The two semaphore flags were used as a pair for visual signaling by hand. The semaphore system is an alphabet signaling system based on the waving of a pair of handheld flags in a particular pattern to compose words to be communicated to passing ships. The system was introduced by the Royal Navy in 1880 and was later adopted in Australia, with the first School of Signaling opening in Williamstown in 1890. The system was superseded in the 1970s by more sophisticated methods of communication. Information on the Cape Nelson flags indicates that they were made by Evan Evans P/L, Flag makers, 690 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. Evan Evans (d.1927) started a tent‐making business in 1877 and by 1920 Evan Evans P/L maker of canvas goods, was located at 680 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. In 1924 it acquired land at 632 Bourke Street and built a new factory. His son Ivor continued the business after 1927 and in 1938 opened a bulk store in Carlton.271 In 2016 the firm was located at 673 Spencer Street, Melbourne. Another pair of white semaphore flags made by Evan & Evans is held at Gabo Island, and Wilsons Promontory also has a pair. Cape Nelson’s white semaphore flags have second level contributory significance. They have historical importance as flags formerly used at the lightstation for visual signaling, a system that is now rarely used in navigation, and contribute to the importance of the lightstation’s large collection of flags.A pair of white flags made of white canvas/heavy cotton, the square flags are attached to dowel poles with staples.

The ‘Resumatic’ brand, British made, lightweight device comprises a red pulley with attached length of white rope and harness. Information on the item indicates that it was the property of the Department of Transport, Australia. The Commonwealth Lighthouse Service was associated with the Department of Shipping and Transport in 1951 and the Navigational Aids Branch of the Department of Transport in 1972 so the harness may date to this period. The easily operated descent device was used for automatic, controlled descents from overhead structures, such as towers and other buildings and did not require a power source or tools. The user needed to make sure the unit is secured to an anchor point so that the cable could be dropped to the ground. As soon as it was secured the user could put on the support harness, step off the edge and travel down to safety. The device complements a number of other items of rescue equipment held in the wider Parks Victoria lightstation collection which attest to the dangers inherent in lightstation work and necessity for first aid kits, resuscitators, life buoys, life jackets and other devices such as harnesses and pulleys used for moving people. These include a bosun’s chair and harness with pulley, Royal Flying Doctor first aid cabinet, resuscitator kit and case, first aid kit, lifebuoy and cork fragments x 4 all in the Gabo Island collection; a rescue basket, resuscitation kit and case, and pulleys and ropes at Cape Otway; rescue stretcher made of bamboo at Wilsons Promontory; and a rescue anchor at Cape Schanck. The Cape Nelson rescue harness, although unique in the broader lightstation collection, is a relatively common device that is still manufactured more or less the same in England. It has second level contributory significance for offering insights into the various methods used in rescue operations by Victoria’s lightstations.Length of white rope attached to a harness and a red pully device.yes

This portable, hand held visual signaling lamp, with trigger mechanism and inner reflective disk, was used for optical communication via Morse code, with the concave mirror tilted to focus the light into pulse signals. Larger versions of these lamps are fixed on ships or pedestals and have shutters in front of the light that are opened and closed to transmit signals. Smaller hand held versions like the Cape Nelson example have a concave mirror that is tilted to focus the light into pulse signals, and despite their size the lamps were renowned for their brilliant light. Invented by Arthur C W Aldis (1878‐1953) and pioneered by the British navy in the late nineteenth century, they continue to be used to the present day. Details on the Cape Nelson lamp include a serial number, a date of 1960 and the initials of the Department of Transport, which at that time incorporated the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. Another lamp of the same date which is held at Wilsons Promontory was provided to the lighthouse by the Department of Shipping for signaling ships but was also used for communicating with Cliffy Island, 18 nautical miles away. Point Hicks also has an Aldis lamp and an associated case, which is painted an army green colour. A fourth lamp and case formerly at Cape Schanck disappeared from the collection sometime between 1995 and 2003. These types of lamps are not rare in museum collections.These types of lamps are not rare in museum collections however the Cape Nelson example has a reliable provenance to the lightstation and has first level contributory significance as a fine example of the Aldis lamps that were distributed to lightstations throughout Victoria and Australia.This object is comprised of a black metal encased Aldis lamp with electrical cord and associated wooden carrying case with metal clasp and red leather hand grip. yes

The cabinet has a curved back and would have been custom‐built to fit the dimensions of the lantern room interior. It is likely to date from when the lighthouse was built in 1884 and may have been among the items delivered by the government steamer dispatch early in March which included ‘the lantern and other fittings for the Cape Nelson Lighthouse’. The Public Works Department provided a range of lightstation furnishings including office desks and cabinets, and domestic settings for keepers’ quarters, with nineteenth century items often stamped with a crown motif and the PWD monogram however the curved cupboards installed in Victoria’s lighthouse lantern rooms do not appear to display this small feature. Further research may reveal more about their manufacture and it is tempting to think that they were perhaps even supplied by Chance Bros as part of the entire lantern room installation. The company usually provided the timber battens for the lantern room paneling, and a cabinet may have been included in the assemblage. Another possibility is that the specially designed cabinet was made on site by carpenters along with other fittings. It is not known whether it is attached to the wall or movable; if attached it is considered to be a fixture and included in the Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation (VHR H1773). Its location, when identified in the CMP of April 1995, was on the ‘lower lantern level’, where there was also a ‘timber step ladder’ (Argus, 6 March 1884, p6. nineteenth or early twentieth century), ‘timber framed lighthouse specification’, ‘timber framed chart’ and telephone .Residue on the furnishing indicates that it was formerly painted green, the colour of some of the other fixtures in the room, such as the original cast iron ladder. It is now partially varnished and the corner to the top’s edging on the right side has been cut off. The lighthouse also has a large curved back, two‐door cupboard. Other similar cabinets with curved backs survive at Cape Schanck, varnished wood cabinet with brass door knob, no drawers; Point Hicks, painted green with silver doors, no drawers and Gabo Island, bench top, 2‐door, no drawers, green paint removed to reveal cedar timber). Cape Nelson’s curved cabinet is unique among these examples for having drawers. The cabinet is a unique, original feature of the lantern room and has first level contributory significance for its historic values and provenance.The bench top cupboard has two drawers, each above a door, and each door is framed and beveled around a central panel. The cabinet has a curved back.

The tall, two‐door cupboard with curved shelves is without a back and is taller than the bench cupboard on the lower lantern room of the lighthouse . The curved shelving suggests that this practical storage cupboard was custom‐built or adapted to serve in this location on the landing level below the lantern room. It is not known when it was provided to the lightstation. It shares the structural features of this furnishing as well as other nineteenth century utilitarian cabinets that were made for Victoria’s lightstations, such as those fitted beside fireplaces in the keepers’ quarters (for example CNLS 0016) or serving as lantern room cupboards. They have doors simply framed and bevelled around central panels. This particular cupboard, which is painted grey with four white panels, is unusual both for its height and the four doors, with the twin top panels taller than those underneath. This panel arrangement repeats the design of the lightstation’s door cases. Further research may reveal more about its manufacture. It is not known whether it is attached to the wall or movable; if attached it is considered to be a fixture and included in the Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation (VHR H1773). Other similar cabinets which have been constructed to fit the curved wall of a lighthouse survive at Cape Schanck, varnished wood benchtop, 2‐door cabinet with brass door knob, no drawers); Point Hicks, benchtop, 2‐door, painted green with silver doors, no drawers) and Gabo Island bench top, 2‐door, no drawers, green paint removed to reveal cedar timber), and Cape Nelson, benchtop, 2‐door, 2‐drawer, partially varnished). Cape Nelson’s tall cupboard with curved shelves and back profile is unusual among the lighthouse furnishings. The cabinet is a unique, original feature of the lighthouse and has first level contributory significance for its historic values and provenance.The tall, two‐door cupboard with curved shelves is without a back and has curved shelving. Painted grey with four white panels, on the four doors, with the twin top panels taller than those underneath.

The two‐door cabinet with a bench top is a simply made nineteenth century utilitarian cupboard. It is similar in style to cupboards that were built into spaces either side of fireplaces in keepers’ quarters. All have two doors simply framed around recessed central panels, which are sometimes bevelled. They are opened with a key, or by a basic knob made of metal or turned wood. Most also are made from a light‐coloured wood, which in this case is possibly Huon pine. Some are painted, others show evidence of paint which has since been removed in an effort to restore the surface, and a few retain their original wood finish. This cabinet, which has plain recessed unbevelled panels, has one internal shelf and stands on the floor without a plinth base. The bench top has basic squared edges, and a low backing with curved ends extends around one side. These features suggest the cabinet was fixed and originally built into a corner. The Cape Nelson CMP identified a similar but slightly different cabinet in one of the assistant keepers’ quarters which is shown with shelves added to the top. Other similar two‐door, benchtop cupboards that were probably built‐in include those at Cape Otway and Cape Schanck , which have since been moved out of the residences. Built‐in cabinets were standard fittings in lightkeeper quarters as illustrated by the Point Hicks Lightstation CMP, which shows a built cupboard beside a fireplace. The Cape Nelson cabinet, an original domestic furnishing provided by the Public Works Department, has first level contributory significance for its historic values and provenance to the lightstation.Two‐door cabinet with a bench top. The doors are simply framed around recessed central panels.Light coloured wood.

The chair’s turned legs and bowed, spindle back are typical characteristics of the popular ‘Douglas’ chair, which descends from the long evolutionary line of ‘Windsor’ style cottage chairs. Also known as ‘Captains’ chairs, they were made on a large scale in England, America and Australia from around the 1860s in various timbers, with seats ranging from heavy pine to cane and in later models, plywood. Australiana expert, Peter Cuffley writes that they were just as much a part of Australia’s frontier experience as they were America’s; Holtermans’ 1872 photographs of the New South Wales gold towns show Douglas chairs, and they appear in illustrations of the exploits of the Kelly gang drawn in the late 1870s. Many Australians now are more likely to associate them with public offices and governments departments’. The chairs met the need for a degree of comfort and tough resilience under rough handling on hard floors. The Cape Nelson chair is known to have been used as a visitor’s chair, presumably in the head keeper’s office. No other examples of nineteenth century style chairs survive among the reliably provenanced furnishings in the five other lightstation collections. The chair complements the lightstation’s nineteenth century office desk and small number of other nineteenth century furnishings in the wider Parks Victoria lightstation collection, the majority of which are domestic items. The Douglas chair has first level contributory significance for its historical value and relative rarity as a lightstation office furnishing.The chair has turned legs and bowed, spindle back .

The cedar sideboard has two cupboard doors below two corresponding drawers. The style is in keeping with the completion date of the lightstation in 1884, when furniture in the late nineteenth century had squarer, more defined lines and angles, and ornamental features. This sideboard is a modest version of this trend combining a pediment‐shaped back board with turned side columns and finials, rectangular mirror, decorative drawer pulls and door handle, as well as cupboards and drawers with bevelled, raised panels. The initials ‘PWD’along with a crown motif and letters are inscribed on the side indicating that the furnishing was the property of the government and made in its workshops. The Public Works Department, which operated in Victoria from 1855 to 1987, was responsible for the design of Victoria’s major public buildings and provision of furnishings to its offices as well as residences where the need was required.301 The keepers’ quarters at Cape Otway Lightstation were supplied with two of the same sideboards, which remain there today; on is intact (COLS 0001), the other missing the backboard (COLS 0015). Two similar but plainer examples, which are probably earlier in date, also remain at Cape Schanck (CSLS 0007.3; CSLS 0009.3). The Cape Nelson sideboard has first level contributory significance as a fine example of the good quality domestic furnishings made by the Victorian Government and provided to lighthouse keepers and their families in the late nineteenth century. It is also significant for its provenance to the lightstationThe cedar sideboard has two cupboard doors below two corresponding drawers with pediments‐shaped back board with turned side columns and finials, a rectangular mirror, decorative drawer pulls and door handle, as well as cupboards and drawers with bevelled, raised panels.

Their polished wood finish appears to be original to their date of manufacture during the 1960s‐70s. They were located in the head keeper’s and assistant keepers’ quarters, where their use for office purposes also may have crossed over to a domestic function. In the post‐war years the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service (CLS) introduced modern, low‐cost furnishings to lightstations. Most notably, it commissioned a number of light, compact and functional items in bulk from émigré designer, Steven Kalmar (1909‐ 1989), who played a significant role in popularising modernist design concepts in Australia and drew his ideas from Scandinavian and American design trends. Born in Hungary, he trained as an architect and his contemporary affordable furnishings were especially suitable for the open‐plan houses being built in Australia’s new post‐war suburbs. It is not known whether the bookcases bear the Kalmar label, but the design, particularly the legs and bar bracing, is a signature style that is associated with his Sydney‐based firm, Kalmar Interiors. The CLS supplied the same bookshelves to a number of other lightstations, including Point Hicks, Cape Otway and Gabo Island, as well as other types of furnishings such as tables and cabinets. The bookcases have first level contributory significance as examples of the modernist furnishings that the Sydney‐based firm, Kalmar Interiors supplied to the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service in the post‐war years.The bookcases stand at about bench level and are almost square in dimension. They have two adjustable shelves as well as the base shelf and stand on legs supported by a single stretcher with a polished wood finish.

The desk was used by the head keeper and supplied by the Public Works Department, and possibly dates to when the lightstation commenced operations in 1884. Closer inspection of the wood may reveal the Crown motif and PWD monogram on the side or underpart of the furnishing. The PWD operated in Victoria from 1855 to 1987 and was responsible for the design of Victoria’s major public buildings and infrastructure as well as the supply of stores, furniture and equipment. The desk is identical to the large example remaining at Point Hicks. A smaller version, which is at Cape Schanck, has two sides stamped with the crown motif and PWD monogram. Another of the smaller desks formerly at Cape Schanck is now missing. Gabo Island has a small cedar desk or table in the same style, but with one drawer. There are also c.mid‐twentieth century desks remaining in the collections at Wilsons Promontory and Gabo Island. The Cape Nelson desk has first level contributory significance for its provenance and historical value as a government issued furnishing that is original to lightstation’s head keeper’s office.The large, late nineteenth century cedar desk has two drawers, leather inset top and sturdy turned legs. The drawers each have a pair of wooden knob pulls.

The items include one intact brass clip and sections of others. They were used for hoisting visual signalling flags and relate to the use of the forty‐one flags (CNLS 0004.41), which were used to convey messages to passing ships and which are included in the Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation (VHR H1773) . They have second level contributory significance for their provenance to the lightstation and association with its set of navigational flags (CNLS 0004.41), which were a major part of the communications system formerly used at the lightstation.Twenty one flag clips, some are intact others partial. One intact brass clip.

Print was part of "A Community View, 150 years in Portland Screenprint Exhibition." Part of CEMA Art Collection. Part of Angela Gee residency workshops, 1983 and 1984.Image of approximately 125 people's faces and two dogs, surrounded by a border of line-drawn flowers, leaves and stems. At top centre are the words "1834 Portland 1984" with a decorative underline in bold alluding to the shape of the Portland Bay and Cape Nelson. Background colours are in vertical swathes: aqua, pale green, apricot, blue, mauve, pink, turquiose.Front: (no inscriptions) Back: Portland C.S.P. (Community Screen Print) Design Studio 1983-1985. Initiated by C.E.M.A., Portland Access Printshop and Anne O'Kane, C.A.O. Purpose - an employment project to train 5 people in print-making, costume and design. A grant of $200,000 was obtained from the Commonwealth Employment Program; the products - costumes, flags, posters, banners - were used for Portlands 150th Anniversary Celebrations.angela gee, portland centenary, 1984, screenprint, cema, female artist, female artists

This medal for bravery, for rescue of the crew from the shipwreck “Eric the Red” on 4th September 1880, was awarded to one of the crew of the steamer S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States in July 1881. The medal is engraved with the name “Nelson Johnson” (the anglicised version of his Swedish name Neils Frederick Yohnson). It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in 2013 by Nelson’s granddaughter. Nelson had migrated from Sweden to Sydney in 1879. The next year in 1880, aged 24, he was a seaman on the steamship Dawn and involved in the rescue of the survivors of the Eric the Red. Nelson Johnson was a crew member of the S.S. Dawn and was one of the rescue team in the dinghy in the early morning of September 4th 1880. Medals were awarded to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States, through the Consul-general (Mr Oliver M. Spencer), in July 1881 “ … in recognition of their humane efforts in rescuing the 23 survivors of the American built wooden sailing ship, the Eric the Red, on 4th September 1880.” The men were also presented with substantial monetary rewards and gifts. The city of Warrnambool’s care of the survivors was also mentioned by the President at the presentation, saying that “the city hosted and supported the crew ‘most graciously’. Previously, a week after the shipwreck, the Australian Government had also conveyed its thanks to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn “Captain Griffith Jones, S.S. Dawn, The Hon. Mr Clark desires that the thanks of the Government should be conveyed to you for the prompt, persevering and seamanlike qualities displayed by you, your officers and crew in saving the number of lives you did on the occasion referred to. The hon. The Commissioner has also been pleased to award you a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion, and a sum of 65 pounds to be awarded to your officers and crew according to annexed scale. I am, &c, W Collins Rees, for and in the absence of the Chief Harbour Master.” The Awards are as follows: - Crew of DAWN'S lifeboat-Chief Officer, Mr G. Peat, 15 pounds; boat's crew-G. Sterge, A.B., 5 pounds; T. Hammond, A.B., 5 pounds; J. Black, A.B., 5 pounds; H. Edwards, A.B., 5 pounds. Dinghy's Crew-Second Officer, Mr Christie, 10 pounds; boat's crew -F. Lafer, A.B., 5 pounds; W. Johnstone, A.B., 5 pounds; Mr Lear, provedore, 5 pounds; Mr Dove, purser, 5 pounds. Captain Jones receives a piece of plate. (from “Wreck of the ship Eric the Red” by Jack Loney) The medal’s history, according to the Editor of ‘E-Sylum’ (the newsletter of The Numismatic Bibliomania Society “… appears to be an example of an 1880 State Department medal, catalogued as LS-3 (page 322 of R. W. Julian's book, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century 1792-1892). The reverse is mostly blank for engraving, surrounded by a thin wreath. It was designed by George Morgan, chief engraver for the Philadelphia Mint, and struck in gold, silver and bronze. The one pictured here (in The Standard newspaper, 2nd July 2013) appears to be silver.” The following is an account of the events which led to the awarding of this medal. 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 a hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30 am 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, southwest 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 riggings, 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 4:30 am 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, and its sailing time was 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 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 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 steamship 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 onto 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 f locating wreckage about 10 miles off land, southeast 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 flycatchers 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 a 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 this medal awarded 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 teapots, 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 was awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is similarly 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 shed 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 shipbuilding 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 married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children, the father of the medal’s donor being the youngest. They lived in 13 Tichbourne Place, 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 medal for bravery is associated with the ship the “The Eric the Red which 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 medal was awarded to Nelson Johnson by the U.S. President for bravery in the rescue of the Eric the Red crew. The obverse of the round, solid silver medal has an inscription around the rim. In the centre of the medal is the head of Liberty to the left, hair in a bun, with a sprig of leaves in the top left of a band around her head. There is a 6-pointed star below the portrait, between the start and end of the inscription. There are two raised areas on the rim, horizontally opposite each other, from the edge to just below the lettering and coinciding with the holes drilled in the edge. Slightly right of the top is a round indentation in the rim. The reverse has a wreath of leaves as a border, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bow. In the centre of the medal is an inscription, decorated with 3-pronged design and dots. The edge is plain with 2 small, rough and uneven holes horizontally opposite to each other, as though they had been used for mounting the medal at some stage. The medal has a matte finish on both sides and is slightly pitted and scratched.“PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” around the perimeter of the obverse of the medal. “TO / Nelson Johnson, / seaman of the British, / str “Dawn”, for bravery, / at risk of life, / in / rescuing the crew of / the American Ship / “Eric the Red.” “M” on obverse, truncation of the portraitwarrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, zaccheus allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, medal, nelson johnson, neils frederick yohnson, s.s. dawn, george morgan, hero