Ashley Smith’s latest article for Docklands News (Feb 2022) has just been published.
“Whilst hauling goods and passengers to and from the nearby wharves and the city, a single steam engine stops at Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station) to smile for the camera.
This photo was taken by photographer Charles Nettleton, who extensively recorded Melbourne and its people (including Ned Kelly) for over 30 years but the exact date of this image is unknown. Various sources list it as sometime between 1872 and the mid-1880s, as evidenced by the existence of Finley’s Hotel on the left (right of the Sailors Home, see Docklands News 1st July 2020), which opened in 1872. From 1873 until 1889 the Sands and McDougall directory listed the hotel’s proprietor as John Felix, whose name is visible on the building. On the extreme left is Alexander’s Family Hotel, which had been erected in the 1860s, and is now occupied by the Savoy Hotel.”
You can read the full article here: DN182.pdf (docklandsnews.com.au) (scroll to p 18)
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