My Life in Port
As a member of the PMHPS I would like to say I'm 91 years young. Home birth was very common in 1924 when I was born at 36 Princes Street, … [Read More...]
St Joseph’s Catholic Church
This small bluestone church was built in 1881. It was an important part of our family life for many years. My parents Robert Kilpatrick … [Read More...]
Aanensen Family Portrait
Rear (L-R) Alfred Adolf (b 1890), Stanley George (b 1888), Marie Louisa (b 1893) Middle (L-R) Albert Edward (b 1901) (being … [Read More...]
A Right Royal Welcome to Port Melbourne
David Radcliffe Recently the PMHPS acquired a magnificent picture showing a distinguished visitor being officially welcomed to Port … [Read More...]
Freedom of Entry to the City
The custom of granting armed forces Freedom of Entry to the City dates from medieval Europe where walled cities could make the movement of … [Read More...]
Gustav Adolph (Alf) Heppner (1865 – 1958)
Ray Jelley, April 2020 Gustav Adolph Heppner was born on 24 October 1865 in Adelaide, South Australia to parents Johann Friedrich and … [Read More...]
Percy Allan May
In the Society's April 2020 Newsletter, David Thompson relayed the story of the discovery that P A May of 137 Esplanade West, Port Melbourne … [Read More...]
A Migrant Story
Station Pier and the ship Johan van Oldenbarnevelt have something in common. Both were completed in 1930 and both often met during and … [Read More...]
Who Needs a Chair?
My cousin John Beaumont, sitting on the footpath in front of his home at 43 Bridge Street Port Melbourne around 1943. John’s father … [Read More...]
Kitchen’s Picnic
My Father, Bill Hegarty, along with the Mott sisters, Myrtle, Ida and Alice who married Bill, were all employed by Kitchen & … [Read More...]
A Demographic Analysis of Liardet Street Port Melbourne Compared to Liardet Street, Liardet Grove and Liardet Terrace, London
by Ray Jelley As the name suggests the objective of this study was to compare the occupations, and therefore indirectly, the social … [Read More...]
An afternoon in the Park
My mother Molly Lowrie, aged about 8, with her younger sisters Nancy, Betty, Patsy and Lorna taken in the Crichton Reserve, opposite their … [Read More...]

Stella Edwards 1883 – 1975
Stella Edwards Sarah Stella Edwards, known as Stella at her preference, was born into a close-knit Sandridge pioneering family that was strong on talent and ability. Even so, she was notable among them as the independent, entrepreneurial and highly talented woman that she was. She was much admired. Stella's mother was Sarah Whiteman, one of … [Read More...]

The Closing of Faram Bros
By David Thompson Leave a Comment
Faram Bros Hardware, January 2007. PMHPS Collection Early in 2007 Wanted posters featuring Doug Faram appeared in the Borough. Faram Bros Hardware store in Bay Street was closing and former customers were invited to a Street Party and Sausage Sizzle to be held at 11am on Saturday, 10 February to say goodbye and thanks to Doug and the family … [Read More...]

James Graham: was Graham Street, Port Melbourne named after this man?
by Margaret Bride Detail, Plan of allotments marked at Sandridge in the parish of South Melbourne / surveyed by Lindsay Clarke Assit. Surr., 1849. State Library of Victoria. In 1849 the government surveyor published a Street Plan of Sandridge showing a simple grid of streets with six blocks bounded by the newly named streets of … [Read More...]

Prince Arthur Hotel
By David Thompson Leave a Comment
Thomas O'Brien established the Prince Arthur Hotel on the corner of Nott and Spring Streets, opposite the Bowling Club, in 1870. That original structure was rebuilt in 1882 to a design by architect T J Crouch. The Prince Arthur was among the ten Port hotels that were delicensed in 1915. For the next seventy years or so the building was used by … [Read More...]

Fundraising Stalls and Christmas Dinners
PMHPS fundraising/information stall in conjunction with Port Melbourne Tourism Association, Station Pier, 9 November 1994 during the visit of the Replica Endeavour. Photographer Pat Grainger, PMHPS Collection Over its twenty-Seven year history, the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society has had many stalls and displays serving the … [Read More...]