shipping – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Growing up in Port Melbourne – Port Melbourne 1920 – 1940

Growing up in PortMay 29, 2024

In 1920, as Australians emerged from the events of the First World War and the Spanish Flu epidemic, many people were ready to settle down to life as it had been before either of these traumas, yet here in Port Melbourne the people and their suburb were actually entering a period of transformation. Until 1920 most industry and housing was…

Memoirs of Port Melbourne

Free DownloadsJanuary 22, 2024

Memoirs of Port Melbourne is a collection of stories shared by seven people about their connection to Port Melbourne, either as workers or residents. These encompass a diverse range of stories: from a sixteen-year-old who arrived as crew on the maiden voyage on the paddle steamer Weeroona; humorous anecdotes from a bus driver; remembrances of growing up in Port Melbourne by a descendant…

Salt on the Windows by Janice C MacDonald

Free DownloadsOctober 12, 2023

Author Janice Christine MacDonald neé Morton was an active PMH&PS member in our foundation decades, Jan authored Thomas Edwards & Family – Farriers and Yachtsmen of Sandridge/Port Melbourne, and Monkey for a Yacht, the story of her grandfather, noted yachtsman Dick Edwards. For some time in the 1940s and 50s, the family lived in ‘Irvine’ at 42 Beach Street next to the Pier Hotel. Jan wrote these evocative…

Meeting 25 July 2023 at 7.30pm

MeetingsJuly 1, 2023

PMHPS member, Peter Quinlivian, will speak on the subject of 'Alfred Graving Dock in Williamstown'. The meeting will be held upstairs at the Port Melbourne Town Hall (access via stairs or lift) and online, via Zoom using the following link. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86966645825?pwd=c1d2dDllRWV6bHBJeTBydjcvQjRFdz09

Men and Ships Driven by the Wind – Bruce Gooley

PresentationsSeptember 27, 2022

Bruce Gooley is a graduate of Melbourne University and a researcher, presenter and self-published author with a special interest in maritime history. He is a volunteer tutor at the Hawthorn University of the Third Age (U3A). He has presented over 120 one and a half hour illustrated maritime history talks there, and has also presented to Provis and Historical Societies,…

WWII Hospital Ship – MS Oranje

Collection, Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 9, 2021

Hospital ship, MS Oranje, at Port Melbourne, 1940s. Photograph by Roy Liebig. PMHPS Collection. This story was sparked by a couple of images in the PMHPS Collection taken by Roy Liebig in the 1940s. Both images appear later in this story so more on those later. MS Oranje, 1940s. Photo by Roy Liebig. PMHPS Collection. The MS Oranje started life in the…

Ellinis Mews

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 4, 2020

Pedestrian access to Ellinis Mews from Beacon Road, Photograph by David Thompson Ellinis Mews is a short residential street in Beacon Cove but I'm not sure where the connection with stables is other than in the developers' minds. To me it is a Court or what we would have called in Ireland a Close or, if we wanted to be…

I’m Glad I Was There

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 31, 2020

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…

Henry Whatty’s Port Melbourne

People, Port Melbourne HistoryMay 22, 2020

by David Radcliffe Henry Martin Whatty grew up in Port Melbourne during the 1870s and 1880s. He loved boats and boating and the photographs he took reflect his nautical interests. Boat Harbour, Port Melbourne Lagoon Mouth. Photo: Henry Whatty HMS Mildura. Photo: Henry Whatty His father, Charles Whatty, was born in 1850 in Snettisham, Norfolk but his family moved to Mevagissey,…

Meeting – Mon 24 April 2017, 7.30pm

MeetingsMarch 27, 2017

Our April guest will be John Hoskins. John, as a young boy, lived in Howe Parade for a short time and the view of the ships at Station and Princes Piers sparked a lifelong interest in all things maritime. John will speak about life in mid-1960s Port as a 10 year-old. PMH&PS meet on the fourth Monday of each month except…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians