Collingwood Notables Database
James Page
1825-1910
Plumber and gasfitter, councillor, honorary magistrate, publican
James Page was a Scottish immigrant who spent most of his adult life in Collingwood and was an active member of local society as a plumber, hotelkeeper, lodge member, councillor, and Justice of the Peace. He acquired a number of properties in Johnston Street and surrounds, and raised a large family. Page Street in Clifton Hill was named in his honour.
Rieke Parker
1893 - 1977
Pianist, music teacher
In the late 1890s a little Tasmanian girl named Florence Carmel Parker but known as Rieke arrived to stay at The Steyne in St Heliers Street Abbotsford. She was bedridden due to a back injury and had come to be treated by Josephine McCormick, a gymnast and talented physical therapist who specialised in such cases. Eventually cured, Rieke would go on to become a noted pianist and remained living at The Steyne until the 1950s.
Thomas White Pearce
1829-1907
Carpenter and joiner, timber merchant, hardware merchant, manufacturer
Soon after arriving in Melbourne in 1857 Thomas Pearce set up a timber yard and factory in Fitzroy with his cousin, John Stone. Eventually he established a business on the corner of Victoria Street and Church Street Abbotsford, which was to remain in the family until 1957 and continue to use the name Pearce until late in the twentieth century.
William Peatt
1819-1899
Bootmaker
Edward Augustus Petherick
1847-1917
Bookseller, bibliographer, book collector, publisher
Born in Somerset in 1847, Edward Petherick was the eldest son of well-known Collingwood identity Peter Petherick who was a hotelkeeper, rate collector and councillor. Edward was to become a noted bibliographer and the foremost authority on Australiana; he eventually transferred his extensive personal book collection to the Federal government in return for an annuity and the position of archivist. He is also known as a founding member of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
Harold Edmund Petherick
1861-1908
Barrister, solicitor
Petherick was a son of well-known Collingwood identity Peter Petherick, who was variously hotelkeeper, councillor and rate collector. Harold was reputed to be a clever boy, matriculating at fourteen, and passing his law examinations with distinction. In the 1880s he assisted his elder brother Edward, the noted authority on Australiana, with the compilation of a substantial bibliography of colonial works.
William Pitt
1855-1918
Architect, Councillor, Mayor, Member of Parliament
Pitt commenced practice as an architect in 1879 and quickly achieved success. His most prolific years coincided with the boom period in Melbourne and his designs remain a testament to the confident exuberance of the period. Much of the west end of Collins Street owes its distinction to his buildings such as the Rialto, the Olderfleet and Pitt’s Buildings. His re-design of the Princess Theatre was one of his great achievements.
David Provan
1866-1931
Carpenter, timber merchant, Collingwood Technical School committee member
David Provan was a carpenter and joiner, following in his father’s footsteps, and then went on to found two timber merchant businesses – Mulready, Provan & Clarke in 1903 and David Provan & Sons in 1923. An enterprising and resourceful man, his single-minded determination and sheer hard work assured success. He valued loyalty and pride in workmanship and this comes through in company advertisements of that time “Quotations with pleasure, large or small orders promptly executed, first class materials and workmanship”.