Streets
Whats in a name?
Have you ever wondered how your street got its name? or want to find out more about your house?
Streets of Williamstown
Aitken Street
Originally Aitken Street was titled Orient Street but by 1848 maps show the street name to have been changed to be called Little Nelson Street along the lines of Melbourne Street’s layout (Bourke Street and Little Bourke Street). However, it was then changed to Aitken Street in the 1880s, after local baker Daniel Aitken, who was a Councillor from 1872-1882 and Mayor from 1875-77.
Aitken was one of Williamstown’s oldest identities and originally worked alongside Mr Stuart as a storekeeper in Nelson Place. He subsequently started his own business in Rennie Street and owned substantial properties in the town including the Caledonian Hotel in Cole Street In the 1860s.
Ann Street
Both Ann Street and Thompson Street were named in 1837, the second and third streets to be named by Governor Bourke after the naming of Nelson Place. In Melbourne Bourke had named Elizabeth Street after his wife, and in naming these two streets he honoured his daughter Anne Bourke and her husband Edward Deas Thomson who was Colonial Secretary of New South Wales from 1837-1856.
The spelling of Thomson Street was altered in the early 1850s to Thompson with a ‘p’ even though the man it was named for spelled it without a ‘p’, and even though Bourke’s daughter spelled her name with an ‘e’, early maps show it was always called Ann without the ‘e’.

Anzac Crescent
ANZAC Crescent, Tobruk Cresent & Kokoda Road were established after WWII and were built on part of the Rifle Range in 1946. The streets were named to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice during wartime.
The homes originally built on these streets were war service homes that returned servicemen purchased. Today most of these homes have been replaced by more modern multi-storey large homes, with few post-war homes remaining.
Bath Place
Bath Place is named after Edwin Bath (1802 - 1898), a convict, transported to the colonies for larceny. He arrived in Williamstown in 1837 and whilst a convict, worked as a customs boatman. In 1847 he was given his Certificate of Freedom.
A free man, he was able to take part in the early land sales in the new colony, buying land and building several two and three-room cottages in Bath Place and Ferguson Street.
He married in 1843 and had two children, living in Williamstown for the remainder of his life, where he died in 1898, aged 96, having lived a full life.
Blucher Terrace
Blucher Terrace was named after Field Marshall Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt (1742-1819), later elevated to Sovereign Prince von Wahlstatt.
He was a Prussian General Field Marshall and earned his greatest recognition after leading his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Cecil Street
On the 1837-40 map of the town the section of what is now Cecil Street from Gellibrand Point to Cole Street, was called Rodney Street after Admiral Lord George Brydges Rodney (1718-1792) and the other half Elliot Street after Admiral Sir George Elliot (1784-1863). By 1955 it had been renamed Cecil Street.
Cecil Street was named for Lord Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil (1830– 1903), 3rd Marquis of Salisbury. He was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times (1885–86; 1886–92, 1895–1902) – a total of over thirteen years. He was also Foreign Secretary for much of his tenure and during his last two years of office, he was Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. He avoided alignments or alliances, maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation".
The British phrase “Bob’s your uncle” is thought to have derived from his appointment of his nephew, Arthur Balfour, as Chief Secretary for Ireland.

Cerberus Crescent
HMVS Cerberus, which stands for Her Majesty's Victorian Ship, was a type of small warship known as a breastwork monitor. It was equipped with large guns and served in the Victoria Naval Forces, the Commonwealth Naval Forces (CNF), and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1871 to 1924.
HMVS Cerberus was built in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England for Victoria and arrived in Port Phillip in 1871. Her conversion to a monitor was completed in the Alfred Graving Dock. Cerberus began trials on Port Phillip on 25th August 1871, but her guns were too powerful to be fired close to shore due to public protests about the damage caused to windows.
Chandler Street
Named for Christopher Chandler (1864-1944), Williamstown Councillor from 1905-1914 and Mayor of Williamstown from 1910-1911. He was a Grocer and Product Merchant, whose shop was located at 64 Douglas Parade.
In 1911 he was also instrumental in building the Williamstown Picture Theatre Company, and along with the support of a number of other local businessmen, aimed to build a theatre in the town, becoming its director. The company had purchased land on Ferguson Street running alongside Bath Place, the current location of the library. The company asked for a public subscription to raise the funds to build the theatre needing £5,500 to realise the project. The subscription was quickly filled with most of the money coming from local investors and as a result, the Shore Picture Theatre was built.

Charles Street
Charles Street, along with La Trobe Street, Newport, were both named after Charles Joseph LaTrobe, who in 1839 was appointed Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (Victoria) and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria, he became its first Lieutenant-Governor, holding the position until 1854.
He and his wife and daughter sailed into Sydney on 26 July 1839, for training on procedures and they then on 1 October 1839 went on to Melbourne. He purchased land in Jolimont and erected his cottage which was transported from London and which is still standing and known as “La Trobe’s Cottage”. He returned to England in 1854 after resigning his position.

Clark Street
Named after Alfred Thomas Clark (1844-1888) who arrived in Victoria with his family in the early 1850s. His father was well-known artist Thomas Clark who would eventually become Drawing Master at the National Gallery School.
He originally signed on as a seaman on the Australian coastal ships and then worked in H.B. Donaldson’s ship chandlery business in Port Melbourne. In the 1864-65 Victorian Gazette he is listed as an Acting Tide Waiter in the Customs Office. In 1871 he stood and was elected, as the member for Williamstown in the Victorian Parliament. He founded The Williamstown Advertiser in 1875. He was a partner in an auctioneering firm, a director of several insurance companies, involved in two building societies and in control of a land syndicate which is where he made his fortune. He was a Justice of the Peace and President of the Williamstown Football Club.
A sculpture by Enrico Lucchinelli from Carrara, Italy, was unveiled in the Williamstown Botanic Gardens in his honour on the 18 July, 1891.
Cole Street
Originally called Codrington Place after Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Codrington of the Royal Navy who was a captain under Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. By 1855 the street had been renamed Cole Street after Captain George Ward Cole (1793-1879).
After enlisting in October 1807, Cole served with distinction in various parts of the world and was severely wounded multiple times. In October 1817, he was placed on half-pay and subsequently moved to the merchant service where he commanded several vessels as part owner.
After numerous years of adventures and travels, Cole moved to Australia in 1840. He became involved in the shipping industry, and in 1851, he built the City of Melbourne, which was the first auxiliary screw steamer to be built south of the equator. Later, he owned and co-owned several steamships and became the chairman of the Port Phillip Steamship Navigation Company. He also bought land along the Yarra River and established Cole's Wharf in Flinders Street West. Throughout Victoria, including in Williamstown, Footscray, Frankston, St Leonards and Gippsland, he purchased land. As a member of the Legislative Assembly, he was active in several vital community affairs, including debates over defence, unemployment, the deepening of the Yarra River, advocating for railways, the development of the Harbour Trust, and even the Constitution. In October 1859 Cole was elected to the Council for the Central Province and was re-elected for ten years in 1860 and 1870 respectively.
Douch Street
Named after Henry William Douch JP, who was born in Brighton, England in 1832. In 1852 he immigrated to Melbourne on board the Isabella, setting up a home in Williamstown.
He married Margaret Wood in Williamstown in 1859. He started his business, a confectionery and bakery ship in 1869 at 145-7 Nelson Place, and ran it until 1877.
He was a member of the Williamstown Council for 20 years representing Centre Ward, and occupied the Mayoral chair twice, in 1870 and 1885. He entered the Volunteer Force as a Private in 1856 retiring as a Major after being in command for eight years. He was also a Justice of the Peace presiding over the Williamstown Courts for many years.
He died in 1897 in East Melbourne and was buried at Williamstown Cemetery.
Douglas Parade
Henry Douglas, a native of Berkshire, England, was born around 1827 to parents Edwin and Sarah. He immigrated to Australia at the age of 28, arriving in Hobsons Bay in 1853 aboard the James L Bogert. His occupation was listed as an ironmonger. In 1872, he married Victoria Drake, and they had five children, although only three survived - a son and two daughters. Henry Douglas along with Samuel Miller were the proprietors of an ironmonger, tin, and copper smith business on Nelson Place. Henry served on the early Williamstown Council between 1869 to 1873 and was an active member of the community. He was a founding member of the Williamstown Cricket Club, along with Sir George Verdon and W. F. Knight, and a member of the Loyal Gellibrand Lodge of the M.U.I.O.O F.
Edina Street
Named after the SS Edina which was the longest serving steam vessel anywhere in the world. Built in 1854 on the River Clyde by Barclay, Curle & Co. she was an iron hull single screw steamer of 322 tons with three masts. In 1855 Edina was requisitioned by the Admiralty from her owners the Leith, Hull & Hamburg Steam Packet Co. to carry stores and horses to the Black Sea during the Crimean War. After returning to her owners Edina traded around the UK and Mediterranean before being purchased and used as a blockade runner during the American Civil War, carrying cotton from the Confederate states in 1861.
The Edina arrived in Melbourne under sail in March 1863 and was purchased by Stephen Henty for use from ports in western Victoria and later carried gold prospectors across the Tasman to New Zealand. After a refit in 1870, she was used in the coastal trade along the Queensland coast for Howard Smith until returning to Victoria and the Melbourne-Geelong trade as a cargo-passenger vessel.
The Edina had two narrow escapes from destruction, in 1898 and again in 1899, when she collided with other steamers, both being sunk. A further refit in 1917 altered her appearance with a new mast, funnel, bridge and promenade deck. By 1924 Edina had made over 12,000 Melbourne-Geelong passages and carried over one million people on the service. A further collision in July 1931, which sank the tug Hovell, forced Edina onto a mudbank on Port Phillip Bay. She was taken out of service in 1938 but was later renamed Dinah and used as a lighter until 1958 when she was broken up and her remains used as land-fill.
Electra Street
Named for the ship HMS Electra, bult in 1837, a wooden sloop of 462 tons, carrying 18 guns.
HMS Electra arrived in Williamstown in 1853 under Captain Morris to protect port waters. In September, 1854 she was sent to King Island to rescue the crew of two merchant vessels wrecked there, and retrieved 20,000 sovereigns that were on board. Twenty of her men were also sent to the Ballarat Goldfields in December, 1854 to help quell the riots of the Eureka Stockade. The ship was eventually sold in 1862.
Ferguson Street
Captain Charles Ferguson (1813-1868), left home for a life at sea and by 1838 was the Master of the ship HMS Rajah, a three masted barque which weighed 352 tons.
In 1850 he decided to resign his command for a permanent job on dry land and, along with his wife Kezia and son George, settled in Williamstown.
Charles Ferguson became the state of Victoria’s first Chief Harbour Master in February 1852. He was also a land owner, Police Magistrate and Water Police Magistrate. He was chairman of the Steam Navigation Board, President of the Pilot’s Board, and Secretary of the provisional Committee to establish a Floating Seaman’s Chapel, the forerunner to the Mission to Seamen. When the well-known ship Marco Polo was stranded in Hobson’s Bay in 1854, Ferguson as harbour master is credited with rescuing her.
He was also very active within the Williamstown community
and was Chairman of the Committee for founding the Fire
Brigade service, along with the Volunteer Marine Artillery.
Freyer Street
Captain John Kennedy Freyer was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1815, arriving in the colonies for the first time in 1842 as a master of a ship at 27 years old. He was engaged for some years sailing between Australia and England, most likely basing himself in Liverpool where he had married his wife Catherine Pritchard in 1846. He eventually relocated his family to Victoria, settling up house at 24 Stevedore Street, Williamstown and commanding ships such as the Waratah until he was offered the position of Superintendent of Water Police in Victoria.
When the town formed its own council, he took an active interest in its affairs and was Chairman of the Municipal Council from 1860-1862. He was made a JP, presiding over the police courts for many years, was a Savings Bank Commissioner and a director of the Bank of Victoria, the Land Mortgage Bank and the Victoria Insurance Company. He was also involved with the Marine Board and Pilot Board and an active member of the Holy Trinity Church from its establishment.
Upon his death in 1899 he was buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
Gem Street
Named after the Paddle Steamer PS Gem, a ferry that made her first trip across Port Phillip Bay from Gem Pier, then known as Steamboat Pier, Williamstown, to Port Melbourne in 1868. The ferry service from Williamstown to Port Melbourne continued until 1908.
Gem Pier, built in 1838, was initially known as "The Jetty". It was the first sizeable pier constructed from She-Oaks on Port Phillip Bay. In the 1850s, with the construction of the Ann Street Pier, it became known as "The Old Pier" or "Old Town Jetty", while the Ann Street Pier was referred to as the "New Pier".
The pier, originally called Steamboat Pier in the 1860s and 1870s, was later renamed Gem Pier after the paddle steamer in the 1870s. It underwent multiple reconstructions over the years, with a budget of £7,112 allocated for its rebuilding in 1927. The pier was rebuilt again in 1992 and lengthened once more in 2003.
Giffard Street
Captain Henry Wells Giffard (1811-1854), is who Giffard Street is named after. Another Naval Officer with no connection to Williamstown. He joined the Navy in 1824 at 13 years of age, and rose to the rank of Captain in 1841. He served on and captained several ships before being appointed Captain the HMS Tiger in 1852. The Tiger was sent to the Mediterranean and then took part in the Crimean War.
On 12 May, 1854 HMS Tiger grounded in fog off Odessa, and Giffard was forced to surrender the ship after being taken under fire from the land. He was seriously injured and his leg was removed while still on the ship, but he died of gangrene in captivity on 1 June, 1854.
Gellibrand Street
Is named after Joseph Tice Gellibrand (1792–1837). He studied law, was called to the bar, and on 1 August 1823 was appointed the first Attorney-General of Van Diemen's Land with a salary of £700 a year, arriving in Hobart in 1824.
In 1835 Gellibrand became one of the leading members of the Port Phillip Association, a company of 17 colonists who devised a plan to obtain and divide amongst themselves, thousands of acres of land on the northern shore of Port Phillip through a treaty with the local Wurundjeri people. Gellibrand, having a strong foundation in law, drew up the Batman Treaty which stipulated that the Aboriginal people would hand over all of the land within 10 miles of the northern shore in exchange for a yearly hand-out of basic provisions. As part of the deal, Gellibrand was assigned a huge tract of land that is now the region that extends from Laverton to Spotswood.
Despite Gellibrand's efforts, the Batman Treaty was deemed invalid and overruled by Governor Richard Bourke in 1836. The lands purchased by the Association were judged to be owned by the Crown and not by the members of the Port Phillip Association nor by the Aborigines. The Port Phillip Association members, however, were recompensed £7,000 from the colonial government. Gellibrand disappeared in 1837 exploring the hinterland of Port Phillip along with his companion G.B.L. Hesse. Their disappearance was never solved.
Hanmer Street
Hanmer Street, along with Bunbury Street, Newport is named for Captain Richard Hanmer Bunbury (1813-1857). He joined the Royal Navy in 1826 at 13 years of age as a midshipman and lost his right arm at the Battle of Navarino in 1827. He learnt to write and paint with his left hand and some of his ink and watercolours are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Richard Bunbury married Sarah Sconce on 19 December, 1838. They came to Victoria on board the HMS Argyle with their son Harry and his nurse, along with Sarah’s brother Robert Knox Sconce and his wife. The artist Georgiana McCrae and her children were also on board. Bunbury is mentioned in the journal she kept while on the voyage.
On arrival in March, 1841 Bunbury was appointed superintendent of Water Police at Port Phillip and subsequently Harbour Master at Williamstown in 1844. A member of the Melbourne Club from 1844, he also owned a station at Mount William named Barton Hall after his ancestral home in England.
Jobson Street
John Jobson was born in 1824 in Marylebone, London, England and arrived in Victoria in 1871 along with his wife Elizabeth and their eight children on board the Anglesey. Prior to arriving in Australia, he had held the position of a government Tax Collector and member of the Westminster Council.
After their arrival in Melbourne, the family settled down in Station Road, Williamstown and he set up a successful timber merchant’s business, Jobson’s Timber Yard, in Nelson Place and built many residences in the town.
He was a director and the largest shareholder of the Williamstown Gas Company, a shareholder in the Greta Coal Company and a Justice of the Peace presiding over many cases in the local court. Mr Jobson was also a local councillor for many years and was elected Mayor in 1885.
He died in 1905 as a very wealthy man and was buried in the Williamstown Cemetery.
John Street
Named after Lord John Russell (1792–1878), 1st Earl Russell.
Russell was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.
Together with Palmerston, he was instrumental in getting Britain to join France in thwarting the threat of Russia against the Ottoman Empire.
He was grandfather to well-known philosopher Bertrand Russell.
Kanowna Street
The TSS Kanowna, an Australian (Twin Screw Steamer)steamer built in 1902, was requisitioned by the Australian military in 1914 to transport 1,000 soldiers to New Guinea as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Forces. During the voyage, the crew mutinied due to the harsh hot working conditions in the boiler rooms - refusing to work until their demand for more water was met. The ship was returned to her owners. In 1915, it was requisitioned again for military service and modified as a hospital ship. After the war, she resumed passenger and cargo services. On 18 February 1929, she ran into rocks near Cleft Island, Wilsons Promontory and sank the following morning after all passengers had been transferred off.
In 1978, the council renamed the northern section of Morris Street to Kanowna Street after the railway line bisected the street.
Knight Street
William Ford Knight, a long-standing member of the Williamstown community, was born in 1819 in Wivelsfield, Sussex, England and arrived in Port Phillip on board the Isabella in 1852 with his wife following a little while later. They lived in Ann Street for the rest of their life.
A baker by trade, he first opened a bakery on Ann Street, then in the late 1850s built and ran the Telegraph Hotel, successfully for many years. He was actively involved in the community and served as councillor for Centre Ward from 1875 to 1893, holding the position of Mayor twice during that period in 1878 and 1886.
A Justice of the Peace, he attended court many more times than any other JP in the area. He was a founding Director of the Gas Company. He was a founding member and President of the Cricket Club for over 30 years. He also enjoyed playing bowls.
He was a member of the local Volunteer Force, being promoted to Sergeant Major in 1875, and was part of the troop that marched to Point Gellibrand, with empty muskets, to quell the convict insurrection after the murder of Captain Price.
He died in 1913 after a short illness at the advanced age of 95 years, and was buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
Kokoda Road
Kokoda Road, ANZAC Crescent and Tobruk Cresent were established after WWII and were built on part of the Rifle Range in 1946. The streets were named to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice during wartime.
The homes originally built on these streets were war service homes that returned servicemen purchased. Today most of these homes have been replaced by more modern multi-storey large homes, with few post-war homes remaining.
Lemmon Street
John Lemmon (1875–1955) was born in Carlton to English woodturner Samuel Lemmon and his Irish wife Matilda Thompson. He attended Rathdowne Street Primary School, the Trades Hall School and then Workingmen's College. He was a carpenter for five years and then a cutter, joining the Timber Workers' Union at the age of fifteen. On 25 April, 1905 he married Edith Ruddock, with whom he had three children.
In 1904 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for Williamstown. In December, 1913 he was briefly Minister of Public Instruction and Labour, serving again from July to November, 1924 and from May, 1927 to November, 1928. In December, 1929 he resumed his old post, serving until March, 1932. He was the Secretary of the Parliamentary Labor Party from 1913 to 1938. Lemmon held the seat until 1955; his term was the longest ever term as a member of the Victorian Parliament, being an MLA for over fifty years.
He was also a great supporter of Dr Louis Joel who built and opened the Altona Community Hospital in 1937.
Liston Drive & Liston Reserve
Named after John James Liston (1872-1944). Liston migrated to Victoria with his family in 1883 and they settled in Williamstown.
He was originally a hairdresser and tobacconist with a shop in Nelson Place. In 1897 he stood for Council but lost the election by two votes. The following year he stood again and won unopposed. He became Mayor in 1901-02 (the youngest in the State) and again in 1913-14. He sold his hairdressers and became a licensee of the Customs House Hotel. He held many important positions in the town - Secretary of the Liquor Trades' Defence Union and Chairman of both the Williamstown Football Club from 1923-33 and the Racing Club from 1939-44. He was also a representative on the Melbourne Harbor Trust from 1909-13, Williamstown's representative on the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works from 1918-30 and between 1923-31 he was a Melbourne City Councillor, to name just a few of the positions he held.
Lyon Street
Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons, GCB, CMG, KCH (1790–1858) was an eminent British Admiral of the Royal Navy, and British diplomat. He was responsible for advocating the merits of the Crimean War, during which he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, and for securing the subsequent allied victory in the conflict, through his efforts at the Siege of Sevastopol with both the Navy and the British Army.
As a consequence of his linguistic ability and favour with foreign aristocrats, Lyons was appointed to various diplomatic posts, including important ambassadorial positions in Sweden, and to the court of King Otto of Greece.
Lyons's temerity, ambition, and charisma, for which his white-blonde hair and pale complexion became a byword, made him popular with the High Commands of the Royal Navy and British Army and with the British aristocracy, with whom he maintained secret private correspondences to which his naval immediate superiors were not privy.
Nelson Place
Nelson Place was one of the first streets in Williamstown. Originally called Nelson Parade it was named after Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) and given the name by Governor Bourke in 1837. Nelson was born in Norfolk into an ecclesiastical family. His naval career began on 1 January, 1771, at 13 years old when he reported to the third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an ordinary seaman and coxswain under his maternal uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, who commanded the vessel. Nelson rose rapidly through the ranks and served with leading naval commanders of the period before obtaining his own command at the age of 20, in 1778.
His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history.
In 1803 Nelson was appointed commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet and given the first-rate HMS Victory as his flagship, the command ship during the Battle of Trafalgar, a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies. During the Battle of Trafalgar, her was mortally wounded. King George III, on receiving the news of his death, is alleged to have said, in tears, "We have lost more than we have gained."
Osborne Street
Osborne Street was named by Port Philip Harbour Master Richard Hanmer Bunbury in honour of his clerk James Osborn, with the addition of an “e” at the end of its name. James was born in 1803 in Churchstanton, Devon, England. There is no record of when he arrived in Victoria but he joined the Harbour Master’s Office in June, 1841 and was appointed Lighthouse Keeper at Williamstown in early 1842 and was then appointed Clerk to the Harbour Master, 1st class, on 7th June, 1847, with an annual salary of £150. He left the town in 1852 and died in Elwood in 1887.

Parker Street
On the 1837-40 map of the town there was no name given to the street, only a triangular area called Codrington Place where the old Post Office building still stands. As can be seen by the map, the first Parker Street was located at the bottom end of Nelson Place near Point Gellibrand. This street was first changed to Morris Street and is now Kanowna Street.
By the 1850s the current Parker Street had been named which was titled after Admiral Sir Hyde Parker (1739-1807). Parker entered the Royal Navy at an early age, and became Lieutenant on 25 January, 1758, having passed most of his early service in his father's (Sir Hyde Parker Snr) ships.
From 1766 onwards he served in the West Indies and in North American waters, particularly distinguishing himself in breaking the defences of the North River at New York in 1776 as captain of HMS Phoenix, where his services earned him a knighthood. In 1801 he was appointed to command the Baltic Fleet destined to break up the northern armed neutrality, with Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson as his second-in-command.
At the height of the battle Parker, who was loath to infringe the customary rules of naval warfare, raised the flag to disengage. Famously, Nelson ignored the order from his commander by raising his telescope to his blind eye and exclaiming "I really do not see the signal " (although this is generally accepted to be a myth). Nelson pressed on with the action and ultimately compelled the Danish forces to capitulate. Parker's hesitation to advance up the Baltic Sea after the victory was later severely criticised. Soon afterwards he was recalled and Nelson succeeded him. He died on 16 March, 1807.
Pasco Street
On the original map of 1837-40 it was known as Eden Street after Admiral Henry Eden (1798-1888), however by 1855 it was renamed Pascoe Street (with an incorrect ‘e’ at the end) after Rear-Admiral John Pasco (1774-1853), father of Lieutenant Crawford Pasco (Water Police Magistrate). It remained ‘Pascoe’ Street until at least 1933 but by 1945 the name had been corrected to the correct spelling of ‘Pasco’.
John Pasco served in the Royal Navy between 1784 and 1853, eventually rising to the rank of Rear-Admiral. He acted as signal officer on board HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and notably advised on the wording of Nelson’s famous signal “England expects that every man will do his duty”.
Pearson Street
Named for William Pearson who was born in 1830 in Wisebeck, Cambridgeshire, England and arrived in the town in 1851 on board The Sea with his occupation listed as an Agricultural Labourer.
He started work when he arrived as the gardener for Willsmore, Fyfe and Box, shipping butchers, in Nelson Place at 8 shillings per week but then like many others, decided to try his luck at the goldfields. On his return from the goldfields, he married his wife Janet Kennedy in 1855 and they set up home at ‘Camness’, 160 Cecil Street, where he remained until his death.
He could recall the time when it was a huge undertaking just to visit Melbourne which would take a whole day to visit and return by bullock dray. He also was in town when the Williamstown rail line opened, for which he had a contract for the fencing and also remembered the 1952 gold robbery from HMC Nelson.
He was elected to the local council in 1864, was Mayor in 1877-78 and retired from council in 1886. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years, a director of the Williamstown Gas Company from its inception and was the owner of the Crown Hotel from 1858, rebuilding it in 1878. He was also a large property owner and died a wealthy man in 1922 and is buried along with his wife Janet, in Williamstown Cemetery.
Perry Street
Perry Street was named after Charles James Clowes Perry, who was born in London in 1816 and arrived in Victoria in 1852.
Before leaving England, he was the captain of numerous Ships and owned various merchant vessels. He married his wife, Emily Barret in 1841 and they went on to have many children, both in England and after they arrived in Williamstown.
He held various roles during his time in Williamstown, Shipowner, Commission Agent, Master Mariner, Inspector of Weights, Marine or Ship Surveyor, Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioner and Police Magistrate. He was the elected Member for Williamstown in the Victorian Parliament from 1857-59.
In the late 1850s his family home was in Thompson Street, but he eventually moved to 65 Twyford Street, where he eventually died in 1893. He is buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
Reid Street & Reid Street Pier
Named after Hugh Ronald Reid (1840-1910), who arrived from Scotland in 1852 on the ship Martin Luther along with his parents and brothers and sisters. They settled in Williamstown where his father was at one time the Presbyterian Minister.
He was a self-made man who started his working life in the Pilots Office in Williamstown. He first established his own shipping business Hugh R. Reid & Co (later Reid, Poole and Co.) in 1861. In 1884 the businesses James Deane and Co., Melbourne Coal Co. and Hobson's Floating Dock Co., were sold to a private company directed by H.R. Reid, Captain James Deane and Captain James McIntyre and managed by Reid's brother-in-law, David York Syme, who had been connected to the ventures since 1873. In 1884 the businesses, now Melbourne Towage Lighterage Co, Port Phillip Engineering, Shipbuilding and Dock Co. and Melbourne Coal Company were incorporated and became the Melbourne Coal, Shipping and Engineering Co. Ltd. Changing its name again to the Melbourne Steamship Company, by the turn of the century it was firmly in place as a major coastal shipping concern calling in at most Australian ports.
Roches Terrace
Named after Louis La Roche, an early resident of the town. He ran a successful paper hanging business and paint store located at 4 Cole Street. He stood for Council at the first Council election in 1856 but failed to attract enough votes to be elected, however he tried again in 1858 and was elected.
He was a staunch Freemason and provided a large amount to the building of the Excelsior Lodge in Electra Street. He was also a horse racing enthusiast and was a supporter of establishing a racing club in the town.
Syme Street
Named after David York Syme (1844-1932), who was born in Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland and who emigrated to Australia in 1863.
David Syme sailed for Australia in 1863, living in Sydney for the first ten years in the colony. In 1873 he moved south to Victoria where he was appointed manager of the Floating Dock and Engineering Works at Williamstown. He went on to form the Melbourne Steamship Company alongside his brother-in-law Hugh R. Reid. He was associated with the company for 59 years and was Chairman of Directors of the company for the last 21 years of his life.
He also held many positions on various boards around Melbourne. These included Vice-President of the Employers’ Federation, Representative of the Shipowners on the Marine Board for 30 years, a Trustee of the Pilots Superannuation Fund and of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Relief Fund, Director of the Provident Loan Society of Victoria, as well as a member of the Council of the Swinburne Technical College and Austin Hospital Committee for many years.
Thompson Street
Both Ann Street and Thompson Street were named in 1837, the second and third streets to be named by Governor Bourke after the naming of Nelson Place. In Melbourne Bourke had named Elizabeth Street after his wife, and in naming these two streets he honoured his daughter Anne and her husband Edward Deas Thomson who was Colonial Secretary of New South Wales from 1837-1856.
The spelling of Thomson Street was altered in the early 1850s to Thompson with a ‘p’ even though the man it was named for spelled it without a ‘p’, and even though Bourke’s daughter spelled her name with an ‘e’, early maps show it was always called Ann without the ‘e’.
Verdon Street
Named for Sir George Frederic Verdon (1834-1896) who emigrated to Melbourne in 1851, obtaining a position in the office of Grice Sumner and Company, a mercantile business in Flinders Street, Melbourne. He then went into business in Williamstown, and began his public career as a member of the local municipal council in 1856. He was chairman of a conference of municipal delegates and in 1858 published a pamphlet on The Present and Future of Municipal Government in Victoria.
He was elected a member of the legislative assembly for Williamstown in 1859, and in November 1860 joined the Heales ministry as Treasurer. He resigned from the ministry in November 1861 but in June 1863 became Treasurer in the McCulloch ministry, which remained in office until May 1868.
During the parliamentary recess in 1866 Verdon was sent to England to bring the question of the defences of Victoria before the English authorities. He succeeded in obtaining £100,000 towards the cost of a warship, the HMS Cerberus, and the HMS Nelson was given to the state of Victoria as a training-ship.
After his return he suggested the advisability of the colony having a representative in London, and in 1868 the office of Agent-General was created, to which Verdon was appointed to the position for a period of four years.
He was interested in science, art and literature, as a young man he had been an honorary assistant in the Melbourne Observatory, and while Treasurer saw that it was properly equipped. He collected objects of art, became a Trustee of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria in 1872, was elected Vice-President in 1880, and President in 1883. He was knighted for his service to the State in 1872.
Waterloo Street
Waterloo Street was named after The Battle of Waterloo.
The battle was fought on 18 June, 1815 near the town of Waterloo, Belgium and marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Wellington Street
Named after Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). He was a leading political and military figure of the 19th century and is best remembered for his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815. As a general, he was renowned for his stunning defensive skills. His battle plans are still studied in military academies today.
The victory at Waterloo cemented Wellington's status as a military hero and assisted his political career, serving as Prime Minster from 1828 to 1830, and again in 1834. However, his strong leadership style - so effective on the battlefield - proved autocratic and contentious in Westminster. After stepping away from politics in December 1834, he did not completely withdraw from public life until 1846 and remained commander-in-chief of the army, a role in which he proved resistant to military reform.
White Street
Named for boat builder William White (1826-1901). He arrived from his home on the Isle of Wight in 1852, visited New Zealand and then went onto the Bendigo Gold Fields. He then settled in Williamstown and started building skiffs and dinghies from about 1854 on a site adjacent to the present Blunt's Boatyard, now the site of the Naval Cadet's clubrooms and jetties. He was joined by his brother George in 1856 and they formed W. & G. White Boat Builders, commonly referred to as ‘White’s Slip’.
The brothers first ship was Elizabeth which was still afloat as a powder lighter 50 years later. In 1857 William White was commissioned by the Harbour Master, Charles Ferguson, to construct four of Victoria's first lifeboats. The business was the best known for producing schooners, tugs, lighters, light boats, and steamers for the NZ west coast trade and was one of the most productive of the early medium scale boat builders.
The company also constructed the Gellibrand Lightship in 1860, which was replaced by the pile lighthouse. The superstructure of the Gellibrand Lightship was removed from the hull and placed on a platform supported by 36 piles. White was also an outspoken Councillor who served the town from 1860-1864.
Streets of Newport
Agg Street
Named after Alfred John Agg, (1830-1886) who was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, the son of George Agg and Sophie Euphemia Cheek. He was educated at the Worcester Grammar School and entered the service of the Great Western Railway Company as a clerk at Reading in 1846, where he remained until 1850, when he emigrated to Australia. He arrived in Victoria in 1851, and was employed in the Chief Secretary's office and the Immigration Department. He was afterwards appointed Government Storekeeper, whose position he resigned in 1866, and became president of the new department created to supersede the old system of commissariat control.
His abilities in this office were rewarded by his appointment as Under Treasurer, and on 13 October 1867, he was made Commissioner of Audit. In 1883 he was granted a year's leave, which he spent making a tour of the world, and in his absence, he was nominated to act under Richard Speight as a Commissioner under the Railways Management Act. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar on 6 December 1860, and died on 16 October 1886.
Bunbury Street
Bunbury Street along with Hanmer Street, Williamstown is named for Captain Richard Hanmer Bunbury (1813-1857). He joined the Royal Navy in 1826 at 13 years of age as a midshipman and lost his right arm at the Battle of Navarino in 1827. He learnt to write and paint with his left hand and some of his ink and watercolours are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Richard Bunbury married Sarah Sconce on 19 December 1838. They came to Victoria on board the HMS Argyle with their son Harry and his nurse, along with Sarah’s brother Robert Knox Sconce and his wife. The artist Georgiana McCrae and her children were also on board. Bunbury is mentioned in the journal she kept while on the voyage.
On arrival in March 1841, Bunbury was appointed superintendent of Water Police at Port Phillip and subsequently Harbour Master at Williamstown in 1844. A member of the Melbourne Club from 1844, he also owned a station at Mount William named Barton Hall after his ancestral home in England
(pictured).
Collingwood Road
Named for Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (1748–1810) who was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
He was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands, especially the Battle of Trafalgar where he commanded the ship HMS Royal Sovereign.
Collingwood's merits as a naval officer were in many respects of the first order. His political judgement was remarkable and he was consulted on questions of general policy, on regulation, and even of trade. He was opposed to impressment (known colloquially as being ‘press-ganged’), and to flogging and was considered so kind and generous that he was called "father" by the common sailors. Nelson and Collingwood enjoyed a close friendship, from their first acquaintance in early life until Nelson's death at Trafalgar; and they are both entombed in St Paul's Cathedral.
Dowman Street
Named for Richard Dowman, who first arrived in Williamtown in 1848 as a seaman. He only stayed for six months but returned in April 1852 as a Master Mariner, and never left. He first took up residence in de Wardt’s Royal Hotel on Nelson Place and then moved to live in a house on The Strand. After Williamstown had been proclaimed a Borough for six years, he decided to stand at the council elections remaining a councillor for many years, representing North Ward when the division of the town occurred. He was elected as Mayor three times, in 1867, 1872 and finally in 1889 and on his death, was the longest-serving member of the borough council.
In 1877 he was the town’s representative on the newly formed Harbour Trust holding the position for seven years, and then returned to the role again in 1887. He was also a Justice of the Peace and the returning officer for the town.
He died in 1897 and is buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
Durkin Street
Named after Michael Durkin (c.1829-1896) who was born in Sligo, Ireland. He first emigrated to the USA – California and Ohio – and met and married his wife Jane Coleman in Ohio in March 1852. Michael & Jane Durkin emigrated to Australia sailing on SS West Wind which left New York in September 1852 arriving in Port Phillip in April 1853.
The voyage was dogged by one crisis after another and took 223 days to reach Port Phillip Heads, where the ship, short of food, water and fuel, with two broken anchors, was sighted drifting almost ashore by Pilot George Mansfield who went to her aid. Steam was raised for the trip into Hobsons Bay by burning cabin fittings, stools, all the water, slush and tar barrels and finally the fore-yards and jib boom.
The Durkin’s settled in Newport where Michael ran a dairy farm 'Durkins Dairy'. The 1864 Rate Book shows that Durkin & Smith leased Government Land & Quarry at Stony Creek. Michael Durkin was owner-occupier of a timber house in Junction Station and the farm fronted Mason Street, Newport. The house site became Durkin Street. The land was sold in 1887 and divided into residential house blocks.
Elphin Street
Elphin Street, Newport was named after Scottish peer, William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone and 1st Baron Elphinstone (1828-1893). He served as a midshipman on HMS Grampus from 1845 to 1847, succeeded his second cousin in the lordship in 1861 and was elected a Scottish Representative Peer in 1867.
In February, 1885, while on board the RMS Indus, he spent three weeks in Victoria, visiting Melbourne with the English historian James Anthony Froude and his son, Ashley Anthony Froude.
Farm Street
Farm Street, along with Hall, River, and Hobsons Street all relate to William Hall, an early settler and pioneer of the district. William and his second wife Johanna arrived in Melbourne in June 1840 on board the HMS Andromache along with his family. In 1852 William purchased a 2-room allotment (nearly 3,000 square metres) in section 2, Williamstown, Parish of Cut Paw Paw, County of Bourke for £3 per acre.
Until the mid-1800s, the section of river at the mouth of the Yarra was called Hobson’s River, leading Hall to name his farm Hobsons River Farm. The property was eventually sold for residential development in 1884 when these streets were established.
Also see Hall, River & Hobsons Streets images.
Ford Street
Named after Richard Ford (1837-1898), an administrator and accountant who was born in Liverpool, England.
He arrived in Melbourne in 1852 and worked for solicitor George S. Horne for two years and then returned to Liverpool for the following three. He returned to Victoria in 1858 on the Ellen Stuart working for Ballarat solicitor’s L.G. & I. Hardy, followed by a stint as accountant, auditor and mining agent and then elected as auditor to the councils of Ballarat and Ballarat East. He then became Town Clerk of Ballarat in 1871 and City Treasurer.
In 1877 he was selected to serve as First Secretary to the newly formed Melbourne Harbour Trust, which he held until 1884. In early January 1884 he was appointed as the third Commissioner for the Victorian Railways working with Richard Speight and Alfred John Agg.
His appointment was renewed in January 1891 but on 17 March 1892 he and the other Commissioners were suspended for ‘inefficiency and mismanagement’. However, before appearing before the Legislative Assembly they submitted their resignations.
Hall Street
Hall Street, along with Farm, Hobsons and River Streets relate to William Hall, an early settler and pioneer of the district. William and his second wife Johanna arrived in Melbourne in June 1840 on board the HMS Andromache along with his family. In 1852 William purchased a 2-room allotment (nearly 3,000 square metres) in section 2, Williamstown, Parish of Cut Paw Paw, County of Bourke for £3 per acre. Until the mid-1800s, the section of river at the mouth of the Yarra was called Hobson’s River, leading Hall to name his farm Hobsons River Farm. The property was eventually sold for residential development in 1884 when these streets were established.
William Hall's Farmhouse
Hobsons Street
Hobsons Street, along with Farm, Hall and River Streets relate to William Hall, an early settler and pioneer of the district. William and his second wife Johanna arrived in Melbourne in June 1840 on board the HMS Andromache along with his family. In 1852 William purchased a 2-room allotment (nearly 3,000 square metres) in section 2, Williamstown, Parish of Cut Paw Paw, County of Bourke for £3 per acre. Until the mid-1800s, the section of river at the mouth of the Yarra was called Hobson’s River, leading Hall to name his farm Hobsons River Farm. The property was eventually sold for residential development in 1884 when these streets were established.
Location of Halls Farm. on the Yarra River.
LaTrobe Street
La Trobe Street, along with Charles Street, Williamstown, were both named after Charles Joseph La Trobe, who in 1839 was appointed Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (Victoria) and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria, he became its first Lieutenant-Governor, holding the position until 1854.
He and his wife and daughter sailed into Sydney on 26 July, 1839, for training on procedures and they then on 1 October, 1839 went on to Melbourne. He purchased land in Jolimont and erected his cottage which was transported from London and which is still standing and known as “La Trobe’s Cottage”. He returned to England in 1854 after resigning his position.
Mason Street
Thomas Mason (1822-1896) arrived in the Colony of Victoria in March 1841 on the ship HMS Argyle at the age of 19. He was first a shepherd in country Victoria before settling in Williamstown.
In 1844 he became the lighthouse keeper at Williamstown earning 22 pence per day. He went on to become a respected local merchant, the first Post Master, the first Registered Auctioneer, a Magistrate, a Member of the Legislative Assembly between 1868 and 1871, and three-time Mayor of Williamstown.
He also ran a retail business with Benjamin Culley, Mason and Culley General Stores
Mirls Street
Mirls Street was named after another Railway man, Solomon Mirls (1843-1889) who was born in Manchester and who did his apprenticeship as an Engineer at the firm of Sharp, Stewart & Co., a Steam Locomotive manufacturer in Manchester.
He arrived in Victoria in 1861 and on his arrival joined the Victorian Railways as a Draftsman. In 1877 he was appointed as Acting Overseer of Locomotives, followed by gaining the position of Locomotive Superintendent. He introduced the alphabetical system of engine classification to the Victorian Railways and remained Locomotive Superintendent until his death in 1889.
Peel Street
Peel Street was originally named Nelson Road but due to the confusion with Nelson Place, was renamed Peel Street after Samuel Rowley Peel (1830-1900).
Born in Yorkshire, Peel emigrated to Victoria in the early 1850s. By trade he was a carpenter and at one stage he was a Soda Water Manufacturer but this business did not last and he declared insolvency in 1878. He began work at the Victorian Railways in 1877 and for many years was the Foreman of the Carriage and Wagon Department at the Newport Workshops. He boasted that he rode the first train to run between Melbourne and Williamstown.
He was a Councillor representing the Victoria Ward from 1895 and was Mayor from 1898-1900. His obituary in the Williamstown Chronicle stated that “scarcely, if ever, has the town possessed a mayor so zealous, assiduous, consistent and faithful in the duties allocated to him”.
Schutt Street
Named after John Schutt (1831-1919)who was born in England in 1831 and migrated to Victoria as a young man, initially working as a school teacher. He was appointed Supreme Court Librarian during Sir Redmond Barry’s time in 1866. He started work in the Old Court in Russell Street and would have supervised the move of the library to its new and greatly expanded premises in William Street in 1884. As well as secretary to the Library Committee, he also acted as the Secretary of the Board of Examiners for Barristers and Solicitors on occasion. After his death in 1919 in its obituary, the Williamstown Chronicle noted that Schutt was regarded as a Solon, an ancient Greek law giver who gave wise advice.
Away from the Court Library he was a councillor for Williamstown for many years, representing the Victoria Ward, in what is now the suburb of Newport, and owned extensive property in Newport, although his residence when he died was in Ascot Vale.
His eldest son William Schutt was appointed a Supreme Court Judge in 1919.
Speight Street
Named for Richard Speight (1838-1901) who was born in Selby, Yorkshire, the son of Richard Speight a Railway Officer and Ann Bray.
Richard rapidly made a name for himself as an employee of the Midland Railway Company. After only nine years’ experience he was transferred to the General Manager’s Office and in 1877 became Assistant General Manager.
In November, 1883 he accepted an offer of £3,000 to head the new three-man Board of Commissioners of the Victorian Railways which aimed to remove the railways from political influence.
He arrived in Melbourne on board the RMS Lusitania on 10 February, 1884 with his mother and ten children. He overshadowed his fellow commissioners, A.J. Agg and R. Ford, who were both unskilled in railway affairs.
He left Victoria a notable legacy, most of his works, seemingly extravagant in the 1890s, became the basis for thirty years of railway expansion.

Woods Street
Named after John Woods (1822-1892) MLA, engineer and inventor. He was born in Liverpool and trained as a locomotive engineer working in North America and the UK. He also won first prize for railway axles at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
John and his wife Sarah, along with their three children arrived in Victoria on board the ship Progress in November, 1852 and headed for the goldfields. He was an early protestor of the goldfields licence fees and was President of the Ararat branch of the Land Convention and was elected to the local court and then the mining board. Gold mining did not go well and he and the family moved to Stawell where he was employed building the St. George’s crushing plant.
On 30 October, 1865 he was appointed engineer and surveyor for the Victorian Water Supply on a salary of £300 working on the Malmsbury Reservoir until dismissed for accepting faulty pipes and tarring over the cracks.
He was Commissioner of Railways and Roads and Vice-President of the Board of Land Works while an MLA for Crowlands (near Swan Hill) from 1871-1892 and sat on many select committees, mainly relating to the railway and was a commissioner for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition.
Among his several inventions were a fast stone-breaking machine (patented in 1860) and an important and successful hydraulic railway brake (1882) which was used on many Victorian lines.
Streets of Spotswood
Booker Street
Born in Longford, Ireland, in 1837, Henry Booker ( - 1919) arrived in Hobsons Bay on ship SS British Trident in April, 1857. On arrival, he started working in the quarrying industry in Newport, then known as Geelong Junction.
He married Helen Mason, a Scottish immigrant, at the South Presbyterian Church in 1860 setting up house in Newport. The couple went on to have five children. He stood for election in Victoria Ward and was one of its first representatives, retaining his seat for 25 years unopposed and was elected as Mayor two year in succession, 1892-93, and was a worthy official in the role, eventually retiring from municipal life in 1907. During his tenure he was one of the prime movers in applying for a permit to establish the Williamstown Racecourse.
He passed away at his home at 15 High Street, Newport in 1919 at the age of 82 years.
Macindoe Court
Macindoe Court is named for John Buchanan McIndoe, known as J.B. McIndoe, although the street name is spelled differently to the correct spelling of his name. J.B. McIndoe was born in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland in 1837. About 1854, he, along with a number of other men, when hearing of the gold discoveries in Victoria, purchased a ship and engaged a crew to sail to the new world in search of their fortune.
Unfortunately, his gold prospecting was not successful and so he by 1856 he had made his way to Williamstown to set up business in the thriving port. He was the Managing Director of the Meat Preserving Works at Stony Creek, was a member of the local council and assisted in the building of the Presbyterian Church. After setting himself up in business as one of the earliest licensed grocers in Williamstown, commencing in Nelson Place in 1856 and then on the corner of Thompson and Cecil Streets, he sent for his fiancé, Barbara Elder, who he had left in Scotland and they married in 1858 and set up home in ‘Elderslie’, 481 Melbourne Road, Newport.
At the time of his death in 1883 he held the positions of JP and Returning Officer for Williamstown and had retired from business due to ill health. He died in 1883 and is buried in Williamstown Cemetery
Muir Street
Named after local resident and businessman James Muir. James Muir was born in Inverary, Perthshire, Scotland in 1830. Like many of his age, the lure of the goldfields drew him to Australia to try and make his fortune, arriving in Port Phillip in 1854 on board the Glen Roy. After having no luck on the gold fields, he made his way to Williamstown setting up business as a builder in Nelson Place, on the corner of Commonwealth Reserve.
He married Helen Wilson Weston in 1859 and they went on to have five children. They initially set up home at 17 Hanmer Street, Williamstown and then moved to 69 Osborne Street, Williamstown. and they had 5 children.
He was an active member of the community and a member of the Borough Council for many years. He died at the relatively young age of 50 years old in 1880 and is buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
McLister Street
Named after Hugh McLister (- 27 May 1905) an immigrant from County Antrim, Northern Island, who arrived in the 1870s with his brother James. Hugh headed to the Bendigo goldfields, where the gold rush was in full swing. After several prosperous years working underground in the mines, he met and married a young Bendigo girl, Mary Louisa Wirth, on 29th March in Sandhurst, Bendigo. Hugh returned to Melbourne a wealthy man and purchased what was then a rural retreat on the outskirts of Melbourne, where the newlyweds set up a home in 1876. Situated on the area we now call Spotswood, a large bluestone homestead was built, known as 'Pine Lodge', after the recently planted Cypress Pines that surrounded the property. The house stood on 16 acres of land, fronting Government Road (Melbourne Road). It was bound by the railway line to the East and Elm Street to the North, later renamed McLister Street.
After the hard years at the Bendigo mines, Hughs's life at Pine Lodge must have seemed like paradise, living the life of a country gentleman. He dabbled in stocks and shares and was an early member of the Melbourne Stock Exchange as well as director of two Bendigo Mines (Langdon's Quartz Co & The New Victoria Catherine Mine). From the verandah of Pine Lodge, he could view the busy mouth of the Yarra River and gaze across Hall's Farm to the pleasant vista of Hobsons Bay. It was his custom to correct his clocks by the dropping the Timeball each day at 1.00 pm.
Hugh and Mary had eight children, four boys and four girls. Hugh McLister passed away at his home on Melbourne Road, aged 66 on 27 May 1905.
Pine Lodge is long gone and the Victorian Railways Stores branch now stands on the homestead's site.
Hugh and Mary's son, William (Bill) Charles McLister, a well-known local identity in his own right, provided an insight into his family's early life in the colony to the historical society in 1983.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
We acknowledge the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of these lands and waterways and pay our respect to Elders past and present.