Port Melbourne History – Page 5 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

A Bank in Bay Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 19, 2024

On Thursday, 1 January 1874 the following advertisement appeared on page 2 of The Argus newspaper. TENDERS are invited for the ERECTION of a BANK at Sandridge, for the National Bank of Australasia. Plans and specifications may be seen at our offices, 91 Little Collins Street West until the 8th inst. The lowest or any tender will not necessarily be…

The “Worst Hovel in the Municipality”

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 8, 2023

by David Thompson At Port Melbourne Council on Tuesday, 13 Oct 1942, the Mayor, Cr Tom Griffin described the North Port Police Station as the “worst hovel in the municipality” adding “the building is a disgrace to Port Melbourne”.[1] There had been a North Port Police Station as an off-shoot of the main station in Bay Street since the early 1890s. Initially…

Vintage Port Film Society

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 24, 2023

The Vintage Port Film Society was formed in 1990 and ran for sixteen years until 2006. Pat Grainger was a member and donated to PMHPS a dossier of film schedules, programme/program notes and some newsletters from 1995 to 2006 (Cat No 4482). The Film Society was set up by Frank and Serena Steuart and monthly screenings took place at their…

Survey Markers around Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 10, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Have you ever wondered what all those nails with coloured markings around them are on footpaths? Or have you come across an odd metal disc lurking in the grass or an unusual cover plate amongst the shrubs on the nature strip? If they look like any of the following, then they are part of the system…

Tom Griffin

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 3, 2023

by David Thompson Thomas Griffin's grave at Lancefield Cemetery, 2024. Photograph by Daniel Brueckner. On Sunday, 8 Nov 1953 Port Melbourne Mayor, Cr E J Purchase with Crs J P Crichton and T G Douglas accompanied by the Port Melbourne Municipal Band attended the grave of the late Cr Tom Griffin at Lancefield. [1] This had become an annual pilgrimage since…

‘Roar Like a Bull!’

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 20, 2023

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…

Kyme Place

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 6, 2023

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…

A Coal Mine in Sandridge?

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 18, 2023

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,…

James Garton: Hospitality and Horses

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 8, 2023

by David F Radcliffe James Garton was granted the licence for the Pier Hotel in May 1853. Over the next decade or so, there wasn’t much that happened in Sandridge that did not involve him. Born in Bath, Somerset, he arrived in Melbourne aged 24 with his brother Richard in March 1850.[1] A brewer by trade, Garton is reported to have started out…

Garton Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 1, 2023

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…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians