Built in 1858 at the Port and Harbour Master's yard in Williamstown Victoria, the Portland Lifeboat was overseen by Harbour Master Charles Ferguson. It is understood to have been constructed from the same moulds used to build the Port Fairy Lifeboat, designed by William White, in 1857. Both boats are similar to the lifeboats designed in England by James Peake and adopted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in the UK. The Portland Lifeboat's 9.14 m (30 ft) long hull is double diagonally planked in New Zealand kauri, and many of the planks run from gunwale to gunwale in one piece under the inner keel section. Eucalyptus and oregon were used elsewhere and the local blacksmith made the iron work. The fastenings are copper. There are two flotation or buoyancy tanks at either end, with prominent whaleback style decking. Under the thwarts is a deck with scuppers so that the craft is both buoyant and self draining whenever large waves are taken aboard in rough conditions. The lifeboat was oar-powered with a sailing rig. The original rig was a lug mainsail, but this was replaced with a lug and headsail rig taken from a fishing boat in 1903. The lifeboat was manned by volunteer crews, mostly local fishermen from Portland. They maintained this service until 1915 when the boat was replaced with a new motorised craft. The lifeboat's most outstanding service was to the steamer ADMELLA in 1859 when the ship grounded on a reef off Cape Banks in South Australia, 150 km to the west of Portland. Survivors clung to the rigging in heavy seas for over a week and 89 people lost their lives in the shipwreck. Taken to the scene by the steamer LADY BIRD, the Portland Lifeboat was unable to assist until eight days after the ADMELLA's grounding when the seas abated enough for the lifeboat to manoeuvre close to the ship and rescue the last 19 survivors. Since its retirement in 1915 the lifeboat has been a memorial to those who manned it and those it rescued. For a long period it was on display in the Portland Gardens, first in the open and then under a canopy. In 2008 it was on display inside the Portland Maritime Discovery Centre, still in original condition complete with the rig from 1915. It is one of the oldest vessels of its type in Australia, and the world.Portland LifeboatPhotograph showing the Portland Lifeboatphotography, portland lifeboat, admella

Black and white photo postcard. Stephen Henty's house (Richmond Henty Hotel) Front view and garden, weather board, shingled roofFront: 'VALENTINO'S M.56 HENTY'S AN HISTORICAL HOUSE PORTLAND VICTORIA REAL PHOTO' Printed in bottom frame Back: Handwritten message, blue ink

Black and white photo of lighthouse, flagstaff and keeper's cottage on Observatory Hill,, Portland. Photo has been cut out and pasted to a piece of white card.Back: Purple stamp 'M..E. ANDREWS'portland lighthouse, portland harbour

Black and white photo postcard, white border. View of Bentinck St Portland, looking north. 'THE ROSE SERIES' P13143 COPYRIGHT, and 'BENTINCK STREET PORTLAND, VIC', black print, lower border. No stamp or postmark on reverseBack: Handwritten message, blue ink, from Bill to M & D - dated 12-2-58. Maker's details

Hard back, olive black print and outline of tower spires. 'British History text, black and white photographs and maps

Buff coloured cardboard folder, with a strip of black and white postcard size views of Portland, 6 on each side. Red 21/2 penny stamp. Addressed to 'Miss M. Kerr, "Cherrywood" West Portland'. Inside cover of folder 'Wishing all at Cherrywood a Merry Xmas from Stan, Rae & the girls' - handwrittenFront: 'ROSE SERIES picturesque views of Portland, Australia' For E.M. JENKIN, BENTINCK AND JULIA STS. PORTLAND'

Poem 'Marmion' in six cantos, by Sir walter Scott, limp cloth cover, brown, black print and decoration. Black and white image of Scott, first page

Hardback, brown, black print. British History textbook, black and white photos, map of world first pages, British Empire shown in red.

Victorian Railways aerial survey record print of the railway line between Heywood and Rennick (S.A. border) Black and white, white vertical strip on imageBack: 'Heywood - Rennick 21452 - 19723 267 m 11 c ' - all black ink. Purple VR aerial survey stamp. '3 May 1952' - black stamp

Black and white photo. Group photo of form 1 M plus teacher, Heywood High School, 1972

SOURCED FROM CASTERTON TOWN HALL (FORMER SHIRE OF GLENELG) Sourced from Casterton Town Hall (Former Shire of Glenelg)Postcard, black and white,, showing the suspension bridge at Casterton, view across river towards townshipFront: 'SUSPN BRIDGE CASTERTON' Back: Handwritten correspondence, addressed to 'Miss M. Sythaleigh, Henty St Casterton'

Port of Portland Authority ArchivesBack: M, D '80 in pencilport of portland

Black and white photo. Two women, standing, in evening dress and sashes. Queen of the Murray 1949, and Queen of the South 1949, who is also wearing a Miss Warrnambool 1949 sashBack: 'J. Moore' - red biro. 'Queen of the Murray 1949 Miss M. Bridey'' 'Queen of the South 1949 Miss V McLaren ' - pencil

Black and white photo postcard. Railway line, goods shed, Portland Railway Station looking north. Cypress pines either side. Whaler's Bluff and lighthouse in background.Front: 'VALENTINES M.50 RAILWAY STATION PORTLAND VICTORIA REAL PHOTO' - bottom margin, black print Back: Maker details

Fifteen page catalogue, prepared by G.W. & M.R. Kittelty, auctioneers, for the auction of antiques, at 'Maretimo', Portland, 10th Feb. 1980. Heavy matte card cover, dull red and white, photo of 'Maretimo' across both covers. Pages white, red printauction, maretimo, historic house, historic homestead

Black and white photo. Large group of people on road in Julia St. Photo taken facing west. Group facing east. Flags, bunting and 'WELCOME' sign flying over street. Photo attached to grey mount board.Front: 'BACK TO PORTLAND November, 1929' -printed in black on photo mount beneath photo. 'M..E. Andrews, PORTLAND' printed in black on photo mount, bottom left hand cornerback to portland celebrations, festivities, parade

M J Fawthrop was the daughter of Captain James Fawthrop who was Captain of the Portland Lifeboat at the time of the wrecking of the Admella.Black and white photo, trimmed and mounted on light card. Timber building, wooden slates. Miss Clarke's Ladies' College. A group of young women and girls standing on verandah, mostly behind rail fence, and a few in front of fence, all in period costumeBack: 'Miss Schofield, 3rd from left 3 4 Miss M.J. Fawthrop 4th form left 5' - all handwritten, pencil 'Given to W. Grahame by A. J. Ward. Miss Clarke's Ladies College Portland *1852' - handwritten, black pen 'Lent by A.J. Ward 29 Hurd St Portland' - handwritten, black pen, crossed outladies school, miss clark, seminary, fawthrop, m j fawthrop, school, education, portland

Vida Goldstein was a feminist and suffragist. She was born in Portland on 13 April 1869. Vida's father was an anti suffragist but encouraged his daughters to be economically and intellectually independent. Vida and her sisters were well educated.Eleven pages of biographical notes on Vida Goldstein written by her niece Leslie M. Henderson, M.A. LLB. Red typing on white paper, foolscap sizevida goldstein, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, womens suffrage, womens rights, vote

Black and white photo of natural rock arch at Shelly Beach, Cape Bridgewater.Back: 'Scenic Arch Shelley Beach Cape Bridgewater' - handwritten in black ink Round purple stamp 'PRINTED BY M.E. ANDREWS PORTLAND'cape bridgewater, shelly beach, beach photography, seascape, rock formation

Neoprene stubby holder, cylindrical, open top, purple outside, white print, white depiction Nelson Hotel.Front: 'KIOSK, NELSON, VICTORIA' 'SUPPLIED BY: RALPH M. FRASER PTY LTD PHONE (08) 8276 8277 FAX (08) 8374 0262'souvenir, nelson hotel, stubby holder, contemporary collecting