In 1899, British soldiers and sailors were in South Africa fighting the second Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902. Queen Victoria was concerned about the morale of her army and navy and wanted to do something to lift their spirits. She would send chocolate to all of her army and navy serving in South Africa (including Australian contingents) as a Christmas/New Year gift in 1899/1900. The chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury, which since around 1854 had a Royal Warrant to supply Queen Victoria with cocoa and chocolate, was contacted and requested to produce the royal bars of chocolate, each with its own individual tin. This put Richard and George Cadbury in a dilemma because, as Quakers, they were pacifists and did not agree with the war. However they did not want to refuse a request from the Queen. To prevent their confectionery rivals from accusing them of going against their principles, their solution was to invite fellow Quakers, Joseph Fry and Joseph Rowntree to form a temporary three-way partnership to complete the order. Forty thousand tins, designed and made by Fry, were produced in two different sizes. The larger of the tins (15 x 9 cm) has a gold coloured rim around the edge of the lid and contained two layers of chocolate. The slightly smaller or rather thinner tin (16 x 8 cm) has a blue rim around the edge of the lid and contained one layer of chocolate. The design of the lid of both sizes is the same. It was decided by all three companies, that the tins would carry no brand name. However Queen Victoria was not amused by this decision; she wanted her army and navy to know that she was sending them quality British chocolate. As a compromise, the Cadbury name appeared on interior packaging of the chocolate. The tins remained unbranded. The empty tins had a more sombre use for for men killed in action. The tins, containing their few personal belongings, were sent home to the next of kin. The tins were not large and may have contained items such as medals, talismans, coins, jewellery, photos, letters and dog tags.Sheet metal tin with hinged lid. In the middle of the red lid of the tin is a gold-coloured embossed picture of Queen Victoria's head. To the left is Queen Victoria's insignia, and to the right are the words "South Africa 1900" and is inscribed "I wish you a happy New Year" and signed Victoria running along the bottom.gift to defence personnel from queen victoria. gift sent at christmas / new year in 1899/1900, gift sent at christmas / new year 1899/1900

White cotton napkin printed with 9 sketches of aspects of the Boer WarSketch captions: Mounted Rifles, South African War 1900, Infantry in Camp, Colonel Tom Price, Our Brotherhood, Colonel Hoad, Mounted Rifles in Action, Lieut G O Bruce, Infantry in Action

Sets of Australian and New Zealand stamped commemorative envelopes. Australia: 1AR, RAAC- Cambrai, 1 AR Standard, Armoured Centre, 2 Cav, 3 Cav, 4 Cav, 1/15 RNSWL, 2/14 LH (QMI), 3/9 SAMR, 4/19 PWLH, 8/13 VMR, 10 LH, 12/16 HRL, Beersheba. New Zealand: Otago University Medical Corps, RNZ Education Corps, Home Guard, Ordnance, Start of War, Disbanding of RNZ Service Corps, Anniversary of South Africa, NZ Army Day.

Brown coloured book, gold and black writing on front and spine, black leaves with entwined letters on back cover. Illustration of H. M. Stanley, in gold, in gold oval, top left front cover. Ilustration of ? Stanley and African men on top of cliff, front cover. Illustration African Villge on spine. 192 pages. Plus 16 page catalogue.

Small wooden, footed bowl with inlaid 'E'. Made by Ernest York of Mildura from wood from a Portland gun carriage rescued from the edge of Fawthrop Lagoon in the 1950's. The white of the 'E' is bone and the shadow is ebony from Africa. made as a gift for Elsie Rose

Coloured photo. Portland Library. Photo of the 'Into Africa' exhibition.portland library, community, council services, library exhibition