David Thompson – Page 9 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Redevelopment sites in Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 24, 2015

Sandridge Motors, near the Graham Street overpass, is for sale by Exrpession of Interest. According to the board, the land is zoned General Residential with a maximum height limit of 18 metres (6 storeys). The Clare Castle Hotel on the other side of the overpass is also for sale. It too is on land zoned General Residential "offering excellent future development…

Port Melbourne Festival Posters

CollectionSeptember 10, 2015

From the Collection - Port Melbourne Festival Posters (various catalogue nos) A selection of posters from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s promoting the Port Melbourne Festival Port has a long-standing tradition of an annual community festival usually held over a weekend in summer. At times it has been held in JL Murphy Reserve, Bay Street and Edwards Park. The poster for…

Electric Sparks

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 27, 2015

I've been reading a lot of newspapers recently but not the Leader or the Weekly Review that appear in our mailboxes each week these days, I've been reading the Port Melbourne Standard from the time of the First World War. The National Library of Australia have digitised all the weekly editions of the Standard from those war years and added them…

Victorian Community History Awards 2015

WWI CentenaryAugust 8, 2015

We're thrilled to report that the Port Melbourne First World War Centenary project was shortlisted for the special Centenary of World War One category at the Victorian Community History Awards. The awards were announced and certificates presented at the Arts Centre in St Kilda Road and while we didn't win, it is a great achievement to be shortlisted in such a…

Women’s Welcome Committee

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryAugust 6, 2015

When Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1914 Australia also found itself at war. No doubt many communities throughout the land began to make plans about how best they could support the war effort. For its part the Port Melbourne council quickly realised that the municipality, by virtue of its role as Melbourne’s port, was uniquely placed to play…

Nott Street School “Old Boys”

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryJuly 31, 2015

The Port Melbourne Standard newspaper of 31 July 1915 carried a story that the State Minister for Education had requested schools compile and display a Roll of Honour of all “old boys” who had enlisted.1 The article continues with a request for parents or other relatives to provide the headmasters of Port Melbourne schools with the details of soldiers who had…

The Norman Family of Sandridge

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryJuly 24, 2015

The Norman family of Sandridge resulted from the Norwegian and Scottish union of Andrew Norman and Isabella McKenzie. Isabella McKenzie Isabella’s parents were Alexander McKenzie and Elizabeth Strahan (Stratton?). Having embarked from Greenock, Scotland on 4 June 1841, their ship, India, was attacked by pirates and rescued by HMS Acorn only to suffer a huge explosion of spirits below deck 14 days…

When Mad Max Came to Port Melbourne

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 4, 2015

Still from Mad Max (1979) showing the Halls of Justice gateway. The recent release of Mad Max: Fury Road has us thinking back to 1979 when director, George Miller started the franchise with the film Mad Max. That original film, telling the story of Main Force Patrol (MFP) policeman Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) battling against a violent motorcycle gang, was made on a…

Anzac Centenary Heath Street Walk

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryApril 20, 2015

Barb Mullen (left) and Christine Griffiths during the Heath Street Anzac Walk, April 2015 To mark the centenary of the First World War landings at Gallipoli, Barb Mullen and Christine Griffiths, residents of Heath Street, Port Melbourne, researched and organised a walk to remember the men who had enlisted for WWI from their street. The project started with a shortlist of nine…

The Dalgarno Family

Home Front Stories, WWI CentenaryOctober 10, 2014

Clare Castle Hotel Advertisement, The Standard, 8 August 1914 Frederick Joseph Dalgarno, aged 37, enlisted just over a month after the above advertisement for the Clare Castle appears in the Standard. His twin brother John Stockton Dalgarno also known as Jack enlisted in the first days of the war, just 10 days after this advertisement was printed. He gave the Clare Castle Hotel…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians