The woollen mill was a vital part of Warrnambool for all but 22 years of the town’s history since it's the establishment in 1847 when the first land sales were held and white settlement began. In 1869 the Warrnambool Meat Preserving Company began operations on the mill site, in 1875, shareholders of the then defunct Warrnambool Meat Preserving Company happily sold the land and buildings on the Merri river to Warrnambool Woollen Mill Company Ltd for £5,000. The site was sold again in 1876 to grazer Robert Hood of Sherwood, who was chairman of directors of the failed company, which couldn’t raise sufficient capital to keep the works operating. The entrepreneurial Hood then used the existing plant to turn his own wool into tweed cloth. But just as the mill was starting to show a profit, a fire destroyed the building and plant on the night of 25 March 1882. So again, the mill was operational for six short years. Insurers only paid a fraction over 10% of the damage, Hood couldn't raise sufficient capital to rebuild on his own, and so the site lay unused until 1910. In 1908 Marcus Saltau and Peter John McGennan convinced the Warrnambool Chamber of Commerce to invest in a secondary industry with local capital. A public meeting in September 1908 agreed to raise £40,000, electing Saltau chairman of directors, a post he held for 34 years. A year later, using mostly local money, the Warrnambool Woollen Mill Company dispatched its first manager, John E. Bennett, to buy a plant and recruit 20 experienced staff from the Yorkshire woollen industry in December 1909. Another year more, the new mill was officially opened on 14 November 1910 by Marcus Saltau as company chairman and town mayor. Eighteen months on, in May 1912, the mill paid its first half-yearly dividend of 2 ½%. It was now working two shifts, with a year's orders to fill. In 1914 the mill ordered its own generator, providing the town with electricity and effectively doubling its plant size by October 1915, six months after Gallipoli. Thereafter, government orders for cloth and military supplies assured the mill’s success right through the First World War and on until 1923. A plant upgrade in 1922 for machinery to make worsted fabric drained profits, which, with a fall in demand, led to a loss in 1925. Profits were restored by the 1930s, despite the Depression, mostly due to tight management and robust marketing. Production boomed again during the Second World War, but soon foreign competition bit into profits, forcing the company to consolidate operations. The ‘50s and ‘60s were golden years for the mill. Security and growth gave the company confidence to trial Australia’s first electric blanket in 1958 and to install Swiss Sulzer looms in 1965. Over time, the building facades took on the modern look that the mill presented until it closed. The Dunlop company bought the mill in 1968, fending off a challenge from Onkaparinga in South Australia, and continued to expand by adding Wendouree Woollen Mill in the same year and Dream-spun Textiles a decade later, in 1979. Soon after that purchase, however, the mill began its slippery slide into decline. Dunlop sold to its former rival bidder Onkaparinga Woollen Co. Ltd in 1982, which in turn was taken over by Macquarie Worsted's only a year later, in 1983. Operations remained stable for a decade until 1994 when the Macquarie Group signaled that its newly rationalised operations left no room for the Warrnambool investment. The final operator of the mill was The Smith Family charity group, which ran the site by agreement with the Warrnambool City Council and a state government grant in that same year, 1994. The mill became more of a fabric recycler than a manufacturer. The site was sold to private operators in February 2003 and rezoned four months later to allow for the mixed housing development. The embossing press is significant for its association with the Warrnambool Woollen Mills 1910-1968, a major employer in the Warrnambool district. The press is also significant as an example of commercial office equipment used in the 19th and 20th century.Press, metal, for Company seal of Warrnambool Woollen Mill, stamping their brand as Western District Worsted Mills Pty Ltd. Metal is black with red and gold floral markings. Inscription of stamp reads "WESTERN DISTRICT WORSTED MILLS PROPRIETRY LIMITED" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, warrnambool woollen mills, western district worsted mills proprietry limited, worsted fabric, printing press, logo printing press, stamp printing press, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Black and white photograph of the western end of Esplanade, showing guest houses, businesses, Police Station, Methodist Church, cars parked in front of buildings, Bluestone wall at edge of lake, timber groynes for sand control. On lake a small motor boat containing two men. Lakes Entrance VictoriaLakes Entrance from western end.police, religion, waterfront, boats and boating, township

Black & White Photo - of the Best family taken at their Concongella Vineyard, Great Western 1887. Top Clara Baker (housemaid), Henry Best Jnr. Middle Charles F Best, Jessie Ambercrombie Best, jnr., Jessie Ambercrombie Best Snr. Henry Best Sr. Elizabeth Best and Joseph Best (Front)

Diary begins 26 February 1917 and ends 16 June 1917. Covers time spent on Western Front. Small coverless pocket notebook. Diary of Robert Rail (5411 - 24th Battalion, 14th Reinforcement). ww1, diaries, robert robertson rail, 24 battalion

A cylindrical brown leather cabin hat box. it has a leather hinge with a metal lock at the front. On top is a leather handle with metal (brass?) fittings. There is a variety of labels pasted on. They include : On sides - Kindly place this label on the end of the package. P.&.O. SN Co Bombay to Melbourne Passrenger's Name - T. D. GoveIn gold paint T.D.G. 2 x in gold print G-90mmstorage luggage container hat-box

As per Physical Description aboveNewspaper article about Phillip Island and its bridges. Photos of 3 ferries, driving of the 1st pile for the bridge. Article about the two bridges. Photos of the Isle of Wight Hotel, The Continental Guesthouse and Erehwon Guesthouse, the first bridge - Suspension Bridge opened in 1940, Richard Grayden and Councilor Rupert Harris, Charles and Margaret Grayden with Archbishop Clarke in 1904 and a photo of 5 people at Easter in Cowes in 1911. phillip island suspension bridge, phillip island second bridge, ss genista, ss killara, ss alvina, the isle of wight hotel cowes phillip island, the continental guesthouse, erehwon guest house cowes, richard grayden, rupert harris, charles & margaret grayden, archbishop clarke, i. j. o'donnell, t. h. russell, peter mccullough

Hard, black coloured buckram cover, gold print on spine, 189 cut plain pages, illustrated, black & white photo of author, black & red map. Autobiography - an account of Charles McCormac's escape from a Japanese prison camp in Singapore.Front fly leaf in black ink: RSL Stampbooks, military, history, imprisonment

Index, maps, ill, p.431.non-fictionWhat did happen just off the Western Australian coast on 19 November, 1941? Certainly a tragedy: 600 men were killed when the HMAS Sydney was torpedoed by a German cruiser; but why? Olsen sets out to answer these questions, and in doing so, pulls apart the accepted theories about the causes of Australia's greatest maritime disaster. Title Bitter victory : the death of H.M.A.S. Sydney / Wesley Olson.world war 1939-1945 - naval operations - australia, hmas sydney

Mrs. Margot Eddy was a member of the Creswick Red Cross Society for over 40 years. Creswick Red Cross was established in 1915 after the outbreak of WWI. Mrs. Eddy received her 40 year bar in 1977; she was President of the Creswick Red Cross for 10 years up to 1975. Mrs. Margot Eddy's daughter Mrs. Lucia Stephens donated these Red Cross badges and newspaper articles and letter to the Creswick Museum August 2014. 10 badges from Mrs. Margot Eddy of Red Cross. a- round metal badge; b- round metal badge; c- rectangle metal badge; d- rectangle metal badge; e- rectangle metal badge;h- round plastic badge on pin g- round metal badge with flourish at base; h- rectangle metal badge; i- red ribbon with oval metal badge at base and rectangle metal piece at top; j- round white plastic badgea- on front- Australian Red Cross. Victorian Division - back- 38102; b- front- Australian Red Cross Society - back- Stokes; c- front- Red Cross/ Emergency Service - back- 5177;d- front- Life Member;e- front- Mrs. M. Eddy - back- stokes/melb; f- front- blue ring with white interior and red cross in middle- back- 50c; g- front- Australian Red Cross Society/ Service Award - back- Stokes/Melb.; h- front- Red Cross/ Emergency Service - back- 5178; i- front- Australian/ Red Cross/Society/Twenty Years' Service - back - c / 76/ w. o. luke/ melb.; j- front- white badge with red cross at top/ Mrs. M. Eddy/ Creswick - back - Imprint Plastic/ Myaree, West. Aust. red cross; badge;

Goals and strategies for teaching Aboriginal languages to Aboriginal students with differing language knowledge; suggested language activities.b&w illustrationsprimary school education, aboriginal studies, curriculum development

contains information about old schools in the Pyrenees.Cardboard cover with b/w/ Photo of a large group of people outside in front of a timber building with trees behind.Title on brown background. " Lost schools of the Pyrenees"stawell education