The beginning of standardised weights and measures began In Victoria when the Melbourne Observatory received sets of standard weights and measures, which had been tested in Britain against the then British Imperial standards. These included the primary standard yard and pound for the Colony of Victoria. Other standards of weights and measure held by shires and the administrative body's within the colony could then be compared to these primary standards. A Weights and Measures Act was passed in Victoria in 1862, establishing local inspectors throughout the colony. By the 1870s each local council and shire in Victoria held a set of standards that were used to test scales, weights and dry measures used by wholesalers, factories and shops. Every ten years the councils’ standards would themselves need to be rechecked against the Victorian Standards. The checking was done by the Victorian Customs Department in the 19th century, but with the transfer of responsibility for customs to the Federal Government in 1901, weights and measures function was retained by the Victorian Government and was shifted to the Melbourne Observatory. In 1904, a new building was erected at the south end of the Great Melbourne Telescope House, where the standard weights and measures and testing equipment was installed. This room had a large whirling apparatus for testing air meters and became known as the Whirling Room. When the Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944, the Weights and Measures Branch was formed to continue and this branch remained at the Observatory site unit until 1995. J & M Ewan History: J&M Ewan was a Melbourne firm that began by selling retail furniture and wholesale ironmongery. They had substantial warehouses situated at the intersection of 81-83 Elizabeth and Little Collins Streets, the business was established by James M Ewan in 1852. Shortly afterwards he went into partnership with William Kerr Thomson and Samuel Renwick. When Ewan died in 1868 his partners carried on and expanded the business under his name J & M Ewan. The business was expanded to provide a retail shop, counting-house and private offices. Wholesale warehouses adjoined these premises at 4, 6 and 10 Little Collins Street, West. This company provided and sold a large and varied amount of imported goods into the colony that consisted of agriculture equipment, building materials, mining items as well as steam engines, tools of all types and marble fireplaces. They also supplied the Bronze measuring containers in the Flagstaff Hill collection and the probability is that these containers were obtained by the local Melbourne authority that monitored weights and measures in the mid to late 19th century. The company grew to employ over 150 people in Melbourne and opened offices at 27 Lombard St London as well as in New Zealand and Fiji. The company also serviced the Mauritius islands and the pacific area with their steamship the Suva and a brig the Shannon. Robert Bate History: Robert Brettell Bate (1782-1847) was born in Stourbridge, England, one of four sons of Overs Bate, a mercer (a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvet's, and other fine materials)and banker. Bate moved to London, and in 1813 was noticed for his scientific instrument making ability through the authority of the “Clockmakers Company”. Sometime in the year 1813 it was discovered that one Robert Brettell Bate, regarded as a foreigner in London had opened a premises in the Poultry selling area of London. He was a Mathematical Instrument maker selling sundials and other various instruments of the clock making. In 1824, Bate, in preparation for his work on standards and weights, leased larger premises at 20 and 21 Poultry, London, at a rental of four hundred pounds per annum. It was there that Bate produced quality metrological instruments, which afforded him the recognition as one of one of the finest and principal English metrological instrument-makers of the nineteenth century. English standards at this time were generally in a muddle, with local standards varying from shire to shire. On 17 June 1824, an Act of Parliament was passed making a universal range of weights, measures, and lengths for the United Kingdom, and Bate was given the job of crafting many of the metrological artifacts. He was under instruction from the renown physicist Henry Kater F.R.S. (1777-1835) to make standards and to have them deposited in the principal cities throughout the United Kingdom and colonies. Bate experimented with tin-copper alloys to find the best combination for these items and by October 1824, he had provided Kater with prototypes to test troy and avoirdupois pounds, and samples with which to divide the troy into grams. Bate also cast the standard for the bushel, and by February 1825, had provided all the standards required of him by the Exchequer, Guildhalls of Edinburgh, and Dublin. In 1824, he also made a troy pound standard weight for the United States, which was certified for its accuracy by Kater and deposited with the US Mint in 1827. Kater, in his address to the Royal Society of London, acknowledged Bate's outstanding experimentation and craftsmanship in producing standards of weights, measures, and lengths. An example of a dry Bronze measuring container made specifically for J & M Ewan by possibly the most important makers of measurement artifacts that gives us today a snapshot of how imperial weights and measures were used and how a standard of measurement for merchants was developed in the Australian colonies based on the Imperial British measurement system. The container has social significance as an item retailed by J & M Ewan and used in Victoria by the authorities who were given legal responsibility to ensure that wholesalers and retailers of dry goods sold in Victoria were correct. The container was a legal standard measure so was also used to test merchants containers to ensure that their distribution of dry goods to a customer was correct. Bronze round container with brass two handles used as a legal standard for measuring dry quantities & is a 'peck' measurement. "IMPERIAL STANDARD PECK" engraved around top of container with " VICTORIA" engraved under.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, standard measure, bronze, peck measurement, j & m ewan, victorian standard dry measurement, bronze container, victorian standards, melbourne observatory, robert bettell bate

