Port Melbourne History – Page 23 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Ship Visit

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 7, 2017

The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) spent six days berthed at Station Pier from 28 August to 3 September. The 275m long ship occupied nearly the entire inner east berth. The ship had been on training exercises in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for any contingency and 'enhance warfighting readinesss'. The visit to Australia included joint training exercises with…

Leonard Storey of ‘The Beach’

People, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 3, 2017

W.F.E. Liardet Surveyor Darke's camp, Sandridge State Library of Victoria Leonard Storey was an interesting character, not so much for what we know of his life, but for what we don’t know. This enlivens our imagination into contemplating just where he originally came from and where he disappeared to. His known history spans just four years, from 1837 to 1841. His…

An afternoon in the Park

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 27, 2017

Molly Lowrie, aged about 8 with her younger sisters Nancy, Betty, Patsy and Lorna in Crichton Reserve, Port Melbourne, 1929. My mother Molly Lowrie, aged about 8, with her younger sisters Nancy, Betty, Patsy and Lorna taken in the Crichton Reserve, opposite their home at Princes Street Port Melbourne, in 1929. While the two-storey Nott Street School building in the background…

Three Photos of Port Link Five Generations of my Family

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 13, 2017

Whilst converting a terrace house in Bay Street to a photography studio in the 1970s, one of my memories of Port was the delicious smell of baking biscuits from the Swallows factory, not one you’d associate with an industrial area. Lydia, my paternal grandmother, had worked there back in the early 1900s. Swallow & Ariell Sign (detail). I took this photo for…

Mr Webster’s Brother

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 29, 2017

Mr Webster's Brother Margaret Bride writes Our house in Evans Street was built by John Webster in 1886. He and his wife Mary lived there until his death in 1916. John Webster was a carpenter, working on the docks and at sea. This is a photo of his younger brother whose name we do not know. He was a friend of Emily Lock’s…

More Fishermans Bend Migrant Hostel Memories

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 22, 2017

This week's story comes to the PMHPS from Bill Hankin: Fishermans Bend Migrant Hostel. Entry in Hall St off Lorimer St. courtesy of Allan Marshall "I arrived at Fisherman’s Bend hostel in November 1952 aged 5 with my parents Cliff and Josy Hankin and my younger brother, John. We came to Australia on the New Australia from Southampton with stops at Suez,…

My Shed and its Five Pals

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 15, 2017

The shed Suzy shares with her five neighbours. My rectangular house block meets up with five others at the back left hand corner, one rectangular and four triangles. So our six sheds were a shared building with a shared internal wall when I moved into Port Melbourne in 1994. Diagram of Suzy's Shared Shed Unique? I wonder. The shed Suzy shares with her five…

William Cann’s Kitchen

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 8, 2017

William Cann (centre) with his soldier son Harry sitting to his right c 1915-19. Courtesy Geoff Lister. Feeding the hungry children of Nott Street School in the 1930’s was a far cry from William Cann’s former life as a British soldier who had served in both the Zulu and Boer Wars. However, he did know what it was like to be…

Esplanade West

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 1, 2017

Esplanade West, Port Melbourne Little did I know that buying our house in Esplanade West, would change the direction of my life. Esplanade West is an intriguing name for a street, and it led to an early interest in how it had come to be so named. I learned about the shaping influence of the Sandridge Lagoon on Port’s history and development.…

The Last Milk Horse

Port Melbourne HistoryMay 18, 2017

The Last Milk Horse I moved to Farrell Street in Port in 1986. Coming from the suburbs I was amazed to hear the milkman’s horse clopping past each morning. One morning in November 1988 I thought that I must take a picture of something that seemed unique to Port at that time. Little was I to know that it was to be the…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians