Port Melbourne History – Page 8 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Working at Tom Piper

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 21, 2021

Win May (nee Smith) and Janet Bolitho worked together on this interview during lockdown in August 2021. Where did you grow up? My parents moved into our house in Griffin Crescent when it was brand new. My mother, Mary, worked at Swallows before marrying. My father, Alex, was a waterside worker who worked in gang 48 as a winch driver. He would walk…

‘Lagoon Reserve’: Residential or Recreational?

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 30, 2021

by David Radcliffe In the 1890s, the name ‘lagoon reserve’ applied to any part of the strip of reclaimed land, bounded by Esplanade East and Esplanade West, extending from Bridge St to Rouse St. Formed by filling in the Sandridge Lagoon, it was also known as the ‘lagoon lands’. The recreational park we know today as Lagoon Reserve, between Liardet…

Alfred Harman & Sons: Engineers of Derham Street

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 30, 2021

by David Radcliffe Twenty-one year old Alfred Harman is reported to have started his engineering business in 1885.1 He proudly advertised his services as an “engineer, blacksmith and brass-founder” offering “engines and machinery of every description made to order and repaired at lowest possible rates”.2 His firm, the Port Melbourne Engineering Works, which later became Alfred T Harman & Sons…

Mount Mulligan Appeal

Collection, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 24, 2021

The Cairns Post newspaper of Tuesday 20 September 1921 carried the first reports of a terrible disaster in the remote mining township of Mount Mulligan, 1,797 km north west of Brisbane. Reports at that early stage were vague and at times contradictory but it was clear that around 9am the previous day an explosion had occurred at the Mount Mulligan…

Smells

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 10, 2021

Swallow & Ariell viewed from Princes St 1987 PMHPS Collection The National Trust has argued that the smell of Vegemite, produced at Fishermans Bend, warrants recognition as part of the heritage of the place. This has prompted a post on how many Port stories are associated with smells. The fetid Sandridge Lagoon gave rise to virtually a whole vocabulary of smells…

GMH Social Centre

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 10, 2021

Former GMH Social Centre. Photograph by David Thompson. The former General Motors-Holden Social Centre is tucked away off Salmon Street. Constructed in 1945 by Richmond builder, E A Watts Ltd, the building hosted concerts, balls and all manner of GMH employee functions but, primarily, was their canteen. Typical fare in the mid-1990s included French Onion soup (70c), Beef Stroganoff ($3.50) and…

Derham Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 2, 2021

Frederick Thomas Derham was born in Somerset, England, in 1844 and arrived in Melbourne with his family in 1856. Derham's first business undertaking was as a mercantile broker with Callender Calwell & Co. In 1864, he married Ada Anderson with whom he had three sons and a daughter. Ada died in 1874. Derham had met Thomas Swallow, founder of Swallow…

Mrs Jane Adam: A Difficult Life

People, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 20, 2021

by David Radcliffe In the late 19th century, life for many in “Marvellous Melbourne” was often tenuous. Living conditions were fairly basic and the economic depression that lingered from the 1890s until the First World War meant there was no guarantee of having a roof over your head or food on the table. It was not uncommon for children to die prematurely,…

The Mystery of Dubbeldan’s Lane

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 4, 2021

Research by David Radcliffe and David Thompson In July 2021, Allan Marshall posted a photograph of Doubledan's Lane, Port Melbourne from Building and Real Estate magazine, February 1916 (above) on the Born and Bred in Port Melbourne Facebook page stating that he had checked period maps but couldn’t find any mention of the location. Allan posts old photographs of Port on…

Now and Then 2021 – Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021

Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing (2021). Photo: David Thompson, PMHPS Collection. The light rail service from the city to Port Melbourne opened in December 1987 replacing the railway that had operated along much the same route since 1854. In that year the Hobson’s Bay Railway Company opened the first rail service in Australia from the city to the beach. They were…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians