People – Page 4 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

A L Nathan of the London Hotel

People, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 17, 2023

by David Thompson A L Nathan. The Record, 23 January 1923. In December 1922, Alfred Lewis Nathan retired as publican of the London Hotel, Beach Street selling the hotel to Mrs Emily Elsie Cotter of the Wayside Inn, City Road, South Melbourne intending to take a trip to Europe in May the following year.[1] A L Nathan had taken over the…

Picturing Bessie Ross

People, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 9, 2022

by David F Radcliffe After we bought our Victorian era place on Esplanade East in 2017, I wondered when it was built and who had lived here previously. This led to the discovery that the allotment on which our house now stands was purchased by Elizabeth Ross and Simon Patience at a Crown Land auction in December 1883. Who were they…

Allan Whittaker commemoration 2022

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 18, 2022

The weather settled briefly at midday on Thursday 3rd November for the Allan Whittaker commemoration. A bank of clouds over Williamstown edged closer but no rain fell. Kevin Bracken tells the Whittaker story photo Janet Bolitho In front of the recently named Allan Whittaker Centre, Kevin Bracken re-told the now familiar story of the…

Otto Schumacher: Entrepreneurial Engineer

People, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 21, 2022

by David F Radcliffe What many remember as the Knox-Schlapp factory on the corner of Graham Street and Esplanade East in the shadow of the former gasometer was originally the Schumacher Mill Furnishing Works. The entrepreneurial Otto Schumacher erected this facility in stages over three decades. Its facades provided a billboard proudly promoting the many products made there and engineering…

The Barry family in Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 8, 2022

Helen Barry writes: My great grandfather, Robert Clarke Barry, first arrived in Sandridge in 1866 as a 17 year old seaman. Robert was born about 1849; the son of Henry Clarke Barry, a shipmaster and Johanna O’Connor, both from Ireland. His father worked the coastal areas of England. Robert was born at sea in England as the family had no…

Frangipani Court

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 2, 2022

by David Thompson The origins of the picturesque name of this short right-of-way are not clear other than it appears to have been named at the whim of a private owner. We do know that the name first appeared in Melway Ed 14 in 1982 but prior to that the name of the street is even less clear. Corner of…

Byrne Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 5, 2022

by David Thompson Byrne Street sign, August 2022. Photograph by David Thompson. Byrne Street is that short street near the Port Melbourne Tennis Club that provides access to Garden City via Poolman Street. It is named for Robert Byrne - Councillor, Victorian Member of Parliament, auctioneer and landowner. Robert Byrne was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1821. He emigrated to the…

Rev Frederick Charles Platts

Collection, People, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 22, 2022

by Lex Johnson Brass plaque for Rev F Platts on the pulpit from Holy Trinity Church, Port Melbourne (now located at Port Melbourne Town Hall). In 1861 the Reverend F C Platts was appointed to Holy Trinity Church in Sandridge. The congregation was to have some interesting years! Frederick Charles Platts was born in India in 1823 where his father was…

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…

Francis Thomas Warren: Port Melbourne Property Investor

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 24, 2022

by Ray Jelley Francis was the fifth of six children born to William Henry Warren and his wife Mary Bowden in Exeter, Devon. When Francis turned eighteen in 1859, he joined the Royal Marines (RM) in Plymouth and served for twenty-two years, completing his service in 1881. His death certificate indicated that he was a ‘Pensioner of the Royal Marines’.1…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians