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

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

Photographs of title documents related to the Sister’s Rocks. c 1867. In 1866 a photographer Mr. O.G. Armstrong feared the Sister's Rock's would be used for building material. Mr. Armstrong and Samuel John Davidson squatter of Great Western leased the ground around the Rock's under the 42nd section of then existing "Land Act" enclosing the rocks with a rough fence. Davidson's lease application was dated 30th Jan 1867. The area applied for was 10 acres and issued 2nd July 1867. The fee paid 2 pound 10 shillings annually till July 1871 when an application to purchase was lodged. Two years later the land was transferred to the Borough of Stawell. Photographs also show maps of the areas. Information also includes 3 typed pages copied from the documents photographs. Documents relating to the Sister Rock's c 1867.documents relating to sister's rock's

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

Ledcourt Home Station Grampians. 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 was one of, if not the first, Squatters Sheep Station in this region. The first licence of Ledcourt was granted to Robert Briggs in about 1840. In 1842 the run passed to Benjamin Boyd of Whaling and Boydtown Banking fame in NSW. He held it for six years. It was then taken over by Thomas Young and John Carfrae, who divided it into 3 holdings. Ledcourt 74,500 acres, Newington 74,500 acres and Swinton, 52,000 acres. It again changed hands in 1859, this time to Henry Alfred and Joseph De Little. It has changed hands several times since and in later years owned by the Cooper family and now the Marr family. The date of the actual building is uncertain, but it is known that the stone used in the building was carted from the Mount Difficult area in the Grampians and some of the courtyard paving shows convict origin. Looking up hill with Homestead on left and stone stables or right.stawell

Pleasant Creek Hospital. 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. Due to a public outcry for medical services on the goldfield a public meeting was held in the Olympic Theatre at Deep Lead on the 7th of August 1858. It appointed a 50 man committee to establish a hospital at Pleasant Creek. A temporary Tent structure was soon erected at Doctors Hill, situated midway between Deep Lead and Commercial Street Pleasant Creek, just South of the later Western Highway. The site is now marked by a commemorative stone. Within two months the committee had collected £600 in subscriptions, a government Grant for £2500 and acquired 10 acres of land. The foundation stone of the hospital building was laid on 21st December 1860 and the building completed and occupied by 21st June 1861. In the 1930’s the hospital moved to the centre of Stawell in Sloane Street and the buildings then taken over by the Pleasant Creek Training Centre. Brick hospital building with two ward wings and central front door. Man standing on steps.stawell health

Allanvale 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. Allanvale was taken up about 1841 by John Allen, who was the son of George Allan of Allanvale, near Launceston in Van Diemen's Land. He selected 80,000 acres between present day Stawell and Ararat. The property was gradually reduced in size, with the first split occurring in the 1840s with the annexation of Concongella Selection due to a land dispute. J.S. Davidson was the occupier of Allanvale at the time this photograph was taken. The homestead pictured here was destroyed by fire at the end of the First World War and replaced by a new building around 1923. The present owners of Allanvale are the Kilpatrick family A note on the Allan family. On the 15th of March 1845, John Allen's 26 year old wife died at the birth of their third child, a daughter, who also died several weeks later. Elizabeth Allen had been a dear friend of Mrs Horatio Wills of neighbouring Lexington station. Eliza and her daughter were buried side by side in the garden of Lexington homestead. She was said to have been the first white woman to have died in the district. Homestead and stables on left with people on verandah and orchard in foreground.stawell great western