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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Wood Sample, About 1871
This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Oblong shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Box, 1926 - 1950
The box is made from light weight timber and only joined by nails at the sides and base. It was made for holding 1 Dozen (12) 8 ounce (250g) cartons of cheese. It appears, by the hand written label “POISONS FOR PESTS” that it was later used for storage of pesticides. Kraft Walker Cheese Company Pty. Ltd, was established in Melbourne in 1926 by Fred Walker (creator of Vegemite). In 1934 the company leased the cheese plant of the Warrnambool Cheese Factory at Warrnambool. Fred Walker died in 1935. In 1950 the company changed its name to Kraft Foods Limited. It is likely that this box was locally purchased in Warrnambool by the household of Dr Angus and the cheese used for their personal consumption. This box was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) According to Berry, her mother Gladys made a lot of their clothes. She was very talented and did some lovely embroidery including lingerie for her trousseau and beautifully handmade baby clothes. Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . Its first station was in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital (a 2 bed ward at the Nelson Street Practice) from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what previously once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr Tom and his brother had worked as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He had been House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan had gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. When Dr Angus took up practice in the Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan’s old premises he obtained their extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926. A large part of this collection is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. and an ALDI sore is on the land that was once their tennis court). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. He had an interest in people and the community They were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. This box is of local and state significant for its association with the W.R. Angus Collection and with the local Kraft Walker Cheese Company in Allansford, and for being a company that began in Melbourne. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Box, wooden, part of the W.R. Angus Colleciton. Small wooden rectangular box without a lid, sides and base joined by nails. It once contained Kraft Cheese, as per the stenciled printing on the sides of the box in red and black. Later a hand written label has been attached to one end indicating that it was used for storing poisons. C. 1926 - 1950Label, hand written, attached to end; "POISONS FOR PESTS". Stencils printed in red and black "THE WORLD RENOWNED / KRAFT WALKER CHEESE COY PTY LTD" "PATENTED JULY 26 1916", "GUARANTEED TO COMPLY WITH ALL THE FOOD LAWS", "1Doz 8oz CARTONS", "BLENDED / PASTURISED / PACKED"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, kraft walker cheese company pty ltd, cheese box, cheese crate, kraft cheese crate, cheese box 1926 - 1950, kraft cheese, kraft walker cheese co allansford, kraft walker cheese co warrnambool, fred walker, label poisons for pests, poison storage -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Functional object - Ship's Wheel, 1871 or earlier
The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built many ships that had wheels with the same decorative, starburst pattern on them as this particular wheel segment, including the Eric the Red. The wheel was manufactured by their local Bath foundry, Geo. Moulton & Co. and sold to the Sewall yard for $100, according to the construction accounts of the vessel. Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Segment of a ship's wheel, or helm, from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red. The wheel part is an arc shape from the outer rim of the wheel and is made up of three layers of timber. The centre layer is a dark, dense timber and is wider than the two outer layers, which are less dense and lighter in colour. The wheel segment has a vertically symmetrical, decorative copper plate inlaid on the front. The plate has a starburst pattern; six stars decorate it, each at a point where there is a metal fitting going through the three layers of timber to the rear side of the wheel. On the rear each of the six fittings has an individual copper star around it. The edges of the helm are rounded and bevelled, polished to a shine in a dark stain. Around each of the stars, front and back, the wood is a lighter colour, as though the metal in that area being polished frequently. The length of the segment suggests that it has probably come from a wheel or helm that had ten spokes. (Ref: F.H.M.M. 16th March 1994, 239.6.610.3.7. Artefact Reg No ER/1.)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ship's-wheel, eric-the-red, helm, shei's wheel, ship's steering wheel -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Container - Box, Joseph Wertheim, ca. 1891
This Wertheim Sewing Machine accessory box was donated with twelve accessories, the instruction book and the receipt for the purchase of a Wertheim sewing machine. the box's construction includes a coloured printed label and strong stitching on the joins of the edges. The receipt was written on July 23rd 1891 by the Wertheim distributor in Melbourne, Hugo Wertheim. His business was the Wertheim Sewing Machine and Hapsburg Piano Depot, trading at 173 Williams Street, Melbourne. The purchaser was Mrs Burrowes from Burrumbeet, Victoria, a district northwest of Ballarat. She paid £6-6 (six pounds and six shillings) in cash. The receipt was signed by H. Wertheim and the other signatory looks like John A. Cherry. Hugo Wertheim (1854-1919) was an agent for his father’s cousin Joseph Wertheim, a well-established sewing machine manufacturer in Germany. He was born in Lispenhausen, Germany, and migrated to Melbourne in October 1875, where he opened a merchandising business at 39 Flinders Lane East. He returned to Germany in 1885 to marry Joseph Wertheim's daughter Sophie Emilie. The couple came back to Melbourne, and Hugo quickly established a substantial business selling sewing machines, bicycles, pianos and other mechanical devices, under brands such as Wertheim, Electra, Planet, Griffin and Hapsburg. He exhibited at agricultural shows and in 1901 at the Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, United States of America. One of his staff was O. C. Beale, who later set up his own piano business in New South Wales. Hugo continued to own 25 per cent of one of Beale's companies, which became Wertheim's Queensland business. In 1908 Hugo Wertheim opened a piano factory in Richmond, Melbourne, aiming to produce 2000 pianos and player pianos a year, predominantly using Australian materials. In laying the foundation stone, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin observed that “few men with such opportunities for a life of ease would have embarked on such an enterprise” Hugo died of chronic hepatitis in 1919 at his home in South Yarra. His eldest son, Herbert Joseph (1886-1972), continued the business. The piano factory closed in 1935, becoming a Heinz food processing plant and in 1955, GTV Channel 9 studios and offices. The Wertheim Sewing Machine Company – Joseph Wertheim (1804–1899) founded the company in 1868 in Frankfurt, Germany. At this time Joseph was the Frankfurt city delegate for the Democratic Party. At its height, the Wertheim factory employed approximately 650 workers. The company used a trademark of a dwarf holding a hammer which is known to have been used until at least 1925, however in 1909 a Star of David was also registered. In 1870 a Wertheim subsidiary was formed in Barcelona, Spain. The business imported and sold complete machines, including the English Jones machine. Locals began calling the sewing machines “las rapidas”, and the business became known as “las casa de las rapidas”. In 1915 production began of a totally manufactured Spanish Wertheim machine. Wertheim in Germany continued manufacturing machines until 1932 when the Wertheim family fled to Spain. Despite converting to Christianity from Judaism, they feared the political unrest in Germany during that time. Wertheim Spain became Rapida SA and was then the sole manufacturer of the Wertheim machines. The factory was managed by Karl Wertheim under the alias Carlos Vallin. The box is part of a donation that connected to domestic life in 1891 during the Victorian era. It is significant for connecting the Melbourne distributor of Wertheim sewing machines, Hugo Wertheim, to Victoria’s northwest district where the purchaser lived. It is also significant for connecting the Melbourne distributor to the importing of goods from the well-known German manufacturer of early domestic sewing machines, Joseph Wertheim.Cardboard box, rectangular, with coloured printed labels. The top of the box has a city scene on it, depicting buildings, factories and figures. Made by Wertheim Sewing Machine Co. of Germany. The Box has been sewn around the edges. There is a handwritten pencil inscription on one of the sides (difficult to decipher)."Manufactured in Germany" "WERTHEIM" "The Wonderful Sewing Machines" Handwritten "Ste - - - B - - - - Wbool"flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, wertheim, sewing machine, victorian era, sewing machine accessories, sewing machine instructions, wertheim instruction book, wertheim sewing machine and hapsburg piano depot, 23-7-1891, £6 6/-, mrs burrowes, burrumbeet, h. wertheim, wertheim sewing machines, hand-stitched box, accessory box, domestic machines, dressmaking, home industry, fashion -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Decorative object - Sword, 1871 or earlier
This wooden sword is said to “possibly be the only remaining part of the figurehead from the sailing ship Eric the Red.” It was previously part of the collection of the old Warrnambool Museum and the entry in its inventory says “Wooden sword, portion of the figurehead, held by “Eric the Red” at the bow.” A large part of the ship’s hull was found on the rocks and a figurehead may have been attached or washed up on the shore. The shipping records for E. & A. Sewall, the builders, owners and managers of Eric the Red, are now preserved in the Maine Maritime Museum. There is no photograph on record of Eric the Red but photographs of other ships built around that time by the same company show that these did not have figureheads, and there is no record found of a figurehead for Eric the Red being ordered or paid for. Further research is being carried out. The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built Eric the Red, a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse. (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA)This carved wooden sword, recovered from the Eric the Red, is possibly the only portion of the figurehead recovered after the wreck. There are spirals carved from the base of the handle to the top of the sword. The hilt of the sword is a lion’s head holding its tail in its mouth, the tail forming the handle. The blade of the sword has engraved patterns on it. Tiny particles of gold leaf and dark blue paint fragments can be seen between the carving marks. There are remnants of yellowish-orange and crimson paint on the handle. At some time after the sword was salvaged the name of the ship was hand painted on the blade in black paint. The tip of the sword has broken or split and the remaining part is charcoal in appearance. On both the tip and the base of the handle are parts made where the sword could have been joined onto the figurehead There is a white coating over some areas of the sword, similar to white lead putty used in traditional shipbuilding. The words “ERIC the RED” have been hand painted on the blade of the sword in black paint sometime after it was salvaged.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, sword, wooden sword, eric the red, carved sword, figurehead, snake head on sword -
Kiewa Valley Historical Society
Milk Cartons - 2 litre & 1 litre, 2 litres - 1986. 1 litre - 1980's
The North-Eastern Dairy Company was established on 14th December 1892 as a butter factory and built in 1893. In 1928 a new butter factory was built and a milk products factory in 1952. Whole milk sales commenced in 1951, with pasteurised, homogenised milk in both bottles and cartons being sold in the 1980's. Devondale / Murray Goulburn was established in 1950. Cartons enabled the safe transportation and storage of milk. The North East Dairy Company enabled the dairy farmers in the Kiewa Valley to send their milk and milk products eg. cream to the factory at Kiewa. The factory bought its own cream carting vehicles during WW1. The 'full cream / homogenised / pastuerised / milk' is an example of the milk available in the 1980's as many different varieties of ingredients followed in later years.Blue, red & white waterproof sealed cardboard box used for storing fresh milk from the Kiewa factory 'Murray Goulburn'. The large box contains 2 litres and the smaller box, 1 litre. Each of the 4 faces have print - 2 have the title, 1 has advertising and 1 has instructions on how to store the carton of milk2 litre - Use by Date stamped at the top: 'Un Ed Oct 19' 1 litre - Use by Date stamped at the top: 'Ned Feb. 13'milk, murray goulburn, kiewa butter factory, kiewa milk products -
Cheese World Museum
Cheese Box Stencil
This cheese box stencil is part of a large collection of items from the Uebergang family relating to early dairying in Allansford, Victoria. The Uebergang collection as a whole is of local significance according to the following criteria: .Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria's cultural history .Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. .Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, if importance in Allansford's history.(Lesley Alves December 2009)Rectangular copper cheese box stencil, P.W.Uebergang- Tooram Cheddar Factory, Western District. 6mm round hole in top left corner.Imprinted Makers name - Quirk & Morton, 411-415 Lt Bourke St, Melbourne. Catalogue number yellow sticker 015, Ink 015.1 Stencil - P.W.Uebergang, Tooram Cheddar Factory, Western District.tooram, cheese factory, dairying, stencil, uebergang, allansford, cheddar factory -
Cheese World Museum
Vacuum recorder, E.M.P. Engineers Ltd, c1960
Used by first Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Ltd Field Officer, Bruce McLaren, for on-farm testing in the Allansford area to check the amount of suction in milking machines.Phillips Rurakura Vacuum Recorder in a wooden box with lid, metal hinges and fastening clip, screw adjustment and name plate on outside. Inside has a clockwork-operated recorder with pen device to roll of paper.Internal: Trade mark Empel E.M.P. Engineers Ltd PO Box 5125, Hamilton, NZ Aust. Pat. 209 510. NZ Pat. 112 486. External: Empel Phillips Ruakura Type Vacuum recorder, Makers E.M.R. Engineers Ltd. PO Box 5125, Hamilton NZ -
Cheese World Museum
Trophy, 2003
Presented to Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory in 2003 as part of the Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards for factory physical appearance and presentation.Round silver-plated tray with raised embossed and beaded edge; inscription on disc in centre of tray. Encased in square timber presentation box with glass lid and lined with blue fabric.Best Kept Factory Award/Western District DIAA/Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory 2003/Proudly Sponsored by Ensign the Uniform Peopleallansford, dairy industry, warrnambool cheese and butter factory, wcb, ensign, trophies -
Cheese World Museum
Butter cutter
No known provenance.Gold-coloured metal butter cutter on 4 legs with winding handle, a box for butter and a wheel on a threaded spindle. The metal handle is connected to a geared cog and when turned pushes a metal plate in the butter box which forces the butter through a star-shaped hole and the wire drops to cut the shaped slice of butter to the determined size.BUT AP ATTAbutter manufacture, butter cutters, warrnambool cheese and butter factory company ltd -
Orbost & District Historical Society
butter stamp, Late 19th Century/early 20th Century
The butter stamp rolling pin was used in The Orbost Butter factory.It was rolled across the butter in a wooden box, lined with a wax paper.Bicarbonate of soda was added to the butter to stop it from going rank.The first shipment in about 1893 to England went rank and was only good for axle grease on wagons and carts.The milk was brought to the factory by horse and dray.Most people would take the whey home for their pigs,which were abundant on the farms in the Orbost district. The Orbost Butter and Produce Co. Ltd was registered on June 1st 1893 and was an important source of income to the Orbost district. Large, hand carved, round wooden roller with handle at each end. There is a central carved word, with a pattern of raised squares either side of the carved word and an uncarved area at either end of the roller. The stamp rests on a wooden plinth. "AUSTRALIA" carved in reverse around the width.orbost-butter-factory dairy butter -
Red Cliffs Military Museum
Ammunition Box, 303 MK7 500 Cartridges Ball Ammunition Box, 1952 (exact)
Wooden Ammunition Box with webbing & metal handles with metal spring lock clip. Canvas hinge painted brown. Webbing carry straps in 3 locations. Box assembled with wood and small nails. Inside box is a wood divider running length ways .Unpainted.side 303cc (in White), rectangle with 500 cartges,.303 ball, MF cc 9-4-52 MK7 (in Yellow) Governement Explosives W^D 6 six (in White) Opposite side; Tropic Treated Charger clips (inred/pink paint) 500 cartges/.303 Ball/MF cc 9-4-52/ MK7ammunition, 303, ball, 1952, mk7 -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Name Stamp, Late 19th century/early 20th century
This is the stamp used by Ernest Phillips to mark his tools and his products. It was used both on wood and metal surfaces. Ernest Brighton Phillips (1875-1924) was born in Warrnambool and was apprenticed as a cabinet maker at the Warrnambool Box Works. By the 1890s he had established a furniture shop at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets and by the beginning of the 20th century he had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside of Melbourne. His products were sold all over Australia. He and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street and today this site is occupied by the flats complex for senior citizens called ‘Heatherlie’. This stamp is of interest because it belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent Warrnambool businessman (late 1800s to the early 1900s.) It is also of interest as an example of an early name stamp. This is a small piece of metal with a rounded flange top and a wider flattened end. The end is serrated and cut to hold the letters, ‘E. Phillips’. Some white paint has been splashed on the end section.‘E.Phillips’ (letters reversed for stamping purposes)ernest phillips, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Chisel, Late 19th century/early 20th century
This chisel belonged to Ernest Brighton Phillips, a Warrnambool furniture maker. Ernest Phillips (1875-1924) was born in Warrnambool and was apprenticed as a cabinet maker at the Warrnambool Box Works. In the 1890s he established a furniture store at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets and by the 20th century he had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside Melbourne. His products were sold all over Australia. Ernest Phillips and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street. Today this property is the site of the residential complex for senior citizens known as ‘Heatherlie’. This chisel is of interest as it belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent businessman in Warrnambool at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The item is also of interest as it is a good example of a woodworking tool that was used 100 years ago. This is a chisel with a wooden handle and a metal blade flattened at the end and attached to the handle by a brass ring. The blade is rusty and the handle has some of the wood gouged out at the top end. The handle has splotches of paint on it. The name of the owner, E. Phillips, is stamped into the wood. ‘E. Phillips’ernest phillips, history of warrnambool, warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Hand Working Tool, Late 19th century/early 20th century
This tool belonged to Ernest Brighton Phillips, a Warrnambool furniture maker. Ernest Phillips (1875-1924) was born in Warrnambool and learnt his carpentry trade at the Warrnambool Box Works. In the late 1890s Phillips established a furniture store at the corner of Liebig and Koroit streets and by the early 20th century he had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside of Melbourne. His products were sold all over Australia. Phillips and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street. Today this property is the site of the residential complex for senior citizens known as ‘Heatherlie’. This tool is of considerable interest as it belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent businessman in Warrnambool at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is also of interest as a good example of a tool that was in use 100 years ago. This is a small tool with a wooden handle. The top part of the handle that screws in is missing. The tool is attached to the handle by a brass ring and a screw and the tool itself is a thin nail-like piece of metal with a small metal piece at the end in the shape of a star with six points. This end piece gouges out a hole or a pattern in wood or other hard material. The tool belonged to Ernest Phillips and his name is stamped on the handle. Three oblong-shaped metal nails were also with this tool but were not necessarily used with it. ‘E. Phillips’ernest phillips, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Tenan Saws, Late 19th century
These hand saws belonged to Ernest Brighton Phillips (1875-1924). Born in Warrnambool, Ernest Phillips took up an apprenticeship in cabinet making at the Box Works in Warrnambool. By the late 1890s he had a furniture store and factory at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets. By the early 20th century Phillips had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside Melbourne. His products were sold all over Australia. Phillips and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street. Today the site of the Phillips’ home contains flats for senior citizens in a complex known as ‘Heatherlie’. These tools are of interest as they belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent businessman in Warrnambool at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. They are also examples of the type of tools used 100 years ago. These are two hand saws which belonged to Ernest Phillips of Warrnambool. They have a rounded wooden handle inserted via a metal plug into the end of a piece of wood which is slightly curved. Attached to the metal plug is a thin steel blade with a serrated edge. The blade is approximately the same size as the piece of wood. The blades are somewhat rusted.‘J. Marples & Sons, Sheffield’.ernest phillips, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Spoke Shavers x 2, Late 19th century/early 20th century
Spoke shaves were used by woodmakers to shape curved surfaces (originally wheel spokes). These two spoke shaves belonged to Ernest Phillips of Warrnambool who would have used them to shape the surfaces of chair and table legs etc. Ernest Brighton Phillips (1875-1924) was the son of Henry Phillips (a hay and corn dealer in Warrnambool) and his wife, Emma. He learned cabinet making at the Box Works in Warrnambool and in the late 19th century established a furniture-making and selling business at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets. By the early 20th century he had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside Melbourne and sold his products all over Australia. He and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street and after his death this Phillips house was acquired by the Methodist Church and the Heatherlie Homes for retired people were built on this site.These tools are of considerable significance as they were used by Ernest Phillips, a prominent businessman in Warrnambool during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These are two spoke shaves - small planes, slightly curved, with wooden handles and a metal blade in the middle. The blade is attached to the handles via metal ends which go through holes in the wood. The blade area is strengthened with metal plates attached by metal screws. The metal parts are well-rusted and the handles are somewhat worn. ‘E. Phillips’ etched into wood on each spoke shave.ernest phillips, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Saws, Early 20th century
These handsaws belonged to a Warrnambool furniture maker and dealer, Ernest Brighton Phillips (1875-1924). He learned cabinet making at the Warrnambool Box Works and established a furniture warehouse at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets in the late 1890s. By the early 20th century he had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside Melbourne and his furniture was sold all over Australia. He and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street and today the site of this family home houses the retirement village complex known as ‘Heatherlie’. The makers of these saws was Robert Sorby of the Kangaroo Works in Sheffield, England. This business was established in 1928 and is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of specialist woodworking tools. These two tools are of some significance as they belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent businessman in Warrnambool at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. These are also a good example of the type of tools used in the woodworking trade 100 years ago. These are two handsaws which belonged to Ernest Phillips. They have wooden handles attached to the blade by metal screws. One screw is missing on the larger saw. The blades are made of steel with serrated edges and they are inserted into a fold of steel along the top edge. The handles are well-worn and the blades are a little rusty. ‘Robt. Sorby Sheffield Cast Steel’ ‘E. Phillips’ ernest phillips, robert sorby, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Tools, Phillips Collection 8 wood planes, Late 19th/early 20th centuries
These hand planes belonged to Ernest Brighton Phillips (1875-1924). Born in Warrnambool, Ernest Phillips learned cabinet-making at the Warrnambool Box Works. In the late 1890s he established his own furniture store at the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets. By the early 20th century Phillips had the largest furniture warehouse and factory in Victoria outside of Melbourne. He sold his products all over Australia. He and his family lived at ‘Heatherlie’ in Koroit Street and the site of this home is now the complex of flats for senior citizens known as ‘Heatherlie’. These tools are of considerable interest as they belonged to Ernest Phillips, a prominent Warrnambool businessman in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are also a good example of the tools that were used 100 years ago. These are eight woodworking tools (hand planes) which belonged to Ernest Phillips of Warrnambool. They are rectangular pieces of smooth wood, some with an extra piece of wood at the lower edge and they all have a metal blade inserted through the wood at an angle. The blade protrudes at the base of the wood and when moved by hand along a surface it shapes the piece of wood being worked on by flattening and smoothing the rough surface and reducing the thickness. These planes have been well-used.‘E. Phillips’ernest phillips, history of warrnambool, warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Document - Advertising item, Matchbox holder, Early 20th century
James Parker and William McMeekin arrived in 1881 in Victoria and commenced their business a large proportion of which was in Warrnambool. They opened up a butter, cheese and pork export trade with South Australia, which operated successfully for sometime before South Australia altered their tariff duties which badly affected trade. After a period dealing with Queensland, they set their sights further afield to London. The Warrnambool butter Factory was commenced around this time and William McMeekin was closely connected with its establishment. They traded in other farm produce and machinery as well as having interests in land, loans and insurance. William McMeekin was a member of the Town Council for some time and J.P. McMeekin was a member of the Villiers and Heytesbury Agricultural Society and was a director of the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory. They operated their business from different sites in Kepler Street and Raglan Parade.An everyday item with a link to an individuals and a company which had a long association with Warrnambool.Aluminium cover with raised edge shaped to fit around top, bottom and one side. Designed to fit around match box leaving striking edge exposed. Embossed lettering on front and back. Contains matchbox with label depicting shell in green with green and yellow background. Box is faded blue. J.P. McMeekin Produce Merchant Warrnambool Phone 263 on front and back. Prov pat ** 367 on side. warrnambool, p.l. phillips, grocer, provision merchant, nestle warrnambool, nestle dennington, calendar 1919 -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Camera, Canadian Kodak Co. Ltd, Box Brownie Camera and Case, c. 1940
This is a Box Brownie camera and case. The Brownie camera was developed by Eastman Kodak in U.S.A. and named after cartoon characters popular in U.S.A in the 1930s. The Brownie camera had a menisculus lens and was simple, cheap and easy to use. Thus it was the choice of most household camera users in the mid 20th century. The Canadian factory of Eastman Kodak was founded in 1899. This item is retained as an example of the Brownie camera so popular for family use in the mid 20th century. It will be useful for display..1 This is a box brownie camera made of cardboard with a synthetic leather covering. It has a leather handle, three apertures for viewing and silver-coloured metal mechanisms on the outside. .2 This is a camera case made of cardboard with a synthetic leather covering and a cord strap attached with metal studs. It also has a metal catch. .1 Use film No 120 No 2 Brownie Made in Canada by Canadian Kodak Co Ltd Toronto Canada .2 Premo No 2 Brownie Camera Made By Eastman Kodak Co Rochester N.Y. U.S.A. 20th century amateur photography, warrnambool, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Photograph - Framed photograph of ship 'Speculant', c. 1910
This is a photograph of the ship, 'Speculant' at the Warrnambool Breakwater. There is another ship alongside the 'Speculant' and the dredge, 'Pioneer' is in the background. The 'Speculant' was a three masted barquentine of 412 tons built in Scotland in 1895. It was purchased by P. J. McGennan in 1902 and wrecked at Cape Patton, near Apollo Bay, in 1911. It was one of the few ships to be registered at the Warrnambool port. Peter John McGennan (1844-1920) was a cooper by trade, initially operating a shop in Warrnambool making cheese vats, churns, coolers and tanks. He then opened a factory in South Warrnambool making butter boxes, nails and barbed wire. He owned several ships, using them to import material for his businesses, especially white pine timber from New Zealand, and to export his own products. He was a Warrnambool Councillor from 1885 to 1891.This photograph is of interest as a reminder of the importance in the late 19th century and early 20th century Warrnambool of Peter McGennan and his industries and community work.This is a black and white photograph of three ships. It is enclosed in glass with a varnished wooden frame with an ornate edging. The photograph shows one ship in the background and two at the Warrnambool breakwater with some railway cartage trucks in the foreground.ship 'speculant', dredge 'pioneer', p.j. mcgennan -
Yarrawonga and Mulwala Pioneer Museum
Matchbox Holder, Brymay Forests Pty Ltd
Small black rectangle box size of match box.Brymay Forests Pty Ltd..Match Print Factory - Opening by the Honorable R.J.Hamer E.D. M.P Yarrawonga, 4th Oct 1974 -
Tatura Irrigation & Wartime Camps Museum
Photographic plates, : AUSTRAL DRY PLATE, T. Baker & Co., Austral Laboratory, Glass photographic plates, c.1900
Glass photographic plates discovered by Mr. Jack Smith in the ceiling of the weatherboard cottage attached to Williams Bros. Store, cnr. Hogan & Thomson Streets, in 1973. Mr Smith had purchased the Cleckheaton Woolen Mills factory which had been built around the original Williams Store, c. 1960. Gifted to Tatura Museum in 1992 by Jack Smith, 55 Service Street Tatura, 3616. Frank Williams family & house, Tatura.|Baptist hymns.|Goulburn River.|Victorian coastal scenery. Glass photographic plates and prints consisting of:|Members of Francis Williams family.|Williams home, Hogan Street, Tatura.|Hymns from Glass photographic plates. (28 plates and 5 prints) - Photographic prints (3) Possibly members of Francis Williams family,| c. 1900 . Two of the same two men standing in the base of an aged, giant gum tree; one of gig and tied up horse.|PLATES :|Small girl in best frock on cane stool.|* Parents and small girl standing.|* Mr and Mrs Williams sen. standing in front of their home in Hogan Street near Presbyterian Church. Note: the picket fence.|* Wiiliams' daughters on picnic at Goulburn River. c. "Picnic at Hanging Rock" film era.|* Young lady seated on cane chair (High pleated collar and bib on frock)|* Two small sisters - one with elaborate black lace collar on her frock, the other seated on a cane chair, holding her doll. c.1900|* Gaunt aged gum tree with two men standing in V-shaped hole in base, Goulburn River.|* Horse tied to tree beside Goulburn River.|Note: All above items in box marked "Austral Dry Plates".|* 18 glass plates of hymns from Baptist hymn book.|Note: The Williams family were devout Baptists.|* Plate of rugged coastline ? Great Ocean Way Victoria?|* Plate of rock stacks - ? " London bridge and smaller bridge.|* (3) Prints of the two rock bridges in the ocean off shore.photography, photograph, slides, film -
Tatura Irrigation & Wartime Camps Museum
Plate - centenary, Tatura Butter Factory
... , boxed, with picture of early Tatura Butter Factory in centre ...Produced to mark the centenary of Tatura Milk Industries (originally Butter Factory).Plate, boxed, with picture of early Tatura Butter Factory in centre and the inscription "Centenary 1907 - 2007". Stand enclosed. Gold edge and writing. Red border.as above Tatura Milk Industries Tatura Butter Factory Farmers Produce Coy.tatura milk industries, tatura butter factory, tatura butter factory centenary -
Puffing Billy Railway
1920's Station Cash Box Tin - Hobbs & Co London, 1920's
1920's Station Cash Box Tin Made by Hobbs & Co London Lever Machine Made Alfred Charles Hobbs (October 7, 1812 – November 6, 1891) was an American locksmith and inventor. Hobbs went to London as a representative of the New York company of Day & Newell, which was exhibiting at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Hobbs had brought with him his boss's (Robert Newell) Parautoptic lock, designed to compete with, and surpass, the locks available at the time in Britain. He was the first one to pick Bramah's lock and the Chubb detector lock at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and forced the lock manufacturers to improve their designs. The lock controversy continues a subject of great interest at the Crystal Palace, and, indeed, is now become of general importance. We believed before the Exhibition opened that we had the best locks in the world, and among us Bramah and Chubb were reckoned quite as impregnable as Gibraltar— more so, indeed, for the key to the Mediterranean was taken by us, but none among us could penetrate into the locks and shoot the bolts of these masters. The mechanical spirit, however, is never at rest, and if it is lulled into a false state of listlessness in one branch of industry, and in one part of the world, elsewhere it springs up suddenly to admonish and reproach us with our supineness. Our descendents on the other side of the water are every now and then administering to the mother country a wholesome filial lesson upon this very text, and recently they have been "rubbing us up" with a severity which perhaps we merited for sneering at their shortcomings in the Exhibition. In 1854 he was awarded a Telford Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper 'On the Principles and Construction of Locks'. Sign on a strong room door. Hobbs became one of the founders of the lock making firm of Hobbs Hart & Co. Ltd. The company started in 1851 and was formally registered as Hobbs and Co. in 1852. But by 1855 it had become Hobbs, Ashley and Company. The name then changed to Hobbs, Ashley and Fortescue, with an address at 97 Cheapside in London. Then for the next ninety years the address was 76 Cheapside in London. In 1860 Hobbs returned to America and lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and went on to hold a dozen patents for firearm ammunition manufacturing. In 1880 he listed himself as a "Superintendent Of Cartridge Factory" Info from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Charles_HobbsHistoric - Railways - Station Cash Box Tin 1920's Station Cash Box Tin - Hobbs & Co London Metal Tin - painted Black, Gold and Red with Brass Lock and HandleHobbs & Co London Lever Machine Made1920's station cash box tin, puffing billy -
Port Fairy Historical Society Museum and Archives
Tool - Butter Marker, 1920
Used to mark butter in the boxes from the Port Fairy Butter FactoryPossibly the only butter box marker left from the Port Fairy Butter FactoryTubular embossed "Bonnie Port Western district Choicest" wooden marker. Shaped like a rolling pin. One handleBonnie Port Western district Choicestlocal history, rural industry, butter making, port fairy butter factory -
Vision Australia
Sculpture - Object, Urban Cycle, 1975
Eva Fisher was a valued member of the AFB and wished to commission a sculpture for the grounds in the front of Paterson Hall. Noted sculptor Ian Bow was commissioned and created Urban Cycle, a seven panel metal sculpture that follows the development of the local area. Prior to receiving the commission, Ian Bow went through a period of temporary vision loss, which gave him insight into how the sculpture could be appreciated by the blind and low vision community. The different stages are: Harmony - Two pelicans amongst reeds. Intrusion - Frog, kookaburra, mice, fish, lizard and butterfly. Expansion - Doors, windows and roofs under tree canopies. Industry - A factory with large chimney blowing smoke. Density - Multiple boxes, some with figures inside, are crowded beneath a bridge and dome. Decay - Boxes with broken doors and unfinished concrete. Renewal - A church with a Calvary cross over roughened surface.Heptagonal cast aluminium sculpture with seven panels arranged around a central metal pole.Thanks to the generosity of Evangeline Annie Fisher this sculpture, entitled 'Urban Cycle', was created by Ian Bow in 1975 and depicts stages of development of a city through the use of tactile forms. Further information is available at Reception. Vision Australia. Blindness, Low Vision, Opportunity.association for the blind, eva fisher, ian bow, sculpture -
National Wool Museum
Tool - Glasses, c.1950
Nino Corda was a Geelong based textile designer who worked at various textile mills between 1957 & 2003. He travelled the world in search of the latest fashions and techniques and developed timeless designs that were much loved by Australians. These items are on rotational display at the National Wool Museum’s ‘In the Factory’ exhibition. For many years, Nino also worked as part of the Honorary Staff of the National Wool Museum. His passion for the world of textiles provided energy and knowledge to the visitors and staff of the museum. Although Nino has now retired from his honorary position and has hung up his Australian Tartan vest, these items will continue to serve the community in sharing the stories of Australian Textile design. Textile designers used glasses such as these to see how many threads are within a textile sample. It was important to count correctly, otherwise the enlarged final pattern would be out of alignment. These glasses were popular in the 1950s but were replaced by viewing lens, such as item 8040 (in the National Wool Museum's Collection) in the 1960s because of their compact nature.Thin metal wire makes up the frame of the glasses. The metal is a standard metallic silver. The piece to sit on-top of the ear is excessively curved to hook around the ear. This is done to ensure the glasses do not fall off the face while looking down to view thread counts in a textile sample. The glasses are lacking lenses in their usual place. This has been replaced by another thin wire frame which protrudes an extra inch in front of the frame, almost like an additional layer of the glasses. Where this layer / frame ends, two lenses can be found which are square and much smaller than typical glasses lenses. This has been done to allow for powerful magnifying glass which would be ill-suited if it sat too close to the face / eyes. The glasses are also accompanied by their original box. The box is blue and has a large rectangle running through its centre. This rectangle works as a cushion for the glasses and is required as a result of their unusual shape.textile design, textile calculations -
National Wool Museum
Textile - Rug, Returned Soldiers and Sailors Mill, 1963
The Returned Soldiers and Sailors Mills was located near the Barwon river on Pakington Street, Geelong, where its building still stands. The mill was established in October 1922 with capital acquired from War Gratuity Bonds. The mill produced fine grade woollen products with its speciality being ‘Retsol’ travelling rugs. The mill first began to run into financial troubles with the ‘Credit Squeeze’ or the ‘Holt Jolt’ of the early 1960s. This saw import restrictions lifted which triggered the start of a minor recession and a rise in unemployment. Included in these troubles was the RS&S Mill which saw the number of employees gradually decrease and business declining with cheaper imports beginning to grab an expanding part of the market share. The mill was eventually purchased by Godfrey Hirst in 1973 who tried to continue operations without success and in June 1975 textile production at the site ceased. Outside of financial considerations contributing to the closure of Woollen Mills in this period was the declining need for heavier fabrics as in-home heating and insulation improved. This need had been replaced for a demand for ever softer, finer and lighter worsted fabrics for more casual clothing. Modern day textile production requires fewer steps in the processing of materials for this use. This meant large factory complexes such as early woollen mills like the RS&S mills were no longer required. Compared to modern textile production which can spin a fine yarn out of synthetic fibre or imported cotton easily, spinning fine yarn from medium quality wool at a textile factory was cumbersome and no longer financially viable to suit new consumer demands. This rug provides context to this statement. It was gifted to Shirley and Gordon Green as a wedding present in November 1963 by one of Gordon's colleagues in the wool industry. Living in areas such as Neutral Bay, the Hornsby area and later in life retiring to the Central Coast, the blanket was too heavy for use in these weather conditions and hence it stayed in its original box for nearly 60 years. Top and bottom of rug has frilled edges. Pattern is titled the 'Clan Cameron' and is repeated in a 7x7 grid. Front of rug has a red background with 4 vertical and horizontal lines. All is surrounded by a yellow boarder. Label is stitched into the bottom right corner. Reverse of rug also has a repeating 7x7 grid. Blue background with thick green horizontal stripe. Yellow and red boarder to the grid with 4 red vertical and horizontal lines making up the interior. Rug measure 1550 x 2040mm, approximately the same size as a queen size mattress.Wording, Bottom right corner. THE GEELONG R.S&S. WOOLEN MILLS/ PURE/ WOOL/ AUSTRALIA/ The John Monash Rug (cursive)/ The Clan Cameron (cursive)rs&s mills, textile manufacture, rug, clan cameron, sydney greasy wool exchange