David F Radcliffe – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

McCormack: A Slender Street in Two Parts

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 1, 2024

by David F Radcliffe In her 2014 article on McCormack St, Robyn Clinch sketched the life of publican Thomas McCormack, after whom the street was named. The McCormack family lived on the southern part of this slender street between Bridge Street and Esplanade East. McCormack Street also extends northward from Bridge Street to Spring Street East. Each part has a distinct…

Little Cruikshank (aka Little Pickles) Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 4, 2024

by David F Radcliffe Little Cruickshank Street runs between Liardet and Bridge Streets, providing access to the rear of properties on Cruickshank and Pickles Streets, Port Melbourne. This right-of-way was formed when the Crown Land on the eastern shore of the Sandridge Lagoon was surveyed and sold in the 1870s. Entrance to Little Cruickshank Street from Liardet Street It was never…

Melville (aka Malvery) Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 6, 2024

by David F Radcliffe Melville is a difficult-to-find street near the Port Melbourne Tennis Club; blink and you miss it. When the Crown Land south of Graham Street between Ross and Clark was surveyed and sold between 1868 and 1869, Albert Street was the only internal access road.[i] Melville was created as a private right-of-way in the late 1870s when…

Drysdale Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2024

by David F Radcliffe Drysdale Street runs between Graham and Seisman Streets near Lagoon Reserve. It is named for the Drysdale family who resided in this narrow right-of-way from the 1860s to the 1930s. The name came into common usage in the late 1880s.[1] Drysdale Street off Graham Street There are many parallels between Drysdale Street and Brewster’s Lane. Both were created…

Heath Street

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 5, 2024

by David F Radcliffe The eclectic range of architectural styles and the pleasant canopy of trees along Heath Street conceal its part in the shaping of Sandridge in the gold fever fuelled 1850s. Apart from its residents, few traverse this quiet street except if they are going to or from the Port Melbourne Town Hall and Library via Spring Street, North…

Meeting Tuesday, 26 March @ 7.30pm

MeetingsFebruary 28, 2024

David F Radcliffe will launch his latest book, Making it Here at our March meeting. Making It Here is about the lives of four immigrant engineers, Otto Schumacher, Alfred Harman, Albert Longoni and Fred David, who played major roles in the development of manufacturing in Port Melbourne, including Fishermans Bend, during the first half of the 20th century. Two founded…

The Petersons of Ross Street: A Nautical Family

Collection, People, Port Melbourne HistoryFebruary 8, 2024

by David F Radcliffe Frederick Peterson and Priscilla Hume were married at St James Cathedral in Melbourne in June 1869.[1] For 53 years, the couple were active members of the Port Melbourne community raising eight children here, five girls and three boys. Both Frederick and Priscilla came from families with strong connections to ships and the sea and this nautical tradition…

Survey Markers around Port

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 10, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Have you ever wondered what all those nails with coloured markings around them are on footpaths? Or have you come across an odd metal disc lurking in the grass or an unusual cover plate amongst the shrubs on the nature strip? If they look like any of the following, then they are part of the system…

Kyme Place

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 6, 2023

by David F Radcliffe Kyme Place runs off Liardet Street behind the burnt-out old Port Melbourne Theatre. It provides access to the rear of commercial premises on Bay Street and a public parking garage. A distinctive building, also called Kyme Place, utilises the airspace above the car park. Constructed in 2012, it was designed by MGS Architects to provide self-contained apartments as well…

James Garton: Hospitality and Horses

People, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 8, 2023

by David F Radcliffe James Garton was granted the licence for the Pier Hotel in May 1853. Over the next decade or so, there wasn’t much that happened in Sandridge that did not involve him. Born in Bath, Somerset, he arrived in Melbourne aged 24 with his brother Richard in March 1850.[1] A brewer by trade, Garton is reported to have started out…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians