Janet Bolitho – Page 4 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Rootes in Salmon St

Planning & PreservationJuly 3, 2015

On June 26, the Age reported that a development application is under consideration for the former Rootes factory at 11-19 Salmon Street. image David Thompson Rootes was an English car company. It was started by William Rootes from a small cycle shop in Kent. A motor dealership was added. His sons William and Reginald expanded the firm in the 1930s by acquiring several 'marques'…

Planning Update

Planning & PreservationJune 25, 2015

A tale of two buildings The two buildings discussed below had/have no heritage significance but they they have been part of the Port streetscape for many years. They are about to make way for new development. 143 Station Street (through to Princes St) The property was sold by Frank Gordon for $1,140,000 on Saturday 22 September 2012. A planning application to demolish…

Marking World Refugee Day

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 20, 2015

Princes Pier, Port Melbourne was the point of arrival for the first refugees to Victoria after the Second World War Arthur Calwell was Australia's first Minister for Immigration in the Chifley government. He drove the policy and its implementation. The sense of urgency is conveyed in this speech: 'without immigration the future of the Australia we know will be both uneasy and brief. As a…

The Empire Cruise

Port Melbourne HistoryJune 18, 2015

The photograph in the window of the Photo Shop on Bay St records the visit of the 'Empire Cruise' to Melbourne in March 1924. Here is the photograph in the Museum Victoria Collection Reg. No: MM 111120 - but the image is reversed. Which is correct? From 27 November 1923 to 28 September 1924, a fleet of six warships led by the flagship 'Hood'…

New Life for Naval Drill Hall

Planning & PreservationJune 15, 2015

Planning is well underway for adapting the Port Melbourne Naval Drill Hall for a Year 9 environment focused program for Albert Park Secondary College. Funding for the project was allocated in the May state budget. The former Naval Drill Hall is on the Victorian Heritage Register, Number H1378 The citation says 'The Port Melbourne Naval Drill Hall was built in 1912 to the design…

A House in Beach Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 28, 2015

IRVINE, a house at 42 Beach Street, was built in 1922 for Eli and Christina Edwards. 'Only best quality material' was used in the construction of the house which was carefully chosen with a clear view of Station Pier, Williamstown and the Port Melbourne Yacht Club. Eli, better known as Dick, was a farrier and a great yachtsman. IRVINE at 42 Beach…

A crazy, crowded green pub in Bay Street

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 17, 2015

Molly Blooms* was the place to be on St Patrick’s Day in the ‘nineties. Transformed into a ‘traditional’ Irish pub in the late ‘80s with its Joyce’s Restaurant, live Irish music, Guinness on tap and walls hung with Dublin memorabilia, it was one of the most popular Irish pubs in Melbourne. So popular did it become that on St Patrick’s Day Rouse…

Swimming in the Yarra

Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 27, 2015

Norman Barry, well known dairyman in Port, was also a swimmer. He trained with the Port boys between the Piers. He swam in the 3 mile 'Race to Princes Bridge' in 1928 and finished in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 13 seconds. He was awarded a certificate illustrated by Percy Lindsay from the famous Lindsay family. The swimming race was discontinued because of…

‘The Lagoon Question’

Port Melbourne HistoryJanuary 15, 2015

The 'Lagoon question' preoccupied the residents and Council of Port Melbourne for decades. For those readers not familiar with the extent of the Sandridge Lagoon, it is clearly shown in this map and was described by surveyor Grimes in 1803 ... a salt lagoon about a mile long and quarter mile wide. Had not entrance to the sea. The township of…

Exhibition ‘What happened at the Pier’

News and NoticesJanuary 12, 2015

'What happened at the Pier' on until 13 February 2015 at the Emerald Hill Heritage Centre, Bank St, South Melbourne. This moving exhibition centres on some valued objects that people brought with them on the journey to Australia. They hold stories of migration and are a means of sharing that story with family and a broader audience. The exhibition is curated by Lella Cariddi, who…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians