"Freight forwarding" is the arranging of the shipping of goods from their point of origin to their final destination. Freight Forwarders worked as an intermediary between companies that needed to ship products and the shipping and transportation firms that could ensure delivery. A key element of "freight forwarding" was the advice and professional handling of documentation and customs requirements provided. Early "freight forwarders" tended to be innkeepers who forwarded on the luggage of their hotel guests. One of the first "freight forwarding" companies was established by Thomas Meadows in 1836 which made it one of the earliest freight companies in Europe. More reliable rail and steamships were beginning to be used to transport goods and this created a demand for the new "freight forwarding" industry. The combination of railroads and steamships became very important in the late 19th and early 20th century. International shipments became common and freight forwarding that could handle their complexity became an integral part of the manufacturing and shipping landscape. Thomas Meadows & Company Ltd moved to offices in Milk Street, London in 1854 (where they remained until 1969 when they moved out of the city to Leytonstone) and continued in the freight business until 1987 when the company was acquired by Rockwell International Freight. The growth of Thomas Meadows & Company Ltd coincided with the growth and development of the colony of Victoria with an increasing need for the transporting of large numbers of people as well as important goods required by the growing colony - furniture, spirits, food, clothing, agricultural implements, household items etc. In the late 1840's only two or three overseas ships a month visited Melbourne but by late 1852 (after gold was discovered) more than a dozen ships arrived each week. By 1939, Thomas Meadows & Co. Ltd. had offices in Canada, U.S.A., New Zealand, France, Belgium and in Flinders Street Melbourne. This poster was sold by "Smarts Authorised Newsagency" in 1988 in Warrnambool - a business that had been owned by Neil and Shirley Smart at 168 Timor Street, Warrnambool since 1976. Previously it had been "Reed's Newsagency and Book Shop" (a local business established by William Reed circa 1912 and known as "William Reed Bookseller and Stationer"). The original owners, Reed's Newsagency and Bookshop were operating the shop in 1939 which suggests the poster may have been on display (for the information of their customers) in their shop at that time. This poster is significant through its association with Thomas Meadows and Co. Ltd. who is considered to be the founder of the "freight forwarding" industry in the early 19th century. It is an example of advertising used by shipping agents in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. Its information includes the addresses of the firm's different offices in the U.K. and abroad, ships, shipping lines and ports used and the timetable the vessels were likely to follow. It is also significant through its association with a well known and long standing local Warrnambool business.A 1939 Timetable of "Australian Sailings" produced by the shipping agents Thomas Meadows and Co Ltd. It lists all their ships (plus dates and ports) sailing from the UK to Australia as well as the addresses of their offices in other cities in the U.K., Canada, U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, France and Belgium. It has three vertical columns depicting (from left to right) January to June sailings, a simple 1939 calendar and their July to December 1939 sailings. The poster is attached on the top and bottom to two thin black metal strips. The top strip has a metal ring with a hole. A stamped label on the back of the poster has the name, telephone number and address of Smarts newsagency plus the date.Front of poster - "FORWARDING AGENTS. INSURANCE BROKERS.PASSENGER AGENTS.CARTAGE CONTRACTORS / MOTOR CAR AND MACHINERY PACKERS.FURNITURE AND GENERALEXPORT PACKERS" "THOMAS MEADOWS & CO Ltd." "ESTABLISHED OVER 100 YEARS" "SHIPPING AGENTS / 35 MILK STREET, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON, E.C.2" "PACKING WAREHOUSES IN LONDON & MANCHESTER" "1939" "TIME TABLE OF AUSTRALIAN SAILINGS" "JANUARY TO JUNE, 1939/ FROM LONDON" "JULY TO DECEMBER, 1939 / FROM LONDON" "HAVE YOUR SMALL PACKAGES SENT BY OUR SPECIAL "SMALLS" SERVICE AT LOWER RATES/RATES TO PORT ONLY OR INCLUDING DELIVERY THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA" "INSURANCE AGAINST ALL RISKS EFFECTED WITH CLAIMS PAYABLE DESTINATION" "ROUTE YOUR SHIPMENTS VIA THOMAS MEADOWS & CO LTD. FOR PROMPTNESS AND ECONOMY" Stamp on back of poster - "SMART'S AUTHORISED NEWSAGENCY' "168 Timor Street, Warrnambool 3280" "Telephone: (055) 62 2092" "12 DEC 1988" Sticker at bottom - "51"flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, great ocean road, shipping, shipping agents, freight forwarding, freight, shipping time table, thomas meadows & co. ltd., thomas meadows shipping agent, shipping and forwarding agent, smart's newsagency, warrnambool, warrnambool newsagency, chart, poster, smart's authorised newsagency, neil and shirley smart, william reed, reed's newsagency and bookshop

Colour photograph: Beck's Crown Hotel, Hargreaves Street, Bendigo. Image shows two storey hotel, white painted, brown writing 'Beck's Crown Hotel' on top storey façade. Simple pediment on top of hotel. Cars parked at parking meters in Hargreaves Street. Cantilever verandah in front of hotel. VACC Insurance Col Ltd., and Beck Sheahan & Co. names on verandah. Extreme RH side, Robbs. Large crane in LH background, behind Shamrock Hotel. Construction of multi-storey carpark visible on LH side, fronting Hargreaves Street. Early 1980's ?.bendigo, hotel, beck's crown hotel

This site was later occupied by Mitton's pharmacy. James Henry Pollard appears on the 1903 electoral roll as a painter in Canterbury Road (in one of the buildings that made up Hansen's Terrace.)The Union Road shops are covered by a City of Boroondara Heritage Overlay. This particular shop has changed very little with some alteration to the upper storey when it was repurposed for residential dwelling.Black and white photo of James Henry Pollard's shop at 139 Union Road, Surrey Hills in 1930. It is a 2 storey brick building with 2 glass display windows either side of the door and a corrugated iron roofed verandah supported on 3 posts. Above is a dwelling with 2 sash windows and an interior balcony within an arch. A wooden paling fence adjoins on the left. The side of the building and the front pediment carry advertising for the business. From this it appears that James Henry Pollard was an insurance agent for Guardian Assurance Company as well as being a house painter and decorator. There is a deciduous tree in the front of the shop.businesses, shops, mitton's pharmacy, guardian assurance company, union road shops, james henry pollard, painter, decorator

This item has come from the business of J.P.McMeekin of Warrnambool. It would have been sold or given to clients of the business for promotion purposes. The father of James McMeekin, with his brother, William, established their business in Warrnambool in the early 1880s with land, estate and insurance agencies and a produce store, including a dairy produce trade exporting butter to South Australia, South Africa and England. The business was initially in Fairy Street Warrnambool and then moved to Kepler Street. James McMeekin’s son, also James Parker McMeekin (1885-1935) continued on with the business until his death.His pen is of interest as an example of the type of promotion item issued by business men in Warrnambool in the 1930s. This is a pen with a brown-coloured wooden body tapering to a point at its end. It has a metal band at the other end with a metal nib inserted. The end of the pen is slightly broken and the nib is rusted. J.P.McMeekin Produce Merchant Warrnambool Phone 263j.p.mcmeekin, history of warrnambool

Conditions of sale by private contract dated 5th July, 1941 between B. Hocking (seller) and Mrs. I.F. Stephenson (buyer) for land situate 25 Reginald Street, Bendigo being Crown allotment 7 section 104C land described in certificate of title volume 2684 folio 536778, together with 5-roomed weatherboard dwelling and all sundry. Also all electric globes and shades, all wire doors and screens and ''Main'' gas stove connected in place of present gas stove. Price 400 pounds. This is the office copy, attached: copy of insurance policy and city of Bendigo rates notice and receipts of paymentsorganization, business, h.a. & s.r wilkinson real estate

This book contains the Constitutions of the Freemason Lodges in Victoria. Freemasonry is a world-wide benefit society. Moves were made in the 1860s to establish a Masonic Lodge in Warrnambool with the first Lodge being St. John’s (No. 895). The Masonic Hall in Kepler Street was built in 1870. This book belonged to a member of the Flaxman family and John Flaxman was a prominent Warrnambool resident in the 19th century – an insurance agent and moneylender in the 1860 and 70s and an employee of the auctioneer, Samuel Macgregor. The book, however, seems to belong to a W. Flaxman. John Flaxman had a brother William but, as far as can be ascertained, he did not live in Warrnambool. There is nothing known so far to link this book with Warrnaambool but it is kept because of the name ‘Flaxman’ and so it may have some relevance.This is hard cover book of 142 pages. The cover is blue with gold lettering on the front cover. The cover is slightly marked. The inscription on the first page is handwritten in black ink. ‘Br W.S.B.J.Flaxman 24-2-25’ william flaxman, freemasonry in warrnambool

This is a set of 12 photographs of contractors removing a vehicle from the lake at the Army Survey Regiment, Fortuna, Bendigo in September 1986. The Ford XB panel van belonging to WO2 Ted Burgess rolled down the embankment during the night from the SGTs Mess carpark. Despite written off by the insurance company, the panel van was remarkably restored by Ted to roadworthy condition and driven in to Fortuna with a shark’s fin mounted on its roof. This incident is covered in more detail in page 152 of Valerie Lovejoy’s book 'Mapmakers of Fortuna – A history of the Army Survey Regiment’ ISBN: 0-646-42120-4.This is a set of 12 photograph of a civilian vehicle being removed from the lake at Army Survey Regiment at Fortuna, Bendigo, September 1986. The photographs were on 35mm negative film and were scanned at 96 dpi. They are part of the Army Survey Regiment’s Collection. .1) to .3) - Photo, black & white, 1986. Vehicle removal from lake. .4) - Photo, black & white, 1986. Vehicle removal from lake, Neil Morgan in foreground. .5) to .8) - Photo, black & white, 1986. Vehicle removal from lake. .9) to .10) - Photo, black & white, 1986. Vehicle removal from lake, Neil Morgan on right. .11) to .12) - Photo, black & white, 1986. Vehicle removal from lake.No personnel are identified. Annotated with date on negative sleeve.royal australian survey corps, rasvy, army survey regiment, army svy regt, fortuna, asr

This is a directory of towns giving distances fro Melbourne, populations. There is an entry on Orbost listing the contemporary businesses.Directories are an effective way of researching businesses and trades in small trades. Many small businesses needed to ensure the public was aware of their activity and one of the better ways to do this (in an age before media dominated) was via a directory. Advertisements in the directories often provide extra valuable information . This item is a useful research tool for Orbost in the late 19th century.A heavy, thick, hard-covered book with a red cover and gold print. On the spine in gold print is the title, "Victoria Post Office Commercial Directory 1895 - 6" and some advertisements. There is an index at the front. Inside people are named with their addresses under: Alphabetical directory (colony-wide); Trade and professional directory Towns and districts directories;Other sections including names but usually not addresses:Commerce management, banking, insurance companies, exporters of English goods to Victoria Government, MPs, heads of departments, clergy, University of Melbourne academic staff, teachers in private schools medical practitioners, hospitals, dentists, pharmacists courts, judicial officers, barristers, solicitors, Justices of the Peace .on page edges - "TOWNS, ALPHABETICAL TRADES, ENGLISH SECTION"directory-post-office directory-commercial orbost-c19th-businesses

This poster was one of a set produced for towns in Australia. It was adapted to suit the requirements of the location. It contains not only the names of soldiers, but also photographs of war leaders, such as Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Hay, Marshall Ferdinand Foch and General Sir William Birdwood. The roll of honour is surrounded by collector’s cards depicting battle scenes. It also contains the dates and details of war events from 1914 to 1919 and advertisements for several local businesses such as J.W.Bird & cO.; Victorian Producers Co-Operative; Tomlis & Gall; McKinnon & Sons; Co-Operative Insurance Co of Victoria; Epplestun & RodwellThis item is a useful research tool.A poster, titled, "Chronological Record Great War 1914 - 19". It has a sub - heading - "Orbost District" beneath two crossed flags, an Australian and a British. The roll of honour is surrounded by collector’s cards depicting battle scenes. It also contains the dates and details of war events from 1914 to 1919 and advertisements for several local businesses. In each corner is a coloured photograph of a man in a military uniform.ww!-roll-of-honour-orbost

A play about front-line warfare on the Western Front written by a soldier who served in the front line in France for over a year. Sherriff became an insurance agent who wrote plays to raise money for his rowing club. He wrote a novel and the he turned to the new art form, the talking film, becoming Hollywood's highest-paid script-writer. His credits include screenplays for: The Invisible Man; Lady Hamilton; Goodbye Mr Chips; The Dam Busters; Odd Man Out; Quartet and Mrs Miniver. The play was directed by Mick Rodger; The Director of the MTC was John Sumner with Assistant Director Ray Lawler.Paper program; coloured cover; 16 p. includes articles about the play and the actors.the university of melbourne, melbourne theatre company, journey's end, r c sherriff, athenaeum theatre, john stanton, mick rodger, ray lawler

Thomas Couch Watts c. 1865 - 30/10/1914 was a Bendigo Real Estate Agent, initially in View St and later at 253 Mitchell Street. He married Alice Maud Glasier in 1888. His son Raymond Leigh Watts b. 1894 was admitted as a partner in the business in 1915 when he qualified as an Insurance Agent. Raymond died in 1929 aged 35. Thomas became an auctioneer and Real Estate Agent c. 1904 after initially running a book and stationery store in View Street with his brother Edward. Thomas and his family resided at "Ottawa" in Rowan Street, Bendigo.Green hardcover ledger book. The ledger has 354 pages and it lists the name, addresses and the amount of rent received. The period covered is from 1940 to 1958Two stamps on the first two pages with the name T.C. Watts and son 253 Mitchell Street Bendigo & Districtestate agent, rent book