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

Constructing the Port of Melbourne

Collection, PlacesMay 7, 2015
From the Collection - Charles Wynn Kiver Allison’s photo album c1920 (catalogue number 2197) Sixty-six tiny but beautifully photographed views of piers and wharves under construction are treasured in this small album. It belonged to New Zealand-born Charles Wynn Kiver Allison MIEA, who in the 1920s was the head engineer with the Melbourne Harbor Trust. Many major developments in the Port…

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Centenary Bridge

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 30, 2015
Centenary Bridge c1949 It was not known as Centenary Bridge when it was built, but as the ‘Overhead Bridge at Station Pier’. It was constructed in 1934 to make the ‘disgraceful’ Port Melbourne waterfront more attractive in Victoria’s 100th year. For decades, complaints about our waterfront’s unsightliness had gone unsorted. The piers with their handsome gatehouses at least had been completed, but…

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This is the place

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 19, 2014
Address by Ted Baillieu, chairman of the Anzac Centenary Commemoration Committee at the commemoration of the departure of the first convoy from Port Melbourne's piers on 19 October 2014 "This is the place Where streamers were thrown to loved ones. It was here that the cheers turned to tears. It was here, where the warmth of the farewell turned into the chill of the…

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19 October 2014 – First Convoy Embarkations Commemoration

News and Notices, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 5, 2014
One hundred years ago, thousands of Victorians embarked from Port Melbourne bound for the battlefields of World War One. By the end of October 1914,  17 troopships had left Victorian shores carrying almost 8,000 troops as well as nurses, technicians, horses, supplies and weaponry. This was Victoria’s First Convoy. To mark the centenary of this historic departure, the State Government of…

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The Ron Laing collection

CollectionJuly 14, 2014
Documenting change PMH&PS is fortunate to have in its collection an impressive number of photographs taken by Ron Laing (1920 to 2003) Ron Laing spent the years between his retirement in 1984 and the end of his life documenting the massive change that was taking place in Port Melbourne through that time.  ‘I’d heard that things were going to change round…

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A Kerosene Ship in Flames

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 3, 2014
The Hilaria, a 1,500 ton ship from New York caught fire at Town Pier on the morning of the 7th July 1895. Earlier it had been ordered to an outer anchorage away from the pier as its manifest included a case of detonators as well as the usual general cargo including kerosene, rosin and other flammable materials.  The Captain had no knowledge of…

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Princes

Port Melbourne HistoryApril 17, 2014
Today's post is prompted by the royal visit to Australia and the approach of Anzac Day. The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VIII, visited Melbourne in May 1920 on board the British warship HMS Renown. He came to represent his father King George V to thank Australia for its part in the war. His visit was eagerly anticipated with crowds…

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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.