The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who were a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist? His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started a business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George You, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years, a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold land when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high-quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union was subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well-improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing-room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853, a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November 1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however, it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much-loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed artworks and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually, the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower areas of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave from 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However, he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 1 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co, 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1910-1911 Tan, leather bound illustrated workLabel on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute that reads Presented by W Lindsay Esq, “Union”, Woolsthorpe. Accession Number 15232 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of bookflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, pattison collection, the birds of australia vol 1, union station, woolsthrope, quamby station, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969.The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1912-1913 Tan leather bound illustrated work. Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15233 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 4 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1914-1915 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15235 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 4, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 5 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1915-1916 Tan leather bound illustrated workLabel on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15236 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 5, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 6 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1916-1917 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15237 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 6, quamby station, union station, woolsthorpe

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859 "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance The Birds of Australia Vol 11 Part 2 Supplment 3 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby Date: 1924 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15243 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 11 part 2 supplment 3, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 10 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1922-1923 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15241 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 10, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

Gunpowder Pouch, leather decorative with metal, spring operated release mechanism for releasing a measured amount of powder. Leather has finely worked landscape with 2 birds set in circular display on both sides of pouch. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, gun powder, musket, gunpowder

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 12 Part 1 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H. F. & G. Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1925-1927 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15244 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 12 part 1, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 12 Part 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H. F. & G. Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1925-1927 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15245 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 12 part 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 11 Part 1 Supplment 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1924 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15242 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 11 part 1 supplment 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

E. R. Watts and Son, makers of theodolites and other surveying instruments, of 123 Camberwell Road, London. The company was established in 1856 by Edwin Watts at twenty-three he had saved £100 from his earnings to start the business with his staff consisting of one boy and later Alexander Clarkson as an apprentice with the workshop a small room over a Bemondsey stable. Watts' first order was from Negretti and Zambra for a mining dial Alexander Clarkson In the early days the firm worked mainly on marine compasses. Edwin Watts would go down to the Docks to adjust the compasses once they had been installed on the ships. In May 1873 the business moved to larger premises a house with a garden. The workshop was also the home of Mr and Mrs Watts and their five sons and three daughters. By now there were fifteen to twenty men employed by the firm. The company were commissioned to supply the Theodolites and Levels for the construction to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881. Towards the end of the century, the firm began to make heliographs continuing to produce them for the government until just before the Second World War when by agreement assigned their manufacture to another firm. 1904 The first dividing engine was completed by George William Watts. It was so remarkable an instrument at the time and for years afterwards, In 1907 Arthur Ames went to Canada and started an organisation in Winnipeg in 1909 this became a separate company called E. R. Watts and Son Ltd. of Ottawa. This firm developed considerably and was eventually with the co-operation of three other instrument companies (Cambridge Instrument Co, Ross, and Negretti and Zambra), were reconstituted as ”Instruments Ltd” of Ottawa and Toronto. During the next ten years, the firm expanded greatly to include glass grinding, leather work, dividing and engraving, testing, adjusting and packing. This expansion was continued during the First World War when workshops were completed and the machinery installed and running within eleven weeks from the start of construction. During the war, a Sergeant Coles, among the rats, lice and mud of the trenches, fitted various bits of scrap into his cocoa tin and made the first Flash Spotter for plotting the positions of enemy guns. Coles was rushed home to the firm's factory where he and George William Watts designed a spotter not made out of a cocoa tin and as a result, the Watts Vertical Force Variometer was developed during WWI. Other Watts instruments made in the First World War included the Light Mountain Theodolites which were taken on Mt Everest expeditions. In 1919 ER Watts and Sons was incorporated as a limited company and in 1939 G. A. Whipple joined the Board of Directors. Shortly afterwards, Frank Charles Watts died having been Chairman of the firm for over 37 years and seen it through the First World War with all its expansions and difficulties. He was succeeded by his brother George William Watts with the vacant post of Managing Director being filled by G. A. Whipple. During the Second World War, the company expanded further and the number of employees rose to well over 1,300. In 1946 Watts acquired 78% of Adam Hilger and the microscope maker James Swift and Son Who were Manufacturers of Theodolites, Levels, Alidades, Meteorological Instruments, Variometers, and many other types of scientific instruments Then in 1948 the company amalgamated with Adam Hilger as Hilger and Watts which was then incorporated as a public company.Naval Rangefinder with a vertical wooden handle, and an arrangement of optical lenses. Three reversible brass inserts calibrated on both sides in yards, correspond to various base heights, (20 and 25 feet, 30 and 35 feet and 40 and 50 feet). They are fitted along the axis of the instrument. When the scale for the appropriate base height is selected and inserted, the carriage can be slid for coincidence and the distance read at the index mark on the sliding carriage.inscribed "Rangefinder Cotton Type Mk II" Calibrated scale up to 5000 yds (50 ft), 5000 yds (35 ft), 4000 yds (25 ft) made by E. R. Watts & Son.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, rangefinder, cotton type, e r watts & sons, naval range finder, marine equipment

The first school of Mines in Australia was established at Ballarat in 1870. At the time of its jubilee (1930) the following people were members of the School Council: W.H. Middleton (President), W.T. Humphreys (VP), J.S. Vickery (VP), F. Barrow, Col. W.K. Bolton, William Baragwanath, A.E. Cutter, J.N. Dunn, G. Fitches, W.H. Fleay, F. Herman. W.D. Hill, T. Hurley, K. Kean. J. Kelly, L. Lederman, Mayor of Ballarat, Mayour of Ballarat East, D. Maxwell, M. Martin, R. Maddern, D. Ronaldson, F. Saunders, R. Stephenson, A.O. Stubbs, R.E. Tunbridge. The School Staff in 1920 comprised: Herbert H. Smith, Walter Rowbotham, Reginald L. Cutter, M.C. Young, Hilda Wardle, M. Wiliamson, P.S. Richards, L.H. Archibald, J. Woods, Ken Moss, W. Kenneth, Mrs McIlvena. B. Robinson, S. Rowe, E. Hope-Jones, Miss Abrams, L.St.G.P. Austin, Alfred Mica Smith, J.R. Pound, Herbert R. Murphy, N.H. Junner, Maurice Copland, L.H. Archibald, E.J.A. McConnon, Newton King, D.m. Hull, T.R. Gordon, John M. Sutherland, T.K. Jebb, Dick Richards, C. Tonkin, A.W. Steane, J. Paterson, H.W. Malin, R.V. Maddison, S.M. Mayo, F.A. King, W.H. Steane, T.R. Gordon, T.A. Williams, H. Waldron, G. Black, E.J. McConnon, R.V. Duncan. R. Cutter, E.G. Vawdrey, Hilda WardleWhite stapled booklet - landscape format - 20pp + soft covers with blue writing. Includes an historical sketch of the Ballarat School of Mines. Contains images of the school from around 1920. The history outlined in the booklet follows: 'Ballarat has helped to influence the life and destinies of Australia in many ways, the recital of which would perhaps prove tedious to the citizens of less favoured localities! However, it can be said, without much fear of contradiction, that only less known thought Australia than its fame as a gold field is the reputation won for it by its school of Mines, ... Ballarat was still quite a new place when the School was founded, but a very propserous and popular place all the same, with a go-ahead lot of citizens brim full of the spirit of enterprise which seemsto animate mining populations generally. Money was plentiful, and they launched out into ventures, which later, were to develop and take the place of the gold mines, while what is more to the point, they understood the value of education. the old digging days were passing away. So far as Ballarat itself was concerned the day of the cradle and tin dish had already passed into an antiquity "as dead and distant as the age of the Tubal Caon," said dir redmond Barry on declaring the School open. Mining had become a serious business, and the mining engineer, the metallurgist, and the geologist had become a power in the land. In these circumstances the suggestions to found a School of Mines met with ready acceptance. The late Mr James M. Bickett had the honor of bringing forward the proposition at a meeting of the Ballarat Mining Board in October, 1869. it was agreed to, and the Government, having been approached for assistance, granted a lease of the old Supreme Court buildings at a nominal reantal. A modest sum, including 100 pounds from the Borough Council of Ballarat West, was subscribed by a number of sympathisers, and on the 26th October, 1870, the inaugural address was delivered by Sir Redmond Barry, the first President of the School. Classes were commenced on the 23rd January, 1871. The students at first were mostly adults. They were chiefly men emloyed at the mines, who had the wisdom and energy to devote their spare time to study, and, though their attendance was somewhat irregular, they made very good progress. Old prints which have been preserved show them at work at furnaces, big bearded men of the old-fashioned type of miner. It is interesting to note that among those who gave evidence and encouragement was Sir Roderick Murchison, who many years before had advised Cornish miners to emigrate to Australia to search for gold, and who in 1848 was in possession of gold ore sent from this country. Sir Roderick sent a parcel of books for the library, and gave useful advice as to the curriculum which should be adopted. The Museum, which now contains a most valuable collection of minerals, was one of the first things attended to, and the reports presented to the Council from time to time speak of additions being made from all parts of the world. New equipment was constantly being added to the School, a good deal of assay work was done, and some specimens were sent from the East Indies for examination as far back as 1873. By this time there was a difficulty in providing accomodation for the students who wished to enrol, and the number of instructors had grown from two to four. In 1882 the first building was being erected on what was then part of the gaol reserve. A little more than ten years afterwards a buildnig formerly serving as a Methodist Church was absorbed, while later on, the demand for accomodation increasing, the attack upon the gaol was renewed. The School continued to grow in reputation and size, and became the science centre of the district, and in 1889 a learge new building was opened by Sir Alexander Peacock. Students came from over seas as well as from all the States of Australia, and after going through their courses they took with them the name and fame of the old School to all parts of the globe. School of Mines boys have played a great part in developing the mining fields of Western Australia, South Australia, and africa, while old students who have made a name in their profession are constantly dropping in to see how the old place is getting along. It was not to be expected, however, that the Ballarat School would be left without rivals, its very success inspiring competition. Mining Schools were started in other parts of Australia, and, at the same time, Victoria ceased to hold first place as a mining state. On the other hand there was a great advance in manufacturing, and the demand for technicaly trained men became a great and as insistent as ever it had been for trained mining men. The Council was quick to adapt the school to the new conditions, and the result is seen in the institution, which is one of Ballarat's proudest possession. Instruction is given in all branches of technical work, and the classes are filled with students who are building up for Ballarat a reputation as an industrial centre, which promises to equal that which it formerly held as a mining town. Owing to its bracing climate, its abundant opportunities for recreations, and its accessibilty, Ballarat as a city is an ideal place for educational purposed, and is yearly becoming more and more appreciated throughout the State. The chairman of one of Ballarat's biggests industries claims that the workman can do twice the day's work here that he can do in Melbourne. he was a little enthusiastic over it, perhaps, but it is a well-known fact that the healthy and invigourating Ballarat climate is conducive to both physical and mental activity, and the records of the School provide ample proof of it. One of the most interesting and successful branches of the School of Mines and Industries - if the name be enlarged with the enlargement of its scope - is the Technical Art School. "The City of Statues" has from its earliest days been a stronghold of art. Art schools have flourised here, and in 1905 the Education Department came to the conclusion that the best thing to do with them was to place them under the management of the School of Mines Council. A magnificent new Technical Art School was built at a cost of some 12,000 pounds on the site of the old Supreme Court building, and was formally opened on the 23rd July, 1915. The results have not only been justified but surpassed all anticipations. The most comprehensive list of subjects is taught, and this list is constantly added to. Students have flocked to the art School, which may be said to occupy a unique position in Australia, and its record of success is really astonishing. Its students supply art teachers for the newer schools that are being built, and many occupy leading positinos in important business houses. So well is its reputation known that orders are constantly being received, not only from Victoria, but from other States, for honor boards and challenge shields to be designed and made. The most recent addition to the School of Mines and Industries is the Junior Technical School, for which a new building is now being erected on a portion of the gaol site, transferred to the School of Mines Counci by the Government. At the present moment temporary quarters are being occupied. Some students after passing through the Junior School go straight to employment, continuing perhaps to attend the evening trade classes, while others move on to the senior School. In a review of the work of the School of Mines mention must be made of a series of industrial research carried out under supervision of the Principal. One in particular, regarding the suitability of the local ores for the manufacture of pigments attracted much attention, while the experiemtns on the manufacture of white potery from Victorian clayes were considered of sufficient importance by the Federal Advisory Council of Science and Industry to warrant the appointment of a special investigator. The results of these have been most encouraging, and may have far-reaching consequences. The vocational training of returned soldiers also should not be overlooked. The work was taken in hand from the first, before the Repatriation Department gave assistance, and now with the help of the department of the School has become one of the largest vocational training centres in Victoria outside of Melbourne. The soldiers, trained in a variety of occupations, have made remarkable progress, and already considerable numbers have found employment in local workshops and factories. To sum up, the School is divided into the following departments, each well staffed and equipped: - The School of Mines, science, and Engineering; the Techncial Art School, the Boys' Junior Technical School, the Girl's Preparatory Technical Classes, Trade Classes, and the Commercial School. The school of Mines, science and Engineering, comprises the following branches: - Mining, Metallurgy, Geology, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Chemistry, and Pharmacy. Battery treatments, Cyanide Testing, Smelting, Assays, and Clay Testing from a regular part of the School's work. Students gaining qualifications obtain concession in their courses at the university, should they proceed there to continue their studies. The technical Art school curriculum includes training in all branches of pictorial and applied art, an Architectural Diploma Course, a Draughtman's Course, technical Art teachers' Course, Photography,Ticket Writing, Art Metal Work, Woodcarving, Needlework, and Leather work. The Trade Classes give instruction in Telephone Mechanics, telegraphy, Carpentry, Cabinet Making, Plumbing, Blacksmithing, Fitting, Electric Wiring, and Printing. Numerous Scholarships are offered every year, and altogether students will find few places to equal the Ballarat School of Mines and Industries as a training place for their life's work. One of the first in the continent to be established, its Jubilee finds it still in the front rank, keeping pace with the times, and offering to the youths of this country the means of taking advantage of Australia's teeming opportunities. william, battery, smith, herbert, drawing from the antique, ballarat school of mines botanical gardens, ballarat school of mines, redmond barry, alfred mica smith, james bickett, museum, dick richards, ballarat junior technical school, s m b, ballarat school of mines and industries, ballarat technical art school, model mine, james m bickett, j m bickett, roderick murchison, vocational training rooms, wesley church, methodist church, alexander peacock, lathes, repatriation, repatriatin department, war service, school council, baragwanath, gold mining, mining laboratory, plaster cast, r.w. richards, anniversary, jubilee

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/ The bowl is an example of kitchenware used in the 19th century and still in use today.Bowl white ceramic. Crack on side. Badly stained.Backstamp very faint and unable to be read.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, mixing bowl, food preparation, kitchen equipment, ceramic

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/ This bowl is an example of kitchenware used in the 19th century and still in use today.Bowl white ceramic plain that has two sets of edging around lip. Inside bowl has plaster designed to look like cooking mixture.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, kitchen equipment, ceramic

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/This bowl was made by renowned pottery company J & G Meakin of England. The firm was established in the mid-1800's. The bowl is an example of kitchenware used in the 19th century and still in use today.Bowl; white ceramic, round and tapering inwards towards base. Made by J and G Meakin England.On base, 'Ironstone China Reg SOL 391413' with symbolflagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, mixing bowl, food preparation, j & g meakin, pottery, stoke-on-trent, kitchen equipment, ceramic

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/Ceramics have evolved over thousands of years.White earthenware dinner plate. Crazing evident all over.Backstamped ‘Made in England S LTD’flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ceramics, tableware

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/Ceramics have evolved over thousands of years.A white earthenware side plate with a gadroon edge. Has water marks and chips on front.‘Johnson Bros England Reg No 15587’flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, johnson bros, ceramics, tableware

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/Ceramics have evolved over thousands of years.Earthenware dessert plate, cream colour. Made by Alfred Meakin, England. Backstamped ‘Alfred Meakin England’. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, alfred meakin, ceramics, earthenware, kitchenware

