Page 5 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Graham Street School Centenary – 1989

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 19, 2024

In 1989 Graham Street Primary School marked its centenary. This badge from the PMHPS collection celebrates the event. We don't know who drew the picture but Pam Snowden who worked in the office for 40 years remembers that the school's badge making machine was in high demand by staff and students. Graham Street School Centenary Badge. PMHPS Collection Cat No…

Heath Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 5, 2024

by David F Radcliffe The eclectic range of architectural styles and the pleasant canopy of trees along Heath Street conceal its part in the shaping of Sandridge in the gold fever fuelled 1850s. Apart from its residents, few traverse this quiet street except if they are going to or from the Port Melbourne Town Hall and Library via Spring Street, North…

Meeting – 23 July 2024 @ 7.30 pm

MeetingsJuly 4, 2024

Our July meeting will be Member Film Night. Rug up and come along. It's sure to be a lot of fun. Bring your own munchies if you like although tea and coffee (and biscuits) will be available before the start of the meeting and during a short intermission between the business meeting and the film programme. PMHPS meets in-person…

Captain James Renton Watters – The Truth

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 21, 2024

by Robyn Watters Captain James Renton Watters Born: 14 October 1838, Longhope, Orkney, Scotland [1] Died: 4 February 1919, Prahran, Melbourne [2] Captain James Renton Watters, master mariner, settled in Port Melbourne and surrounds in 1875, bringing his Cockney bride with him. Ancestral pride swelled his reputation as a capable and adventurous seafarer but The Truth newspaper filled me in on…

Brewster’s Lane

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 7, 2024

by David F Radcliffe Brewster’s Lane disappeared from Port Melbourne twice. First, it was erased from local memory after the name of this small roadway changed in 1889. A century later, all traces of the laneway were lost when the area was redeveloped. The aerial photograph below shows the location of the former Brewster’s Lane. Former Brewster's Lane (1946), State…

Growing up in Port Melbourne – Port Melbourne 1920 – 1940

Growing up in PortMay 29, 2024

In 1920, as Australians emerged from the events of the First World War and the Spanish Flu epidemic, many people were ready to settle down to life as it had been before either of these traumas, yet here in Port Melbourne the people and their suburb were actually entering a period of transformation. Until 1920 most industry and housing was…

Growing up in Port Melbourne – Housing

Growing up in PortMay 29, 2024

In 1920 there was an eclectic mix of houses in Port Melbourne from grand, two story houses built in the 1870-1900 period to the shacks on Fisherman’s Bend behind New Pier. Some of the worst of the 19th century slums had been cleared as a result of Dr George Cuscaden’s work but many still remained as the photographs on the panel…

Growing up in Port Melbourne – Family

Growing up in PortMay 29, 2024

Aftereffects of World War 1 on Family Life: The long term human aftereffects of World War 1 have been little spoken of and only recently been the subject of research. Men who had spent extended time fighting in the trenches in Belgium and France rarely spoke about the horrors they experienced but the effects on their lives and the…

Meeting – 25 June 2024 @ 7.30pm

MeetingsMay 29, 2024

Nayda Kelly will be guest speaker at our June meeting where we will learn about "A Day on the Bay: The Port Philip Bay Excursion Paddle Steamers 1870 - 1940". Nayda has sent us the following bio Past Port Melbourne resident – I grew up in Ross Street, attended Nott Street School, followed by Middle Park Central and MacRobertson Girls’…

Growing up in Port Melbourne – Schooling

Growing up in PortMay 29, 2024

Although the majority of students did not go to a secondary school the concept of universal secondary education began to be considered. Gradually over the years 1920-1940 the number of students going to a secondary school increased but it was still only a minority until after World War 2. The secondary schools attended by Port Melbourne pupils were usually one…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians