped open space between Edwards Avenue and Howe Parade remained an unidentified reserve until the early 1980s when it was named in honour of former Port Melbourne Councillor and Mayor, Cyril Letts. Record, 28 Sep 1968 Cyril was born in Wedderburn in October 1908 and came to Port Melbourne in…

William and Christiana Barlow

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 20, 2023

by David F Radcliffe In November 1862, William James Barlow, aged 29, married Christiana Caroline Stivey, aged 18, at Holy Trinity Church in Bay Street. They started married life in a rented four-room wooden house at the very southern end of Station Place. Christiana gave birth to their first child, James, in early 1863. Later that year, the young family…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians