Steering Gear Operation: All steering was done from the stern of the ship and a steering mechanism was used to connect the rudder to the ship's wheel, often housed in a box-like construction behind the helm. The rudder was, in turn, mounted on a pintle or stern-post held in place by gudgeon's (sockets). The steering was activated with lines attached to the blocks on the two threads (half left hand, half right hand) of the steering gear. As the helmsman turned the helm in the direction in which he wished the ship to travel, the central screw of the steering gear, which was attached to the back of the helm, turned horizontally. This caused the rods on either side of the gear to move backwards or forwards at the same time, which then turned the pintle and rudder to port or starboard. A brief history of the Newfield (1889-1892): - The Newfield was an iron and steel sailing barque of 1306 tons, built in 1889 by Alexander Stephen & Sons Dundee (Yard No 89) for Brownelles & Co., Liverpool. The Newfield was on a voyage from Sharpness to Brisbane on 29 August 1892, with a cargo of 1850 tons of fine rock salt. The Cape Otway light had been sighted in squally, bumpy weather, but the captain was under the impression it was the King Island light. The ship’s chronometers were wrong, and orders were given to tack the ship away from the light, which headed it straight for the cliffs of the Victorian coast. The vessel struck rocks about 100 yards from shore, and five feet of water immediately filled the holds. The captain gave orders to lower the boats which caused a disorganised scramble for safety among the crew. The panic resulted in the deaths of nine men, including the captain when they drowned after the boats capsized in heavy seas. The seventeen men who regained the ship decided to wait until daylight and rowed to Peterborough in the ship’s jolly boat and gig after locals had failed to secure a rocket apparatus line to the ship. The Marine Board inquiry found the wreck was caused by a "one-man style of navigation" and that the captain had not heeded the advice of his crew.The Newfield wreck and its collection of recovered items are heritage listed and are regarded as historically significant. They represent aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and their potential for us today to interpret the maritime history and social themes of the time. The assemblage of various Newfield artefacts held in the Flagstaff Hill Museum is not only significant for its association with the shipwreck but helps archaeologists when examining the relationship between the objects to better understand our colonial marine past.Ship’s steering gear, cast iron, consists of a long round metal rod into which gears have been machined. The thread of the gear from one end to almost the centre winds in a left hand direction while the thread of the gear from the other end to almost the centre winds in the right hand direction. Each end of the rod has a metal coupler attached and two narrower round rods are also attached to the coupling, one each side of the gear rod, the same length as it and parallel to it. Two more ‘S’ shaped couplers are joined to the gear rod. Each of these have an opening through which the gear rod is threaded and can move along. There is another opening in these couplers through which one of the narrower rods is threaded. The other end of this coupler has half length metal rod attached to it by a bolt through the ring at the end of the rod. One end of the steering gear still has the brass hub of the ship’s wheel solidly attached. The hub no longer has its wooden spokes but the ten holes for the spokes can be easily recognised.Noneflagstaff hill, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, peter carmody, carmody, newfield, shipwreck, peterborough, south west victoria, rocket, rocket crew, shipwreck artefact, flagstaff hil maritime museum, steering, steering gear, screw steering gear, sailing ship

Two copies of document : nineteen handwritten pages of notes on 'The Rich Victoria Hill and Its Historical Association' Signed by A Richardson and dated 30 - 8 - 1971. and a typed copy of same. Notes include: Introduction, Hotels, Mines, Mining History and descriptions of features where the signposts are. Mines mentioned in the text are: North Old Chum. Ballerstedt's first open cut, Lansell's Big 180. 20 head stamper, Lansell's Cleopatra Needle, Victoria Quartz Mine. Cleopatra's Needle was a square sectioned brick chimney with this four sided pyramidal chimney top with four vents to allow the smoke to escape whatever the direction of the wind. It was demolished in the 1950's as it had a bend in it and it was considered unsafe. Lansell had two other mines with similar chimneys, the '222' in Chum Street and his 'Sandhurst' or 'Needle' mine near the Bendigo, Eaglehawk boundary. Notes prepared by Albert Richardson.mine, gold, victoria hill, victoria hill, the rich victoria hill and it's historical association, j. n. macartney, quartz miner's arms hotel, ironbark methodist church, greek orthodox church, john brown knitwear factory, little 180 mine, geo lansell, conrad heinz, british & american hotel, victoria reef gold mining coy, manchester arms hotel, housing commission homes, ironbark (victoria reef gold mines, hercules and energetic, midway, wittscheibe, gt central victoria, wm rae, mr & mrs conroy, wm rae jr, central nell gwynne, moorhead's shop, gill family, gold mines hotel, david chaplin sterry, pioneer, new chum and victoria, burrowes and sterry, new chum and victoria tribute, rotary club of bendigo south, big 180, victoria quartz mines, jeweller's shop, bendigo and district tourist association, north old chum mine, john wybrandt, ballerstedt's first open-cut, j c t christopher ballerstedt, ballerstedt's mine, bendigo cemetry, lansell's 'cleopatra nedle' type chimney, 222 mine, sandhurst or 'needle' mine, victoria quartz mine, victoria reef quartz company, mr e j dunn, eureka ext'd, new chum railway, pearl, bendigo advertiser 16 june 1910, victoria consols, shamrock, shenandoah, victoria quartz dams, rae's open cut, prospecting tunnels, floyd's small 5 head crushing battery, gt central victoria (midway) shaft, midway no 2, midway north, ballerstedt's small 24 yard claim, the humboldt, the tribute coy, advance, luffsman and sterry's claim, a round shaft, chinese joss house, lansell's fortuna, p m g repeater station, a richardson

The Mark II Pilot Balloon Slide Rule was made of wood laminated with heavy white plastic with a length of 24.5-in. and width of 2.5 inches. Mark II rules were manufactured in Australia by W & G (Melbourne). The W & G rule differs only slightly from the English A. G. Thornton LTD rule. The W & G rule uses serif fonts and has some fiducial marks that the English rule lacks. Exact dates of production are not known but the MK II is known to have started production by 1927. The printed scales are engraved in the plastic faces. The slide rule has 4 captive cursors (glass windows and brass guides) that ride in slots on the top and bottom edges. Each can be moved independently of one another. The cursors are missing from this item. Brass knobs at both ends of the slide facilitate its movement. The case is fabric covered wood with felt lining. No known history for this item as located in a property after purchase. The Pilot Balloon slide rule is used to convert the observed azimuth and elevation readings into wind velocity and direction records. The use of slide rules was abandoned with the wide spread adoption of computers and programs to do the calculations, as well as the decline in the use of optical pilot balloon theodolites.Made in Australia by White & Gillespie (Melb) Pty Ltd. Established in 1910, the firm was involved mainly in printing plate manufacture, but during the Second World War it manufactured a variety of navigational aids and range finding devices for the military. About 250,000 instruments were made during that period. After the war the company produced, among other items, drawing instruments and slide rules. The long narrow case is fabric covered wood with felt fabric lining containing a long black laminate ruler with numerous white markings and numbers. Top of the ruler is in three sections with the centre section movable by small gold metal knobs at either end. This slide rule contains a engraved notation on the rear face "IMPORTANT. NORMALLY NUMBER OF GRATICULE SCALE DIVISIONS PER RADIAN (K) X LENGTH OF TAIL IN FEET (I) = 12X 105. IN OTHER CASES MULTIPLY GRATICULE READINGS BY 1.2/KI BEFORE CALCULATION ON RULE" Top of Slide Rule - RAAF Ident No G268/480 Serial WG/22pilot balloon slide rule, raaf