The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/The form of the jug has been in use for many centuries.Stoneware jug. Two tone brown glaze with pierced lip behind spout. Spout chipped.None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, jug, ceramic jug

Shoe stretchers can expand the width and the length of shoes. Shoe stretchers work best for suede, leather, and other natural materials. These domestic stretchers would have been used for expanding length.This item is an example of an item commonly used in homes in early Orbost.A shoe stretcher which has a flexible metal band with wooden ends.shoes footwear shoe-stretcher

This book records the date, name, ship, nationality and signature of seafarers who visited the mission. A clear picture is provided of the nationalities of crew members coming to Melbourne and the of the ships on which they worked. Cover: Melbourne Visitors Log 22/03/05 to 28/10/2005ship, crew, nationality, visitor, logbook

The beautifully hand written details contain the names of those who's names appear on the bronze plaques on the front of the Soldiers Memorial Institute Bendigo. Each entry has the Soldiers name, person nominating the Soldier, relationship to and address. There are 2972 names entered. The entries were written by Mrs M Collins (nee Stephens) who worked for the Bendigo Advertiser. The work was finished by ANZAC Day 1926. A page was meant to be turned every day. The book and cabinet (Cat No 8011) were placed in the Foyer (Vestibule) of the Soldiers Memorial Institute. After the renovations to the SMI 2016 - 18 it was repositioned in what is now called the Building and RSL History Room.Book of Remembrance blue leather covers hinged by 2 brass rods, the inside off the covers has a gold pattern edge, pages are light blue colour, ruled lines and hand written in blue pen and ink.On book front in gold, "Book of Remembrance"brsl, smirsl, remembrance

The actual history of this object relating to Warrnambool is unknown at this stageSome photos have been identified as local people from WarrnamboolLeather bound. Brown. Engrave with Gold and Black. Ornate scrolled, embossed work on cover with The words The Colonial Family Album on the front, back and spine engraved. Metal locking clasp is broken. 23 pages. Binding in blue tape. Each page is highly decorated changing on each page, facing pages match each other, colours used are gold, red, blue, pink and green. Photos are taken mid 1870's to late 1880's by photographers from Melbourne, Portland & Ballarat. Sepia photos, 20 large frames of men & women, 20 small oval & round topped oblong frames. Collection of Women, Men, Teenagers and children. Each photo slides in from the bottom of frame through a small slot.album. photographs. photographers. ornate art work., warrnambool historical society

A detailed continuum of correspondence showing the progress of development in the district and the co-operation and cost sharing between the different shires to have work completed.The correspondence contained within this book shows the link between the Shire Of Warrnambool and the Country Roads Board. Some letters provide costings of materials and plant and equipment and wages for workmen. Dark green cloth covers with fawn suede spine and corner binding. Navy Blue patterned paper inside front and back covers. Alphabetical index at the front. Pages 1-148 contain copies of correspondence .Remainder is not used. There is a typed foolscap sized sheet printed with work conditions, included loose at the rear of the book.On spine: Letter Book with CRB printed in black underneath. Country Roads Board 1933-193 vertically on leather spine at front.warrnambool, warrnambool shire council, country roads board, 1933-1935, j crawley, warrnambool shire engineer

Webb Brothers & Co. were a large manufacturing company in Lava Street, Warrnambool at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. They manufactured windmills, dairying utensils, steam boilers and oil engines and other items associated with plumbing, tinsmithing, engineering, brassfoundries, and, later in the 20th century, motor car work. In 1921 they opened a branch of their business in Melbourne. It is not clear for what reason Webb Brothers made this tag. It may have been a practice piece for their labelling of products or it may have been an advertising gimmick. The firm did not appear to manufacture any items for which a leather tag would be appropriate unless the tag was attached by a chain. This item is of minor interest in itself but it is an interesting adjunct to the items and information we hold on one of Warrnambool’s important industries – Webb Brothers & Co of Lava Street. This is a leather tag in the shape of a shield. It is smooth on one side and rough on the other and the shape has been roughly cut out. The name of the company (Webb Bros) has been embossed on the centre panel.Embossed on front: ‘Webb Bros & Co. Makers, Warrnambool’webb brothers & co., warrnambool