With the discovery of gold in the 1850s, Victoria’s population exploded. Thousands of hopefuls came pouring into Melbourne. The previous system of ferrying people and luggage upriver from ships anchored in Hobsons Bay or dropping them on the beach to travel overland to Melbourne was now completely inadequate. The expense of double handling and loss of goods was a signal that a new solution was needed.
The Melbourne and Hobsons Bay Railway Company conceived of a scheme to link Melbourne to the bay with a rail line and a large, deep water pier in Hobsons Bay. Due to its proximity to Melbourne, the swampland of Sandridge (Port Melbourne) was chosen for the location of this new pier, which became known as Railway Pier. It was opened in 1854.
It was very affecting to see those who had friends waving handkerchiefs and weeping as they gazed at them perhaps for the last time on earth.Anne Gratton, migrated from England in 1858
Hobson’s Bay looking toward Sandridge, 1863. At rear left a cluster of ship masts mark the line of Railway Pier.
Image: Francois Cogne
Source: State Library of Victoria
From Clippers to Steamers
Railway Pier was built in an era of dramatic changes for Australian migrant shipping.
In 1852, after news of the Victorian Gold Rush spread, two improved forms of shipping were introduced. Sleek clippers set a new benchmark for speed under sail. At the same time the first iron-hulled steamships also appeared. These early steamers still carried a full complement of sails, as their inefficient engines and a lack of coaling ports en route made it uneconomical to use steam power over long distances.
Later improvements in steam technology and the opening of the Suez Canal saw fully steam-powered vessels predominate by the 1890s, as migrant ships continued to increase in size, capacity and speed.
Visiting Japanese cruiser Kongo berthed at Railway Pier, Port Melbourne, 1898.
Image: Thomas Beckett
Source: Museum Victoria
Sailing ships at Sandridge Pier (Port Melbourne) Railway Pier, circa 1880.
Image: Charles Nettleton Studio
Source: Museum Victoria
Ship at a pier, Melbourne, Victoria, 1916.
Source: Museum Victoria
HMAT Medic, Port Melbourne, 1915.
Source: Museum Victoria
Bay paddlesteamers berthed at Railway Pier, 1914.
Source: Museum Victoria