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Port Fairy Museum and Archives

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25.01.2022 Today is the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. WW2 ended with the surrender of the Japanese in the Pacific. The Port Fairy Gazette announced the happy news to the town and the surrounding areas with these front covers. On this day we should also remember the local men and women who served and made sacrifices for us. Lest We Forget.

24.01.2022 It’s time for a new competition launch! The prize is a package containing books published by the Port Fairy Historical Society. All you have to do to go in the draw is share a photo that shows the theme ‘Life in Port Fairy’. That’s a broad scope, it can be anything Port Fairy related. You will receive an entry for each photo you post. It will be drawn on Thursday October 1st. So get out those photos and start sharing. This photo will prompt the memory of followers. It’s an image of Bill Digby moving cattle outside his house in Griffiths Street Port Fairy.

24.01.2022 Thanks to Western District Families for these beautiful Rose Postcard images of the Moyne river.

21.01.2022 WE HAVE A WINNER !! Port Fairy Historical Society President Andrea Cooney and her husband Rob drew the winner of our Facebook Port Fairy Fashion competition this afternoon. Thanks to all the people who entered and shared their lovely fashion photos with us. The lucky winner of the book package is Andrea Vallance. Congratulations

18.01.2022 Life in Port Fairy 1959...Day out at Pea Soup... Vince Hayes , May Millard ( Purcell) Helen Hayes ( Millard ) Clem Hayes, Kerrin Hayes, Pat Millard...

17.01.2022 The winner of the Port Fairy Museum and Archives workplace photo competition is Sue Hoogenboom, who shared this photo. Thanks to all who entered, the photos were amazing. The official video of the draw is in the comments. There will be another photo competition with a different theme announced on Monday. So you will all have another chance to win.

17.01.2022 The Port Fairy Historical Society committee has decided to keep the Museum in Gipps Street closed until further notice. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID 19 pandemic it was decided this is the most responsible course of action to take. During this down time we would love you followers to send us any photos or stories from the past so we can share them on this page. Anything to brighten up our days in these uncertain times. Send them through this page’s messenger or the comments section please. Stay safe everyone.

16.01.2022 The workplace related photo competition will be drawn this Saturday August 21st 2020. The go in the draw you need to go to our page where the competition is pinned to the top, and put a photo in the comments. The winner will receive a pack containing the books in this photo. Good luck, and the draw will be posted live on Saturday.

15.01.2022 The Port Fairy Historical Society need help in finding a photo of the house that once occupied the corner of Bank and James Streets. The girls standing outside it are Garth, Valda and Leslie Owen. Their parents were Les and Myrtle Owen and the family lived in the house during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. The Strachan and McLaren families later lived in the house until it was demolished in the 1950’s. E.A. Wright built a showroom and later Rooney’s garage occupied the site which is now a vacant block. Would any followers of the page have a photo of it please?

14.01.2022 This is a reminder that the Port Fairy Fashion photo competition will be drawn this Saturday Sept 5th. So get out those photos and enter before then. This beautiful photo supplied by Trish Riordan shows the Kelly Family of Port Fairy in their Sunday best. They are Alfred and Agnes Kelly with their children Eleanor (Newman), Reuben and Walter. Circa 1915.

14.01.2022 The Moyne Gazette published on September 3rd 2020 featured an article which compared the impact of the current Covid 19 Pandemic to that of the Spanish Flu, which occurred a hundred years ago. Port Fairy Historical Society President Andrea Cooney and her husband Robert contributed to the article. Richard Patterson, author and Historical Society member, provided the information the for the story.

12.01.2022 The winner of our latest competition ‘Life in Port Fairy’ is Anne Betts. She entered the photo below of her family enjoying Christmas lunch at the Gardens Caravan Park in 1966. Thank you to all who shared such beautiful photos. Congratulations Anne.

11.01.2022 On this Remembrance Day 2020 we honour Port Fairy’s World War One Nurses. These three women were born in the town and served overseas during the conflict. None of them are recognised on any memorials in Port Fairy. Lest We Forget. Sister Marion Theresa Bignell (pictured) She was born in (Belfast) Port Fairy in 1885. Marion enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on January 11th 1916. She served at the Colaba War Hospital in Bombay India, and at the King George War Hospital, Poo...na. She treated patients from the British garrisons in India. Sister Lena Josephine Lyons. She was born in Port Fairy in 1889. Lena enlisted in the AIF in March 1916. She served in France, England and India and was the sister in charge of the operating theatre on the Hospital Ship Delta in the Persian Gulf. Sister Eileen Marriott Watson. She was born in Belfast (Port Fairy) and enlisted on the 17th of July 1915, for overseas nursing service. Eileen was based at the No.2 Australian Hospital on the Greek Island of Lemnos, where many casualties from Gallipoli were treated. In 1916 Eileen sailed to Melbourne nursing wounded Australian troops returning home. She later sailed to India, nursing troops at the Colaba War Hospital Bombay, and the Station Hospital, Rawalpindi. The information on these brave women was supplied by Richard Patterson, author of the books ‘Icons of Port Fairy’ and ‘Port Fairy’s Wars’.

10.01.2022 Port Fairy Historical Society members on the first day of compulsory mask wearing across the State of Victoria during the Covid 19 pandemic, compared to the mask wearers of the Spanish Flu pandemic 101 years ago. The fashions may have changed, but the sentiment is the same. We can beat this if we all work together and do the right thing. Stay Safe. Monday August 3rd 2020.

07.01.2022 Thank you to the Tacoma Preservation Society Port Lincoln for this post. The Tacoma was launched in Port Fairy sixty nine years ago today. There is a new plaque outside the spot on the wharf where she was built and entered the water. The Museum intends to hold an exhibition next year to celebrate the Tacoma’s milestone seventieth birthday.

07.01.2022 It’s competition time again! The prize is a package of books published by the Port Fairy Historical Society. The theme for this one is Port Fairy Fashion. To enter all you have to do is post a fashion related photo in the comments. Each photo shared gives you a ticket in the draw, which will happen on Saturday Sept 5th. Good luck everyone. ... The photo below is taken by Ken Sutherland. It’s a group of Port Fairy people going to a surf club carnival in 1954. They are dressed beautifully in the 1950’s style. From left - Wilma Stanning (Gibb), Claire Stanning (Shepard), Leslie Fitzgibbon (Hazeldine), Vera Corfield (Richardson), Doug Shepard, Ernie Gibb and Kaye Stanning (Dowie).

04.01.2022 The Coleman medal will be presented to Geelong player Tom Hawkins after the AFL grand final tonight. The medal is named after John Coleman who was born and raised in Port Fairy. It is awarded to the player who kicks the most goals in the home and away season each year. John Douglas Coleman was born in Port Fairy on the 23rd of November 1928. His parents were Albert and Ella Coleman and the family lived in Gipps St. His father was the manager of the Port Fairy Cheese, Butter... and Ice Factory, also situated in Gipps Street. On Saturdays he played football with his brother Albert, and Frank and Don Pevitt. They held these games on the corner of Gipps, and what is now Regent Streets. John attended the Port Fairy Consolidated School and was an asset to their football team. His first football coach was Miss Grace Bowker, a well known teacher of the time. St Patrick’s football team struggled to win games against the Consolidated School during these years. The Nuns who coached the St Pat’s team used to say we have God on our side and Miss Bowker used to answer we don’t need God we have John Coleman The Coleman family moved to Melbourne when John was twelve and he went on to have a successful VFL/AFL football career. He played 98 games for Essendon and kicked 537 goals. His statue stands outside the MCG.

04.01.2022 A young Max Terjerson leaning on cray pots at the Port Fairy Wharf is pictured with both his grandfathers. They are Oswald Gulbin (left) and Christian Terjesen (right). The man next to Christian is unknown (possibly a fish buyer) and the other man is Joe Jago. This photo is circa 1960s

02.01.2022 A MYSTERY SOLVED ! almost. I hadn’t joined the Port Fairy Historical Society very long, when Jan Willey and Heather Templeton asked me to join them in the photo group. My main job was to help identify photos that had been donated to the Museum with no names on them. On the first day I was given the beautiful coloured photo featuring the ladies of a wedding party. Jan knew the bridesmaid was Mary Arnel, a well known local lady who had lived in Cox Street. I took the photo an...d told her I’ll bring it back next week with the other names on it. That was three years ago! All my usual methods of finding out information, asking people who knew Mary, showing the photo around, and posting on Facebook sites were to no avail. I never stopped trying, this photo went everywhere and was shown far and wide. A year later I found the second photo in a filing cabinet. It’s a black and white image of the entire wedding party. Numerous people identified the groomsman as Bill Arnel, Mary’s brother, but had no idea who the bride and groom were. The records of marriages at St Patrick’s Port Fairy also came up empty. Another year went by and Covid shut the Museum down. During this time we had a big clean out of cupboards. Inside an old chocolate box I found a very small photo of Bill and Mary Arnel with the unidentified flower girl standing outside the Infant Jesus Church in Koroit. Jean Fitzgibbon the church archivist kindly went through the marriage records and found that the : GROOM is JOSEPH DAVID BROOKS. 22 years of Warrnambool, and the BRIDE is MAVIS VERONICA THOMAS 21 years of Koroit. The marriage took place on November 15th 1947. Mavis is a first cousin to Mary and Bill Arnel. Her parents were Bert and Mary Thomas. I would love to find out the name of the flower girl and contact any relatives of the bride and groom. So please if you know them, pass this post on. Included in the photos is a story about this search written by RIchard Patterson for this months newsletter.

02.01.2022 It’s competition time, with a real prize! All you have to do to go in the draw is post a local workplace related photo in the comments. Each time you post you will get another ticket in the draw. So the more photos you post, the more chances you have of winning this prize which is :- A package containing four book’s published by the Port Fairy Historical Society. 1. Port Fairy Buildings 1843 to 1889 by Peter Grenfell... 2. Icons of Port Fairy by Richard Patterson 3. Historic Buildings Of Port Fairy by the Port Fairy Historical Society Inc 4. Some Shipwrecks Of Port Fairy Bay by Stan Evans. The draw will take place on Saturday 22nd of August. The photo below shows Gertie Jennings, Anne Wick and Joan Trimby with two unidentified gentlemen taking a break from work at the Tennyson’s Hotel (Marty Hearn’s) in the 1960’s.