The beginning of standardised weights and measures began In Victoria when the Melbourne Observatory received sets of standard weights and measures, which had been tested in Britain against the then British Imperial standards. These included the primary standard yard and pound for the Colony of Victoria. Other standards of weights and measure held by shires and the administrative body's within the colony could then be compared to these primary standards. A Weights and Measures Act was passed in Victoria in 1862, establishing local inspectors throughout the colony. By the 1870s each local council and shire in Victoria held a set of standards that were used to test scales, weights and dry measures used by wholesalers, factories and shops. Every ten years the councils’ standards would themselves need to be rechecked against the Victorian Standards. The checking was done by the Victorian Customs Department in the 19th century, but with the transfer of responsibility for customs to the Federal Government in 1901, weights and measures function was retained by the Victorian Government and was shifted to the Melbourne Observatory. In 1904, a new building was erected at the south end of the Great Melbourne Telescope House, where the standard weights and measures and testing equipment was installed. This room had a large whirling apparatus for testing air meters and became known as the Whirling Room. When the Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944, the Weights and Measures Branch was formed to continue and this branch remained at the Observatory site unit until 1995. J & M Ewan History: J&M Ewan was a Melbourne firm that began by selling retail furniture and wholesale ironmongery. They had substantial warehouses situated at the intersection of 81-83 Elizabeth and Little Collins Streets, the business was established by James M Ewan in 1852. Shortly afterwards he went into partnership with William Kerr Thomson and Samuel Renwick. When Ewan died in 1868 his partners carried on and expanded the business under his name J & M Ewan. The business was expanded to provide a retail shop, counting-house and private offices. Wholesale warehouses adjoined these premises at 4, 6 and 10 Little Collins Street, West. This company provided and sold a large and varied amount of imported goods into the colony that consisted of agriculture equipment, building materials, mining items as well as steam engines, tools of all types and marble fireplaces. They also supplied the Bronze measuring containers in the Flagstaff Hill collection and the probability is that these containers were obtained by the local Melbourne authority that monitored weights and measures in the mid to late 19th century. The company grew to employ over 150 people in Melbourne and opened offices at 27 Lombard St London as well as in New Zealand and Fiji. The company also serviced the Mauritius islands and the pacific area with their steamship the Suva and a brig the Shannon. Robert Bate History: Robert Brettell Bate (1782-1847) was born in Stourbridge, England, one of four sons of Overs Bate, a mercer (a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvet's, and other fine materials)and banker. Bate moved to London, and in 1813 was noticed for his scientific instrument making ability through the authority of the “Clockmakers Company”. Sometime in the year 1813 it was discovered that one Robert Brettell Bate, regarded as a foreigner in London had opened a premises in the Poultry selling area of London. He was a Mathematical Instrument maker selling sundials and other various instruments of the clock making. In 1824, Bate, in preparation for his work on standards and weights, leased larger premises at 20 and 21 Poultry, London, at a rental of four hundred pounds per annum. It was there that Bate produced quality metrological instruments, which afforded him the recognition as one of one of the finest and principal English metrological instrument-makers of the nineteenth century. English standards at this time were generally in a muddle, with local standards varying from shire to shire. On 17 June 1824, an Act of Parliament was passed making a universal range of weights, measures, and lengths for the United Kingdom, and Bate was given the job of crafting many of the metrological artifacts. He was under instruction from the renown physicist Henry Kater F.R.S. (1777-1835) to make standards and to have them deposited in the principal cities throughout the United Kingdom and colonies. Bate experimented with tin-copper alloys to find the best combination for these items and by October 1824, he had provided Kater with prototypes to test troy and avoirdupois pounds, and samples with which to divide the troy into grams. Bate also cast the standard for the bushel, and by February 1825, had provided all the standards required of him by the Exchequer, Guildhalls of Edinburgh, and Dublin. In 1824, he also made a troy pound standard weight for the United States, which was certified for its accuracy by Kater and deposited with the US Mint in 1827. Kater, in his address to the Royal Society of London, acknowledged Bate's outstanding experimentation and craftsmanship in producing standards of weights, measures, and lengths. An example of a dry Bronze measuring container made specifically for J & M Ewan by possibly the most important makers of measurement artefacts that gives us today a snapshot of how imperial weights and measures were used and how a standard of measurement for merchants was developed in the Australian colonies based on the Imperial British measurement system. The container has social significance as an item retailed by J & M Ewan and used in Victoria by the authorities who were given legal responsibility to ensure that wholesalers and retailers of dry goods sold in Victoria were correct. The container was a legal standard measure so was also used to test merchants containers to ensure that their distribution of dry goods to a customer was correct.Maker Possibly Robert Brettell Blake or De Grave, Short & Co Ltd both of LondonContainer brass round for measuring quantities- Has brass handles & is a 'Bushel' measurement. 'Imperial Standard Bushel Victoria' engraved around container. Container bronze round shape for measuring dry quantities has brass handles & is a 'Bushel' measurement"IMPERIAL STANDARD BUSHEL" engraved around the top of the container. VICTORIA engraved under "J & M Ewan & Co London and Melbourne" engraved around the bottom of the container.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, standard measure, bushel, bushel measurement, j & m ewan, dry measurement, victorian measurement standard, bronze container, melbourne observatory, robert brettell bate

Negretti and Zambra 1850-1980s were optical instrument makers and mathematical instrument makers based in London, England. The firm of Negretti and Zambra was established in 1850 by Henry Negretti and Joseph Zambra who had formed a partnership. Their skill was immediately apparent when exhibiting at the 1851 Great Exhibition at Hyde Park, they were the only English instrument makers to receive a prize medal for meteorological instruments, resulting in their appointment as instrument makers to the queen, Greenwich observatory, and the British Meteorological Society. In 1853, when the Crystal Palace was re-erected in Sydenham, Negretti and Zambra became the official photographers of the Crystal Palace Company, which allowed them to photograph the interior and grounds of the new building. The firm made use of this access to produce a number of stereographs. Between 1855 and 1857 Negretti and Zambra commissioned photographer Pierre Rossier to travel to China to document the Second Opium War. Although Rossier subsequently was unable to accompany to Anglo-French forces in that campaign, he nevertheless produced a number of stereographs and other photographs of China, Japan, the Philippines and Siam (now Thailand), which Negretti and Zambra published and that represented the first commercial photographs of those countries. In 1856 Negretti and Zambra sponsored a photographic expedition to Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia conducted by Francis Firth. In 1864 Negretti and Zambra (themselves) photographed Shakespeare's House at Stratford on Avon. A sepia photograph was then pasted onto card 4" × 2.5". This was then presented to visitors to the Crystal Palace to enable them to compare it with the model erected by Mr E. T. Parr in the Centre Transept. The card itself is headed "Crystal Palace April 23rd 1864." That year they also published a book, titled A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments, (which was reprinted in 1995). Throughout World War One Negretti and Zambra were entirely engaged in the production of various instruments for the Ministry of Munitions. They developed many instruments for the Air Ministry including a mercury-in-steel distance thermometer for taking the oil and air temperatures in aircraft which was patented in 1920. In 1946 the company went private and in 1948 the company was made public, and by 1950 Negretti and Zambra had 821 employees in Britain. In order to increase production and to safeguard future development in 1964, they purchased a modern factory at Aylesbury for all their production. In 1981 Negretti and Zambra were taken over by a group of financial institutions in the form of Western Scientific Instruments and in 1985 the company was acquired by Meggitt Holdings.The subject compass is just one type of the many marine and scientific, optical items this company produced over it’s life time. Negretti and Zambra were prolific manufactures of types of items as well as being very prominent in photography pioneering new innervation's and sponsoring expeditions to little known countries to document peoples daily lives and culture through photography.Azimuth compass on tripod in a fitted wooden box with a round spirit level included, lid of box has three indented circles where the legs of the compass fit when it is set up for use. Stamped "C.M.O. 9" on with Maker Negretti & Zambra London.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, azimuth compass, nautical instrument, negretti & zambra london, navigational instrument, compass

The Observatory on the high point of Mt Corrhanwarrabul was used to take trigonometrical readings from as early as 1850. The area became very popular with tourists as a place to walk and drive to. The SkyHigh restaurant is on the site of the Observatory.Black and white photograph showing a stone base topped with a wooden structure. Two women are posed below the wooden structure.observatory, trig point, skyhigh, mt corrhanwarrabul

The structure shown is the Mt Dandenong Observatory, also the Trig Point at the top of Mt Dandenong. It was a popular viewpoint and walking destination. The SkyHigh Restaurant now stands on this location. The photograph was taken by Ivy Child in the late 1920s.Sepia coloured photograph showing two people standing on top of a stone work structure below a wooden pyramid structure.Written below photograph in album - OBSERVITORY 2700FT.observatory, mt dandenong, trig point, ivy child

View from Mt Dandenong Observatory Carpark (now Sky High Restaurant) taken in August 1953. Large tree on LHS with sign reading 'LADIES'. Two old cars parked. Photograph taken by Sydney Walter Jackson.On back of photograph: From Mt Dandenong Aug 53mt dandenong, observatory, mt dandenong observatory

Photograph taken from the Observatory car park at Mt Dandenong in 1953. Now the site of the Sky High restaurant. House in foreground. Photograph taken by Sydney Walter Jackson.On back of photograph: Mt Dandenong Country Aug53mt dandenong, mt dandenong observatory

Postcard showing the Trig Point Observatory on Mt Dandenong. Two women and a man are standing on the rock base. Early 1900s.Printed on front of postcard: "OBSERVATORY," DANDENONG MOUNTAINS (VIC.) Printed on back of postcard: Photographed by ERASMUS B. ALLAN, Fitzroy ASK FOR Allan's "Guide to the Dandenong Mountains." Published Shortly. Price 1/- HUTCHINSON'S Lit. Collins Street Melbourne.mt dandenong, trig point, mt dandenong observatory, erasmus b allan

Postcard showing Mt Dandenong Trig Point Observatory on the RHS and a covered shelter on the LHS. Early 1900s.On front of postcard: OBERVATORY, MT DANDENONGtrig point, mt dandenong, mt dandenong observatory

Postcard showing the rock walled base of the Observatory and Trig Point on Mt Dandenong on the RHS and a roofed picnic shelter on the LHS. There are 6 men seated or standing on the rock base.Front of postcard: Observatory, Mount Dandenong. On back of postcard: Mason, Firth & McCutcheon, Printers, Melbourne.mt dandenong, mt dandenong observatory, trig point, mason, firth & mccutcheon

1. Snow at FiveWays c1931. Lamp, cars and gallery visible. 2. Snow at Observatory Tea Rooms Mt. Dandenong c1940kalorama, snow

Looking north towards Mt Dandenong 'City Lights' estate 1961. Viola Court in foreground, Ridge Road winding up the hill towards the Observatory.mount dandenong, ridge road, viola court, city lights estate

SHARP DOWNPOUR. ONE INCH IN 45 MINUTES. SOUTHERN SUBURBS DELUGED. TRAIN STOPPED AT SOUTH YARRA. One of the sudden downpours of rain which occasionally fall in Melbourne occurred yesterday afternoon, when nearly an inch of rain fell in the course of three quarters of an hour, and caused a flood for an hour or two in certain localities. During the early part of the day, the sky had been clouded over, but there was nothing to indicate a storm of such intensity as that which followed. At about half-past 1 o'clock residents of South Yarra, South Melbourne, Prahran, and St. Kilda noticed a few drops of rain. Still, it appeared unlikely that there would be anything exceptional, until with startling suddenness at about 10 minutes to 1 o'clock, one of the heaviest downpours within the memory of residents burst upon those suburbs. A strange feature of the storm was that it was practically confined to an area of about three miles square. The city was but little affected, though at a spot as close as the Observatory 86 points of rain were recorded in three-quarters of an hour. Thunder and lightning accompanied the downpour, which was cyclonic in character, the rain driving heavily from all points of the compass as the cyclone passed. It was in South Yarra and Prahran that the rain fell heaviest. Within a few minutes after it commenced, the low-lying portions of Toorak-road and practically the whole length of Chapel-street were under water. The depression at the intersection of Toorak-road and Darling-street speedily filled to the dimensions of a small lake. Several shops were inundated, while the water from the higher levels rushed down like a mountain torrent, and in several in-stances swept through the rear of houses and shops, carrying furniture in a floating mass against the further walls. In one case a footbridge was carried bodily away and dashed to pieces. Darling-street itself Great Davis-street, and other low-lying and flat thoroughfares in the vicinity became flooded from kerb to kerb, while on the other side of the railway-bridge the valley between Kensington-road and River-street became filled for some minutes to a depth of several feet. Meanwhile the waters from South Yarra hill, seeking a lower level, found it in the railway cutting, and the excavations from South Yarra station to Prahran on the one line, and to the Chapel-street bridge on the other, were converted into a couple of canals. At the platforms at South Yarra the water was two feet deep on the permanent way, and towards Hawksburn, at the sudden depression under Chapel-street bridge, it was at one time deep enough to cover a tall man's head. Into this swirling mass of water the 1:50 p.m. train from Oakleigh plunged on its way to Melbourne. The impact caused a mighty fountain of water to rise to a height of about 20 feet above the level of Chapel-street and send clouds of spray in all directions. Under the belief that a terrible explosion had occurred residents braved the rain and rushed to the spot, only to find that the train had been brought to a stand-still in the middle of what seemed to be a river. The water was so high that it had entered the fire-box from below, extinguishing the fires and cutting off the steam supply. In the meantime the officials at the South Yarra station had been preparing for emergencies. Inspectors were on duty at intervals along the line, and the moment the alarm was given an extra engine was backed carefully down and continued on to connect with the stranded train without losing its own power. There was a delay of about ten minutes in the service for an hour or two, but by 5 o'clock all the trains were running on time again, and the water had run off all but the spot beneath the Chapel-street bridge. Here the water remained about four feet deep until nightfall, and throughout the afternoon several hundreds of people including biograph operators and photographers, were gathered around watching each train pass through. Even with the water two feet lower, this was a work attended with considerable difficulty. Each train had to absolutely force its way through the weight of water, almost enveloped by the spray thrown up, and it was only just able to negotiate the "ford" by using every ounce of steam. ... The Argus, 26 January 1907, p19.The item forms part of the Laurie Bennett collection of thirty-six postcards and photographs of Kew and early Melbourne, donated to the Kew Historical Society in 1980. The postcards in the Bennett collection, like other images in the Society's holdings date from the 1890s to the present and comprehensively indicate points-of-view or scenes considered historically, aesthetically or socially significant in the period in which they were produced.Postcard depicting a flood at South Yarra Station in 1907. The title and photographer's name are identified on the front of the postcard. Donated by L. Bennett, 1980flood - south yarra, trains - melbourne, postcards, r mcgeehan - prahran

Eva Grant was a member of the Kew Historical Society. Three albums in the collection were created by her, this one, the third created between 1964 and 1966. They were donated to the Society by her daughter in 2010. Each of the albums includes photographs and newspaper cuttings collected on her travels to historic places in South East Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. Particular structures photographed in this album include: Barnawatha (Vic.) - The Hermitage | Beveridge (Vic.) - Stone cottage where Ned Kelly was born. | Brighton - St Andrew’s Church graveyard. | Chiltern (Vic.) - lake view [missing] | Cowes (Vic.) - ‘Broadwater’ [originally home of Henty-Wilson family], demolished 1965; Bell of the Speke wreck; Edward’s tree. | Euroa (Vic.) - Habbies Howe | Fairfield (Vic.) - Dight’s Falls; John Dight. | Fernshawe (Vic.) - Queen Mary tree. | Jolimont (Vic.) - Old railway tunnel linking the first Government House (1964); Sign identifying location of first Government House. | Kew (Vic.) - Cairn at Dight’s Falls; Canoe tree, Bowyer Avenue. | Kyneton - De Grave’s Flour Mill - “C”. | Maldon (Vic.) - Chinese oven; Macarthur’s House; Maldon’s oldest resident; Chinese graves x 2; [Beehive Chimney]. | Marysville (Vic.) - Centenary cairn | Mitcham (Vic.), Mud brick house x 2, Deep Creek Road. | Melbourne (Vic.) - St Paul’s Cathedral [renovation] (1964); Wreckers at Damman’s Corner, cnr Bourke and Collins Streets (1964); Princess Gate project x 2 (1964); Colonial Storekeeper’s building on cnr King and Bourke Streets (1966); Early observatory 1861-3; the Honey Memorial. | Mt Oberon (Vic.) - [obsolete] radio telephone dish. | Seymour (Vic.) - Habres (sic) House x 3.| Swan Hill (Vic.) - Major Mitchell’s Cairn (12/1964); Headstone of Andrew Beverage AM (12/1964). | Templestowe (Vic.) - Finn’s Hotel. | Thornton (Vic.) - Eildon Station. | Werribee (Vic.) - Chirnside Memorial [Presbyterian] Church; gaslight beside church | Location unknown, but possibly Swan Hill - Brick house; Wooden bullock dray. | Location unknown - Headstone of John Furlonge 1835.Important record of significant heritage properties in Victoria, many of which have since been demolished.30 page spirex bound drawing book including photographs and newspaper articles of historic buildings in Victoria. The front cover has a picture of a steam boat. The cover is encased in plastic. A number items in the album are annotated with written commentary by Eva Grant who compiled the album. Annotations and transcriptions by Eva Grant on most imageseva grant, photograph albums, heritage places - victoria