Swallow & Ariell – Page 2 – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Three Photos of Port Link Five Generations of my Family

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 13, 2017

Whilst converting a terrace house in Bay Street to a photography studio in the 1970s, one of my memories of Port was the delicious smell of baking biscuits from the Swallows factory, not one you’d associate with an industrial area. Lydia, my paternal grandmother, had worked there back in the early 1900s. Swallow & Ariell Sign (detail). I took this photo for…

Why Bother Going to the Riviera?

Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 1, 2016

Port Melbourne foreshore (at Princes St) around 1947. PMHPS Collection. This image from the PMH&PS collection shows the foreshore at the foot of Princes Street, Port Melbourne, taken from the jetty that covered the main drain outlet around 1947. As a boy, I lived further along Princes Street and this was "my" beach. By the late 1950s, much of the planking on…

Advertisements from the Port Melbourne 1939 Centenary

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 24, 2016

The Greater Port Melbourne: Official Souvenir of the 1939 Port Melbourne Centenary Celebrations Committee booklet includes many advertisements from iconic Port Melbourne companies. Many more than I can feature here. A lot of the ads are just simple text but in others, the Art Deco style of the day with an emphasis on modern industry can be seen in the…

Better than a Horse on a Merry-Go-Round

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 6, 2016

My grandfather Bert Cosham, with my cousin Barry Bond, in the lane, Princes Place, at the rear of his house at 94 Princes Street Port Melbourne in 1948. Along the lane is the wall at the rear of St Joseph’s Priory in Stokes Street, while the church hall in Rouse Street seems to be impaled by the chimney of Swallow…

My Life in Port

Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 1, 2016

Ted Raven with a model Swallow & Ariell's Uneeda Biscuits van. PMHPS Collection (Cat No 2436.03). As a member of the PMHPS I would like to say I'm 91 years young. Home birth was very common in 1924 when I was born at 36 Princes Street, Port Melbourne. I lived in this house for 22 years until I got married in July…

Pt Melbourne, 1992 by Brian Cleveland

Brian ClevelandDecember 6, 2015

Pt Melbourne, 1992 by Brian Cleveland View of Beach Street showing the London Hotel, Swallow & Ariel, Harper's Starch Factory and the on;y remaining pylon from the Centenary Bridge.

Walking the War in Port

Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 23, 2015

This week, PMHPS received a commendation for its Port Melbourne First World War Centenary Project at the Victorian Community History Awards. This article draws on the resources created by the project. Chance, rather than conscious choice, led to a walk on Port Melbourne and the Great War coinciding with the 21st October – the final day of the departure of the first convoy from all…

Saucy Postcards from Swallow & Ariell

CollectionJuly 30, 2015

From the Collection - Swallow's Art Deco postcards from the 1930s (catalogue no 2929) A set of postcards from the 1930s was presented to the Society by George Derham, a descendant of Frederick Derham. Frederick Derham was Managing Director of Swallow & Ariell Limited, manufacturers of biscuits etc. in Port Melbourne for well over 100 years. Thomas Swallow established the firm with…

Sign of the Swallow

Port Melbourne HistoryMay 14, 2015

This Port Melbourne story is reproduced with permission from Stephen Banham's wonderful book Characters: Cultural stories revealed through typograpy . 'Real estate development can be unkind to signage. The urgency to convert a site from industrial to residential often promotes a 'scorched earth' approach - complete erasure of what once occupied a site. However, amid the crashing bricks and billowing dust there often lie…

Stories from a Postcard

CollectionFebruary 5, 2015

From the collection - a postcard showing Nott St school in Port Melbourne This postcard was found by one of the PMHPS founding members at a Postcard swap meet. A simple old postcard, but what a story it tells. On the front is a photo of the State School Port Melbourne and on the back is a letter from Percy to his…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians