Local Itinerary - Heritage and History

Moyne amateur historian Andrea Lowenthal loves the heritage and history that is all around in Port Fairy and in this insider's itinerary, she shares a day touring her favourite historical spots in Port Fairy and surrounds.

Ms Lowenthal says the best thing about living in the Moyne region is the history.

"My family has been here since the 1840s and I recently started finding out more about them and doing a family tree. I got some great help from the Port Fairy Genealogical Society who got me on my way and made lots of terrific suggestions about other
places to search," she says.:

Port Fairy Genealogical Group
82 Bank Street, Port Fairy

Open on the third Saturday of the month from 10am - 3pm but anytime of you contact them. A great starting point to help you find information on your own family, with plenty of help in pointing you to resources for more information.

Port Fairy History Centre
30 Gipps Street, Port Fairy

Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 2pm - 5pm, Saturday only in winter months. The Port Fairy History Centre were also invaluable in that they could help me put some flesh on the bones of my ancestors, I was able to find a picture of the house where they lived and they had a great photo of my great great grandfather that I was able to get a copy of. They gave me contact details for the other Historical Societies (and there are several) in the shire as some of the ancestors seemed to move around a bit.

Rebecca's Café
70 Sackville Street, Port Fairy

Exhausted after her research, Andrea recommends  coffee and cake at Rebecca's before heading off to the cemetery to search around a bit more. I was amazed how early some of the graves were and I loved the grave that was written in Gaelic. I found a couple of family graves so took a few pictures.

Motts Cottage
3 Sackville Street, Port Fairy

After leaving the cemetery I made my way to Motts Cottage, I found it by following the historic walk map available at the Visitor Information Centre. This is a really old house owned by the National Trust and furnished as a working man's home. Open on Saturday and Wednesdays afternoons 2pm - 4pm, the cottage is older than my ancestors house but it gave me a real feel for how they would have lived.

Periwinkle Antiques
24a Bank Street, Port Fairy

Wandering home I called into Periwinkle Antiques in Bank Street and found a fabulous old frame for my great grandfathers photo, so a great weekend getting back to my roots and discovering history in Port Fairy but I think I've only scratched the surface.