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

The Great White Fleet and Port Melbourne

President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned 16 new battleships between 1904 and 1907. He sent them on a 15 month goodwill visit around the world. Prime Minister Deakin invited them to visit Australia. The young Australia was feeling exposed following the defeat of the Russian Navy by Japan in 1905. The British Navy had withdrawn its warships from the Pacific. The visit…

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Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society celebrates 20 years

What tales have been told, what stories recorded in that time! A chronicle of the work packed into those twenty years and the companionship enjoyed along the way will be documented in the Annual Report. The impressive number of publications created over the time are available for sale from the PMHPS online shop. Those publications weave into the larger Victorian and Australian…

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The CSIRO in Port Melbourne

This post is a fragment of a huge story. Fishermans Bend has a very strong association with science and innovation and their application to industry and manufacturing. CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, was a very significant presence in Port until the eighties. In 1938, CSIR as it was then known, leased 5.9 hectares of land at Fishermans Bend from the Government. At…

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The Corner Shop

Port Phillip Council is inviting contributions to the Seniors Writing Awards - due by 2 September. Successful pieces are included in a publication. Here is a small excerpt from a delightful longer poem from the 2010 competition. It's about a corner shop in the Wimmera but it sounds as though it would also describe some of Port's corner shops "From the…

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Maskell and McNab

Maskell & McNab Memorial What is a monument to railwaymen doing on the foreshore so far away from trains? The monument commemorates engine driver Frederick William Maskell and fireman James McNab who, along with three passengers, were killed in a rail accident at Windsor in May 1887. Maskell was 46, McNab 21. One hundred and fifty four people were injured. Mr Maskell…

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77 Beach Street – a planning issue in 1920

At a time when planning issues are on the minds of Port Melbourne people - (and when have they not been?), PMH&PS was intrigued to find these notes among Swallow & Ariell's archives held at the University of Melbourne. Over a period of time Swallow & Ariell's factory expanded to include neighbouring properties. Christopher Joseph Sarovich, Furrier and Rug Manufacturer conducted…

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‘The Food of Great-grandmothers’ 2

Margaret Bride continues on the theme of  'The food of Great-grandmothers' As a further step in debunking the myth about our foremother’s healthy diet I hunted up the reports made by the Port Melbourne Health Inspector to the Central Board of Health in 1887. Let us be grateful for the campaigns that resulted in the regulation of food sales and the…

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Biscuits, puddings, cakes and more: Swallow & Ariell in Port Melbourne

This week’s post has got to be about Swallow & Ariell.  The Age Epicure devoted this week’s edition  to iconic Australian biscuits without mentioning Swallow & Ariell. Swallow & Ariell operated continuously in Port Melbourne from 1858 to 1991.  PMHPS feels the need to talk biscuits. The former Swallow & Ariell’s factory buildings, now The Anchorage, continue to add interest and…

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‘The Food of Great-grandmothers’

An article in The Age, Epicure of 25 June 2013 prompted this response from member Margaret Bride: In an article on how to eat a healthy diet, I recently read the advice, Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food. I think this advice is part of the romantic myth that our grandparents ate a more healthy diet than we…

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Fishermans Bend – do the maps

On Sunday 7 July, several members of the Society attended a forum on the Future of Fishermans Bend convened by the Community Alliance of Port Phillip. To follow this discussion into the future, it is probably necessary to become familiar with the acronym FBURA for Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area. Background On 5 July 2012, the Minister for Planning rezoned a large area…

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PMHPS acknowledges the generous support of the City of Port Phillip.

 

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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.