PORT FAIRY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Exhibitions
Our Port Fairy Childhood
Present Exhibition November-February 2022
This exhibition is based on a book that was first published in 1990 by the Historical Society called 'A Port Fairy Childhood' a memoir of Margaret Emily Brown written in the early 1800's
. We have also produced a booklet of reminicences of the childhood of children who grew up in Port Fairy in the 1950's and '60's
Hugh Haldane
Present Exhibition February -September 2022
Hugh Haldane father of the Haldane brothers who built F.V.Tacoma on the banks of the Moyne River Port Fairy.
The brothers packed up their families onto the boat and sailed to Port Lincoln to start an adventure that was the birth of the tuna industry in South Australia
Remarkable- Australians and their Boats
December 2021 to January 23 2022
Past Exhibition
This travelling exhibition comes to us from the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney.
Australians and their Boats is a wonderful collection of stories of Australians and their connection with boats From an aboriginal bark canoe to modern fishing boats and the life-saving ‘tinny’.
Annie Baxter Dawbin
March 2021
(Past Exhibition)
Annie Maria Baxter Dawbin (1816-1905), pioneer and diarist, was born on 24 November 1816 in Devon, England.
Mrs Baxter Dawbin was a woman of outstanding personality, with intellectual gifts and education well above the average.
Three Men in a Boat
January 2021
[Past Exhibition]
The Museum reopened in 2021 after 2020 Covid closure with an exciting exhibition telling the story of the Haldane family and the building of the Tacoma in Port Fairy, nearly 70 years ago. The MFV Tacoma was built by hand on a vacant block of land on the Moyne River at Port Fairy in Victoria by three Haldane brothers.
They started in 1944 and the vessel was launched on the high tide at 3.38 on the morning of Monday November 5, 1951.
Other displays commemorate the 1946 Floods and celebrate the 100 years of manufacturing at Glaxo.
Woody’s Murray to Moyne”
January 2020
[Past Exhibition]
Cycling details shown at the Museum list long distance record times starting with Melbourne to Adelaide and back to Port Fairy in 1977, then six others between 1978 and 1986. In 1988 he set a time of 10 days, 17 hours, 56 minutes and 35 seconds for his ride from Perth to Sydney. With his wife Hester “Woody” was part of the first Murray to Moyne Cycle Relay from Mildura to Port Fairy in 1987 and helped to make this a most successful annual event.
His memory is celebrated with the Graham Woodrup Memorial Award given each year as “Woody’s Murray to Moyne” cycling event continues
Port Fairy in the Fifties
September 2019
[Past Exhibition]
Fashion and accessories worn by our residents in the 1950s and streetscapes and scenes from the era. Featuring items the Lillian Powling Collection.
Submerged
February 2019
[Past Exhibition]
Australia has about 11,000 shipwrecks, roughly one wreck for every three kilometres of coastline. Most of them remain undiscovered but those we've found have yielded some amazing stories.
Icons of Port Fairy*
September 2018
[Past Exhibition]
Icons of Port Fairy highlight some of Port Fairy’s most famous residents. Port Fairy icons include former Essendon footballer John Coleman, Melbourne Cup winning jockey Pat Hyland and former Queensland premier TJ Ryan.
The Port Fairy Historical Society took pleasure in showcasing eminent Australians who were born in the town.
*Essendon's John Coleman kicking for goal under pressure from Fitzroy defender Alan Gale during a game in 1953. Coleman was born in Port Fairy.
