Part 1: To the Seaside

For most Australians the beach occupies a special place in our imagination. We think of it as a place of freedom and endless possibilities, a place to relax and mingle with people from all walks of life. In fact, for many of us the very word ‘beach’ is interchangeable with holiday. But, it has not always been so. In the late 19th century the beach was seen as a retreat and a place where you could go to improve your health. In 1876, John Bleasdale, a clergyman and trustee of the Melbourne Public Library, (now the State Library of Victoria), commented in A guide to Sorrento that the Victorian seaside resort was ‘the natural sanatorium of the colony’. His comments were endorsed in the same publication by the medical practitioner, W Gunst, who wrote:

I gladly give my testimonial as to the healthy, reinvigorating and salubrious air of Sorrento. My family after a few weeks’ stay, have stored up health and vigour for the next twelve months; when feeling broken down in health from overwork, a few days at Sorrento gives me strength.

In those days the only way to get to Sorrento was by steamer from Melbourne or Queenscliff. Sorrento was so popular that an 1876 Guide reported that three steamers landed over 1000 people there on the 31st of January that year to enjoy the scenery, clean air, and sea bathing. The paddle steamers provided lunch and dinner for daytrippers, who would spend a couple of hours imbibing the fresh sea air and exploring the sights. George Coppin, a well-known theatrical entrepreneur and member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly helped to develop Sorrento as a fashionable seaside resort. He set up steamer services from Melbourne, built a pier and sea baths, and established a tramway from Sorrento pier to the ocean beach.

Sorrento of course was not the only beachside destination of choice for 19th-century Victorians. The introduction of the railways and tram services increased the popularity of many bayside townships closer to Melbourne. With the opening of the railway line to Brighton Beach in December 1859, holiday-makers and daytrippers took the train from Melbourne to resorts such as St Kilda and beyond.

In Henry Burn’s charming 1862 watercolour of Brighton, he perfectly captures the scene that greeted visitors on their arrival - a windswept beach with sail, rowing and steam boats dotting the choppy waters of the bay. In Burn’s picture the facades of the railway station and the Royal Terminus Hotel dominate the foreshore, and a puff of smoke indicates the arrival of a train. Unlike today, these beachgoers preferred a stroll along the promenade, ‘to breath-in the ozone, or sea air’, rather than take a dip in the sea. By the 1880s Brighton had developed as a fashionable seaside resort. As was noted in the 1885 Victorian Railways Tourist Guide:

Brighton Beach...is a favourite place of resort for pleasure and picnic parties. It has a fine sandy and quartz shingle beach, a good bathing establishment, an extensive well-built pier, and other appliances of a seaside resort.

While Brighton had been a favourite spot for picnicking and promenading from the 1850s, it is now better known for its sea baths and bathing boxes.