Ross Street – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

The “Worst Hovel in the Municipality”

People, Places, Port Melbourne History1 hour ago

by David Thompson At Port Melbourne Council on Tuesday, 13 Oct 1942, the Mayor, Cr Tom Griffin described the North Port Police Station as the “worst hovel in the municipality” adding “the building is a disgrace to Port Melbourne”.[1] There had been a North Port Police Station as an off-shoot of the main station in Bay Street since the early 1890s. Initially…

Survey Markers around Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 10, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Have you ever wondered what all those nails with coloured markings around them are on footpaths? Or have you come across an odd metal disc lurking in the grass or an unusual cover plate amongst the shrubs on the nature strip? If they look like any of the following, then they are part of the system…

‘Roar Like a Bull!’

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 20, 2023

Growing up in Port Melbourne in the middle of the 20th Century by Albert Caton I was born in 1942 in the maternity ward of the Women’s Hospital in North Melbourne, the son of Edward Harold (‘Ted’) Caton and Muriel Lily (Reed) Caton. Soon afterwards, my mum and I moved to Sydney where my father was stationed in the Navy…

The Chapman Memorial Hall

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 19, 2023

by David Thompson The red-brick Chapman Memorial Hall has stood in Ross Street for over one hundred and twenty years. When the foundation stone was laid on the afternoon of Saturday 24 January 1903 The Standard reported that many who had attended ‘were surprised to find that the new building was at an advanced stage of construction’.[1] It was already identified as the…

Tucker Avenue

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 8, 2022

Albert Tucker served two terms as Mayor of Port Melbourne - in 1916-17 and 1927-28. His time on council was not continuous. He stood for election on three separate occasions. Nevertheless it was said that "One can hardly conceive the Port Melbourne Council without Albert Tucker". Tucker was a stalwart Labour man. He was clearly well respected by his peers and…

The Freame Families of Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 24, 2020

by Ray Jelley ‘there was a sheep dressed up to represent Carbine II with his jockey; Bunny Hare all ready to run for the Port Melbourne Cup; saddles of mutton in fanciful designs; poultry and geese formed from the shoulders of mutton; pigeons, made of suet, flying about the windows …’ proclaimed the Standard on 18 May 1895 when describing the display in…

John Bichard Grut: The Brothers Grut: part 3

People, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 19, 2018

John Bichard Grut John was the youngest of three surviving boys who were born to Peter Grut and his wife Elizabeth Mary née Bichard. He was born in Sandridge in 1861. John became a successful architect, builder and was prominent in many sporting clubs in Port Melbourne and South Melbourne. He was also involved in the arts through his membership of…

A corner shop

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 14, 2017

116 Farrell Street, Port Melbourne The house on the corner north-west of Ross Street and Farrell Street was once occupied by a small shop and residence. Perhaps the light cream brick cladding on the building in 2016 could have been placed over the original weatherboard shop, or perhaps the shop was demolished and this small brick house built on…

Three Photos of Port Link Five Generations of my Family

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 13, 2017

Whilst converting a terrace house in Bay Street to a photography studio in the 1970s, one of my memories of Port was the delicious smell of baking biscuits from the Swallows factory, not one you’d associate with an industrial area. Lydia, my paternal grandmother, had worked there back in the early 1900s. Swallow & Ariell Sign (detail). I took this photo for…

Aanensen Family Portrait

People, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 25, 2016

Aanensen Family Portrait taken in early 1904. Rear (L-R) Alfred Adolf (b 1890), Stanley George (b 1888), Marie Louisa (b 1893) Middle (L-R) Albert Edward (b 1901) (being held), Bernt Andreas (b 1865) (father), Andreas Thomas (b 1903) (being held), Edith Ann (b 1867) (mother); Front (L-R) Aanen Harold (b 1897), Victor Bernt (b 1895), William Ernst (b 1899). The photo predates the birth of…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians