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

Anzac Day in Port Melbourne 2013

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 25, 2013
Was it the beautiful sunny day or the growing pull of the Anzac tradition that led to this year's record crowd at the Port Melbourne Anzac service? Commander Mike Lovell once again gave a memorable address - all without notes. His theme was the evolution of Australian society from a time when white males ruled at home and in all areas of…

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Port Melbourne’s early aviation history

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 24, 2013
Kevin O'Reilly, aviation historian, shared his astonishing collection of photographs and deep knowledge of his subject with members. What follows is not an account of Kevin's wide ranging talk - just some observations arising from it. The Shaw-Ross aerodrome was the first to be licensed. The proximity of the aerodrome to Princes Pier and to the bay was a surprise. As…

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Where plaques lead

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 10, 2013
Talking of plaques, and their near neighbour, foundation stones, I noticed that the memorial stone on the Holy Trinity Church Hall has recently been re-pointed and is now a deep smooth grey. The stone marks the opening of the Holy Trinity Church Hall by F. T. Derham in 1886. As you may know, Derham was Thomas Swallow's son-in-law.  He was appointed partner…

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Kitchen candles

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 4, 2013
The Society's fabulous acquisition of photographs and artefacts from Symex (formerly Kitchens), are on display upstairs at the Port Melbourne Town Hall, 333 Bay St, Port Melbourne. (enter via Spring St south). The very large photographs show not only Kitchens but the wider context of the site - Dunlops, the Port Melbourne Football Ground and other local landmarks. There is a…

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Lagoon Tales

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 4, 2013
There are endless stories to tell about the former Sandridge Lagoon and environs. But you've got to begin somewhere. This account by Josephine Liardet, daughter of Wilbraham Liardet, is especially evocative. She recalled that in the early days "The lagoon was covered with wild ducks and in the trees were cockatoos, plovers, pigeons. Hector and Jack used to get up between 3…

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Plaques

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 27, 2013
Peter Quinlivian, speaker at this month's meeting and author of Forgotten Valour: The Story of Arthur Sullivan VC: Shy War Hero described how the 320 page book came about from following the threads of scant text on a plaque happened upon by chance.  He wondered aloud whether he was in the company of other 'plaque fanciers'. This was enough to send…

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Stothert & Pitt cranes

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 27, 2013
The western finger pier at Station Pier is being prepared for the installation of a refurbished Stothert & Pitt crane. The crane was stored in a paddock during the construction of Beacon Cove. A condition of the development agreement was that the crane would be reinstated. Of course, that is not the original location of the cranes which is illustrated in…

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Desperate for Ice Cream

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 12, 2013
Thoughts have turned obsessively to ice cream over this protracted spell of hot weather. Where were the best spots in Port Melbourne to buy an ice cream at various times? Member Helen Barry recalls buying ice creams from a small shop in Crichton Ave. Woodruffs had a milkbar on Bridge St. People have mentioned that good ice creams and milk shakes…

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First container ship to visit the Port of Melbourne

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 4, 2013
Encounter Bay, the first container ship to visit no 1 Swanson Dock in 1969 image Glen Stuart This first blog post takes a Port theme, following the government's recent approval of the Port Capacity Project.  A recent Port of Melbourne publication says that "In the 2011-12 financial year 2.58 million containers - 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) were handled by the Port of…

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