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Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

The 1866 Fight on Sandridge Town Pier

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 29, 2020
by Ray Jelley, April 2020 While researching John August Daniels I noticed the name Stivey in the list of watermen who lived in Beach Street according to the 1870 edition of the Sands & McDougall directory. I guessed that the family might be one that could be easily researched with such a distinctive, and I assumed, rare surname. My research…

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Henry Whatty’s Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 22, 2020
by David Radcliffe Henry Martin Whatty grew up in Port Melbourne during the 1870s and 1880s. He loved boats and boating and the photographs he took reflect his nautical interests.  Boat Harbour, Port Melbourne Lagoon Mouth. Photo: Henry Whatty HMS Mildura. Photo: Henry Whatty His father, Charles Whatty, was born in 1850 in Snettisham, Norfolk but his family moved to Mevagissey,…

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Emery Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 8, 2020
by Margaret Bride Emery Street is one of the shortest streets in Port Melbourne. It runs between Williamstown Road south to Edwards Avenue opposite Letts Reserve, Garden City. It is named in honour of George Emery, General Manager of the State Savings Bank of Victoria from 1897 to 1929.  Bankers are not often seen to be people of imagination but…

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Port’s Stawell Gift Winner

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 1, 2020
G A Heppner plaque set into the footpath in Main Street, Stawell. Photo by David Thompson At very regular intervals along the footpaths of Main Street, Stawell there are small plaques recognising the winners of the Stawell Gift going back to 1878 like the one above featuring G A Heppner from Port Melbourne who won in 1892. Gustav (sometimes Gustave)…

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Anzac Day in Port Melbourne 2020

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 26, 2020
Since gatherings are not permitted during the COVID-19 parademic, no Anzac service was held at the Port Melbourne War Memorial. Nevertheless, some did assemble (distanced, of course) in the dawn to hear the Last Post and lay wreaths. Cr Marcus Pearl laid a wreath for the City of Port Phillip, as well as at the Navy memorial (Answering the Call)…

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Bertie Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 10, 2020
Portrait of Mayor Joe Bertie Bertie St is named after Joseph Bertie but he was always known as Joe. Bertie's family originally came from Teglio in Italy near the border of Switzerland. Bertie was born in Bendigo in 1885. His father was killed in a mining accident there. Bertie had been working as a stevedore in Port Melbourne for seven years…

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An Exciting Incident

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 3, 2020
by David Radcliffe On Saturday evening, 7th February 1903 a series of robberies took place in Esplanade East followed by a high speed chase down Spring Street East culminating in a dangerous collision with a cable drawn tram in Bay Street opposite the Town Hall. The unfolding drama was captured by an unnamed staff reporter at the Argus under the headline An Exciting…

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Pool Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 27, 2020
Pool Street (detail) from Plan of the Township of Sandridge, 1855. PMHPS Collection. The early growth of Sandridge had to take into account several swampy areas, pools and, of course, the lagoon. From the 1855 Plan of the Township of Sandridge (above) where the lagoon is shown on the right, it is self-evident that Pool Street took its name from the…

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The Flu Epidemic of 1919

Port Melbourne HistoryMarch 20, 2020
by Claire Johnson In May 1918, reports of a mysterious and deadly disease ravaging Europe began to reach Australia, causing concern amongst those who had family members involved in the war in Europe. By July, England was affected, and Australian newspapers and letters from soldiers kept the Australian public informed. Dubbed the ‘Spanish Flu’, it was a variant of swine…

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.