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

Alfred Harman & Sons: Engineers of Derham Street

by David Radcliffe Twenty-one year old Alfred Harman is reported to have started his engineering business in 1885.1 He proudly advertised his services as an “engineer, blacksmith and brass-founder” offering “engines and machinery of every description made to order and repaired at lowest possible rates”.2 His firm, the Port Melbourne Engineering Works, which later became Alfred T Harman & Sons…

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Meeting – 26 October 2021 @ 7.30 PM

David Radcliffe and Janet Bolitho will take us on a virtual walk around the area covered in David's book Changing Fortunes: Ebb and Flow of People and Place in a Pocket in Port Melbourne. Changing Fortunes was recently shortlisted for the 2021 Victorian Community History Awards. Details for the meeting will be distributed closer to the date.

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Mrs Jane Adam: A Difficult Life

by David Radcliffe In the late 19th century, life for many in “Marvellous Melbourne” was often tenuous. Living conditions were fairly basic and the economic depression that lingered from the 1890s until the First World War meant there was no guarantee of having a roof over your head or food on the table. It was not uncommon for children to die prematurely,…

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Ingles Street

by David Radcliffe Ingles Street is parallel to, and a block south of, the northern boundary between Port Melbourne and South Melbourne. When gazetted in 1860, it only ran from the eastern boundary with Emerald Hill (South Melbourne), past the upper arm of the Sandridge Lagoon to Evans Street, just over the Melbourne and Hobson’s Bay Railway. Pickles and Boundary…

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Bridge Street

by David Radcliffe Bridge Street is one of three streets that both traverse Port Melbourne from east to west, cross the light rail tracks and extend into Fishermans Bend, the others being Ingles Street and Graham Street. Originally it only ran from the western edge of Sandridge Lagoon to the Melbourne to Hobsons Bay Railway track. As there was no…

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Gems from the Collection

PMHPS Monthly Meeting, 23 February 2021 at the auditorium, Port Melbourne Town Hall featuring members' presentations of Gems from the Collection. Suzy Milburn - Tennis and School Visits David Radcliffe - Port Melbourne Free Library John May and Janet Bolitho - Jim Sinclair and a Japanese map of wartime Port Melbourne The presentation starts approximately 12 minutes into the meeting.

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Legon Street

by David Radcliffe Legon Street is one of those tiny streets in Port Melbourne tucked away off the main thoroughfares, not easy to find and doubtless a bane in the life of delivery drivers and removalists. It is a dead end street with relatively narrow entrances off Dow and Graham Streets. When the land bounded by Graham, Dow and Rouse…

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I’m Glad I Was There

On Tuesday 28 July 2020, unable to meet in person due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in Victoria at the time, the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society held its first ever online meeting via Zoom. The topic, 'I Wish I Had Been There', was conceived by Margaret Bride and resulted in eight PMHPS members each describing an…

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I Wish I Had Been There …

The Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation made history on the 28 July 2020 when, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hosted our first meeting via Zoom. Eight members spoke on the theme "I Wish I Had Been There ..." Margaret Bride wishes she had there when Wilbraham Liardet had ridden up and down Bay Street proclaiming the separation of Victoria…

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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.