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

‘Roar Like a Bull!’

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…

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Kyme Place

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…

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A Coal Mine in Sandridge?

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,…

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Garton Street

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…

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Dogs in Port

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…

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Cyril Letts Reserve

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…

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William and Christiana Barlow

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…

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The Curious Case of King and Stone Streets with Bartlett Street Thrown in for Good Measure

by David Thompson Melbourne Harbor Trust General Plan, 1893 (detail). State Library of Victoria A General Plan prepared by the Melbourne Harbor Trust dated 1893[1] shows a regular grid of six streets to the west of Williamstown Road. Tarver Street, Plummer Street and a third unnamed street running parallel to Williamstown Road with King Street, Stone Street and another unnamed street running directly off Williamstown…

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PMHPS acknowledges the generous support of the City of Port Phillip.

 

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.