This project is dedicated to our forebears who lived here in times before, and with whom we are interlinked by our lives and theirs here in Port Melbourne.

We acknowledge the ownership of this land by the Kulin nation. Their prior presence is part of the rich fabric of this land in Port Melbourne.

This research only commences in 1880 after white people first began to build houses in this precinct, but we hope one day to be able to research more about the lives of the Kulin people who lived here before white settlement of Port Melbourne.

The project was undertaken by a small team of volunteer members of the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society, with funding from the City of Port Phillip Cultural Development Fund which has enabled it to be published and distributed to the residents.

The information (including text and images) is made available for the private use of residents of the precinct, members of the PMH&PS and others who might want to use it for private research for family history purposes. It must not be made available to other organisations or published without the permission of the Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society, Post Office Box 552, Port Melbourne, 3207.
© September 2005

The Society exists to foster interest in and knowledge of the history of Port Melbourne and to collect and where possible display items of historical interest relevant to Port Melbourne. Members are constantly working to compile historical records of the district and to make them accessible to the general public. We also work to preserve buildings and objects of architectural, historical and social interest within Port Melbourne.

We welcome new members and the Society can be contacted: Post Office Box 552, Port Melbourne, 3207; by email via contact PMH&PS; by phone on 9646 9360. More information can also be found on our website: www.pmhps.org.au. Our monthly meetings are on the fourth Monday of the month.

The 'History of a Street Precinct' has been supported by the City of Port Phillip through the Cultural Development Fund (CDF). The CDF seeks to support artists and/or organisations to develop and realise creative ideas and projects in the City of Port Phillip. The fund also aims to support projects that are managed by the community, generate arts and cultural activity, build cultural identity, celebrate community diversity and support heritage initiatives.

This is a study of the residents of the houses in a Port Melbourne street precinct after the first houses were built, mainly in the 1880s, up to 1960. The street precinct is that bounded by Evans Street, the east side of Bridge Street, south side of Williamstown Road, Farrell Street both the east and the west sides and including the section of Ross Street between Farrell and Bridge and the part of Derham Street between Farrell and Bridge.

The year 1960 was chosen as the cut-off point for our research since after that date current privacy legislation prevents researchers having access to the rate records of the City of Port Melbourne.

The CD-ROM should run on any PC or Macintosh computer which has software for internet connection although you do not need to be connected to the internet while using the CD.

The information contained on this CD is as accurate as we could make it, based on the resources to which we had access. We recognise that there are inaccuracies which we cannot remedy, and welcome emails or letters that correct any of these.

Sources of Information

• The Sands and McDougall Directories for metropolitan Melbourne, year by year from 1884 to 1960, were used to obtain as complete and accurate a listing of all the occupiers of the houses and some information on some of the owners. On occasions we have found the information in these directories to be dubious especially the house numbers in Derham St, which do not tally with recollections of people from the precinct. These directories are available at various locations including: on microfisch through the City of Port Phillip History Librarian; at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and at the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society rooms in the Port Melbourne Town Hall (Port Melbourne section only, and not for all years).
  
  
• The rate records of the City of Port Melbourne on microfilm through the COPP History Librarian. This was the main source of information on the owners and a check on the accuracy of the Sands & McDougall information. Time constraints led us to research information at ten-year intervals to provide snapshots of owner history rather than a complete list year by year.
  
  
• A History of Port Melbourne, U'ren & Turnbull, Oxford University Press, 1983
  
  
• Interviews with local people and members of the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society.
  
  
• Material supplied by current residents of the precinct.
  
  
• Entries about local people available on Port People, a data base available at the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society rooms. The information on this has been largely been compiled from the records of baptisms and marriages at the Graham Street Methodist Church, the Farrell Street Methodist Church (The resources are now the property of the Uniting Church in Victoria); St Joseph's Catholic Parish; Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Bay Street, Port Melbourne.
  
  
• The VicHeritage Births, Deaths and Marriages CD-ROMs of Victorian records, copies also available for research at the PMH&PS and elsewhere.

The team acknowledges the assistance of various people:

Kay Rowan, Local History Librarian of the Port Phillip Library Service, the staff at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, many members of the PMH&PS, some who have given copies of articles for inclusion and the people who freely gave their time to talk about their experiences of living in these houses.

We especially thank the people and organisations that allowed us to include photographs to help show the people of the precinct. These include City of Port Phillip, Port Melbourne Football Club, June Alexander (nee Baker), Fay Bates (nee Devine), Greg Byrne, Norah Howard (nee Mallett), Emily Lock, Valerie Power, Ann Smallpage, Rosalie Stranks (nee Kent) and Glen Stuart.

We also acknowledge the staff and students of the Albert Park Secondary College, who took some of the photos of the houses used on the CD.

We hope people who use this CD as a first step in researching the history of their house or the history of their family will take this research further and we would welcome your sharing of the results of your further research with us at the PMH&PS.


History of a Street Precinct © September 2005
Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society Inc
PO Box 552 Port Melbourne 3207