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

‘A sodden expanse’ – Fishermans Bend

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 28, 2013
Rootes Factory in Salmon St. Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria In the late 1930s Fishermans Bend was on the cusp of a major transformation to industrial development - a change that was anticipated with excitement and optimism. Charles Daley in The History of South Melbourne says: "The once-despised Fishermen's Bend - a no-man's land - under the pressure of economic…

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Three icons of Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 28, 2013
Sometimes you just can't find the right word. Take icon, for example. Many Port Melbourne people have had enough of the word 'icon'. 'Iconic' as new developments are often described, is almost guaranteed to get people's backs up. Port Melbourne foreshore from Princes Pier Three Port landmarks of Port are captured in this image: the beacon, the newly restored Stothert & Pitt…

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Fishermans Bend – the past and the future

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 20, 2013
Victoria-Australia Port Phillip Henry L. Cox, State Library of Victoria PMHPS's head is spinning with thinking about its submission to the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area Draft Vision, so this week's post is about .... Fishermans Bend! PMHPS will argue that an understanding of the environmental/natural history of Fishermans Bend is fundamental to planning for its future. So lets look at this…

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Fishing business

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 14, 2013
Dugga Beazley In the late 1980s, with great change looming in Port Melbourne, Dugga Beazley spoke to documentary maker Richard Crawley of his fear that a time might come when he would no longer be able to run his fishing business from Dow St. That time seems to come every few years when newcomers complain about his business or his trailer.…

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Allan Whittaker Commemoration 2013

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 7, 2013
Frank Vincent Port in the twenties - a difficult, suffering place Former Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent  spoke about Whittaker in the Port Melbourne and wider social and political context of the late 1920s. Here is a transcript of his speech: "Port Melbourne in the twenties was a place of considerable poverty.  It was a place where men were engaged in what…

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A Melbourne Cup Special

People, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 3, 2013
Rose with her future husband, Norman Barry Melbourne Cup Day prompts this recollection from member Helen Barry: “Mum was a milliner. She was busiest at racing time. I always went to the Melbourne Cup with her. We used to walk past the members’ enclosure trying to spot the hats she had made. Rose Welsh began her apprenticeship as a milliner at Susanne et Cie…

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A bit early?

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 30, 2013
Robert Gooding at Olive's corner in Port Melbourne Walking through Olive's Corner earlier this week, saw a person reading the PMH&PS book 'Chartered Scoundrels: A Brief History of Port Melbourne Hotels'. Couldn't let this go unremarked and stopped for a chat. Robert Gooding enjoys visiting Port. By 9 am he had already taken two buses and a train to get here. With…

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Gateway to Melbourne

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 23, 2013
The Town Planning Commission report of 1929 was very critical of the entrance to Melbourne from Port Melbourne. It reported that 'this approach to Melbourne is a drab and shabby one'. The honorary secretary of the Commission, Frank Heath, said hopefully 'What a difference a tree lined boulevard, extending for several miles around the esplanade would make to the Port Melbourne…

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Metropolitan Planning 1929

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 16, 2013
Last week, Premier Napthine and Planning Minister Guy released Plan Melbourne which sets out the government's vision for Melbourne to 2050. In the Society's collection is a copy of the first plan for Melbourne prepared by the newly formed Metropolitan Town Planning Commission in 1929. While the whole report is full of interest, unsurprisingly PMHPS headed straight for the Port Melbourne references.…

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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.