Presbyterian Church Reefs Pleasant Creek. Built 1860. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell in 1866 for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This first Presbyterian church was built in Church Street and was of a modest design as it was to be only a temporary house of worship. The first services were held here on Sunday, August the 23rd, 1860. The present church, St Matthews Uniting Church is situated in Scallon Street and the first service were held there in 1869. House on left with picket fence and striped verandah roofing. Wooden Church Building on right.stawell religion

Wesleyan Church Main Street Reefs. Opened 1863. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This brick church, later known as the Wesley Centre, was opened for service on Christmas Day 1863. It was situated in the Main Street alongside the Town Hall which was constructed in 1872. The church was demolished for a car park in the 1980’s. Brick church building with two ornate towers beside front doors.stawell religion

Common School Pleasant Creek 502. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The site for the school pictured was reserved in October 1864 and the building was opened in 1865. The brick building is still in use and is at the rear of the current 502 Primary School buildings, Barnes Street. Large brick and stone school building with students and teachers at front.stawell education

Saw Mills Halls Gap (Childe’s Glenbower Creek). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. During the years of gold, the hardwood forests around Stawell were ravaged to provide timber for the mines. It was used undergrounds to shore up workings, and millions of feet of it were fed into furnaces and kilns in which the quartz was roasted. In the years after the gold boom, hardwood from the Grampians was milled for building timber. Wherever there are large tracts of natural bushland, fires are always a danger. A huge fire in January 1939 caused havoc in the Grampians, burning out towns and sawmills such as the one pictured. There have been no sawmills in the Grampian since that fire. stawell industry

Grampians Halls Gap (Barney’s Castle). Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. In 1880 a branch line from Stawell Railway Yards was built to Heatherly Quarry, to carry stone for part of Parliament House Melbourne, the GPO in Elizabeth St, the Harbour Trust buildings, additions to the Melbourne Town Hall, the Stawell Courthouse Patrick Street and the Stawell Catholic Church in Patrick St. The line was taken over by the Railways Department in June 1905 and was closed in March 1949. It has since been removed but remnants of the machinery and buildings are visible at the quarry site. stawell

Fountain Head Brewery Armstrong's. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The brewery, a three-storey high building, was established close to two streams which joined the Concongella Creek near Armstrong, although the water required to run the brewery was obtained from a natural underground spring which is still visible. Further findings of Gold in Victoria around 1859-1860 brought a large rush of miners to the area. Some stayed on to become merchants, farmers, etc. Jens Kofoed, a shipwright from the Netherlands, was one who came to the area at this time. He and his family move to Armstrong in 1860, establishing the Fountain Head Brewery, which employed quite a number of people for about 40 years. stawell industry

Allanvale Home Station. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. Allanvale was taken up about 1841 by John Allen, who was the son of George Allan of Allanvale, near Launceston in Van Diemen's Land. He selected 80,000 acres between present day Stawell and Ararat. The property was gradually reduced in size, with the first split occurring in the 1840s with the annexation of Concongella Selection due to a land dispute. J.S. Davidson was the occupier of Allanvale at the time this photograph was taken. The homestead pictured here was destroyed by fire at the end of the First World War and replaced by a new building around 1923. The present owners of Allanvale are the Kilpatrick family A note on the Allan family. On the 15th of March 1845, John Allen's 26 year old wife died at the birth of their third child, a daughter, who also died several weeks later. Elizabeth Allen had been a dear friend of Mrs Horatio Wills of neighbouring Lexington station. Eliza and her daughter were buried side by side in the garden of Lexington homestead. She was said to have been the first white woman to have died in the district. Homestead and stables on left with people on verandah and orchard in foreground.stawell great western

Upper Main Street looking East. Poppet Heads in Background. Oriental Bank second on left then Quartz Reef Timber Yards. Intersection is Layzell St Main Street. Advertiser Office on right in front of Earlier Mechanics Institute. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. View of the top end of Main Street 1866 with the Commercial Hotel in the left foreground. On the right is the Advertiser Newspaper office an Ararat newspaper before one was started in Stawell. The building on the right with the ladder in front was the Mechanics Institute later burned down twice. Upper Main street with Poppet Heads in the background, the Oriental Bank second on left & then Quartz Reef Timber Yard 1867. Lots of people and wagons in street. Advertiser Office on right and earlier Mechanics Institute with ladder at front.Upper Main Street Reefs 1867stawell mining streetscape

Pleasant Creek Stawell from Church Hill. Shire Hall at left under construction. Pleasant Creek Court House visible at centre. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866 This is a photo of what was known as Pleasant Creek but was officially Stawell 1866. It is taken from Church Hill in front of the then Church of England. This would have been at what is now about 27 Seaby Street. Note: the Pleasant Creek Courthouse about centre of the picture. Buildings at centre distance with bare ground and a few trees in foreground. Pleasant Creek Courthouse at centre of image.stawell

Telegraph Office Pleasant Creek Stawell. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The first post was office was erected at Commercial Street, Pleasant Creek in the goldfields, in June 1858, by J Harding and was a portable one. In October 1860 the first permanent Telegraph Office was erected by Cormick and Irvine for £329. In the same month the Post Office was removed from Commercial St in the Goldfields to the rear of the Telegraph office in Stawell. In February 1862 Edmond Johnson was appointed manager of Electrical Telegraph, Collector of Imposts and acting Postmaster. This building was later used as a private dwelling. It is situated in Lesley Street at the rear of the Pleasant Creek Courthouse although the right-hand wing has been removed. stawell

Court House and Cells Pleasant Creek Stawell. Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. The first courthouse was built at Pleasant Creek Stawell by William Scobie for the sum of £1975 in September 1858. A further sum of £1832 was spent on the building by J. Francis in January 1860. Pleasant Creek Court House was used as a court of Petty sessions, County Court, Court of Mines, and a Court of General Sessions before the newer Stawell Court House in Patrick Street was built. Later it was used as a police barracks then private home. stawell government

Report of proceeding, exhibition trustees. 1895 and 1896. 12 pagesmelbourne, exhibition buildings, melbourne, exhibition buildings, heritage, reports

Upper Main Street Reefs looking East towards Big Hill taken from front of Joyce's Hibernian Hotel . Part of a collection of Photographs by Mr. O.G. Armstrong as commissioned by the Shire of Stawell for the Inter-colonial and Paris Exhibition in Melbourne in 1866. This scene was taken in 1866 in Main Street from in front of Joyce’s Iberian Hotel on the left, the site of the present townhall. It is looking uphill and eastward with Big Hill in the far background. The Hibernian Hotel was built on Commercial Street Pleasant Creek Goldfields in 1858 and was moved to Main Street Reefs, the present site of the Town Hall by Mr. & Mrs. Joyce. It was later destroyed by fire and the Town Hall built on its location. Street scene with buildings in distance and Big Hill in far distance.stawell streetscape

This coloured postcard with a photograph of the Exhibition Building in the centre with crossed hands above & the flags of Australia & the United States on either side was a souvenir of the visit of the Great White Fleet in 1908. There is also a representation of the Statue of Liberty on the left & the Australian Coat of Arms on the right. The sender of the postcard had travelled to Melbourne to shop at Foy's and to see the Great White Fleet.Addressed to Miss Bennett, Campbells Creek, Castlemaine. armed services - navy, celebrations, great white fleet

This majestic peacock embodies the technical achievement, skill and ingenuity of artisans during the 19th century. It is now known as the 'Loch Ard Peacock' and was designed and modelled in 1873 by Paul Comolera (1818-1897) and fired in one piece at the Minton factory at Stoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom in 1875. The peacock has been portrayed in symbolic motifs and has figured heavily in folktales and fables since antiquity, and many cultures around the world see it as a symbol of beauty, rebirth and power. Wealthy Victorians loved majolica, and the large peacock would have been the ultimate home accessory as a conservatory ornament – combining their desire for nature, the exotic and vibrant colours. The peacock model was listed in catalogues by Minton & Co. for a retail price of 35 guineas or sold as a pair for 90 guineas. Minton & Co. was founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton (1765–1836) and became a famous pottery and porcelain manufacturer. Comolera was a French artist and sculptor, renowned for dramatic naturalistic forms and life-size renditions of birds and animals that won him admiration in public and artistic circles. He was employed by Minton & Co. from 1873 to 1880, and the life-sized peacock became his best-known work. Comolera kept a live peacock loaned from the nearby Duke of Sutherland's Trentham Hall Estate in his studio to create a life-size model of fine buff earthenware model, which was then hand painted in brilliantly coloured green and blue glazes to mimic the peafowl’s dazzling plumage. There are no surviving production records, but according to documents in the Minton Archive, nine peacocks were made by Comolera. However, today, some historians now believe that twelve were fired at the Minton factory; research is ongoing. These peacocks were so admired that Minton & Co. used them as exhibition showpieces at International Exhibitions in London, Paris, and the United States of America, ensuring the company had a worldwide reputation. So, when Melbourne hosted an International Exposition in 1880, Minton & Co. sent out ceramics and tiles, and in particular, this peacock was intended to be part of their exhibit in the British Court in the Exhibition Building, built in the Carlton Gardens. The early dispatch date (1878) indicates that the company may have intended to exhibit their wares, including the peacock, at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, but the company did not take up this option. The ship that Minton & Co. used to bring the peacock and their other wares to the Australian colonies was the ill-fated Loch Ard, which sunk after striking Mutton Bird Island near Port Campbell, Victoria, in calm foggy weather in June 1878 on the final leg of the ship's journey to Melbourne. The loss of 52 lives made it one of Victoria’s worst shipwrecks. Therefore, this peacock never made it to the grand exposition in Melbourne, as Minton & Co. had planned. Charles McGillivray dragged this peacock, still in its original packing case, onto the beach in the gorge just two days after the Loch Ard went down. The peacock was rescued unscathed apart from a chip on its beak (only repaired in 1988). After a disagreement with a Melbourne Customs Officer, Joseph Daish, McGillivray stopped his salvage operations, leaving the peacock on the beach. The second salvagers were James Miller and Thomas Keys. Miller was a member of the firm Howarth, Miller and Matthews, Geelong, who had brought the salvage rights to the Loch Ard wreck on 10 June. When Miller and Keys arrived at the wreck site, a storm had washed many of the salvaged goods, including this peacoc,k back into the sea. The two men found the peacock in its case ‘bobbing along in the water’ and pulled it back to the beach. To ensure the peacock wasn't washed out to sea again, Miller and Keys hauled the packing case containing the peacock up the gorge's cliff face to the top, ready to be transported. In an interview in 1928, Keys claimed that at the time of the rescue, the head had broken from the body. This account was proven to be true in 1988, following the birds' display in Brisbane. This peacock began its life in Australia, not in the grandeur of an International Exhibition as intended, but in the hallway of a simple domestic house in Geelong. It appears Minton & Co. did not attempt to buy this peacock back. Florence Miller, daughter of James Miller (Loch Ard salvage rights holder), later remarked that the only item of real value rescued from the wreck had been the peacock and that this had been kept by her father in the family home at Malvern for many years and became a treasured family possession. As such, this 'Loch Ard peacock' was almost forgotten and mistaken with other Minton peacocks around the world. Miss Florence Miller tried to sell the peacock due to financial difficulties in the 1930s but was unsuccessful. While attempting to sell her Loch Ard relic, it was displayed in the window of the old Argus newspaper office, which was at 76 Collins Street, Melbourne; the Argus had relocated to the corner of Elizabeth and La Trobe Streets in 1926. Between 1935 and 1939, the old Argus building was occupied by the Joshua N. McClelland Print Room, which sold not only paintings and prints but also antiques and authentic replicas, as well as hosting exhibitions. Miss Florence Miller loaned her peacock for display at the Victorian Historical Exhibition held in the National Gallery on 1st June 1935, the 57th anniversary of the Loch Ard wreck. As a result, the peacock attracted public attention in books, newspapers and magazine articles that told the story of its survival from a shipwreck. Miss Florence Miller was keen to sell the peacock, even writing overseas to Captain Blain on November 30th, 1938, about the possibility of a sale, but this became no longer possible due to the outbreak of war. Recent information points to the Loch Ard peacock being owned by John S R Heath before its sale to Frank Ridley-Lee in May 1941. Research is ongoing, but it seems likely that John Samuel Robert Heath, a leading Melbourne dentist with a practice in Collins Street, and his wife, a dental mechanic, had purchased Miss Miller’s Loch Ard peacock before its sale in 1941. They were lovers of fine arts, music, wine and food. The peacock in the window of the old Argus building could have attracted their attention as they had already purchased the old stone Presbyterian Church on Warrigal Road, Oakleigh, in 1933 and had converted its interior. The home, renamed The Studio, even included Melbourne’s first all-electric kitchen. The peacock was perfect for display in the Studio’s entrance. A magazine article published after the conversion was completed included photographs of the interior. The picture of the ‘portico’ had a caption below that stated, “Some of her [Mrs Heath’s] finest pottery was salvaged from the Loch Ard Wreck”. In 2025, Heath’s two remaining sons remember running around in the entrance with the peacock standing there, oblivious to its value. Heath was an accomplished artist, studying under Max Meldrum. He painted and exhibited his works at The Studio and in a public exhibition, and he was a finalist eight times in the coveted Archibald Prize portrait competition, including the submission of his self-portrait that is now part of his grandson’s collection. The next owner of the Loch Ard Peacock was Frank Ridley-Lee. He displayed it at his home in Ivanhoe after buying it at an auction in May 1941. The peacock remained in the hands of the Ridley-Lee family until it was offered for sale by auction in 1975 as part of an art collection belonging to Mrs Ridley-Lee's estate. The peacock was not sold at this time, as the reserve price of $4500 was not met. This news was passed on to the board of the newly created Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Urgent efforts were made to collect the necessary money through fundraising by the Warrnambool City Council and public donations. The Fletcher Jones Company and the Victorian Government contributed half the cost. On 9 September 1975, the Loch Ard peacock was purchased by Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and it found a new home at the maritime museum. Since then, it has only left Warrnambool twice. Firstly, in 1980, at the centenary celebrations of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, and secondly, in 1988, the peacock was given pride of place at the entrance to the Victorian Pavilion at the Brisbane World Expo, acknowledging that this Minton Majolica peacock is the most significant shipwreck object in Australia. The Minton majolica peacock is considered of historical social and aesthetic significance to Victoria and is one of only a few 'objects' registered on the Victorian Heritage Register (H 2132), as it is a most notable and rare object associated with the Minton factory of the 1870s and works by the celebrated sculptor Paul Comolera along with the wreck of the Loch Ard on the Victorian coastline. This Minton peacock is historically significant for its rarity; it was one of only 9-12 known to exist. The shipwreck of the Loch Ard is also of significance for Victoria and is registered on the Victorian Heritage Register Ref (S 417). Flagstaff Hill has a varied collection of artefacts from Loch Ard and its collection is significant for being one of the largest accumulation of artefacts from this notable Victorian shipwreck. The collections object is to also give us a snapshot into history so we can interpret the story of this tragic event. The collection is also archaeologically significant as it represents aspects of Victoria's shipping history that allows us to interpret Victoria's early social and historical themes. The collection is historically significant is that it is associated, unfortunately with the worst and best-known shipwreck in Victoria's history. The peacock, resplendent in polychrome glaze, stands perched on a rocky plinth decorated with vines, leaves, flowers, blackberries and wild mushrooms. The peacock’s breast is cobalt blue; the wings and legs are in naturalistic colours. The tail is a mass of feathers coloured in green, ochre blue and brown — a fantastic display of artistry and Minton expertise. Inscribed at the base :P Comolera, and a Minton & Co. design number: 2045.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, loch ard, loch ard gorge, peacock, paul comolera, victorian heritage register, minton peacock, minton & co., stoke upon trent, bird figures, mintons, ceramics, international expositions, majolica, naturalistic, staffordshire, john samuel robert heath

This is a catalogue with a reinforced plastic-covered cover. It has 87 pages with illustrations and photographs. The sepia-coloured cover features a portion of a James Meek work of calligraphy.james meek, the inimitable mr meek, james meek artist

pioneer craft models made by Bob Hodgson to demonstrate early building techniques to go to Melbourne Showground Exhibition Farm Lakes Entrance VictoriaBlack and white photograph of Bob Hodgson of Lakes Entrance Victoria to demonstrate early building techniques to go to Melbourne Showground 'Exhibition Farm Sunday' arts, people, arts and crafts