David Thompson – Page 4 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Albert and Alfred Streets

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 5, 2019

Albert and Alfred Streets are two narrow streets formed west of the railway in the 1870s. Both streets run from Farrell Street towards Graham. Alfred stops mid-block after Union Street while Albert is split by Graham Street and continues to Poolman Street. Albert Street. Photo by David Thompson Albert Street was named for Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Consort and due…

Plummer Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 8, 2019

Plummer Street near J L Murphy Reserve. Photo by David Thompson Plummer Street runs between Bridge Street and Prohasky Street with a section running the length of J L Murphy Reserve. Andrew Plummer was born in 1812 in Dalkieth, Scotland. He came to Australia in 1853 and established a medical practice in Bay Street having qualified in medicine at Edinburgh University.…

Cambridge Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 4, 2019

Cambridge Street (highlighted). MMBW Map, 1894 Passers-by today would find it difficult to identify the street highlighted in the above 1894 MMBW map. That's because it doesn't exist, although that is not strictly true. Part of the street is still there but it no longer intersects with Farrell Street. This is Cambridge Street. The origins of the name are unknown, but…

Seisman Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 6, 2019

Seisman Street runs between Dow Street and Esplanade West near Liardet Street. Originally known as Clark Street, but unproclaimed as an official street, Sandridge Council at their meeting on Thursday 22 November 1883 approved that it be renamed Seisman Street, after the immediate past Mayor, Cr Frederick Seismann. The reasoning being that a Clark Street, already proclaimed, existed in the west of…

1919 Anzac Remembrance Day Appeal Sticker

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryApril 25, 2019

1919 Anzac Day Appeal Sticker. PMHPS Collection This sticker from the 1919 Anzac Remembrance Day Appeal in aid of the Memorial Building for Returned Sailors and Soldiers has survived for 100 years because it was used to secure the separate pages of the Nott Street School 'foolscap list' of "Old Boys" who enlisted for the First World War.

Nott Street School WWI Anzac Service

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryApril 25, 2019

Order of Service, Nott Street State School. PMHPS Collection This order of service, presumably from an Anzac Day commemoration, was found within a recess of the Nott Street School Old Boys Honour Board along with many other pieces of paper bearing the names of soldiers to be included on the school's Honour Roll. It gives an insight into how the school commemorated…

Nott Street School Honour Roll – Foolscap List

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryApril 25, 2019

Amongst the items discovered in the recess within the Nott Street School “Old Boys” Memorial were two lists of names on loose leaf paper. The first we dubbed the ‘pin list’ because the pages were held together by a small pin. The second list we have called the ‘foolscap list’ since it was written on foolscap sized paper. Specifically the list…

Patriotic Fundraising in Port During the Great War

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 21, 2019

During the course of researching the Society’s World War One Centenary Project we have been struck by the sheer number and variety of patriotic and fundraising events in Port Melbourne during the war years. Sometimes the proceeds went to local causes but the majority were for some aspect or other of the war effort. There were plenty of local people…

Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryMarch 20, 2019

The Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) the forerunner of today’s Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) was formed in June 1916.1 In late 1918 the RSSILA decided to establish branches in every suburb of Melbourne. 2 To this end, Cr Owen Sinclair presided over a meeting at the Temperance Hall on Thursday 20 March 1919. Fourteen…

A Captured German Gun for Port!

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryMarch 20, 2019

An interesting aside has come from a meeting at Port Melbourne's Temperance Hall on Thursday evening, 20 March 1919. Representatives of fourteen local patriotic bodies were meeting to form a committee make arrangements for a Pleasant Sunday Afternoon to raise money to aid the formation of a local branch of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA), more…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians