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

Swimming in the Yarra

Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 27, 2015
Norman Barry, well known dairyman in Port, was also a swimmer. He trained with the Port boys between the Piers. He swam in the 3 mile 'Race to Princes Bridge' in 1928 and finished in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 13 seconds. He was awarded a certificate illustrated by Percy Lindsay from the famous Lindsay family. The swimming race was discontinued because of…

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Beached – the SS Nairana

Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 18, 2015
Beached! From a fighter to a tame commercial ship – the tale of one vessel Such indignity! Fighting the Germans, the Bolsheviks and followed by years of battling the treacherous Bass Strait. And where does the coastal trader SS Nairana end its life on 18 February 1951? Beached, like a stranded whale, on a Port Melbourne beach. And later cut…

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‘The Lagoon Question’

Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 15, 2015
The 'Lagoon question' preoccupied the residents and Council of Port Melbourne for decades. For those readers not familiar with the extent of the Sandridge Lagoon, it is clearly shown in this map and was described by surveyor Grimes in 1803 ... a salt lagoon about a mile long and quarter mile wide. Had not entrance to the sea. The township of…

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Looking back on 2014

Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 22, 2014
The Society started the year with this new website. This year we also ventured into facebook reaching 100 ‘likes’ in November. These social media have opened up new ways for people with a Port connection to  get in touch and share stories. We have learned about the micro-world that was the Fisherman’s Bend Migrant Hostel. This small photograph of a shop in Station St has brought out…

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Birth and demise of Holden at Fishermans Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 27, 2014
It was a defining moment for the nation. It heralded Australia becoming a self-reliant manufacturer. It happened in Fishermens Bend on 29 November 1948 when Prime Minister Ben Chifley revealed Australia’s first mass-produced car, the Holden. Prime Minister Ben Chifley at General Motors Holden Factory The following day, The Argus reported: 'About 400 guests of General Motors applauded when curtains were drawn back…

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Representing Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 20, 2014
With the 2014 state election imminent, this post looks briefly at two very different people who have represented Port Melbourne: Frederick Derham Frederick Derham arrived in Melbourne in 1856. Following the death of his first wife, Ada, he married Francis Dodd Swallow, the daughter of his business partner Thomas Swallow. He became the managing director of the company in 1888 and  the sole…

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Ghostly stories of Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 13, 2014
A business near Holy Trinity church inquired whether there were ghosts in the area. The PMHPS has no records of paranormal activity in that vicinity, but there have been tales of ghosts in Port Melbourne. Take the curious case of the Graham Hotel. According to the owners, brothers Peter and Tony Giannakis, in 2001, a woman, dressed in white nightclothes and a…

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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.