In 1839, four years after the first permanent settlement of Melbourne, Wilbraham Liardet settled at Port Melbourne, building a hotel and jetty on Hobsons Bay and operating a mail service to Melbourne. The area became known as Liardet’s Beach, although the official district name was Sandridge. Land sales were delayed until 1850. The gold rush immigration brought passengers and freight which made use of a government pier on Hobsons Bay, served by Australia’s first railway line from Melbourne to Hobsons Bay.

The first allotments surveyed in Sandridge were between Stokes Street and a linear lagoon on the east, now Esplanade East. (The lagoon was probably an ancient course of the Yarra River.) With the railway, the township was enlarged, westwards to the railway line and northwards to Raglan Street.

A Wesleyan church was opened in 1853, and a Wesleyan school in the following year. By 1860 there were also Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian churches, a Catholic school and a National school (1857). On 13 July, 1860, the Sandridge borough was created by severance from Melbourne City Council, its boundaries being the railway line and the lagoon, but further north to Bourndary Street. In addition to the Railway Pier there were the Sandridge Pier and the Town Pier at the end of Bay Street. The Swallow and Ariell Steam Biscuit manufactory was opened in Rouse Street in 1854, beginning with ships biscuits and expanding to become a major industry by 1880. Thomas Swallow was the Council’s second mayor and was influential in several of its community activities.

The borough remained confined between the railway line and the lagoon because of a planned canal between the Yarra River and the bay and the increasingly noxious condition of the lagoon, contributed to by the run-off from Emerald Hill, South Melbourne. Ideas to make the lagoon a dock did not materialsie, and it remained a harbour for small craft.

The coast west of the railway Pier was Sandridge Beach or Fishermens Bend, which was added to the borough in 1863. Its sand was extracted for Melbourne’s building trade, and in some cases the excavations were used as night-soil dumps. Bone mills, goats and pig-keeping added to the effluvia.

In the early 1860s the cream and red brick courthouse was constructed in Sandridge to a design by architect JJ Clark of the Public Works Department. After the first local election in 1861 the Council had met in the court house for the first time. It was also around this time that the police station and bluestone lock-up were built as part of the law enforcement complex. None of these buildings is still used for its original purpose.

In 1869 the first town hall was built in Bay Street. After congested accomodation in the church schools and the National school, a State primary school was opened in Nott Street in 1874. The Australian Handbook described Sandridge in 1875 as –

In 1884 Sandridge was renamed Port Melbourne. Its role as a transport centre meant that Port Melbourne was home to a number of hotels in the 19th century. The Fountain Inn (1860s), on the corner of Raglan/Crockford and Bay Street, was one such hotel. It remains largely intact today.

Port Melbourne also supported a number of industries during the 1800s. These included a soap and candle works, rice and flour mills, a sugar refinery, boot factory, chemical works, gasworks and a distillery.

In 1893 Port Melbourne became a town and on May 14 1919 was proclaimed a city.

In 1934-35 the cement rendered reinforced concrete beam and Centenary Bridge was constructed in Port Melbourne. Built as part of the Unemployment Relief Program of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the bridge features ornamented piers at its entrances. It was also the major publicly funded monument erected as part of Victoria’s Centenary Celebrations and was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester. Centenary Bridge is today listed by the National Trust (Vic).

The suburb of Port Melbourne is located on Hobsons Bay, on the east bank of the mouth of the Yarra River, four kilometres south-west of Melbourne. It is today a part of the City of Port Phillip, which was formed by the amalgamation of the former cities of Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda in 1994.

The port still plays host to cargo vessels and passenger ships, which dock at Station Pier (the northern section of which was built between 1922 and 1930). In modern times the suburb has also developed from one of Melbourne’s poorest areas into a wealthier residential area, blending more modern development with restored public buildings and workers cottages

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An early owner of large land acreages in the Avalon area was James Austin, the person responsible for successfully acclimatising the European rabbit at another of his family properties, Barwon Park, Winchelsea. Austin returned to England in 1859, where be bought the historic ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. His nephews managed the property at Avalon, and the Avalon homestead (at the end of Avalon Road, east of Limeburners Bay) is recorded as existing in 1870. The name derived from the Isle of Avalon, the site of the abbey, the first Christian church in England and burial place of Arthur of the Round Table.

Austin’s nephews served on the Corio shire council and rebuilt Avalon homestead after it was destroyed by fire in 1880. The property was used by the Geelong District Coursing Club, used for breeding stud sheep and Arab ponies, and later stud cattle. Part of the property was sold for closer settlement farms in 1910, and a primary school operated from 1911 to 1950.

In 1949 much of the Avalon property was sold to the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation for a jet test field and assembly plant. In 1960 the homestead and grounds were given to the Brotherhood of St. Laurence as a haven for temporary residents.

In 1951 the Cheetham Salt Works opened a harvesting area west of the airport.

In 1992 Aerospace Technologies of Australian Ltd. (ASTA), wholly owned by the Commonwealth Government, assumed responsibility for Avalon airport(1,750 ha.). It ran the first Australian Airshow and Aerospace Expo at Avalon.

Almost 1,100 persons are employed at Avalon in activities concerned with defence manufacturing and testing, the airport, and maintenance of commercial aircraft. There are plans for use of the airport for the export of fresh food. Avalon is also well located for access to the ports at Melbourne and Geelong.

Avalon Homestead has become a conference centre.

Metropolitan Farm, also known as Werribee Farm, is 35 km. south-west of Melbourne, between the western bank of the Werribee River and Corio. It borders Port Phillip Bay and has an area of 10,800 ha.

In 1892 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works established a sewerage filtration system on 3,580 ha. of land west of the Werribee River. The sewage was transported from the metropolitan area by a main which was assisted by a pumping station at Spotswood. The initial sewage-treatment process was the flooding of low-gradient land with untreated effluent, and its effectiveness was improved in 1926 with grass filtration, when evaporation is weakest during the winter months. A proportion of the land was available for livestock grazing.

Because of the area’s isolation employees were housed in a village which by 1910 had a post office and a population of about 300 persons. By the early 1920s there were three primary schools and a public hall. The schools were Cocoroc (1894), Cocoroc South and Cocoroc West.

Beef production became a profitable sideline, despite a scare about beef measles during the 1930s. Prize-winning bulls were produced on the Farm. Sheep grazing was usually done by bringing in flocks during the summer.

By the 1960s the availability of private transport increasingly enabled employees to live away from the Farm. The township was shut down by the early 1970s.

In addition to the land and grass filtration systems there are about 1,500 ha. of coastal lagoons for sewage purification. They have become a haven for birdlife and have been designated as a wetland of international importance by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Metropolitan Farm’s census populations were 379 (1933), 477 (1947) and 129 (1966).

Further Reading:

• Dingle, Tony and Rasmusden, Carolyn, Vital Connections: Melbourne and its Board of Works 1891-1991, Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1991.

The coastal part of Altona is alluvial flats and recent estuarine deposits, with alluvial valleys extending inland along the Kororoit, Cherry and Laverton Creeks. The last two drained into swamps. Inland are newer basalt plains.

In 1842 (or probably before then), Alfred Langhorne leased pastoral land on Altona Bay, and shortly afterwards began building a homestead. The area was then known as Laverton. The homestead became known as “Altona” by the 1860s. The reason for the name is not clear, but in 1843 a neighbour of Langhorne’s, R. Wrede, gave his residential address as Altona, Port Phillip Bay. In any event Langhorne’s homestead acquired the name “Altona,” and it is in Queen Street, Altona, having served as a Council office and a community centre. “Altona” derives from a German village on the River Elbe, later a suburb of the Hamburg seaport.

Altona and Laverton were occupied for pastoral purposes. Prominent landowners were the Chirnside family, the Cherry family (hence Cherry lake), and the Blackshaws (hence Blackshaws Road). In 1881 a coal prospecting company was formed in Williamstown for the purpose of winning coal at Altona. Brown not black, coal was found and water penetration was a problem in the bores and tunnels. The activity, however, caused Altona to be noticed, for in 1882 a Sanitarium for infectious diseases was opened in Altona East.

In 1887 a syndicate acquired the Altona/Laverton property which had been assembled by Langhorne (who died in 1874), and marketed it as Altona. They commenced the connection of Yan Yean water, a railway extension from Newport and lengthening of the pier to deeper water for bay excursion boats. A nearby attraction was the Williamstown racecourse (now the Altona Sports Park). Land sales took place in 1888 and the train service commenced. Actual settlement at Altona, however, was meagre. The train service ceased in 1890, and Altona’s industrial potential was again assessed. Fresh coal mining ventures were started, and the colonial government established an explosive-storage depot near Skeleton Creek, Altona West, relieving a similar facility at Footscray. Proposals were examined for using the coal for the generation of electricity and for iron smelting. The Melbourne and Altona Coal Mine continued until 1919, and another one operated in the early 1930s.

Altona’s growth was slow, although enjoying moments of fame when early aeroplane flights were made by Gaston Cugnot (for the French Bleriot planes), and by Joseph Hammond in 1910 and 1911. Apart form coal mining the main industries were dairying, poultry, piggeries and the growing of animal fodder.

In 1913 a syndicate of Sydney entrepreneurs began replicating their success in developing beach-side suburbs by laying out generous subdivisions at Altona. The syndicate also established Seaholme, immediately to the east of Altona. Land sales began in 1917, and the railway recommenced. Two years earlier a primary school had been opened in Altona and Baptist church services begun. Residents obtained relatively cheap land on large blocks, and put up houses as owner-builders. During the first world war some families with German or other origins associated with enemy nations found it better to settle at Altona out of reach of patriotic workers at Newport. In 1920 land sales picked up, and houses were built with help from the War Service Homes Commission and the State Savings Bank.

In 1924 the Commonwealth Oil Refinery (C.O.R.) began production east of Seaholme. The refinery had mixed results: whilst providing local employment, the sulphur compounds in its effluent made the area smell. However, suburban comforts came to Altona with electrified trains, the promise of reticulated water and a shopping centre with a cinema. Subdivisions were released during 1928-9 at Altona North, Paisley and Galvin, the latter two being supplied with stations on the railway line to Geelong.

One suburban facility lacking in Altona was a hospital, until one was opened in 1932, financed by public subscriptions. It was kept during the depression by fund raising, donations of fish and eggs from local producers and by working bees.

During the second world war effluent entered Altona Bay from plant to the west. the I.C.I munitions factory at Deer Park.It poisoned the kelp, an important fish-breeding ground, and damaged Altona’s fishing and local amenity. Although the discharge was stopped, Altona’s seaside reputation was not enhanced during the war.

In 1949 Vacuum Oil began operating a refinery at Paisley, and in 1953 the Mobiltown railway station (Altona line) was opened to serve the refinery. Two years later a catalytic cracking plant increased production tenfold. There was a rapid growth in postwar population, and the Seaholme primary school opened a little earlier.

Altona was a destination for many postwar European migrants, and temporary and hostel accommodation was provided at the Williamstown racecourse and later on land on the other side of the Kororoit Creek at Wiltona Hostel.

Industries which opened in Altona included Gilbertsons/Don Smallgoods (1951), Red Robin hosiery (1949) and Australian Carbon Black (using refinery by-products for a component of tyre-making).

During all of its growth Altona was part of the Werribee shire. On 29 May, 1957, Altona was proclaimed a separate shire, and on 21 December, 1968, it was proclaimed a city.

The land at the Galvin railway station became the location of major petrochemical works in the late 1950s when Slough Estates purchased the large triangular wedge west of where the railway line crosses Kororoit Creek Road. The Altona Petrochemical Company’s plant came into production in 1961 and several others followed – synthetic rubber, several chemical plants and Union Carbide.

Two primary schools east and west of Altona’s town centre opened in 1961 and 1962, and a high school in 1960. The shire’s population grew by more than 50% between 1961 and 1966.

During the 1960s and 1970s Altona’s residents were troubled by air-borne particles and unpleasant chemical smells. Suspicion fell on petrochemical plants, although decaying seaweed might have been a cause. Air monitoring and political agitation reduced the incidents, and the closure of the Paisley briquette yard in 1972 removed an obvious cause. In the early 1970s sewerage connections were completed and reticulated water supply improved. The local hospital, a source of pride, was enlarged.

Altona township’s shopping centre in Pier Street has maintained its precedence. Drive-in shopping centres have been built further afield, in Altona North and Altona Meadows. During the 1980s the Pier Street shops were extended north of the railway line, unusual for a suburban strip.

