Draw knife wooden 2 handles one with wood missing square bladeflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Roving Iron for placing copper rivets rectangular with burred headflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The subject item was made by G. Pearson and Co Ltd. of the Hope Works, Sheffield England. This company was established in 1854. By 1914 the company was manufacturing many differing types of edge tools, joiners' tools, forks and garden tools. Their specialities were hay, manure and coke forks, punches, armourers' tools etc. In 1938 the Company was styled F. G. Pearson and Co (Sheffield) Ltd and they were still making plane and other sharp edged blades as late as 1957, but by the 1970s they had gone out of business.A significant company based in Sheffield England and making tools of all types and exporting same to various countries around the world. This particular item is a vintage joiners screwdriver possibly used by a local Warrnambool carpenter (J Rob).Screw driver wooden handle shaped blade & brass metal ferrule1902 Sheffield marked on blade, F Rob owner Marked on handlewarrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, joiners tools, screwdriver, carpenters tools, f g pearson sheffield

Before setting the barrel head, the cooper smooths the inside surface of some barrels with a stoup, compass or circle plane and an inside shave (or in shave plane). A stoup or compass plane has a convex sole in both directions to work within the doubly curved staves of a barrel. The cooper smooths the outside of the barrel with a downright, another large-handled shave, and a similar scraping tool to finish off called a buzz. The final step is to fit the head and drive on wooden or steel hoops. Making the barrel has taken a number of planes similar but different from those of other trades, each perfectly adapted to a cooper’s work shaping curved surfaces. And if he has done his work well, the barrel will hold the exact amount of liquid and not leak.A tool unique to the cooper used to smooth out the inside of a barrel that has been in use since the making of wooden barrels and buckets for hundreds of years without much change to the design or how the tool is used.Compass or Circle face PlaneNoneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The Howel plane is really no different from a compass or circle plane, it is attached to a large curved fence that rides along the top of the staves. The Howel cuts a smooth shallow hollow, to give a level place to cut into with the next tool the Croze which cuts a narrow groove for the barrel head. The Croze has a similar wide fence that rides on the ends of the staves, but with either a saw-tooth type cutter or two nickers and a single tooth like a router plane. The head of the barrel fits into this groove and is made up of two or three boards doweled together and smoothed with a large shave called a swift. The cooper cuts the edges to a fine bevel of the head to fit snugly into the groove cut by the Croze. A tool specific to the cooper that has been in use since the making of barrels and wooden buckets for hundreds of years without much change to the design or how the tool is used. Howel Coopers Plane Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

A spokeshave was made with a wooden body and metal cutting blade. With industrialization metal bodies displaced wood in mass-produced tools. Spokeshaves can be made from flat-bottom, concave, or convex soles, depending on the type of job to be performed. They can include one or more sharpened notches along which the wooden shaft is pulled in order to shave it down to the proper diameter. Historically, spokeshave blades were made of metal, and the body and handles were wood. Unlike a draw knife, but like a plane, spokeshaves typically have a sole plate that fixes the angle of the blade relative to the surface being worked. By the twentieth-century metal handles and detachable blades had become the most common. A convex, wooden, variant of the spokeshave is called a travisher, at one time mostly used in chair making.A tool of the joiner and other woodworking tradesmen that has been in use since the making of furniture for hundreds of years without much change to the design or how the tool is used to smooth and shape timber.Spokeshave, Marked AH, (believed to be owner)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Kerosene Hurricane Lamp pressed metal with glass bowl.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-Skegg oblong shaped object with fin like top. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-rudder hinge oblong wooden object with oblong aperture at centre painted yellow. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-spider band wooden object round with six points at equal distance around edge. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-breast hook boomerang shaped wooden object with square top.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-hound span round wooden object with three spokes one at top and two at either side flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Metal propeller shaped objectflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-roller painted yellowflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattern-roller, pattern, roller

Pattern-hanging bracket slightly pyramid shaped object with wide base. Has square attachment both painted white. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-circular piece of hollowed wood top larger than sides top contains large wooden handleflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-bow fair lead wood object grooved at centre with two fins jutting out at either end. Object is painted yellow. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Pattern-Stern gland round wood object with diamond shaped piece of wood at centre and hat type top with hole inside. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattern-stern, stern, stem pattern

The blacksmith leg vise is also called the "solid box vise" and is one of the most important tools in the blacksmith's shop. It firmly holds hot iron while it is hammered, chiseled, or twisted. These are the only vises that are designed to take this kind of use day in and day out. A small 30-pound blacksmith's vise can survive pounding that would wreck a much heavier cast iron bench model. Three things make a blacksmith's vice special. One is that they are forgings, not cast iron or ductile iron. The second is the leg that provides support to the floor or from a sunken post. The last is the hinge, while not a perfect way to construct a vice the pin joint is durable and can take a considerable beating. If sheared it is easy to replace. These things all combine into a tool that can take decades of heavy use and abuse. Most in use is one to two hundred years old.Some of these vises were made by specialists such as Atwood of Stourbridge England, Steel City and Columbian in the U.S. and others were made in anvil manufacturing plants such as "Mousehole Forge" and "Peter Wright" in England and "Fisher-Norris" and others in North America. The design of these vises right down to the last chamfer seems to have been perfected in the 1600s and remained more or less the same until the 20th century. The bodies are forged wrought iron or mild steel and they have hard steel surfaces welded into the jaws. The jaws have little or very shallow serrations which are generally worn off.Around the turn of the 20th Century during the hey-day of the blacksmith shop in North America, these tools were considered so standard a commodity that they were sold without reference to the manufacturer. Very few were even marked with the maker's name. Size is best defined by weight as there is some variation in jaw size from manufacturer to manufacturer. They were sold by the pound and are still best judged by the pound.A vintage tool used in a Blacksmiths shop during the early 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Regarded as a significant into social history of the time.Leg Vice attached with screws to bench via a block of wood. Has large metal pole which practically reaches the floor. Also has a metal device to either tighten or slacken vice.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Leg Vice medium sized metal vice bolted at one side to work bench. Has metal pole practically to ground. Has a device to either tighten or loosen vice.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

This post drill press has been made by Melbourne business, Dawn Manufacturing Company. It can be operated manually or by a pulley driven flywheel, with the aid of an engine connected to a power supply. In the late 1800s early 1900s a drill press like this would have been driven by steam from a boiler, the main power source for manufacturer’s power at that time. Dawn’s Golden Anniversary 1917-1967 Catalogue describes this model 611 drill as … “Ruggedly constructed with accurately reamed bearings. The coupling between the main spindle and feed screw engages the full circumference of the spindle, and embraces a ball-bearing thrust race. The pillar, as in all “Dawn Drilling Machines” is a solid bright steel bar, in place of the usual light tubing. Adjustable automatic feed.” And “F. & l. Pulleys extra, if required”. DAWN MANUFACTURING CO. The Dawn Manufacturing Co. was founded in Coburg, Melbourne, in 1917 by the four Blake brothers, who were all engineers. After World War I Dawn was supplying drills Australia wide and the company was growing at a healthy rate. During the depression they remained busy, with employees working 60-80 hour weeks. Dawn was contracted to supply vices and clamps to the Australian Defence Department and munitions factory during the World War II. - 1959 the company was taken over by G.N. Raymond Group. - 1967 the Dawn Manufacturing Co. had distributors in Australia and overseas, including USA, Canada, New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East. - 1973 the Siddons Ramset Limited acquired Dawn. - December 1991, Dawn became a unit of the United States owned Stanley Works Pty. Ltd. - November 1998 Dawn became 100 per cent Australian owned. The drill is a typical tool of a blacksmith, cart wright, wheelwright and garage business. It is an example of the tools of the blacksmiths’ trade in Victoria in the early to mid-20th century.Post type drill press machine with gear driven flywheel. Drill press is attached to a post and is fitted with a pulley belt and will run at a speed of maxim 200 r.p.m. The machine can also be manually operated. It has an aperture in the centre, a chuck, for the drill bit and has two metal handles at the centre, on the right hand side. Gear ratio 2:1 main drive, 6" diam, 3:1 reduction gear. Made by Dawn of Melbourne, Australia. Model No. 611, Code No. 9157"DAWN MFG COY”, “MELB. AUSTRALIA", " 611"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, blacksmiths, blacksmith’s drill, blacksmith tools, dawn drill model no. 611, dawn drill code no. 9157, dawn manufacturing coy melbourne, dawn manufacturing coy coburg, dawn post drill, drilling machine, drill with gear driven flywheel, forging tool, metal working tool, post drill, steam powered drill, trade tool, warrnambool district 1900s

Pattern square wooden box with mould aperture at centre.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Wheel wooden with wood spokes & handles painted yellow. One handle is broken off. Marked B266 in black pen. Ships wheel Circa 1900flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

These oak and rattan arm chairs were previously used in the old Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery, opened on 29th July 1886 with Mr Joseph Archibald as Curator, demolished in 1960. Chairs are significant to local history as they were originally purchased for use in the Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery. The chairs were part of the social and cultural history of WarrnamboolChair, oak wood arm chair (set of 9), cureved back with decorated wooden edges, shield carved into top and protective metal plates on top at rear. Padded leather seat studded at edge, over rattan cane seat. Rattan cane is stitched onto wooden frame through drilled holes. Front and side legs each have two spindles between them. back legs have one. Legs are turned and slightly cambriol. Some chairs have written on back leg "1486". Made in England, c. 1896Some of the chairs have hand written black pen on back leg "1486"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, chair, arm chair, rattan chair, warrnambool museum, warrnambool art gallery, 1890s chair, 19th century furniture, domestic furniture

In 1792 John Manners had set up a workshop making woodworking planes at 14 Saracens Lane Glasgow. He also had employed an apprentice Alexander Mathieson (1773-1851). But in the following year at Saracen's Lane, the 1841 census describes Alexander Mathieson as a master plane-maker now at 38 Saracen Lane with his son Thomas Adam working with him as a journeyman plane-maker. Presumably, Alexander must have taken over the premises and business of John Manners. Now that the business had Thomas Adam Mathieson working with his father it gradually grew and became more diversified, and it is recorded at the time by the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory that by 1847-1848 Alexander Mathieson was a “plane, brace, bit, auger & edge tool maker” In 1849 the firm of James & William Stewart at 65 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh was taken over and Thomas was put in charge of the business, trading under the name Thomas A. Mathieson & Co. as plane and edge-tool makers. Thomas's company went on to acquire the Edinburgh edge-tool makers “Charles & Hugh McPherson” and took over their premises in Gilmore Street. In the Edinburgh directory of 1856/7, the business is recorded as being Alexander Mathieson & Son, plane and edge-tool makers at 48 Nicolson Street and Paul's Work, Gilmore Street Edinburgh. In the 1851 census, Alexander is recorded as working as a tool and plane-maker employing eight men. Later that year Alexander died and his son Thomas took over the business. Under the heading of an edge-tool maker in the 1852/3 Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory the firm is now listed as Alexander Mathieson & Son, with further entries as "turning-lathe and vice manufacturers". By the early 1850s, the business had moved to 24 Saracen Lane. The directory for 1857/8 records that the firm had moved again only a few years later to East Campbell Street, off the Gallowgate area, and that through further diversification was also manufacturing coopers' and tinmen's tools. The ten-yearly censuses report the firm's growth in 1861 stating that Thomas was a tool manufacturer employing 95 men and 30 boys; in 1871 he had 200 men working for him and in 1881 300 men. By 1899 the firm had been incorporated as Alexander Mathieson & Sons Ltd, even though only Alexander's son Thomas appears ever to have joined the firm so the company was still in his fathers' name. In September 1868 Thomas Mathieson put a notice in the newspapers of the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent and the Sheffield Daily Telegraph stating that his firm had used the trade-mark of a crescent and star "for some time" and that "using or imitating the Mark would be proceeded against for infringement". The firm had acquired its interest in the crescent-and-star mark from the heirs of Charles Pickslay, the Sheffield cutler who had registered it with the Cutlers' Company in 1833 and had died in 1852. The year 1868 seems also to be the one in which the name Saracen Tool Works was first adopted; not only does it figure at the foot of the notice in the Sheffield press, it also makes its first appearance in the firm's entry in the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory in the 1868/9 edition. As Thomas Mathieson's business grew, so too did his involvement in local public life and philanthropy. One of the representatives of the third ward on the town council of Glasgow, he became a river bailie in 1868, a magistrate in 1870, and a preceptor of Hutcheson's Hospital in 1878. He had a passion for books and was an "ardent Ruskinian". He served on the committee handling the bequest for the setting up of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. When he died at Coulter Maynes near Biggar in 1899, he left an estate worth £142,764.  Company's later years: Both Thomas's sons, James Harper and Thomas Ogilvie were involved in the continuing life of the firm. James followed in his father's footsteps in becoming a local public figure. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the County of the City of Glasgow and was made a deacon of the Incorporation of the Hammermen of Glasgow in 1919. His brother Thomas Ogilvie was recorded as a tool manufacturer and employer in the 1911 census. Thomas Ogilvie's son Thomas Alastair Sutherland Ogilvie Mathieson was born in 1908 took a rather different approach to engineering, however, by becoming a racing driver. In 1947 he wed the French film actress Mila Parély. The firm had won many awards at world fairs for their goods. At the Great Exhibition, London, 1851. Prize medal for joiners' tools in the class of Cutlery & Edge Tools, Great London Exposition, 1862. Prize medal honoris causa. International Exhibition, Melbourne, 1880. Gold medal International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art, Edinburgh, 1886 Prize medal. See note section for Thomas McPherson Australian Retailer information: The firm of Alexander Mathieson & Sons was one of the leading makers of hand tools and later woodworking machines in Scotland. Its success went hand in hand with the growth of the shipbuilding industries on the Firth of Clyde in the nineteenth century and the emergence of Glasgow regarded as the "second city of the Empire". It also reflected the firm's skill in responding to an unprecedented demand for quality tools by shipyards, cooperages, and other industries, both locally and throughout the world. McPherson's started as an Australian retailer of hardware products in Melbourne going on to become a company that supplied machinery and other items for the establishment of major infrastructure projects in Australia during the early days of the colony that assisted in linking the various states and territories which became a precursor of Federation. From a humble beginning McPherson's became one of Australia's leading retail, and later manufacturing businesses that is still in existence today.Mortice machine metal with long metal lever handle with counter weight & 3 adjustment wheels & metal crank with wood end. Has 4 feet that can be bolted to floor & vertical moving piece that a cutting bit would fit into.Imprinted Alex Mathieson & Son Trademark Saracen Tool works Glasgow' also a brass plate "Thomas McPherson & Son Machinery Importer Melbourne"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The Syracuse Chilled Plough Company was created in 1876 and specialised in the manufacture of agricultural ploughs. Harry Wiard invented the chilling process in plough manufacture. The company was originally founded as the Robinson Chilled Plough Company in 1876 and changed its name 3 years later. At its peak, in the early 20th century. The company made more than 100,000 horse-drawn ploughs and road scrapers of various designs that were sold from the Syracuse plant each year and exported around the world. The company slogan of the day was, “The sun never sets on a Syracuse plough." Eventually, other farming implements were added to the line. The company employed more than 300 people in its local plant, which covered a square block on the cities Near West Side. In 1910-11, Deere and Company began expanding its holdings, and with the success of the Syracuse Chilled Plough Company, Deere sought to acquire the company. The management of the Syracuse operation after John Deere took over remained in the hands of Wiard and Chase, and the manufacturing operations were left in Syracuse. The only change from previous Syracuse operations was the selling of the companies products through Deere retail outlets instead of directly to the trade. The factory in Syracuse continued to produce ploughs until 1955. The subject item in the Flagstaff collection is an early model Syracuse Chilled plough with a wooden beam frame it is very much lighter in weight and was adapted to work sandy or light loamy soil. This plough has a sloping landside, which tends to keep the clods and dirt from falling into the furrow, making the ploughman's work much more comfortable and easy. This design was made in eight sizes for both right and left-handed ploughing and became very popular in the far West and South of the USA. Note: The definition of a chill plough means : a plough having the share and mould-board of chilled semi steel or cast iron.The subject item is believed to be a very early plough given its wooden beam frame and was made before 1900 probably around 1880. This makes it a significant example of the types of plough that early settlers were using in Victoria. There would not be very many of this type of vintage plough left with a wooden beam and frame, making it today a desirable collector's item. Syracuse Wood Beam Chilled single furrow plough metal wheel in front. Syracuse Chiller Co Syracuse & 50 L stamped on ploughshare.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, plough, syracuse chiller co, chiller plourh, farm equipment, furrow

Platform Scale with four weights and weight holder, green and black, has wheels. Manufactured in Melbourne by Fairway Scale Company.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, scale and weights, scale, weights

The beginning of standardised weights and measures began In Victoria when the Melbourne Observatory received sets of standard weights and measures, which had been tested in Britain against the then British Imperial standards. These included the primary standard yard and pound for the Colony of Victoria. Other standards of weights and measure held by shires and the administrative body's within the colony could then be compared to these primary standards. A Weights and Measures Act was passed in Victoria in 1862, establishing local inspectors throughout the colony. By the 1870s each local council and shire in Victoria held a set of standards that were used to test scales, weights and dry measures used by wholesalers, factories and shops. Every ten years the councils’ standards would themselves need to be rechecked against the Victorian Standards. The checking was done by the Victorian Customs Department in the 19th century, but with the transfer of responsibility for customs to the Federal Government in 1901, weights and measures function was retained by the Victorian Government and was shifted to the Melbourne Observatory. In 1904, a new building was erected at the south end of the Great Melbourne Telescope House, where the standard weights and measures and testing equipment was installed. This room had a large whirling apparatus for testing air meters and became known as the Whirling Room. When the Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944, the Weights and Measures Branch was formed to continue and this branch remained at the Observatory site unit until 1995.An example of a brass measuring jug made specifically to maintain government standard liquid measurements that were sold to the public. The probability is that this artefact was made sometime between George V reign (1910-1936) and gives us today a snapshot of how imperial weights and measures were checked by Government departments prior to decimalisation and how a standard for the various types of measurement was developed in Australian based on the Imperial British measurement system. The container has social significance as an item used in Victoria as a legal standard measure to ensure that goods sold in Victoria were correct. Jug brass haystack form with a deep lip and pouring spout, small neck and broad base. It displays a curved pistol handle. Inscription at base of handle top of jug stamped 61 GVR SM. These marks signify that the measure complied with the Victorian Government capacity liquid standard measurement. Item made during the reign of George V (1910-1936 (GVR).Other marks indicate model number (61) & SM possible could be either small measure, the maker, or Standards Melbourne.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The beginning of standardised weights and measures began In Victoria when the Melbourne Observatory received sets of standard weights and measures, which had been tested in Britain against the then British Imperial standards. These included the primary standard yard and pound for the Colony of Victoria. Other standards of weights and measure held by shires and the administrative body's within the colony could then be compared to these primary standards. A Weights and Measures Act was passed in Victoria in 1862, establishing local inspectors throughout the colony. By the 1870s each local council and shire in Victoria held a set of standards that were used to test scales, weights and dry measures used by wholesalers, factories and shops. Every ten years the councils’ standards would themselves need to be rechecked against the Victorian Standards. The checking was done by the Victorian Customs Department in the 19th century, but with the transfer of responsibility for customs to the Federal Government in 1901, weights and measures function was retained by the Victorian Government and was shifted to the Melbourne Observatory. In 1904, a new building was erected at the south end of the Great Melbourne Telescope House, where the standard weights and measures and testing equipment was installed. This room had a large whirling apparatus for testing air meters and became known as the Whirling Room. When the Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944, the Weights and Measures Branch was formed to continue and this branch remained at the Observatory site unit until 1995.An example of a galvanised measuring jug made specifically to maintain government standard liquid measurements that were sold to the public. The probability is that this artifact was made around the first quarter of the 20th century and gives us today a snapshot of how imperial weights and measures were used before decimalisation and how a standard of measurement for merchants was developed in Australian based on the Imperial British measurement system. The container has social significance as an item used in Victoria as a legal standard measure to ensure that goods sold in Victoria were correct given the item is galvanised it was probability used for kerosene or petrol etc not for liquids used for human consumption. Jug conical shaped with rounded top coming to a very slight point wide handle at back. VIB.L.66 1/2 Gall capacity unsure of the markings 66 could mean the model number capacity is 1/2 an imperial gallon VIB.L markings not known possibly a company or Victorian Department that the jug was made for and no longer active.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

The beginning of standardised weights and measures began In Victoria when the Melbourne Observatory received sets of standard weights and measures, which had been tested in Britain against the then British Imperial standards. These included the primary standard yard and pound for the Colony of Victoria. Other standards of weights and measure held by shires and the administrative body's within the colony could then be compared to these primary standards. A Weights and Measures Act was passed in Victoria in 1862, establishing local inspectors throughout the colony. By the 1870s each local council and shire in Victoria held a set of standards that were used to test scales, weights and dry measures used by wholesalers, factories and shops. Every ten years the councils’ standards would themselves need to be rechecked against the Victorian Standards. The checking was done by the Victorian Customs Department in the 19th century, but with the transfer of responsibility for customs to the Federal Government in 1901, weights and measures function was retained by the Victorian Government and was shifted to the Melbourne Observatory. In 1904, a new building was erected at the south end of the Great Melbourne Telescope House, where the standard weights and measures and testing equipment was installed. This room had a large whirling apparatus for testing air meters and became known as the Whirling Room. When the Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944, the Weights and Measures Branch was formed to continue and this branch remained at the Observatory site unit until 1995. An example of a galvanised measuring jug made specifically to maintain government standard liquid measurements that were sold to the public. The probability is that this artifact was made around the first quarter of the 20th century and gives us today a snapshot of how imperial weights and measures were used before decimalisation and how a standard of measurement for merchants was developed in Australian based on the Imperial British measurement system. The container has social significance as an item used in Victoria as a legal standard measure to ensure that goods sold in Victoria were correct given the item is galvanised it was probability used for kerosene or petrol etc not for liquids used for human consumption. Galvanised Iron jug with rounded top, Inscription on handle at back. 2 gallon GV.35flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village