Page 2 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Meeting 22 April 2025 @ 7.30pm

MeetingsMarch 27, 2025

Peter Bellion: “The history of the Bellion/Burridge families in World War I” We will meet in-person in the Council Chamber upstairs at Port Melbourne Town Hall or via Zoom using the following link. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86966645825?pwd=c1d2dDllRWV6bHBJeTBydjcvQjRFdz09. If you experience difficulty logging into the meeting please try: Meeting id 869 6664 5825 Password is: 450546

The Whitaker Family: Braidwood to Montague

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 21, 2025

by David F Radcliffe Allan Whittaker, a stevedore, was shot by police at Hogans Flat, near Princes Pier, on 2 November 1928. The injuries he sustained resulted in his untimely death on 26 January 1929. He was 38. These events have been commemorated annually since 2013. A short film, An Ordinary Life: The Story of Allan Whittaker, released in…

Ada Polson

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 7, 2025

Margaret Bride writes about her mother, Ada Florence Bellion, born in Port Melbourne in 1891. A very early photograph of Ada, aged about 3, shows a sturdy child with a mass of curls. Her deep auburn coloured hair led to her nick-name of Bluey when she was a young woman. Ada, circa 1894 My Mother, Ada Florence Bellion, was born in…

Feb 27 – Jun 5 2025: Childhood in Port Melbourne 1918-1940

History DisplaysMarch 4, 2025

Meeting – 25 Mar 2025 @ 7.30pm

MeetingsMarch 2, 2025

PMHPS member, Mike Gahan, will take us on “A ramble through the life and times of an aviation consultant ending up in Port”. We will meet in-person in the Council Chamber upstairs at Port Melbourne Town Hall or via Zoom using the following link. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86966645825?pwd=c1d2dDllRWV6bHBJeTBydjcvQjRFdz09. If you experience difficulty logging into the meeting please try: Meeting id 869 6664 5825…

Meet the Borowski Family

People, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 21, 2025

by David F Radcliffe When writing Changing Fortunes in 2020, I could not find any photographs of the many people and families featured in the book. Through writing their stories, I came to know them, even though I had never ‘seen’ them. Just before Christmas 2024, Rudolph and Mary Borowski, who lived at 47 Spring Street East for nearly fifty years, suddenly…

Mitchell Crescent

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 7, 2025

by David Thompson Mitchell Crescent is a private street that runs through the public housing estate between Nott Street and Bay Street curving towards Rouse Street at the back of the Exchange Hotel. The large block on the western side of Bay Street between Rouse Street and the beach served as the cable tram depot from 1890 until the tramway…

Meeting – 25 Feb 2025 @ 7.30pm

MeetingsFebruary 2, 2025

At our February meeting we're pleased to present the official launch of the film An Ordinary Life. The story of Allan Whittaker. Janet Bolitho will introduce the film which is dedicated to Perce White and all those who have sought to keep Allan Whittaker's memory alive. The film includes interviews with Margaret Bride, former Supreme Court judge Frank Vincent and historian…

Matchbooks, Boxes and Covers

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 24, 2025

by David Thompson Item 2903 in the PMHPS Collection is a matchbox cover from around 1938 advertising the Freemason's Tavern. Freemason's Tavern matchbox cover, c 1938. PMHPS Collection Cat No 2903. Promotional matchbooks, matchboxes and matchbox covers* have gone out of fashion with less people smoking and the ban on smoking in public places in recent years plus the convenience of…

Meeting – 28 Jan 2025 @ 7.30pm

MeetingsJanuary 20, 2025

Our first meeting for 2025 will be another of our regular 'From the Archives' evenings where volunteers will present items from the Society's Collection. We will meet in-person in the Council Chamber upstairs at Port Melbourne Town Hall or via Zoom using the following link. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86966645825?pwd=c1d2dDllRWV6bHBJeTBydjcvQjRFdz09. If you experience trouble logging into the meeting please try: Meeting id 869 6664 5825…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians