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

The Lagoon – Greg Ades

Port Melbourne History, PresentationsOctober 25, 2022

Greg Ades was the guest speaker on the topic of The Lagoon at the PMHPS October 2022 meeting. Greg has been a practicing artist for over 40 years. For a number of years he was artist in residence at Port Melbourne Primary School. At one stage, with Artists in Schools funding, he created a large painting with the students…

Otto Schumacher: Entrepreneurial Engineer

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 21, 2022

by David F Radcliffe What many remember as the Knox-Schlapp factory on the corner of Graham Street and Esplanade East in the shadow of the former gasometer was originally the Schumacher Mill Furnishing Works. The entrepreneurial Otto Schumacher erected this facility in stages over three decades. Its facades provided a billboard proudly promoting the many products made there and engineering…

Stokes (and Wickham) Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 7, 2022

by David F Radcliffe When the first allotments of Crown Land in Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) were sold in 1850, the settlement comprised just six streets – Graham, Rouse, Stokes, Nott, Bay and Dow. While Bay Street is obvious, the origins of the names for the other five streets remains something of a mystery. Margaret Bride has written about the…

A Plan for a Fence

Collection, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 23, 2022

by David Thompson The PMHPS Collection includes a number of plans and some of the older ones - the ones from the Sandridge days - are works of art. Take, for example, Cat No. 88 - Elevation of Proposed Fence to Station Place Reserve. Elevation of Proposed Fence to Station Place Reserve. PMHPS Collection, Cat No. 88. The first thing you…

The Barry family in Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 8, 2022

Helen Barry writes: My great grandfather, Robert Clarke Barry, first arrived in Sandridge in 1866 as a 17 year old seaman. Robert was born about 1849; the son of Henry Clarke Barry, a shipmaster and Johanna O’Connor, both from Ireland. His father worked the coastal areas of England. Robert was born at sea in England as the family had no…

Frangipani Court

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 2, 2022

by David Thompson The origins of the picturesque name of this short right-of-way are not clear other than it appears to have been named at the whim of a private owner. We do know that the name first appeared in Melway Ed 14 in 1982 but prior to that the name of the street is even less clear. Corner of…

The Church at 170 Farrell St

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 19, 2022

by Margaret Bride 170 Farrell Street, 2022. Photograph by David Thompson. On the west side of Farrell Street is a wooden building with a sign Full Gospel Assembly, although by its neat garden and fence it is clear that it is a private house. What is its story? In 1885 West Sandridge was well developed, the blocks of land had been subdivided…

Byrne Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 5, 2022

by David Thompson Byrne Street sign, August 2022. Photograph by David Thompson. Byrne Street is that short street near the Port Melbourne Tennis Club that provides access to Garden City via Poolman Street. It is named for Robert Byrne - Councillor, Victorian Member of Parliament, auctioneer and landowner. Robert Byrne was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1821. He emigrated to the…

Westgate Biodiversity – Lyn Allison

Port Melbourne History, PresentationsJuly 26, 2022

Lyn Allison is the president of Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Land Care who presents an illuminating insight into the workings of Westgate Park, its history & what the future holds. A history of community action in bringing back nature. This talk was presented to the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society on 26 July 2022.

Rev Frederick Charles Platts

Collection, People, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 22, 2022

by Lex Johnson Brass plaque for Rev F Platts on the pulpit from Holy Trinity Church, Port Melbourne (now located at Port Melbourne Town Hall). In 1861 the Reverend F C Platts was appointed to Holy Trinity Church in Sandridge. The congregation was to have some interesting years! Frederick Charles Platts was born in India in 1823 where his father was…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians