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Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

The Whitaker Family: Montague to Port

People, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 17, 2025
by David F Radcliffe The Whitaker Family: Braidwood to Montague introduces Joseph Whitaker and Alice McFarlane who married in rural NSW in 1892. It tells the story of Alice being widowed aged 27 with four young children to support, the family’s move to Montague, an industrial area in South Melbourne, her second husband Ormas Towers deserting them and the impact on…

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Now and Then 2021- Beacon Cove Towers

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021
Shrouded in Controversy Apartment Towers at Beacon Cove (2021). Photo: David Thompson, PMHPS Collection. This peaceful waterfront has been a centre of controversy many times since it was first occupied by Europeans in 1836. Surveyor Darke’s Camp, Sandridge. Watercolour by W.F.E. Liardet (1875) State Library of Victoria William Darke was one of the surveyors given the task of surveying the district…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2019

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 2, 2019
In the welcome shade cast by the now formally named Allan Whittaker gatehouse, people gathered for the annual commemoration of his life on Princes Pier. Kevin Bracken photo Simon Kosmer No one can tell the story of Allan Whittaker and 1928 as Kevin Bracken can. He speaks with the authority of a former Victorian secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2018

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 7, 2019
On an overcast but very hot day, people gathered at Princes Pier to remember Allan Whittaker. This year marked the culmination of a community campaign to recognise Whittaker, his life and tragic death. It was a time to hand on the story to the students of Albert Park College Former Supreme Court judge, Frank Vincent addressed his remarks to the…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2017

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 2, 2017
Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2017 Former Supreme Court judge Frank Vincent offered these reflections at the Allan Whittaker commemoration held on Princes Pier on Thursday 2 November.  The gatehouse on Princes Pier has now been named the Allan Whittaker Gatehouse after sustained advocacy by the Whittaker Memorial Committee. Port Melbourne at that time was a very poor working class suburb. It was made…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2016

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 2, 2016
Legacy of 1928 On a (rare) sunny evening, former Supreme Court judge Frank Vincent offered these reflections on the legacy of 1928 at the Allan Whittaker commemoration held on Princes Pier on Friday 28 October. He spoke without notes. "The question I was going to pose is 'What is the thread that joins Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Pauline Hanson and Boris Johnson?' And…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2014

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 2, 2014
Former Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent Reflections on 'entitlement' Here is a transcript of Frank Vincent's address to those gathered to remember the life and times of Allan Whittaker, shot by police at Hogans Flat, close to Princes Pier on 2 November 1928. He died on Australia Day 1929. 'There is a tendency to talk about Allan Whittaker and the period that he…

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The Dog Collar Act

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 30, 2014
Jill Dawson, descendant of Bernt Aanenson writes:  After arriving from Norway in 1886, Bernt Aanensen and his brother Adolph "Dolph" married two sisters, Grace and Edith Perrett from Geelong. Both families lived in Port Melbourne. Bernt and Edith had ten children, with five generations of descendants, some of whom are still living in Port Melbourne today. Bernt and Edith Aanensen with eight of their…

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.