Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

I Wish I Had Been There …

Port Melbourne History, PresentationsJuly 28, 2020

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…

Liardet Street

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 7, 2019

LIardet? or Lee-ar-day? There may be some uncertainty over the pronunciation but anyone living in Port Melbourne would know this street running between Pickles St to the east and Princes St to the west. Liardet St has two quite different characters: heavily trafficked east of Bay St and quietly residential west of Bay St. W.F.E. Liardet Liardet St is named…

Those Creative Liardets

News and Notices, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 31, 2019

180th Anniversary In celebration of Port Melbourne's founding father Capt Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, the Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society exhibits a selection of works from some of his creative descendants. This showcase commemorates his arrival in 1839 and honours the creative legacy that Wilbraham left behind within his many descendants. Port Melbourne Town Hall Thursday 14 November -…

Greater Port Melbourne – 1939 Centenary Celebrations

Port Melbourne HistoryNovember 17, 2016

Greater Port Melbourne: Official Souvenir of the 1939 Port Melbourne Centenary Celebrations Committee From October 28 to November 25, 1939 the City of Port Melbourne celebrated the landing of the Wilbraham and Caroline Liardet and their children on The Beach on November 15, 1839. The Centenary Committee produced a souvenir booklet entitled Greater Port Melbourne and it gives a glimpse into the…

Adventuring Liardets & Celebrating the Landing

News and NoticesNovember 11, 2014

Pamela Horsley's Adventuring with the Liardets and the PMHPS complementary exhibition Celebrating the Landing open on Friday 14th at 7 pm at Gasworks Arts Park. Most of the images of the Liardets we see are black and white, and yet we know from every account that their lives were full of colour and flair. Pamela Horsley brings the words of recollection to…

Celebrating the Landing – 175th Liardet Anniversary

EventsOctober 27, 2014

Complementing Pamela Horsley’s ‘Adventuring with the Liardets’, the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society presents ‘Celebrating the Landing’ – an exhibition detailing how Port Melbourne has commemorated other anniversaries of the Liardet family’s 1839 arrival on The Beach. Events include the momentous, month-long Liardet Centenary of 1939 as well as the 160th and 170th celebrations in 1999 and 2009. Panorama photograph…

This is Where the Story Ends

People, Port Melbourne HistoryJune 26, 2014

In the story of our first settlers we often focus on the arrival in November 1839, their subsequent settlement at the Beach and those early years during the establishment of Sandridge but what of their later life? By 1853 Wilbraham and Caroline Liardet were living at the Chusan Hotel in Bay Street, which was owned by their sons, Frank and Hector. A…

William Darke and Sandridge

People, Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 19, 2013

Surveyor Darke's camp, Sandridge W.F.E. Liardet, State Library of Victoria William Darke gave the name Sandridge to the area now known as Port Melbourne. He was one of three surveyors sent by Governor Bourke in 1836 to survey the shore of Port Phillip Bay and plot the course of the Yarra River. The name described the 'mile upon mile of sand…

Liardet brings news of Separation

Port Melbourne HistoryJuly 3, 2013

On 1 July 1851, the Port Phillip district formally separated from New South Wales to become the colony of Victoria. From the 1840s onwards there was growing discontent in the Port Phillip district. People complained of being in 'the thrall' of New South Wales and that insufficient resources were directed towards the urgent and growing needs of Melbourne and the Port…

Lagoon Tales

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryApril 4, 2013

There are endless stories to tell about the former Sandridge Lagoon and environs. But you've got to begin somewhere. This account by Josephine Liardet, daughter of Wilbraham Liardet, is especially evocative. She recalled that in the early days "The lagoon was covered with wild ducks and in the trees were cockatoos, plovers, pigeons. Hector and Jack used to get up between 3…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians