In 1909, assistant Chaplain Rev. Haire presented the Mission with an 'uncommonly artistic pulpit' in memory of his mother. A plaque in memory of Jane King Haire can be found on the side next to the steps. The dedication was performed by the Archbishop of Melbourne on the 26th January (date engraves on the plaque) This pulpit was designed by Melbourne architect Rodney Howard Alsop (1881-1932) and manufactured by William John Dalziel (furniture manufacturer). It was initially used in the first Mission in Central Melbourne, Siddeley St. It is located in the Chapel of Saint Peter of the Mission to Seafarers 717 Flinders St. complex since 1917 (State Heritage listed (H1496). This complex was designed by Walter Richmond Butler in 1916, and officially opened on 11 September 1917, a day '...of unusually kind weather', by the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Sir Arthur Stanley. According to a later article published in 1950: The pulpit is a model, built to scale, of the stern of an old ship of the line in Lord Nelson's day. This pulpit is significant as it is housed in The Memorial Chapel of Saint Peter forming part of the State Heritage listed Mission to Seafarers Victoria complex. It was built in Melbourne of Australian timbers, and is one of only two known maritime inspired pulpits, both associated with Missions to Seamen of the early 20th C. the other is held in the ANMM Collection see link. Their statement of significance is worth quoting in part as it applies equally to this pulpit "...an extremely rare and unique example of such pulpits. It is highly significant as a wonderfully preserved example of a time when religion was preached to sailors for their spiritual guidance and temperance..." Rodney Howard Alsop was an important Melbourne architect of the Arts and Crafts movement. John William Dalziel had sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne in 1862. Seventeen years later Penman and Dalziel founded the business in Lonsdale Street West, and won recognition at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London in 1886. Penman and Dalziel were identified in 1937 as one of Melbourne’s early ‘skilled craftsmen’ and ‘leading names’ in the manufacture of fine furniture. He died in February 1918 in a railway accident.Timber pulpit built in the form of a ship's stern including a timber step ladder for access, a timber keel and rudder, a rope fixed from the pulpit to a post mounted to the floor, and a dedication plaque on the side of the pulpit. The pulpit sits on timber legs. It's likely to be the original rope: traditionally made coir rope with twisted fibres, covered with canvas supported by a thread. At lower end the rope is secured by a monkey fist know and at the top by a turk head knot.Inside the pulpit (right) is the cardboard label with the maker details: " On an attached plaque see 0678 To the greater glory of God and in ever loving memory of Jane King Haire. This pulpit is erected by her son. Blessed are the pure in heart. For they shall see God. St. Matt. V.8. 26.1.09mission, seafarers, melbourne, victoria, chapel, saint peter, pulpit, australian timber, stern, walter richmond butler, australian maritime history, reverend w.f. haire, rodney howard alsop (1881-1932), wright's lane, william john dalziel, gifts-1917, heritage listed

Photographed by Alison Kelly while she was joint caretaker of the building during the Mission Arts Centre days 1987 to 1991From album of photos mostly by Alison Kelly: view down the lane behind Swallow Street toward the rear of the Port Melbourne Missions to Seamen building (Telecom building on right)missions to seamen, built environment, alison kelly

Closing time for the Theatre Royal Melbourne’s Theatre Royal opened 16 July 1855 at 236 Bourke Street, between Swanston and Russell, in the heart of the city’s entertainment district and it was comparable in size to London’s Drury Lane and Covent Garden. It was rebuilt in 1872 following a fire, remodelled in 1904, and demolished in 1933, due in part to the Great Depression, and also to the growing popularity of moving pictures. On the site was erected Manton’s department store, then Coles, Target, and now Kmart. The Quaker Girl, a 1910 Edwardian musical comedy with long running success in London, Paris and Broadway, opened in Melbourne at the Theatre Royal on 22 July 1933. Stars Cyril Ritchard and Madge Elliott were to become husband and wife, their Sydney wedding photograph now an iconic Australian image of that time. The theatre closed 13 November 1933. MCK080 Published: The Age 4 November 1933 Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie. THEATRE ROYAL (1933, November 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved October 16, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203364238 Additional research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer and librarian, Fiona Campbell: The Theatre Royal closed on 13 November 1933. During demolition in December, a worker was pinned by the legs under two tons of collapsing ceiling concrete. Miraculously he escaped with only a broken leg. A commemorative plaque was unveiled in 1937, displayed at the front of Manton's department store. The event was covered in The Age on 20 Dec 1937. It was a beautiful blue enamel and brass with the comedy and tragedy masks, one crying and one laughing, at the top with a timeline of the theatre underneath. Its whereabouts became unknown after the multiple changes with department stores on the site. In 2019 Greg Sampson set out on a mission to find it and in 2021 eventually tracked it down, on a wall behind the door of a staff tea room in Kmart. After much arduous lobbying by Greg it was eventually relocated to the Kmart arcade on the site where the Theatre Royal was originally located. Annette Cooper's history of Manton's and the Bourke Street site described the process of acquisition and demolition of the theatre: "Around 1933, the theatre came on the market – ‘a gift from heaven’ for its enterprising neighbours. Manton’s acquired the theatre and started planning for its demolition to enable the expansion of the store. William Manton and his sons, Jack and Ivor, watched the final production at the theatre, Harold Fraser-Simson’s musical comedy The Maid of the Mountains. 'It was, for the theatre-goers, a nostalgic last appearance, an emotional night, the end of an era. There were those who were mortified at the prospect of a store taking the place of their palace of dreams.' Even Whelan the Wrecker sensed the importance of the occasion and donated four bricks from the theatre to the National Museum of Victoria. They are the oldest bricks in the museum’s collection and form part of its Whelan the Wrecker collection." UNDER BIG FALL OF CONCRETE (1933, December 8). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243215969 The Relocation of the Theatre Royal Plaque, Greg Sampson, https://theatreheritage.org.au/on-stage-magazine/news/item/989-the-relocation-of-the-theatre-royal-plaque Photo of theatre interior, Arts Centre Melbourne, https://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/#details=ecatalogue.184409 OLD THEATRE ROYAL (1937, December 20). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved March 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205554847 AMATEUR ATHLETICS -- LIFE SAVING DISPLAY MEMORIAL PLAQUE UNVEILED (1937, December 20). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 15. Retrieved March 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205554863 It's smart to be thrifty: the story of Manton's department store, Annette Cooper, https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/3%20Annette%20Cooper%20-%20It%E2%80%99s%20smart%20to%20be%20thrifty%2C%20the%20story%20of%20Manton%27s%20department%20store.pdfPhotographer notations on slide: "Theatre Royale 1933 B4". theatres, 1930-1939, fires, musicals, films, department stores, demolished buildings, commemorative plaques, incidents, concrete, whelan the wrecker, bricks, kmart, bourke street melbourne, manton's department store, theatre royal, coles, target