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Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

Meetings, Next MeetingNovember 29, 2023
Well, the programme of monthly meetings has concluded for the year 2023 with the only remaining events, the Artisan Christmas Market in Bay Street on Saturday 2 December (11am - 4pm) and our Picnic in the Park at Edwards Park on Sunday 10 December (12pm - 3pm), weather permitting. BYO EVERYTHING! We wish all our members, supporters and guests a…

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Christmas Cards

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 10, 2021
As the ubiquitous adoption of electronic mail and text messages on smart devices has become the norm for our daily communications the practice of exchanging Christmas cards has declined enormously. It doesn't seem that long ago that mantlepieces, sideboards, desks and even office windows were crowded with festive cards. People sent cards to their friends and family, businesses to their important…

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Barkly Avenue

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 3, 2021
Surely such a grandly named boulevard would be one of the more prominent streets in Port Melbourne. Nothing could be further from the truth. Barkly Avenue is a short laneway off Garton Street, tucked in behind Crockford Street. It is named in honour of Sir Henry Barkly who was Governor of Victoria when the Borough of Sandridge gained separation from…

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Mount Mulligan Appeal

Collection, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 24, 2021
The Cairns Post newspaper of Tuesday 20 September 1921 carried the first reports of a terrible disaster in the remote mining township of Mount Mulligan, 1,797 km north west of Brisbane. Reports at that early stage were vague and at times contradictory but it was clear that around 9am the previous day an explosion had occurred at the Mount Mulligan…

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GMH Social Centre

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 10, 2021
Former GMH Social Centre. Photograph by David Thompson. The former General Motors-Holden Social Centre is tucked away off Salmon Street. Constructed in 1945 by Richmond builder, E A Watts Ltd, the building hosted concerts, balls and all manner of GMH employee functions but, primarily, was their canteen. Typical fare in the mid-1990s included French Onion soup (70c), Beef Stroganoff ($3.50) and…

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The Mystery of Dubbeldan’s Lane

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 4, 2021
Research by David Radcliffe and David Thompson In July 2021, Allan Marshall posted a photograph of Doubledan's Lane, Port Melbourne from Building and Real Estate magazine, February 1916 (above) on the Born and Bred in Port Melbourne Facebook page stating that he had checked period maps but couldn’t find any mention of the location.   Allan posts old photographs of Port on…

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WWII Hospital Ship – MS Oranje

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 9, 2021
Hospital ship, MS Oranje, at Port Melbourne, 1940s. Photograph by Roy Liebig. PMHPS Collection. This story was sparked by a couple of images in the PMHPS Collection taken by Roy Liebig in the 1940s. Both images appear later in this story so more on those later. MS Oranje, 1940s. Photo by Roy Liebig. PMHPS Collection. The MS Oranje started life in the…

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A Young Girl’s Interests

Collection, People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 18, 2021
In 1927 the Duke and Duchess of York (future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother) visited Australia for the official opening of Parliament House in Canberra. After the ceremonies, the royal couple returned to Victoria by train alighting at Montague so they could say goodbye from an open car at brief civic receptions outside South…

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A Corner Shop

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 23, 2021
In the days before supermarkets and large shopping centres the people of Port Melbourne and other inner suburbs shopped every day at small local shops located cheek by jowl amongst their own houses. One such shop was located on the corner of Esplanade East and Spring Street East. PMHPS has a digital copy of a photograph album compiled…

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