Staff and Pleasant Creek 502 Common School. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The education of children in the early years was at the hands of various denominations and attendance was not compulsory. So it was at Pleasant Creek, where prior to 1858, no real effort had been made by any of the nominations to establish schools. In 1864 the denominational system was abolished and school became known as the ‘common school’, such as pictured. stawell education

Wooden Catholic Church Reefs built about 1865. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This wooden building was built about 1865 on a site held by minors right, near the present Stawell Courthouse. It was situated on a track later to become Patrick St. The present St Patricks church is built of granite, quarried in the nearby Black Range with facings of Grampians Freestone and was opened in 1873. Wooden Church with large bell tower with door at front. The edge slope of Big Hill can be seen at right.stawell religion

Presbyterian Church Reefs Pleasant Creek. Built 1860. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell in 1866 for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This first Presbyterian church was built in Church Street and was of a modest design as it was to be only a temporary house of worship. The first services were held here on Sunday, August the 23rd, 1860. The present church, St Matthews Uniting Church is situated in Scallon Street and the first service were held there in 1869. House on left with picket fence and striped verandah roofing. Wooden Church Building on right.stawell religion

Grampians Hall’s Gap (Chautauqua Peak). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. It is recorded in the history of the Presbyterian Church of Stawell, that one fine piece of organisation by Rev. E.C. Tennant in the early 1890’s was a Chautauqua, or religious conference at the Grampians. Many of the religious leaders of Victoria gathered for the purpose of discussion, conference and spiritual enrichment. So great was the impression made, that a peak in the Grampians was named Chautauqua Peak. stawell

Grampians Halls Gap (Wonderland Range). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Although little is known of the lifestyle of the Grampians, Aborigines. Evidence of their thousands of years occupation exists in the form of campsites and Ochre and Pipeclay drawings on the smooth surfaces of rock shelters. There are 40 or more aboriginal art galleries known to be in the Grampians, most of which have been discovered in the past 25 years. Some of these shelters are accessible to visitors. stawell

Mokebilla Station. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Charles Browning Hall was at the station for a short period in about 1840-41. Horatio Wils purchased Lexington from C.B. Hall in 1842. To this he added the stations of Larose and Mokebilla. Part of the property still remains along the Halls Gap Rd, by the bridge over the Mount William Creek. Note that the spelling has changed over the years and it is currently known as Mokepilly. Looking across water to Homestead and outbuildings behind large Gum Trees.stawell

Wimmera Falls Glenorchy. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The fact that there was ever a natural waterfall in the Wimmer River would probably be a surprise to anyone who has known the river at all. There are many man-made weirs across it in several places today, one of them at Glenorchy is thought to hide the original falls. A Stawell Paper dated 21st August 1888, refers to them being a mile below the Township. View of river amongst gum trees with shallow falls at centre of photograph.stawell

The Sister Rocks Pleasant Creek. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. sailing ship and landed at Port Ferry. They came to Stawell from the port by bullock wagon laden with goods for the goldfield and camped at the Sister Rocks and so they were named. Later the girls married. One became Mrs Hodge and lived on the Western Highway, another became Mrs D’Arcy of the Shamrock Hotel Stawell West. The third was Mrs Moore of Levithan East Stawell. Large Granite boulders with no visible Graffiti. Log on left of photo. stawell tourism

Pleasant Creek Stawell from Church Hill. Shire Hall at left under construction. Pleasant Creek Court House visible at centre. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866 This is a photo of what was known as Pleasant Creek but was officially Stawell 1866. It is taken from Church Hill in front of the then Church of England. This would have been at what is now about 27 Seaby Street. Note: the Pleasant Creek Courthouse about centre of the picture. Buildings at centre distance with bare ground and a few trees in foreground. Pleasant Creek Courthouse at centre of image.stawell

Handwritten 'Notes' re various Bendigo buildings (no author, no date) - for a talk or article? References to: Sandhurst Brewery (Havelock Street); Bendigo Brewery (Vine Street); Mr J Armstrong; Phoenix Brewery (Vine Street); Star Brewery (Bridge Street); Shamrock Hotel; Phillip Kennedy; Vahland and Getschmann; Royal Theatre; Haymarket Theatre; Scherffs Store; Abbotts Hotel and Assembly Room; Lyceum Theatre; G A Fletcher; Moore Bros Store; Lyric Theatre; H Barrow; Campaspe Inn (Runnymede)buildings, commercial, breweries

Christ Church. Church of England on Church Hill Stawell. Built 1862. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell in 1866 for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This was the first brick church in Stawell, the Christ Church, Stawell West, and was built on Church Hill off Seaby Street in approximately 1862. Opposite the original Manse in Seaby Street it was used for services in 1863. The present Church of England the Holy Trinity is situated in Main Street and was opened and dedicated on Trinity Sunday, May the 26th, 1872. Brick Church with small bell tower. Gum trees in front and at left.stawell religion

Grampians Entrance to Halls Gap. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Halls Gap is named after Charles Browning Hall. In his letter to Joseph Latrobe he gives no clue about his early life except that he was a stock herder as early as 1837. He held two runs in the Wimmer district, that of La Rose and Mokebila in the Grampians (1841 to 1842). He then moved to the Clunes area in 1851. He was a member of the Carisbrook Magistrates Bench. stawell

Programme of a concert at the Eaglehawk Town Hall Good Friday night (April 1st, 1904) Grand High-class concert. His worship the Mayor Cr. R. Murdoch will preside. Leader of the Orpheus Orchestra: Mr. J. Trevean. Conductor of Glee Club: Mr. A. W. Armstrong. Hon. Secretary: Mr. E. J. Lawleyprogram, theatre, concert

Grampians (Wonderland Range). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The Grampians, with its wildflowers and rock formations, have attracted people from all parts of the world for many years and have always been promoted strongly by local groups. One such group was the Grampians Tourist Association, formed in 1901. Wonderland would probably be the best known part of the whole area, noted for its rugged and weather worn rock formations and spectacular views, too numerous to mention. The Grampians are now a National Park. stawell

Court House and Cells Pleasant Creek Stawell. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The first courthouse was built at Pleasant Creek Stawell by William Scobie for the sum of £1975 in September 1858. A further sum of £1832 was spent on the building by J. Francis in January 1860. Pleasant Creek Court House was used as a court of Petty sessions, County Court, Court of Mines, and a Court of General Sessions before the newer Stawell Court House in Patrick Street was built. Later it was used as a police barracks then private home. stawell government

Grampians Halls Gap (Barney’s Castle). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. In 1880 a branch line from Stawell Railway Yards was built to Heatherly Quarry, to carry stone for part of Parliament House Melbourne, the GPO in Elizabeth St, the Harbour Trust buildings, additions to the Melbourne Town Hall, the Stawell Courthouse Patrick Street and the Stawell Catholic Church in Patrick St. The line was taken over by the Railways Department in June 1905 and was closed in March 1949. It has since been removed but remnants of the machinery and buildings are visible at the quarry site. stawell

Upper Main Street looking East. Poppet Heads in Background. Oriental Bank second on left then Quartz Reef Timber Yards. Intersection is Layzell St Main Street. Advertiser Office on right in front of Earlier Mechanics Institute. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. View of the top end of Main Street 1866 with the Commercial Hotel in the left foreground. On the right is the Advertiser Newspaper office an Ararat newspaper before one was started in Stawell. The building on the right with the ladder in front was the Mechanics Institute later burned down twice. Upper Main street with Poppet Heads in the background, the Oriental Bank second on left & then Quartz Reef Timber Yard 1867. Lots of people and wagons in street. Advertiser Office on right and earlier Mechanics Institute with ladder at front.Upper Main Street Reefs 1867stawell mining streetscape

Swinton Home Station. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Swinton was a family name of John Carfrae, whose father was Thomas Swinton Carfrae of Edinburgh. When John Carfrae came to Ledcourt in 1848 he divided it into three runs, Ledcourt, Swinton and Newington. John Holt occupied Ledcourt and Swindon before 1865, at which time Marcus Clarke was a jackaroo. Alexander Gray came to Swinton in 1881. The Grey family still live at Swinton. The present home was built in 1911 after severe floods in 1909 destroyed the original homestead. Wooden cottage with outbuildings in front of trees. A number of men women and First Nations people standing and sitting in front.stawell aborigional

Upper Main Street Reefs looking East towards Big Hill taken from front of Joyce's Hibernian Hotel . Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This scene was taken in 1866 in Main Street from in front of Joyce’s Iberian Hotel on the left, the site of the present townhall. It is looking uphill and eastward with Big Hill in the far background. The Hibernian Hotel was built on Commercial Street Pleasant Creek Goldfields in 1858 and was moved to Main Street Reefs, the present site of the Town Hall by Mr. & Mrs. Joyce. It was later destroyed by fire and the Town Hall built on its location. Street scene with buildings in distance and Big Hill in far distance.stawell streetscape

Newspaper Clipping - from The Argus Monday 15/3/1937, titled "Six Trams Damaged with Road Metal", about the damage caused at the time of the closure of the South Melbourne and Port Melbourne cable tram services - by souvenir hunters and people at the Port Melbourne depot who through road metal (stones) at the trams as they came into the depot. The timeline gives the date of closure as Saturday 13/3/1937. Notes one of the Gripmen was a Mr. J. Armstrong. A comparison with the cutting as collected and the reproduction in The Argus on Trove, while the same photographs has a different text layout and text, possibly indicating two different editions of the paper.trams, tramways, collins st, port melbourne, south melbourne, cable trams, closure, buses

Glenorchy Bridge Wimmera River. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Prior to the construction of this bridge in 1860, there existed two forwards across the Wimmer River at Glenorchy. One was 2 miles on the Stawell side of Glenorchy and 500 metres from the present railway bridge. It was well made, stone floor and can be seen today. The second was located 800 metres downstream of the town and was known as Stuart’s Crossing. These Fords were popular crossing spots for Bullock Drays which were delayed for days during floods before the bridge was built. The original Bridge was built near the site of the present ‘old’ bridge. stawell

Saw Mills Halls Gap (Childe’s Glenbower Creek). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. During the years of gold, the hardwood forests around Stawell were ravaged to provide timber for the mines. It was used undergrounds to shore up workings, and millions of feet of it were fed into furnaces and kilns in which the quartz was roasted. In the years after the gold boom, hardwood from the Grampians was milled for building timber. Wherever there are large tracts of natural bushland, fires are always a danger. A huge fire in January 1939 caused havoc in the Grampians, burning out towns and sawmills such as the one pictured. There have been no sawmills in the Grampian since that fire. stawell industry

Grampians (Sunrise over the Saw Mills). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The Grampians were first sighted by Major Thomas Mitchell on the 11th of July 1836. Four days later he and a small party climbed its highest peak and named it Mount William. Owing to the lateness of arrival at the summit they had to spend a very cold and miserable night. Whilst in the Grampians, which he so named because of their likeness to his native Scotland. He collected about 150 plants and sent them to the Professor of Botany, John Lindley at the University of London. It is now known there about 900 different flowering plants in the Grampians, over one third of all those growing in Victoria. stawell industry

Great Western. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Great Western began as a changing station on Concongella, northeast of the present Township. The gold rush in Great Western began in 1858 and soon after a post office and store opened. A Township was surveyed and lots sold in October 1858. The gold soon passed and the diggers went on, leaving a small settlement. In 1863 Jean Pierre Trouette and Emile Bampied, his brother-in-law, planted the first vines and build the first winery, thus setting a firm foundation upon which the present wine industry has been built. Telegraph poles and wires visible. Bakery visible in distance on right of road, looking west. stawell

Grampians Halls Gap. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. From about 1860 there was agitation for a water supply, not only for Stawell but for the Wimmer Mallee as well. In 1887 Wartook was adopted as the first reservoir for the Wimmer. Stawells water supply was designed by Mr. John D’Alton. The scheme came from Fyan’s Creek via Wooden Fluming and a Syphon and finally through the mountain in a tunnel, before being piped to a reservoir on Big Hill. The system was completed in December 1881 and although there have been modifications, basically it has not been changed to this day. The Wimmera Mallee stock and domestic system from the Grampians is the largest system of its kind in the world, the latest edition being like Belfield and piping of Wimmera channels. stawell

Glenorchy. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Glenorchy township began as a resting place for bullock teams and travellers in the 1840s. In 1847, John Gleeson built the Four Posts Inn, which then became the name of the settlement. Gleeson is credited with naming the settlement Glenorchy, meaning tumbling waters, after his birth place in Scotland. In 1865 the Township consisted of a church, school, three hotels the Four Post Inn built 1847, Royal Hotel built 1855, The Royal Mail Hotel built1862. As well as boot makers, a blacksmith, stores, butcher and other enterprises. The town was a postal centre served by three coaches each day until the advent of the railway. stawell

Fountain Head Brewery Armstrong's. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The brewery, a three-storey high building, was established close to two streams which joined the Concongella Creek near Armstrong, although the water required to run the brewery was obtained from a natural underground spring which is still visible. Further findings of Gold in Victoria around 1859-1860 brought a large rush of miners to the area. Some stayed on to become merchants, farmers, etc. Jens Kofoed, a shipwright from the Netherlands, was one who came to the area at this time. He and his family move to Armstrong in 1860, establishing the Fountain Head Brewery, which employed quite a number of people for about 40 years. stawell industry

Telegraph Office Pleasant Creek Stawell. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The first post was office was erected at Commercial Street, Pleasant Creek in the goldfields, in June 1858, by J Harding and was a portable one. In October 1860 the first permanent Telegraph Office was erected by Cormick and Irvine for £329. In the same month the Post Office was removed from Commercial St in the Goldfields to the rear of the Telegraph office in Stawell. In February 1862 Edmond Johnson was appointed manager of Electrical Telegraph, Collector of Imposts and acting Postmaster. This building was later used as a private dwelling. It is situated in Lesley Street at the rear of the Pleasant Creek Courthouse although the right-hand wing has been removed. stawell

Concongella Home Station. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The Concongella Station consisted of 57,000 acres along the Concongella Creek. It was first part of Allanvale, taken up by John Allan in 1841. Allen's right to the 137,000 acres of Allanvale was contested and as a result, the northern section of 57,000 acres was renamed Concongella. Concongella Run, with the homestead on the creek of the same name just east of Stawell, occupied the lands between the later named Deep Lead and Great Western. It was on this station that William McLaughlin a sheep minder discovered gold at Pleasant Creek in 1853. Doctor Blundell held Concongella under licence at this time and through until 1858. The homestead has been gone for many years and only some lonely graves remain at this vicinity. stawell

Schoolers Homestead Lake Lonsdale. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Similar Photo Scoullar station Rosehill Cat No 3888 G.F. Scoullar originally from Canada, according to W.G. Sharply in his 1930 Stawell Borough History, was a member of the Stawell Shire Council 1870-1888 and president 1875-1876. Maynard Ord in Stawell Past and Present says G.F. Scoullar, M. Brinkman and one other, took up small pieces of land fronting Lake Lonsdale. The owners of the Squatting Run, presumably Ledcourt, charged them with illegal occupation. They were heavily fined at Pleasant Creek Court, or in default gaol. As they could not afford the fine, some friends raise the money. Note re the spelling of ‘Schooler’. Variations in local records are ‘Schoullar’ and ‘Scoullar’. stawell education