by David Thompson
Leith Crescent looking towards Howe Parade (2024). Photograph by David Thompson
Leith Crescent is a short curving street running between Howe Parade and Williamstown Road. It is closed at Williamstown Road creating a cul-de-sac for the small number of ‘bank houses’ that face onto the street. And ‘bank houses’ are the key behind the naming of Leith Crescent.…
by David Thompson
Melbourne Harbor Trust General Plan, 1893 (detail). State Library of Victoria
A General Plan prepared by the Melbourne Harbor Trust dated 1893[1] shows a regular grid of six streets to the west of Williamstown Road. Tarver Street, Plummer Street and a third unnamed street running parallel to Williamstown Road with King Street, Stone Street and another unnamed street running directly off Williamstown…
Dr Norm Darwin, President of the President of Automotive Historians Australia will be guest speaker at our June meeting commencing at 7.30pm on 27 June.
Dr Darwin will talk on the "Automotive History of Fishermans Bend".
Standard Motors, Bertie St, 1952. RMIT University Design Archives
Biography
In 1969 Norm began working at GM-Holden Engineering, progressing to become the company’s Sourcing Co-ordinator…
by David Thompson
Lind Avenue (highlighted), Morgan's Official Street Directory, 34th Edition, Map 36 (detail)
Lind Avenue runs from Dunstan Parade to Sandridge Avenue along the western edge of Buckingham Reserve.
It was probably named after Albert Eli Lind, later Sir Albert Eli Lind, who was a Minister and Deputy Premier in the Dunstan State Government as well as serving…
Pye Street (highlighted). Robinson's Street Directory of Melbourne and Suburbs, Ed 3, c. 1950s.
Pye Street is a short street running from Williamstown Road to Dunstan Parade in Garden City. It is named for former Victorian State politician, Henry Pye.
Henry Pye was born on Christmas Day, 1873 to a farming family at Burnewang near Rochester, Victoria. At a young age…
by David Radcliffe
In early 1942, Australia urgently needed a fighter aircraft to defend against possible invasion. The result was the CA-12 Boomerang, designed by Fred David at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Fishermans Bend. Before coming to Australia, Fred David had worked for aircraft makers in Germany and Japan. This included helping to design the Aichi dive bomber used…
by Jim West and David Radcliffe
The premises of the Port Melbourne Engineering Works, built by Albert T Harman in Derham Street, Port Melbourne in 1902, included a foundry for casting components out of iron and brass.[1] In November 1934, this foundry was purchased by his son, Alfred Henry Harman, and James Robertson and registered as JV Robertson Pty Ltd.…
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…
At the bottom end of Lorimer Street in the shadows of the Westgate Bridge there is a series of streets that reflect one the key industries that has occupied the area since the mid 1930s.
Although now part of the City of Melbourne, these streets are named after aircraft associated with the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation and Government Aircraft Factories on Fishermans Bend and are…
by Margaret Bride
Emery Street is one of the shortest streets in Port Melbourne. It runs between Williamstown Road south to Edwards Avenue opposite Letts Reserve, Garden City. It is named in honour of George Emery, General Manager of the State Savings Bank of Victoria from 1897 to 1929.
Bankers are not often seen to be people of imagination but…