North of the town the swamp area has become the Cherry Lake, surrounded by a conservation reserve and several sports facilities; to the east are a coastal park, yacht club and marina; and the western swamp area has water-treatment works and open-space reserves. At its extremity is the Kooringal Golf Club and a wetland which was previously the Cheetham Salt Works. Beach works during the 1980s stopped sand erosion. In 1985 the railway line was extended west of Altona to join the Geelong line at Laverton and the Westona station was opened.

The community has had a high proportion of residents from southern and eastern Europe, with a high proportion of religious adherents of both Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Altona had unusual municipal government, electing councillors by an unsubdivided municipality (i.e. no wards) and keeping them re-elected. Although in a Labor area, the Labor party gave up endorsing candidates when the voters’ preference for good local candidates was overwhelmingly obvious. The council staved off takeovers from Werribee and Williamstown councils in the 1980s. When the 1994 amalgamations happened, Altona city was united with Williamstown city and parts of Werribee shire and Footscray city to form Hobsons Bay city (22 June). By then the Altona municipality contained Altona Meadows, Altona North and the smaller localities of Paisley and Seaholme.

Between 1987 and 1996 the median house price in Altona was about 90% of the median for metropolitan Melbourne.

The census populations for the Altona township were 50 (1911), 694 (1921) and 2,841 (1947). For the Altona municipality they were 16,167 (1961), 25,020 (1966), 30,909 (1981) and 34,492 (1991).

Further Reading:

• Priestley, Susan, “Altona: A Long View”, Hargren Publishing Company, 1988.

In September, 1836, Sydney’s Governor Richard Bourke sent Captain William Lonsdale to the Port Phillip district, thereby acknowledging that settlement beyond the permitted boundaries had occurred. Lonsdale selected Gellibrand Point at the north-west of Port Phillip Bay as the place for the official settlement, but the better situated Melbourne overtook it in his later estimation. Nevertheless a town was surveyed and named William’s Town (after King William IV), on 10 April, 1837. Land in Nelson Place, Williamstown, was sold two months later.Williamstown Wharf ca 1850

William’s Town’s pre-gold rush role in Port Phillip was farming and maritime activities. It was Melbourne’s port, with ship mooring and repair facilities. The time ball tower at Gellibrand Point (1852) was for the synchronisation of ships’ chronometers, and the Naval Dock Yards and Hobsons Bay dredges were installed in the 1850s. The description of Williamstown in the 1875 edition of The Australian Handbook was –

By 1904 the population had doubled to about 15,000, representing the consolidation of industry and institutions. The Handbook’s 1904 entry for Williamstown was –

The Williamstown municipality contained Newport and Spotswood. Housing construction took place in the 1950s in Spotswood and housing was built on the decommissioned Williamstown Rifle Range in the 1990s. By then the older parts of Williamstown were undergoing a residential renaissance, attracting people with a preference for historic renovation. Access by car across the West Gate Bridge in 1978 made Williamstown a “gentrifiable” inner suburb. A population peak of 30,606 had been reached in 1961. By 1991 it was 22,100, despite the number of private dwellings having increased from 8,228 to 8,856.

Williamstown’s shoreline features remained much the same from 1900 to the present day: numerous piers and recreational sailing facilities facing the calmer waters of Hobsons Bay, the Williamstown Cricket Ground and football club on Gellibrand Point, facing Port Phillip Bay and the beach (served by Williamstown Beach railway Station) a little to the west. The web of railway lines serving four piers and the graving dock were dismantled in the 1960s.

There are 15 sites in the former Williamstown municipality on the Victorian Heritage register, including the Railway Station and the Alfred Graving Dock.

On 22 June, 1994, Williamstown city was united with Altona city and parts of Footscray and Werribee cities to form the City of Hobsons Bay.

Postcard dated 1906.

Historical Cafe Strip, Williamstown, 1997.

Williamstown Jetty, 1997.

Further Reading:

• Davison, Graeme (ed.), “Melbourne on Foot: 15 walks through Historic Melbourne”, pages 168-83, Rigby Publishing Ltd, 1980.
• Evans, Wilson, “Port of Many Prows”, Hawthorn Press, 19??.
• Strahan, Lynne, “At the Edge of the Centre: A History of Williamstown”, Hargren Publishing Company, 1994.