Former Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent
Reflections on 'entitlement'
Here is a transcript of Frank Vincent's address to those gathered to remember the life and times of Allan Whittaker, shot by police at Hogans Flat, close to Princes Pier on 2 November 1928. He died on Australia Day 1929.
'There is a tendency to talk about Allan Whittaker and the period that he…
Jill Dawson, descendant of Bernt Aanenson writes:
After arriving from Norway in 1886, Bernt Aanensen and his brother Adolph "Dolph" married two sisters, Grace and Edith Perrett from Geelong. Both families lived in Port Melbourne. Bernt and Edith had ten children, with five generations of descendants, some of whom are still living in Port Melbourne today.
Bernt and Edith Aanensen with eight of their…

The aerodromes of Fishermans Bend and Port Melbourne are no more. Graham Street Aerodrome disappeared under industrial buildings, Garden City covers Port Melbourne Aerodrome, Coode Island Aerodrome is part of Swanson Dock, while roads fragment the site of Fishermens Bend Aerodrome.
Aviation first arrived at the Bend when aviation pioneer R Graham Carey, with financial backing from the Mayor of…

Address by Ted Baillieu, chairman of the Anzac Centenary Commemoration Committee at the commemoration of the departure of the first convoy from Port Melbourne's piers on 19 October 2014
"This is the place
Where streamers were thrown to loved ones.
It was here that the cheers turned to tears.
It was here, where the warmth of the farewell turned into the chill of the…
photograph Doug Smallpage
On 15 October, people will gather at a memorial at the Westgate Bridge to honour 35 workers who were killed when a 120-metre span of the bridge collapsed on that day in 1970. Another 18 were injured, with many crippled for life.
The day before Victoria’s worst industrial accident, a worker, hearing creaks in the structure, commented:…

One hundred years ago, thousands of Victorians embarked from Port Melbourne bound for the battlefields of World War One. By the end of October 1914, 17 troopships had left Victorian shores carrying almost 8,000 troops as well as nurses, technicians, horses, supplies and weaponry. This was Victoria’s First Convoy.
To mark the centenary of this historic departure, the State Government of…

Crowds welcome the Empress of Britain
Imagine an MCG Grand Final crowd thronging around Station Pier. That is what occurred 6 April 1938 when one of the Golden Age of ocean liners, the Empress of Britain, berthed there. This crowd estimate was published in The Argus the following day. At 42,500 tons (43,181 tonnes), it was the biggest vessel ever to…

Port Melbourne played a part in allowing scientists and historians to film inside “the silent ANZAC”* - the historic submarine wreck HMAS AE2.
Discovered in 1998, the submarine was scuttled during the Gallipoli campaign. The hulk sits on the bottom of the Sea of Marmara.
AE2 Australian War Memorial
Researchers from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, in Lorimer Street, Port Melbourne, developed…

Museum Victoria c1907 Although a later image, chosen for its 'birthday' feel
At 12.20 pm on 12th September 1854, the first journey of the first steam powered passenger train in Australia left Flinders Street for Sandridge.
The gold rush had made the long and convoluted journey up the Yarra River increasingly untenable. Goods had to be transferred to lighters which was expensive…

The Ship Inn in Bay St (3) where J Budd and others were farewelled . Port Phillip City Collection
The Port Melbourne Standard of 19 September 1914 carried a story about a send-off for three Port lads who had enlisted for the war.
On Friday 11 September 1914 about 150 friends and workmates assembled at the Ship Hotel in Bay Street to bid…