In 2005 the H.M.A.S. Warrnambool was de-commissioned in Darwin and the Mayor of Warrnambool, Cr Glenys Phillpot, was present at the ceremonies connected to this event. She obtained this sailor’s hat at that time as a souvenir of the ship. It appears to be brand new. H.M.A.S. Warrnambool was the second ship with this name. The first H.M.A.S. Warrnambool was built in Sydney in 1941 and commissioned for anti-submarine and mine sweeping duties. In 1947 it was struck by a mine in northern Australian waters and sunk with the loss of four lives. The second H.M.A.S. Warrnambool was commissioned in 1981as a patrol boat in northern Australian waters. It had steamed over 500,000 miles before the end of its working life in 2005 and had visited Warrnambool several times. This sailor’s cap is of importance as a memento of the second ship named H.M.A.S. Warrnambool and particularly commemorates the de-commissioning of that ship in 2005 in Darwin. This is a white seaman’s hat with a flat oval-shaped crown made of stiffened white material with two white metal eyelets on each side. The base has a black ribbon with a black bow and lettering in woven gold thread. Inside there is a leather band with a white bow and a navy blue ribbon to act as a chin strap. This is attached on one side only. Inside also is a white label with the maker’s information on it. H.M.A.S. Warrnambool MAPE uniform headwear of the MCH group of companies 3405-66-075-6064 E 5 R.A.N.

This is a programme of the Warrnambool City Council Civic & Thanksgiving Official Service on November 1918. The service was held in the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens, conducted by the Ministers of the Churches in Warrnambool and led by the combined choirs of the churches. It was a public occasion held to offer thanksgiving for the end of World War One in November 1918. One of the hymns sung had the opening lines: ‘O God of Love, O King of Peace/Make wars throughout the world to cease’. The service was attended by the Mayor of Warrnambool and the City Councillors and Council employees. World War One was a signal event in the history of Warrnanmbool (as it was for all places in Australia) with so many young men volunteering for active service and so many dying overseas.This programme is of great interest as it records an important occasion in Warrnambool – the end of World War One and the official service of thanksgiving that commemorated this happening. This is a programme for the Warrnambool City Council Civic & Thanksgiving Official Service in November 1918. It is a sheet of buff-coloured paper folded in two to make four pages. There is blue printed material on three of the pages. The front page has the City of Warrnambool crest printed in blue with blue edging on the page and some ornamental patterns. The inside pages has a blue sketch of the flags of Australia and Britain. The programme is faded and creased and a little blotched.warrnambool city council, history of warrnambool, world war one

This book by J. M. Barrie was a prize given in 1927 by Warrnambool High School to Janet Slade. She was born in Warrnambool in 1913 and marred Stewart Lindsay in 1935. The presenter of the prize, Cr Frederick Williamson, had a tailoring shop in Liebig Street and was a City Councillor from 1924 to 1930, 1934 to 1939 and 1942 to 1945. He was a Mayor of Warrnambool in 1944-5. George Langley was the Head Master of Warrnambool High School from 1924 to 1940. He had a distinguished military career in both World Wars One and Two. Warrnambool High School was established in 1907 and moved to its present site in Albert Park in 1961. It merged with Warrnambool North Technical School to form Warrnambool College in 1995. This book is of interest as a memento of several features of Warrnambool society in the 1920s - Warrnambool High School, a pupil, Janet Slade, an important Head Master, Colonel George Langley and a Warrnambool businessman and Councillor, Frederick Williamson. This is a hard cover book of 432 pages. It has a dark blue leather cover with a gold monogram on the front cover and gold ornamentation and printing on the spine. The book has 28 chapters. The school book plate on the first page has green ornamental edging, the Warrnambool High School shield and handwritten material in black ink. The cover and spine are somewhat faded.‘W.H.S. Nil Sine Labore, Form C, To Janet Shade For C Chemistry, presented by Cr. F. Williamson, G. F. Langley B.A., Headmaster, December 1927.’ warrnambool high school, frederick williamson, george langley, janet shade, history of warrnambool

This bottle came from the general store of Russell and Powell of Fairy Street Warrnambool. This store sold an extensive range of imported wines and spirits as well as tea, clothing materials and hardware. Samuel Giffen Russell, born in Belfast, Ireland, established his store in Warrnambool in 1878 and took Joseph Powell as a partner in 1881. The business premises in Fairy Street were built in 1882. Giffen Russell was Mayor of Warrnambool from 1898 to 1900. By the early 1900s the firm had a store in Bank Street, Port Fairy and was known as Giffen Russell and Company and the business continued under that name until the late 1940s, the proprietor at that time being Harry Lynch. The Lynch family carried on this business until the second decade of the 21st century. This stoneware bottle is of some importance as it is one of the few items we have that came from the long-established Warrnambool general store of S.Giffen Russell.This is a stone bottle in cream and brown tonings. It has a circular base and body with a short neck and a moulded top opening. There is a screw top. The inscription on the bottle is in black print.‘Russell & Powell Warrnambool and Port Fairy’ russell & powell, warrnambool, giffen russell & co., warrnambool

The information in this booklet was prepared by a University Investigation Committee formed in Warrnambool in 1961 to present the case for the establishment of a university in the Warrnambool area. The chairman of this committee was the Mayor of Warrnambool, Cr P. O’Sullivan and the secretary was W. L. George of Warrnambool. This submission was unsuccessful at the time but campaigning for a university continued. In 1961 Warrnambool Technical School in Timor Street was offering both secondary and tertiary courses in the technical and trades areas and in 1969 the tertiary section of this Technical School became the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education. The tertiary section was relocated in 1984 to Sherwood Park, a 94 hectare site on the Princes Highway five kilometres from Warrnambool’s C.B.D. In 1990 Deakin University established a regional campus at Sherwood Park after a merger with the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education. This booklet has some historical significance as it contains the information collated on the campaign in Warrnambool and the Western District for a university to be established in the Warrnambool area.This is a soft cover booklet of 48 pages. It has a beige-coloured cover with black printing. The booklet has been bound with brown tape. It has printed information, black and white photographs, a fold-out map, graphs and tables.deakin university, history of warrnambool

This is a framed photograph showing a key event in Warrnambool's history - the proclamation by Sir Arthur Stanley of Warrnambool as a city in 1918. Warrnambool was the fifth non--metropolitan town in Victoria to be declared a city and a large crowd gathered outside the Town Hall to see this event. Sir Arthur Stanley (Lord Stanley of Alderley) was an English nobleman, Parliamentarian and soldier who was the Governor of Victoria from 1914 to 1920. The photographer was Arthur Jordan who, like his father Joseph, was a prominent photographer in Warrnambool at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries and took many official photographs of civic affairs. The donor of the photograph, probably immediately after the event to the Warrnambool Museum at the time under the auspices of the Warnambool Mechanics' Institute, was George Mackay, a prominent Warrnambool lawyer, Councillor and Mayor. He was probably responsible for the framing of the photograph.This is a significant photograph as it is a record of an important event in Warrnambool's history and is a great research toolThis is a black and white photograph in a polished wooden frame with a card inset and a glass covering. The photograph shows the Governor of Victoria, Sir Arthur Stanley, in civilian dress standing on a platform outside the Warrnambool Town Hall proclaiming Warrnambool a city. Behind the Governor on the platform are many men and some women and in the foreground left is a band and in the foreground centre are Army school cadets. The photograph frame has a wooden backing with a piece of wire attached for hanging the object. In the photograph also is a columm with a sign on it.His Excellency the State Governor Sir Arthur Stanley Proclamation- Warrnambool a City 23rd May 1918 Warrnambool Museum & Art Gallery Presented by G.S.Mackay Warrnambool Arthur Jordanwarrnambool -a city in 1918, sir arthur stanley, george s. mackay, arthur jordan

This plate was probably shortened to fit an office or factory door. Alexander Robinson (1862-1932) established a coachbuilding business in Fairy Street Warrnambool in 1880. In 1883 he joined with Fred Morse to set up the coachbuilding business of Robinson and Morse. This firm was noted for its production of fine Abbott buggies. Later Morse established his own business in Warrnambool and Robinson’s business continued at Fairy Street and converted to motor car building in the early 1900s. Alexander Robinson was Mayor of Warrnambool from 1907 to 1909. In the early 1930s Robinson’s Motors was replaced by Callaghan Motors. This business traded on the Fairy Street site until 2018 but now operates from Raglan Parade. The grandfather of one of the donors of this item, Tom Smith, worked at Robinsons Motor Pty Ltd in the early 20th century. This plate is of great interest as it came from the motor car business of Robinson’s Motor Pty Ltd. The Robinson businesses (coach building & motor car building) existed in Warrnambool for over 50 years. This is a brass business plate with three small holes at each corner. The lettering etched on the plate is gold and black but the black may have been put on to the lettering at a later stage as only some of the gold lettering is still visible. The plate has been cut off on one side and part of the lettering is missing.‘Reg. Office’ ‘Robinsons Motor Pro..’ robinson & morse, history of warrnambool, robinson’s motor pty ltd, alex robinson, warrnambool

These three items give details of the medical qualifications of Dr William Dixon Saltau. Born in Warrnambool, Dr Saltau (1894-1970) was the son of Hon. Marcus Saltau. M.L.C. and Jean Saltau (nee Anton). The Saltau family had been prominent in Warrnambool affairs since Henry Saltau arrived in Warrnambool in the 1870s and founded the business of Saltau and Son – general carriers, coal, wood and produce merchants and forwarding agents. Marcus Saltau was active in Warrnambool community affairs as Mayor, Chairman of the Warrnambool Hospital Board and a long-serving State politician. William Dixon Saltau was educated at Warrnambool Academy and Scotch College and graduated from Melbourne University in 1918. He worked as a doctor in Melbourne and Adelaide hospitals and in England. He was the Medical Superintendent of the Women’s Hospital in Melbourne for 25 years and was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1947. These items are of considerable importance as they are original documents connected to the medical career of Dr William Saltau. He came from a prominent Warrnambool family and had a distinguished medical career. These are three items belonging to Dr William Dixon Saltau:- Item One: Certificate of Dr William Saltau’s admission to the British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists – a cream sheet of parchment paper with the stamp of the Royal College and black printed material and three signatures and two ornamental scrolls under the heading. Item Two: Oval cardboard cylinder to hold the certificate. It has one enclosed end and a label on the outside with a British stamp and a typed address. Item Three: A leather bound folder containing 37 pages, 34 of them with details of the medical courses completed at the University of Melbourne by Dr Saltau. The cover has a gold border. Item Three Cover: ‘University of Melbourne Certificates of the Degrees of M.B. & B.S.’saltau family, history of warrnambool, dr william dixon saltau

This letter, the first air mail letter sent to Warrnambool, was written by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir David Valentine Hennessy and carried by the aviator, Basil Watson on the first flight to Warrnambool January 24th 1917. The letter was delivered to the Mayor of Warrnambool, Cr Webb.There were several other letters delivered at the same time but this is the important official one. Basil Watson was a pioneer aviator who built his own aeroplane which was 18 feet long with a wing span of 26 feet and it had a 7 cylinder 50 H.P. Rotary Gnome engine. Watson flew from Point Cook to Warrnambool in one hour 55 minutes, an Australian cross-country flying record at the time. In Warrnambool Watson amazed the crowd with his dare-devil aerial acrobatics, looping the loop 14 times over the Warrnambool Racecourse. Basil Watson died when he crashed his plane into the sea near Point Cook, just two months after he landed in Warrnambool. This letter is of the utmost significance being the first air mail letter delivered to Warrnambool. It is an important memento of the first aeroplane flight into Warrnambool by the pioneer aviator Basil Watson. This is a cream-coloured sheet of paper folded in two to make four pages. It has handwriting in black ink on two pages. The writing is a little faded. The first page has the logo of the Melbourne Town Hall. The pages are partly torn at the folds. ‘Town Hall, Melbourne, 21/1/17. Lord Mayor’s Room, Dear Mr Mayor, I have much pleasure in sending you greetings by aeroplane piloted by my friend’s son, Mr Basil Watson. I hope when the cruel war is over and victory crowns our efforts, we all in the C’wealth will be able to fly from one state to the other. With best wishes for the New Year, …….. (signature indecipherable), D.V. Hennessy. His Worship the Mayor of Warrnambool.’pioneer aviation in the western district, basil watson, history of warrnambool

This is a booklet of 30 pages with a blue and black cover featuring an art work, a map, advertisements, black and white photographs and printed text. The booklet was stapled but the staples have been removed.non-fictionWarrnambool Tourist Bookletwarrnambool tourism, warrnambool tourist guides, warrnambool chamber of commerc

Alexander Robinson was born on the 19th March 1862 and lived on the family farm, Woody Park at Aitkins Gully Warrnambool. At 18 he moved into Warrnambool and began his coach building and automotive career with Fred Morse who was one of Warrnambool's earliest coachbuilders. The business which was situated in Fairy Street was later taken over by Callaghan Motors who operated from the same site until 2017. He married Miss Lydia Humm and they had five children. He was active in community affairs and was Mayor of Warrnambool from 1907-1909. He died in September 1932. This album has photographs dating from 1907 up to 1913 and show a variety of early motor vehicles, workers and machinery. Individual photos have names of owners some of which include John j Winter, June 1912,Dr J H Henderson August 1911, D Ronaldson Ballarat 1912, Edward Owen 1913 martin Brennan 1914. The sections inside the workshop show the engineering department, Body Making, painting and smith's shop. There are also a number of Vulcan cars for which they were agents. This album is a valuable source of early motor industry history in Warrnambool. There are many local scenes as backdrops to the vehicles . Unfortunately there are no names of people in the photos.Rectangular dark green cloth covered album which has black tape down the spine. It contains a number of photographs relating to Robinson's Motors as well as newspaper cutting. There are a number of pages which are blank.Inside front cover: handwritten " Robinson's Motor Propty Limited Warrnambool.robinson motors, warrnambool, alexander robinson, robinson coachbuilders warrnambool

The Hollywood film stars pasted on to one side of this paper are of no historical interest to our Society. The four paper items attached to the other side relate to the pioneer aviator, Basil Watson. He flew the first aeroplane to come to Warrnambool in January 1917. Watson flew from Point Cook to Warrnambool in one hour 55 minutes, an Australian cross-country flying record at the time. He had built his own aeroplane which was 18 feet long with a wing span of 26 feet and it had a 7 cylinder 50 H.P. rotary Gnome engine. In Warrnambool he amazed the crowds with his dare-devil aerial acrobatics, looping the loop 14 times over the Warrnambool Racecourse. Watson also brought several letters with him, making him the bearer of the first aerial mail to Warrnambool. Sadly Basil Watson died when his plane crashed at Point Cook in March 1917, just two months after his record-breaking flight to Warrnambool. The Warrnambool and District Historical Society has in its collection the small galvanized bucket seat which came from Watson’s plane and the original first air letter written by the Mayor of Melbourne to the Mayor of Warrnambool. These four items are of considerable historical interest as they are souvenirs issued at the time of Basil Watson’s aviation exploits in the early 1900s and Watson is of great importance in the aviation history of Warrnambool.This is a piece of paper (possibly from a scrapbook) with one torn edge. Pasted on to the paper on one side are newspaper photographs of early Hollywood female film stars. On the other side are four items relating to the pioneer aviator, Basil Watson – an airmail post card, a newspaper black and white photograph, a souvenir black and white photograph and a card with an illustration of an early aeroplane (pictured upside down). ‘The Aerial Postman Basil Watson’ ‘Official Souvenir Australian Aerial Mail’ basil watson, pioneer aviator, aviation in warrnambool’s history, history of warrnambool

This Photograph is one of a number of photographs of the Warrnambool Militia. The photograph entitled "Warrnambool First Volunteer Corps" is dated 24th May 1860. (The First Volunteer Corps began in 1855.) It was presented by James Astley Bromfield (former Mayor of Warrnambool) to Major Walter Helpmann, head of Warrnambool’s 1st Volunteer Corps in 1887. The photograph shows the Corps lined up for inspection in Timor Street, Warrnambool. The location is outside what is now the Archie Graham Centre and the camera is looking west towards Liebig Street. The town band is in the right rear corner and spectators surround the Corps. The names listed on the back of the photograph are "1. R.Bushe (Captain in command), 2. Basil Spence, 3. Thomas Mickle, 4. Alfred Davies (Sergeant), 5. Cawthray, 6. Andrew Kerr, 7. Charles Scoborio, 8. Lacy, 9. James Hider, 10. D. O’Mullane, 11. William Norman, 12. Crouthers (or Cowthers ?), 13. Francis Breckon, 14. Russ, 15. Benjamin Wycherley, 16. C. A. Cramer (Sergeant), 17. James Coulstock, 18. Robert Newton (Sergeant), 19. J.A. Bromfield, 20. Singleton (supernumery), 21. Mostyn (Drill Instructor)," On the left of the picture is Billy Adams, Barnes (road contractor) and James Mason (Bootmaker). On the right of the picture is The Band. This is one of a collection of photographs showing the development of the Warrnambool Militia from its inception as the First Volunteer Corps in 1855. The collection is of local significance as it parallels the development of the town and includes images of significant local people. A number of Warrnambool streets are named after members of the Militia. It is also historically significant because of its connection to the unrest that was taking place in Europe at this time. Photograph of Warrnambool First Volunteer Corps 1860, sepia coloured, mounted on cream card. The photograph shows the Corps lined up for inspection in Timor Street Warrnambool. The location is outside what is now the Archie Graham Centre and the camera is looking west towards Liebig Street. The town band is in the right rear corner and spectators surround the Corps. Photograph taken 24th May 1860. Has names listed on reverse side. The protograph was presented to Mayor Helpman, by Bromfield, May 1887. Title printed below base of photo on the mounting board "May. 24. WARRNAMBOOL First VOLUNTEER CORPS. 1860" On the back of the photograph is a numbered list of names, handwritten in ink. Also on the back are presentation details "Presented to Mayor Helpman, by Bromfield, May 1887". warrnambool, wolunteer corps, militia, helpmann, bromfield, flagstaff hill, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road

This is the seat from the aeroplane of Basil Watson. Photographs held by the Warrnambool and District Historical Society confirm that this was Watson’s aeroplane seat. He was a pioneer aviator who had built his own plane which was 5.5 metres long with a wingspan of 8 metres. It had a 7-cylinder 50 HP rotary Gnome engine. Basil Watson flew this aircraft to Warrnambool in January 1917, becoming the first person to fly to Warrnambool, coming from Point Cook in one hour 55 minutes – an Australian cross-country flying record at that time. Watson amazed Warrnambool crowds with his dare-devil flying, looping the loop 14 times over the Warrnambool racecourse. He also brought with him the first aerial post to arrive in Warrnambool and the Warrnambool and District Historical Society has the letter he brought written by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne to the Mayor of Warrnambool. Two months after he was in Warrnambool Basil Watson was killed when his plane crashed near Point Cook in March 1917. Parts of the plane were salvaged and the seat was donated to the old Warrnambool Museum in 1918. It remained there until the museum was dismantled in the early 1960s and it was later passed over to the Warrnambool and District Historical Society. The tag on the seat today is an old Warrnambool Museum label. This is a most significant item as it is the original seat from the aeroplane of Basil Watson, an important early aviator in Australia’s history and it is also an early 20th century memento of the many treasures from the old Warrnambool Museum (1883-1963). The seat shows the primitive nature of early 20th century aeroplanes in Australia. This is a metal (galvanized iron) seat with a semi-circular base and a curved back stretching around from one end of the base to the other end. The back has a rolled metal edging on the base and the top. On the sides are two slots with a khaki-coloured cloth strap passing through the slots. This strap has a metal buckle at the end. The metal in the seat is somewhat blotched and discoloured. A luggage label is tied to one of the slots and has a name typed on it.Mr Watsonbasil watson, aviator, old warrnambool museum, history of warrnambool

This photograph of the Warrnambool Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters was donated together with an accompanying letter written by John Lindsay on October 21st, 1997. The letter was addressed to Howard Nicholl, the Director of Flagstaff Hill at that time. The following information was gleaned from the contents of the letter and the labels attached to the photograph:- The photograph of the Cottage was taken in about 1917. The woman is Gertrude Shade, married to James Shade, who was the Warrnambool Town Council's Officer responsible for keeping records of Shipping activity entering and leaving the busy Port of Warrnambool. The couple and their children, Janet and William, were residents of the Assistant Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters at that time. The family is pictured in the garden on the west side of the building. A washhouse, these days referred to as a laundry, is behind the building and had already been removed when the Flagstaff Hill Planning Board had access to the site in 1972. The corrugated iron veranda was replaced in the 1980s with a smaller covered entry. Janet Shade married the man who lived across the road, Stewart Lindsay, in 1935. Stewart was employed by Nestle at the age of sixteen, working in the export department. He was acting Manager when the Manager became ill, supervising the loading of dairy products and biscuits into the holds of the waiting ships, where they were then exported to Indonesia. Many of the ships were registered in Liberia and the seamen were called 'lascar seamen, or Indian Sailors. Janet and Stewart had a son, John Stewart Lindsay, who was a Pharmacist, a member of the Warrnambool City Council, the Mayor of the City of Warrnambool, a former Director of Flagstaff Hill, and Chairman of the Flagstaff Hill Advisory Committee.This photograph has significance as a historical record of the Warrnambool Lighthouse Kerr'er's Quarters in 1917. The photograph connects the cottage to local families, to local industry, to the Port of Warrnambool, and to overseas exports from Warrnambool. Photograph from c. 1917 depicts the western side of the Warrnambool's Lighthouse keeper's Quarters constructed in bluestone, which was where the Assistant Lighthouse Keeper resided. The image shows the corrugated iron lean-to, and other rooms that were added to the original building after 1872, which were removed in the 1970s due to their poor condition. The members of the family pictured were residents at the time; Gertrude Shade (Mrs James Shade), her daughter Janet and her son William. Inscriptions are on the reverse and the accompanying envelope. Typed label "Gertrude Shade with William and Janet. Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage, Flagstaff Hill, Merri St Warrnambool" Stamp "John Stewart Lindsay, Pharmacist, --0 Thompson Street Warrnambool 3280" "HOWARD NICHOLL / FLAGSTAFF HILL / MERRI STREET" " KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN / Lindsay's Pharmacy / 119 Liebig Street, Warrnambool / Tel. 5561 4310" [round symbol of mortar and pestle] Typed letter (from John Lindsay to Howard Nicholl, October 21 1997)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, lighthouse keeper's quarters, lighthouse keeper's cottage, gertrude shade, james shade, janet shade, john stewart lindsay, stewart lindsay, nestle, warrnambool exports, port of warrnambool, planning board, 1917, howard nicholl, william shade, export to indonesia, janet lindsay

This booklet relates the life of Basil Watson. It tells in detail his early life, background, his home built aeroplane, his display flights and his tragic death and the story since. This year marks 100 years since one of Australia’s pioneering aviators, Basil Watson arrived in Warrnambool and delivered the first airmail to the town. Basil Watson was born in Bendigo in 1894. His interest in aviation which began at a young age, took him to England at the commencement of WW1 where he worked at Brookland in aviation workshops and as a test pilot. Despite crashing and suffering injuries he was not deterred. He returned to Australia and by 1916 Basil had built his own plane. He soon took to the air performing tricks and barnstorming to the delight of onlookers. His connection to Warrnambool lies with his delivery of the first airmail to the town, an event which was filled with much excitement. Basil Watson, pioneer aviator landed his 50hp home built aeroplane on the racecourse on Saturday January 27th 1917, after a flight from Point Cook. The trip of 166 miles took just under two hours, and set a record non-stop cross country flight for Australia. Watson was heartily welcomed by the Mayor, to whom he delivered three letters, the first aerial post to Warrnambool. One of the letters, from the Mayor of Melbourne Sir David Hennessy to the Mayor of Warrnambool is now in the W&DHS collection: I have much pleasure in sending you greetings by aeroplane piloted by my friend, Mr Basil Watson. I hope when the cruel war is over and victory crowns our efforts, we, over the Commonwealth, will be able to fly from one State to the other. With best wishes for the New Year. Yours truly, DV Hennessy. Basil Watson was unfortunately killed two months after his historic visit to Warrnambool. While participating in an air show at Point Cook, the plane he way flying that day crashed into the sea. This booklet tells the story of an interesting part of Warrnambool and Australia's aviation history. It has special significance as it enlightens two significant items in our local collection, namely the letter which he delivered and the seat from his aircraft.A small 29 page booklet with blue and white photograph of Basil Watson in his aeroplane. It contains a number of black and white and some colour photographs. Introduction from the author, "This small booklet recognises the short career of Basil Watson. He came to my attention when researching the French aviator Maurice Guillaux who carried the first official air mail in Australia, Melbourne to Sydney in two and a half days 16/18 July 1914..... Tom Lockley 1 June 2017. Handwritten inside front cover,"These items may be of interest to add to your material about Basil Watson. Its a pity that the 100 year anniversary of his flight was not more widely recognised but thank you for mounting some of his records. Tom Hockley."warrnambool, basil watson, first airmail flight, aviation career of basil watson

The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built many ships that had wheels with the same decorative, starburst pattern on them as this particular wheel segment, including the Eric the Red. The wheel was manufactured by their local Bath foundry, Geo. Moulton & Co. and sold to the Sewall yard for $100, according to the construction accounts of the vessel. Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Segment of a ship's wheel, or helm, from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red. The wheel part is an arc shape from the outer rim of the wheel and is made up of three layers of timber. The centre layer is a dark, dense timber and is wider than the two outer layers, which are less dense and lighter in colour. The wheel segment has a vertically symmetrical, decorative copper plate inlaid on the front. The plate has a starburst pattern; six stars decorate it, each at a point where there is a metal fitting going through the three layers of timber to the rear side of the wheel. On the rear each of the six fittings has an individual copper star around it. The edges of the helm are rounded and bevelled, polished to a shine in a dark stain. Around each of the stars, front and back, the wood is a lighter colour, as though the metal in that area being polished frequently. The length of the segment suggests that it has probably come from a wheel or helm that had ten spokes. (Ref: F.H.M.M. 16th March 1994, 239.6.610.3.7. Artefact Reg No ER/1.)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ship's-wheel, eric-the-red, helm, shei's wheel, ship's steering wheel

The wooden door was salvaged from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red, which was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. Eric the Red was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871, having had a 1,580 tons register. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. On 4th September 1880 the Eric the Red approached Cape Otway with a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. He ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats. The mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod and samples of wood. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Door from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. The wooden singular rectangular door includes three insert panel sections. The top section is square shaped and is missing its panel or glass. The centre timber panel is about a third of the height of the top panel and the bottom timber panel is approximately equal in height to the total height of the two upper panels. The door fastenings include both a metal door latch and traditional door bolt. They are both attached to the front right hand side of the door. The bolt is just below the top panel, and the door latch is in approximately the centre of that side. The door latch has a round mark where a handle could have been attached. The wood of the door has scraping marks in a semi-circle around the door latch where the latch has swung around on its one remaining fastening and grazed the surface. There is a metal hinge at the top section of the door on the opposite side to the latch. The painted surface has been scraped back to expose the wood. The door is shorter than the average height of a person. On the reverse of the door there are lines on the panels, just inside their edges, is what appears to be pencil. The door is not aligned straight but is skew to centre.warrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, jaques allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition 1880, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, bass strait, eric-the-red, door

This wooden sword is said to “possibly be the only remaining part of the figurehead from the sailing ship Eric the Red.” It was previously part of the collection of the old Warrnambool Museum and the entry in its inventory says “Wooden sword, portion of the figurehead, held by “Eric the Red” at the bow.” A large part of the ship’s hull was found on the rocks and a figurehead may have been attached or washed up on the shore. The shipping records for E. & A. Sewall, the builders, owners and managers of Eric the Red, are now preserved in the Maine Maritime Museum. There is no photograph on record of Eric the Red but photographs of other ships built around that time by the same company show that these did not have figureheads, and there is no record found of a figurehead for Eric the Red being ordered or paid for. Further research is being carried out. The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built Eric the Red, a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse. (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA)This carved wooden sword, recovered from the Eric the Red, is possibly the only portion of the figurehead recovered after the wreck. There are spirals carved from the base of the handle to the top of the sword. The hilt of the sword is a lion’s head holding its tail in its mouth, the tail forming the handle. The blade of the sword has engraved patterns on it. Tiny particles of gold leaf and dark blue paint fragments can be seen between the carving marks. There are remnants of yellowish-orange and crimson paint on the handle. At some time after the sword was salvaged the name of the ship was hand painted on the blade in black paint. The tip of the sword has broken or split and the remaining part is charcoal in appearance. On both the tip and the base of the handle are parts made where the sword could have been joined onto the figurehead There is a white coating over some areas of the sword, similar to white lead putty used in traditional shipbuilding. The words “ERIC the RED” have been hand painted on the blade of the sword in black paint sometime after it was salvaged.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, sword, wooden sword, eric the red, carved sword, figurehead, snake head on sword

This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Triangular shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn

This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Oblong shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn

This medal for bravery, for rescue of the crew from the shipwreck “Eric the Red” on 4th September 1880, was awarded to one of the crew of the steamer S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States in July 1881. The medal is engraved with the name “Nelson Johnson” (the anglicised version of his Swedish name Neils Frederick Yohnson). It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in 2013 by Nelson’s granddaughter. Nelson had migrated from Sweden to Sydney in 1879. The next year in 1880, aged 24, he was a seaman on the steamship Dawn and involved in the rescue of the survivors of the Eric the Red. Nelson Johnson was a crew member of the S.S. Dawn and was one of the rescue team in the dinghy in the early morning of September 4th 1880. Medals were awarded to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States, through the Consul-general (Mr Oliver M. Spencer), in July 1881 “ … in recognition of their humane efforts in rescuing the 23 survivors of the American built wooden sailing ship, the Eric the Red, on 4th September 1880.” The men were also presented with substantial monetary rewards and gifts. The city of Warrnambool’s care of the survivors was also mentioned by the President at the presentation, saying that “the city hosted and supported the crew ‘most graciously’. Previously, a week after the shipwreck, the Australian Government had also conveyed its thanks to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn “Captain Griffith Jones, S.S. Dawn, The Hon. Mr Clark desires that the thanks of the Government should be conveyed to you for the prompt, persevering and seamanlike qualities displayed by you, your officers and crew in saving the number of lives you did on the occasion referred to. The hon. The Commissioner has also been pleased to award you a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion, and a sum of 65 pounds to be awarded to your officers and crew according to annexed scale. I am, &c, W Collins Rees, for and in the absence of the Chief Harbour Master.” The Awards are as follows: - Crew of DAWN'S lifeboat-Chief Officer, Mr G. Peat, 15 pounds; boat's crew-G. Sterge, A.B., 5 pounds; T. Hammond, A.B., 5 pounds; J. Black, A.B., 5 pounds; H. Edwards, A.B., 5 pounds. Dinghy's Crew-Second Officer, Mr Christie, 10 pounds; boat's crew -F. Lafer, A.B., 5 pounds; W. Johnstone, A.B., 5 pounds; Mr Lear, provedore, 5 pounds; Mr Dove, purser, 5 pounds. Captain Jones receives a piece of plate. (from “Wreck of the ship Eric the Red” by Jack Loney) The medal’s history, according to the Editor of ‘E-Sylum’ (the newsletter of The Numismatic Bibliomania Society “… appears to be an example of an 1880 State Department medal, catalogued as LS-3 (page 322 of R. W. Julian's book, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century 1792-1892). The reverse is mostly blank for engraving, surrounded by a thin wreath. It was designed by George Morgan, chief engraver for the Philadelphia Mint, and struck in gold, silver and bronze. The one pictured here (in The Standard newspaper, 2nd July 2013) appears to be silver.” The following is an account of the events which led to the awarding of this medal. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three-masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first-class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and a hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30 am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However, he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, southwest of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its riggings, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually, the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30 am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time, they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, and its sailing time was different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey, she was commanded by Captain Jones and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight, the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much-needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship nor its cargo was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steamship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay, the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally, those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation, Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated onto Point Franklin. Some of the vessels' yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of f locating wreckage about 10 miles off land, southeast of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and flycatchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with a chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and this medal awarded for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and teapots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that was awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is similarly inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high-quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and shed around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7-foot-long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at shipbuilding in Apollo Bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children, the father of the medal’s donor being the youngest. They lived in 13 Tichbourne Place, South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". The medal for bravery is associated with the ship the “The Eric the Red which is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) This medal was awarded to Nelson Johnson by the U.S. President for bravery in the rescue of the Eric the Red crew. The obverse of the round, solid silver medal has an inscription around the rim. In the centre of the medal is the head of Liberty to the left, hair in a bun, with a sprig of leaves in the top left of a band around her head. There is a 6-pointed star below the portrait, between the start and end of the inscription. There are two raised areas on the rim, horizontally opposite each other, from the edge to just below the lettering and coinciding with the holes drilled in the edge. Slightly right of the top is a round indentation in the rim. The reverse has a wreath of leaves as a border, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bow. In the centre of the medal is an inscription, decorated with 3-pronged design and dots. The edge is plain with 2 small, rough and uneven holes horizontally opposite to each other, as though they had been used for mounting the medal at some stage. The medal has a matte finish on both sides and is slightly pitted and scratched.“PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” around the perimeter of the obverse of the medal. “TO / Nelson Johnson, / seaman of the British, / str “Dawn”, for bravery, / at risk of life, / in / rescuing the crew of / the American Ship / “Eric the Red.” “M” on obverse, truncation of the portraitwarrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, zaccheus allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, medal, nelson johnson, neils frederick yohnson, s.s. dawn, george morgan, hero

This baker’s wagon or cart transported and delivered bread and other baked goods in the Warrnambool area. It currently has advertising for H.H. Smith & Co. Henry Huntington Smith (1857-1941) owned and operated his Warrnambool bakery in the late 19th and early 20th century. However, the design of the wagon is similar to those used by local bakers in the 1930s and 1940s and probably originated from Stephenson’s Bakery in Warrnambool, which operated around that time. The wagon’s original internal shelves were removed in the early days of Flagstaff Hill so that children could have rides around the village in a horse-driven cart. BAKERS’ HISTORY There were many bakeries in Warrnambool in the 19th to mid-20th century. Each bread bakery made horse and cart deliveries in its allocated zone. SMITH’S BAKERY; – as shown on the wagon’s signage. Henry Huntington Smith (1857-1941) was born and educated in Warrnambool. He worked at Davis’ steam biscuit factory in Timor Street before he began his own bakery business in 1885 near the corner of Fairy and Koroit Streets. A few years later Smith built a new bakery on the corner of Fairy and Lava Street where it still stands today (2025) as Monaghan’s Pharmacy. The building was designed by James McLeod in 1892 as a bakehouse, shop and residence for Smith The address was known locally as Smith’s Corner. Next door to the bakery, at 136 Fairy Street, were stables built by Jobbins and McLeod in 1886 for William Cust. A photograph in the archives of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society shows the 1892 building with four fancy horse-drawn wagons on the street with white-clad drivers and a promotional stand erected with 5 bakers in uniform and the signage “H H Smith & Co, Pastry Cooks and Confectioners”. One of the wagons appears to have “H H Smith” painted on the side. H.H. Smith & Co. placed an Advertisement in the Weekly Times in December 1896 promoting its business as bakers, confectioners and pastry cooks, praising their shop as an ‘ornament to the town’ with ‘neat appointments’ and ‘dainty decorations’. It also boasted of supplying a large number of customers within a twelve-mile radius of Warrnambool. In November 1919 The Warrnambool Standard announced the marriage of Henry H Smith, Mayor of Warrnambool, to Jeannie Samson-Goodman in East Adelaide. In the same newspaper was a notice that Frank Crossley was to open as baker and pastry cook in H.H. Smith’s premises. As well as being the proprietor of the H.H. Smith Bakery, Henry Huntington Smith was a Councillor for the Warrnambool Municipality from 1913 to 1937 and Mayer for two terms. In December 1919 during his first term as Mayor, he was honoured for the work he had done with returning soldiers after World War I, receiving a document in recognition of this work, presented by the Mothers, Wives and Sisters of returned soldiers. Smith was very interested and involved in the community in many roles, including being the Vice President of the first Warrnambool and District Historical Society. STEPHENSON’S BAKERY: – believed to be the past owner of the wagon. The last owner of the bakery was Harold Stephenson. Stephenson was enlisted in the A.I.F. and was invalided home in 1943 before the end of the Second World War. He also served as a Councillor from 1958 to 1976, during which time he served six terms as Mayor for the City of Warrnambool (1966-1973) while he had the bakery. He was very involved in many local organisations including the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club and the Road Race Committee. He died in 1985, lauded as being one of Warrnambool’s “most distinguished civic leaders”. It has been said that the baker injured in World War II invented a special contraption to enable him to get up into the wagon and that he alerted his customers that he was in their vicinity by blowing a whistle. The customers would come out and choose their bread from the back of his wagon then pay him for it. However, another account is given by a man who once earned pocket money by helping the baker on his rounds. He says that it was Stephenson, the owner and manager of the bakery, and not the delivery baker who received a significant injury during the war, making him unable to climb the stairs of his upstairs accommodation at the bakery, therefore causing him to sleep downstairs. At this time in the early to late 1940 Stephenson’s bakery had three wagons, one for each of the delivery rounds. The wagons were painted black and yellow. Two of the drivers were Stan Lake and Ali (Alec) Dean who both had wagons with the covered cabin design. The third driver was Bill Lake who had a flat wagon. Stan Lake delivered in the area around Lava and Koroit Streets, Ali Dean had another round and Bill Lake had the Dennington area. Bread continued to be delivered into the 1960s but by this time the delivery vehicles were motorised. The goods produced at Stephenson’s bakery included bread baked in different shaped tins such as High Tin, Sandwich and Vienna. Some shapes were easily divided into half by breaking them apart, therefore the baker could make two-quarter loaves from a half loaf, satisfying different needs. There was the option of white or brown bread, sweet buns, fruit buns and Boston buns. The baker’s assistant was known to take great delight in ‘trimming’ the broken halves of excess bread and crust, enjoying his treat. THE BAKERY PREMISES: – Southeast corner of Fairy and Lava Streets, Warrnambool. The building retains the original cast iron veranda. Above the veranda, a motif of a wheat sheaf in ornamental plaster can be seen. Inside the building, there are still some of the original fittings. The building was classified by the National Trust in August 1979. After the Second World War, an official system of zoning was introduced as a fair way for the baking industry to operate. In 1949 different pricing was introduced by the Government for either delivered or retail purchased bread. Many of the small local bakeries went out of business after the Government banned zoning. The way was made open for the larger bread manufacturers to enter the local market with cheaper prices. Some of those companies were Mc Queens, Tip Top, Twisties, and Sunicrust, (Mc Queens ‘new’ bakery building was where the current Toyworld shop now stands, is, in the Ozone carpark.) O’Grady’s Bakery, later changing hands and known as Burkes Bakery, was on Fairy Street near the Timor Street intersection, on the North West side. There was also a bakery named Almay. The baker’s wagon is significant because of its association with H.H. Smith’s Bakery in Warrnambool.. The H.H. Smith’s Bakery building on the corner of Fairy and Lava Streets, built in 1892, is classified by the National Trust, August 1979. Smith Street Warrnambool was named after Henry Huntington Smith, who was a Warrnambool Councillor 1913 – 1937 and Mayor 1919 – 1921. Baker’s wagon, often referred to as a baker’s cart. Four wheeled horse-drawn delivery wagon, front wheels smaller than rear wheels. Wagon is clad with metal sheets and lined with varnished timber panels. Wheels have metal rims, wooden spokes and rear wheels have wooden brake pads. Horse shaft is timber with metal fittings. Front has a metal lamp holder, brake lever, metal hand grips and decorative metal foot plates. The wagon has suspension leaves on back and sides and double suspension leaves on the front. Driver’s area at front has a roof, glass side windows and wooden box seat with hinged compartment accessing wagon storage area. Door above back of seat has buckled leather handgrip strap attached, door slides open for access to wagon area. Back of wagon has a wooden step and a split door; top door has ventilation louvers, both doors have metal latches. Wagon is painted cream with brown trim and signage and green step. Remnants of red and green paint are visible; underside of seat panel is painted grey. Wagon advertises H.H. Smith & Co. Baker, a Warrnambool business established in 1885, but is of a more modern design seen around 1930’s and 1940’s and most likely belonging to Stephenson's bakery. Brown signwriting on sides of wagon “H.R. SMITH & CO. / BAKER” Brown signwriting across front of wagon “BAKER” warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, great ocean road, baker’s wagon, h.h. smith baker, warrnambool, henry h smith, jeannie samson-goodman, frank crossley, mayor of city of warrnambool, vice president of warrnambool and district historical society, stephenson’s bakery warrnambool, harold stephenson, warrnambool surf life saving club, road race committee, national trust building, stan lake, bill lake, ali dean, 19th and 20th century bakers, davies steam biscuit factory warrnambool, james mcleod building designer, jobbins and mcleod, william cust, h h smith & co, pastry cooks and confectioners, bakery trade, bread delivery wagon

The Premier towns is an award given by the Victorian state Government. It recognises positive actions by regional communities to protect and enhance their local environment. It is based on criteria relating to litter prevention and waste management, environmental and heritage management as well as activities among community groups and leadership. The following is taken from Hansard at the announcement of the awards in 1988 That the Senate- (a) congratulates the Mayor, Councillors, the Premier Town Committee, and the people of the City of Warrnambool, Victoria, for their achievement, on Saturday, 20 November 1988, in taking out the Victorian `Premier Town Award' for an unprecedented third time; (b) congratulates the business people of Warrnambool for their efforts in helping the city to win the Victorian Industrial and Commercial Development Award, including a special award for coastline preservation and studies This album is significant in that it documents an important award to the City of Warrnambool. It is also a comprehensive pictorial record of Warrnambool as it was in 1988.Volume 2. Covers Warrnambool rivers, bridges, coastal features, places of learning, clubs and sporting facilities and historical and general interest all of which have played an important role in the development of and history of the city and lives of its people.Soft brown vinyl cover with plastic cover. Pages are dark cream cover paper. A sticker with the Warrnambool Premier Town logo is inside the front cover. The album consists of photographs of various buildings and streetscapes with relevant descriptive text.Sticker inside front cover, Mr J Gietz Po Box 1007 Warrnambool Vic 3280. warrnambool, ideal town 1988-1991, victoria’s bicentennial premier town premier town awards

This leaflet published by The Great Ocean Road Trust in 1918 gives information about the proposed building of the Great Ocean Road from Barwon Heads to Warrnambool as a memorial to Victorian soldiers in World War One. The President of the Trust, which was a private company seeking donations from the public, was Howard Hitchcock, the Mayor of Geelong. The Memorial Great Ocean Road commenced in 1919 with 3000 ex-servicemen employed to build the road. In 1932 the road was completed to Apollo Bay and in 1936 the road was officially handed into the care of the State Government. This leaflet is of some significance as it shows the initial efforts by Howard Hitchcock of Geelong and a private trust to build the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. This road is today of international significance This is an unbound leaflet of 8 pages (almost A4 size) folded into two insert pages. It has 10 photographs of views along the Great Ocean Road and typed information on the Great Ocean Road Trust and its Building Appeal. It was produced in 1918.great ocean road, great ocean road trust 1918, warrnambool history, memorial great ocean road

They are the handwritten history of Methodism in Warrnambool (produced in the 1930s?) by John Ward, and early settler, North Warrnambool shopkeeper and an ex-councillor and mayor. The books contain over 100 original photographs of people connected to the Methodist Church, both clerical and lay, including women, and other Warrnambool photographs. There is also much written material on all the people connected to the church. The books were given to Warrnambool & District Historical Society Inc in March 2013 by the Uniting Church together with DVD with a digital copy of the photographs and a typed copy of the writings. [Elizabeth O'Callaghan, March 2013]Exercise books: History of Methodism in Warrnambool by John Ward Cat No: WARR These two black exercise books are most precious as they are of high historical significance. They provide an insight into the social and spiritual history of the methodists in Warrnambool Vol 1: 265pp Vol 2: 180pphistory of methodism in warrnambool, john ward

The Warrnambool Co-operative had its beginnings as the Allansford Artificial Breeders Co-operative in the 1960's. In the 1970s they opened a retail store in Timor Street which had a strong rural and farming base which gradually expanded to become the largest trading department store in the district. By the late 1990's they had 8000 members and employed 84 full time and 120 casual staff. It met a sorry end in the 2000's.This plaque commemorates the opening of the Rural store which consolidated the large rural aspect of the business. It opened up the site from Merri Street at the back of the Timor Street building trading in all agricultural products, , chemicals and fuels.A link to one of Warrnambool's largest stores of the latter part of the 20th century and as such it has historical and social significance. Rectangular brass plaque with stamped black text with eight screws around the edge attaching it to a piece of heavy particle board , painted black.Warrnambool Co-Op rural Store officially opened by the Mayor of Warrnambool Cr. Gerald Shanley on Wednesday, 8th October 1997.warrnambool co-operative society limited, warrnambool co-operative rural store, warrnambool

‘Warrnambool Past and Present’ was written and published in 1907 by Edward Vidler. It is a seminal work on Warrnambool’s history. It is noted for its historical accuracy, its complementary value to Osburne’s History of Warrnambool published in 1887 and its presentation of historically important early photographs. Edward Vidler, born in England, was a writer, historian, journalist, editor and publisher. He was in the Geelong area in the 1880s where he produced a commemorative volume on that city. He was in Warrnambool in the early 1900s where he produced his book ‘Warrnambool Past and Present’ to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of Warrnambool. He also organized the establishment of the Warrnambool Pioneer Honour Board with the portraits of 204 pioneer men from the area. John Ward was a pioneer settler in the Warrnambool area. He was a Councillor (1880 to 1911) and Mayor and had a shop at the corner of Jamieson Street and Canterbury Road. He was an historian and wrote articles on aspects of early Warrnambool and a comprehensive history of Methodism in Warrnambool. Thomas Wicking was a noted Warrnambool historian in the second half of the 20th century. These two copies are most significant. Originals of this book are rare and the book is of key importance in the recording of Warrnambool’s history. Edward Vidler, John Ward and Thomas Wicking are all of importance in the telling of Warrnambool’s story.These are two copies of the book, ‘Warrnambool Past and Present’. .1 No cover, pages 1-82, (some pages missing at the back), bound with adhesive tape, inscriptions handwritten in black, stamp of Camperdown Historical Society, front and back pages slightly crumpled and torn. .2 Replacement hard cover in brown with gold lettering, pages 1-80, (some pages missing at the back), inscriptions handwritten in pencil and blue ink. Both books contain printed text, many advertisements and over a hundred photographs and illustrations of Warrnambool and district. .1 ‘M.Whitehead’ ‘Presented to the Camperdown Hist. Soc. by Hilda Whitehead, 1988’ .2 ‘Thos. Wicking’ ‘John Ward, 24 Hampton Rd. Armadale’ edward vidler, history of warrnambool, thomas wicking

This is a token made for William Jamieson of Warrnambool in 1862. Tokens were coins made in the mid 1850s to alleviate the shortage of currency coins in Australia. They usually had the value of one penny and could only be used in the store or business designated on the coin. Two Warrnambool businesses had tokens made – those of William Jamieson and William Bateman, Junior. Born in Scotland, William Wilson Jamieson completed an apprenticeship in the ironmongery trade in that country. He worked in the ironmongery business in Melbourne before establishing ironmongery stores in Koroit and Warrnambool (Liebig Street). He was a Warrnambool Councillor (1862 to1874 & 1877 to1880) and Mayor (1866 to 1868 & 1872 to 1873). He was active in many local organizations including the Warrnambool Hospital, the Fire Brigade, the Mechanics Institute, the Villiers Building Society, the Bowling Club and the Caledonian Society. He died in 1882. This token is of great importance as it is an Australian token issued by William Jamieson and Co. of Warrnambool and so is part of the fiscal history of Australia. It is also important as it comes from one of only two businesses in Warrnambool to issue tokens. It is today a rare token. This is a round metal coin (token) with, on one side, an image of a woman holding the scales of justice in one hand and a cornucopia in the other. The other side has lettering. There is a small dent on one side of the token. Side One: ‘Australia 1862’ Side Two: ‘Liebeg Street W.W. Jamieson & Co. Storekeepers Warrnambool’ (N.B. Note the Warrnambool 1860s spelling of ‘Liebig Street’) william jamieson, australian tokens, history of warrnambool