Places – Page 4 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

The Church at 170 Farrell St

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 19, 2022

by Margaret Bride 170 Farrell Street, 2022. Photograph by David Thompson. On the west side of Farrell Street is a wooden building with a sign Full Gospel Assembly, although by its neat garden and fence it is clear that it is a private house. What is its story? In 1885 West Sandridge was well developed, the blocks of land had been subdivided…

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…

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…

Pye Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 3, 2022

Pye Street (highlighted). Robinson's Street Directory of Melbourne and Suburbs, Ed 3, c. 1950s. Pye Street is a short street running from Williamstown Road to Dunstan Parade in Garden City. It is named for former Victorian State politician, Henry Pye. Henry Pye was born on Christmas Day, 1873 to a farming family at Burnewang near Rochester, Victoria. At a young age…

Memorial to George Sangster

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 6, 2022

by Margaret Bride Sangster Memorial. Photo: Janet Bolitho. Sangster Reserve occupies the small triangular piece of land behind the Port Melbourne Bowling Club between Princes and Nott Streets. The area includes a children's playground and nearby there is an art deco style electrical substation. Just inside the Nott Street entrance is this monument commemorating the life of George Sangster, once a…

Prohasky Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 31, 2022

William Henry Prohasky served on the Port Melbourne Council from August 1885 to September 1893. He was Mayor from 1888 to 1889. His fellow councillors include Frederick Poolman, James Ker Beck Plummer, Henry Norval Edwards, Philip Melville Salmon, John Turnbull, and William Richardson Tarver. He lived at that time at 73 Evans St on the corner of Farrell…

Town Pier

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 18, 2022

by Margaret Bride Jetty at Sandridge, State Library of Victoria For over 100 years Town Pier jutted out to sea from the end of Bay Street an extension of the route from the city of Melbourne to the ships in Port Phillip Bay. This was the site of the first small jetty built by the Liardet family soon after they built…

Steel Castings Pty Ltd of Derham and Bertie Streets

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 4, 2022

by Jim West and David Radcliffe The premises of the Port Melbourne Engineering Works, built by Albert T Harman in Derham Street, Port Melbourne in 1902, included a foundry for casting components out of iron and brass.[1] In November 1934, this foundry was purchased by his son, Alfred Henry Harman, and James Robertson and registered as JV Robertson Pty Ltd.…

February 1942 – War Comes Close to Home

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 18, 2022

by David Radcliffe Eighty years ago this month, the Second World War came very close to Port Melbourne. Early in the morning of February 26, 1942, a small float plane, launched from a Japanese submarine, conducted a reconnaissance flight around Port Phillip Bay, observing the port and other facilities. That morning, Marlene Firman and her younger sister, Gloria, were sound…

Bismarck Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 4, 2022

by David Radcliffe Around Port Melbourne there are streets, like Bain Street, that once existed but have since disappeared. There are many more streets whose name has been changed. In April 1878, a cluster of intersecting streets in the south-western corner of the rapidly expanding Sandridge were gazetted as shown below.1 One of these was Bismarck Street. Note the self-referential nature of…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians