Sandridge Railway Pier, Melbourne. November, 1866.

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 90 x 58 mm; laid down on a section cut from a nineteenth-century album page, the mount inscribed ‘Sandridge Railway Pier’; in good condition.

An early photographic view of the Sandridge Railway Pier (now known as Station Pier) at Port Melbourne, which was opened in 1854. Although the photographer is unidentified, we believe the image was probably taken by the prolific Charles Nettleton, as the pier was one of his favourite subjects and he photographed it on many occasions in the 1860s and ’70s. The photograph was purchased as a souvenir by a visitor to Melbourne in November, 1866 – a view of the Burke and Wills Monument on the same album page was captioned with this date.