Sailors' aid societies were first established at Port Adelaide in the 1860s to provide accommodation, entertainment, moral guidance and religious instruction to visiting mariners, and most remained in operation until the late twentieth century.
Mansions at one end and cottages at the other, with businesses, welfare, medical and educational institutions in between, all overlooking the parklands
Carpenters, tailors, bakers, carriers, cordwainers and coachmakers had formed unions within ten years of European settlement of South Australia, and by the 1870s there were thousands of union members in the colony.
Once home to one of colonial Port Adelaide's highly regarded sail-making and ship's chandlery businesses, the Weman Building has been faithfully restored to its original appearance and is part of the South Australian Maritime Museum's Lipson Street complex.