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

Birth and demise of Holden at Fishermans Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 27, 2014
It was a defining moment for the nation. It heralded Australia becoming a self-reliant manufacturer. It happened in Fishermens Bend on 29 November 1948 when Prime Minister Ben Chifley revealed Australia’s first mass-produced car, the Holden. Prime Minister Ben Chifley at General Motors Holden Factory The following day, The Argus reported: 'About 400 guests of General Motors applauded when curtains were drawn back…

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Wings over Fishermens Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 24, 2014
The aerodromes of Fishermans Bend and Port Melbourne are no more. Graham Street Aerodrome disappeared under industrial buildings, Garden City covers Port Melbourne Aerodrome, Coode Island Aerodrome is part of Swanson Dock, while roads fragment the site of Fishermens Bend Aerodrome. Aviation first arrived at the Bend when aviation pioneer R Graham Carey, with financial backing from the Mayor of…

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Butcher, Ernest Henry (56)

Enlistments, WWI Centenary, ~BAugust 29, 2014
Place of Birth: Port Melbourne, VIC Age: 22 years 8 months Enlistment Details: Tuesday, 25 August 1914 - Melbourne, VIC Service Number: 56            view online service record Address: Fishermen's Bend Port Melbourne, VIC Next of Kin: Arthur S Butcher (father) Fishermen's Bend Port Melbourne, VIC Embarkation Details: Date: Thursday, 25 February 1915 Ship: HMAT Star of Victoria A16 Port: Melbourne, VIC Unit: 8th Light Horse Regiment Fate: DOW: Wednesday, 4 August 1915 Place:…

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Kummer, William Henry (1135)

Enlistments, WWI Centenary, ~KAugust 20, 2014
Place of Birth: Yea, VIC Age: 19 years 2 months Enlistment Details: Friday, 18 September 1914 - Melbourne, VIC Service Number: 1135            view online service record Address: c/o Mrs Watson, Fishermens Bend Port Melbourne, VIC Next of Kin: Kate Kummer (mother) Whittlesea, VIC Embarkation Details: Date: Tuesday, 20 October 1914 Ship: HMAT Shropshire A9 Port: Melbourne, VIC Unit: 2nd Field Artillery Brigade - No 6 Battery Fate: RTA: Monday, 29 April…

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Housing prisoners

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 10, 2014
Prison hulk SUCCESS, State Library of Victoria The Victorian government announced this week that it will be buying more shipping containers to house the growing prison population. The news prompted this post. To get your bearings for this story, place yourself on the beach between the Life Saving Victoria headquarters and the Sandridge Life Saving Club. In the 1850’s, clearly visible between…

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On the Beach

Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 17, 2014
For these hot days, a summer photo. This is a favourite picture from the PMH&PS collection.  While charming in itself, there is much to be gleaned from the background. It is taken approximately where the Life Saving Headquarters at Sandridge is today. You can see a house in the immediate background with Princes Pier and the chimney of the Starch Factory…

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Beginning and ending: Holden

Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 11, 2013
Today, after weeks of uncertainty but with an increasing sense of foreboding, Holden announced that it will cease to make cars in Australia from 2017. Holden, Port Melbourne, Fishermans Bend - inseparable. This is where Australia began its journey into automobile manufacture and where it will end. There will be much more said, but PMHPS wanted to mark this sad…

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More Tales from the Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 5, 2013
showing the location of the abattoir Whenever PMHPS speaks with people who grew up in Port, tales from the Bend emerge. It seems that the Bend offered the best kind of adventures a boy could have. (Girls seldom went down there). Boys roamed about in a way that would not be permitted in our safety preoccupied times. Many of these stories start…

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‘A sodden expanse’ – Fishermans Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 28, 2013
Rootes Factory in Salmon St. Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria In the late 1930s Fishermans Bend was on the cusp of a major transformation to industrial development - a change that was anticipated with excitement and optimism. Charles Daley in The History of South Melbourne says: "The once-despised Fishermen's Bend - a no-man's land - under the pressure of economic…

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