Could this be Western Beach?
Can You Help Identify This Sea Baths Scene?
Carollyn Williams, Society Member and also Secretary of the Torquay & District Historical Society, is seeking input on a photograph from the National Library of Australia labelled ‘Sea Baths, Melbourne’—but the setting may be closer to home.
The image, part of an album from the private library of Harry Grattan-Guinness, appears to resemble Geelong’s Western Beach, with the bay, pier and Eastern Gardens in the background. Carollyn notes that James M. Anderson, former Hon. Secretary of the Geelong Eastern Beach Sea Bathing Co., was also an early Torquay holiday resident and active in local committees.
Further context on sea bathing in Geelong can be found in Brownhill’s History of Geelong and Corio Bay (pp. 627–633). Carollyn invites the GHS “brains trust” to weigh in—could this be Western Beach?
If anyone has an opinion on the location of this photograph, that can be back with some evidence, you can let Carollyn know through the secretary at web@geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au.
Update: Paul Westcott says with confidence, the that location is in Corio Bay, noting that the photograph depicts the two Western Beach Sea Baths in the late Victorian era. By 1873, the Victoria Baths catered to gentlemen, while the former Western Beach Gents Baths had been reallocated for ladies (Brownhill, History of Geelong and Corio Bay, 1990 edition, p. 629). For further detail, see the Victorian Heritage Database entry.
Carollyn Williams has been exploring in our own Costa Collection and uncovered photographic evidence that supports Paul Westcott’s identification. She has pinpointed additional visual markers in the image; most notably, a distinctive building on the right and a road climbing the embankment, both consistent with the known layout of the Western Beach Sea Baths precinct. These features, combined with the historical context of the Costa Collection, further strengthens the case for Geelong as the true location.
The following two photographs highlight key visual similarities:
Image 1: This photograph taken for the laying of the Clock Tower Foundation in 1856 shows a distinctive building on the right and a road ascending the embankment.
Image 2: Labelled ‘Sea Baths, Melbourne’, Carollyn identifies two key elements that tie the image to Geelong: the building on the right and the road running up the embankment. These align with the Western Beach precinct and suggest the image may have been misattributed.
