MAPPING PORT MELBOURNE
MARGARET BRIDE & JANET BOLITHO
19 AUGUST 2017
A study of the Yarra delta from the 1850s to today.
An enthusiastic audience of 50 including several visiting members of the Port Phillip Historical & Preservation Society listened to a detailed talk based on a study of the development and realignment of the Yarra, its impact on the Sandridge, Port Melbourne and Fishermans Bend precincts and on the economy of Melbourne.
Janet Bolitho and Margaret Bride co-ordinated this project for the PMH&PS with a generous endowment from the Auty family, descendants of the original settlers of Port Melbourne, the family of WFE Liardet.
The landscape of Port Melbourne has been hugely changed by human intervention since white settlement. The shape and the course of the Yarra River have been changed, the swampy terrain is now covered with roads and other hard surfaces, and there is a new landmass at the mouth of the river. Through a series of maps and aerial photographs, “Mapping Port Melbourne” graphically presented these changes that were planned, some discarded and others implemented, and their effect on Melbourne’s ports.
An active Q&A ensued with recollections of life in the 1930s and 40s and discussions on future developments of our ports to enable the receipt and discharge of goods into the second half of the 21st century.