The 1888 Centennial International Exhibition, celebrating a century of Australian settlement, surpassed even the grand scale of the1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. It attracted over two million people, but the Victorian government had to spend £250 000 on it, ten times the amount estimated. The exhibition had a distinctively imperial focus, and a greater emphasis on culture than in 1880, particularly on music and painting (1). (1. https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/273830) S.D. Gadd was appointed Curator of Parks and Gardens in 1874 an lived in residence in Rosalind Park. He resigned in 1905 and moved to Melbourne where he died in 1917. Mr Gadd was a prominent member of the Masonic Lodge. It is not clear why he was awarded this medal.The bronze medal of the Centennial International Exhibition awarded to S.G. Gadd. Obverse - Portrait: bust of Queen Victoria in left profile wearing a crown, veil and 3 medals. Reverse - Field: Victor's wreath consisting of leaves and acorns of British oak and the leaves and acorns of the wattle. The oak and wattle were tied together 'by a true-lover's knot, 'symbolizing the unity and affection between the mother country and the colony'. Southern Cross inside surrounded by a legend. (https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/273822) Obverse - Motto: Centennial International Exhibition Melbourne Reverse - Legend: (Latin) Artibus Dignis Honor Insignis (To the deserving arts, distinguished honor) (Mint) left: Melbourne Mint. (Date) Lower Centre: MDCCCLXXXVIII. (Engraver) Right: Stokes & Martin S.C. Edge - Plain, impressed with S.G. Gadd ESQ.centennial international exhibition melbourne 1888, s.g. gadd, rosalind park, city of greater bendigo medals

The Curator's Cottage was later extended and modernised to form the basis of the Principal's Residence. Also known as Neilson's Cottage after George Neilson who was Curator/Director 1872-1897. Used by A. P. Winzenried in "Green Grows Our Garden."Sepia and black and white copies of sepia photograph in, "Prize Essays," A.E. Bennett. Shows the original Curator's Cottage, which dates from at least 1872, beside the Entrance Gates which are in line with the Sequoia sempervirens. Later extended and became the Principal's Residence. 3 men/students standing in front of the open gates.prize essays, a.e. bennett, curator's cottage, entrance gates, principal's residence, sequoia sempervirens, neilson's cottage

The cast iron gates (manufactured in Glasgow) introduced at the North West entrance in 1907. The gates were purchased from ‘Fairlie” corner of Acland and Anderson Streets, South Yarra at the cost of 72 pounds and cost 60 pounds to install. They had originally cost the owners of ‘Fairlie’ 1200 pounds. Lee Heap Furniture Warehouse of Williamstown used the postcards to advertise. The postcards are evidence of the interest the gardens held as a subject for postcard publishers. The text and images provide a snapshot into fashions, social interests and concerns of the time. The professionally produced images provide a pictorial history of Gardens including changing planting styles, various structures and features of the Gardens eg the aviary, cannons, the fountain, the second Curator’s Lodge and gates. The images offer an opportunity to compare garden vistas with the present day. The image in this postcard shows the gates intact and as installed in 1907. The current layout of this area still reflects the change of design, which followed the 1907 removal of the first gardener's residence and the subsequent re-organisation of this quarter of the gardens. This postcard is evidence of the placement of one of the cannons relocated from Fort Gellibrand in 1906. They were removed from the Gardens in the 1960s. These same cannons remain a feature on the Williamstown waterfront in 2013. Black and white image of main entrance gates which are open. Through the gates can be seen a man in waistcoat standing in front of a cannon. The gates are cast iron, double carriage gates with single pedestrian gates on either side and supported by four cast iron posts with ornamental finials. Front: ‘The Entrance Gates, Williamstown Gardens. Vic.’ ‘0457/2’ ‘THE CROWN STUDIOS, SYDNEY’. Reverse: Centre top ‘POST CARD’ with a logo in the middle of the words. Left top corner a drawing of an artist’s board and brushes with a camera in the centre. Left side ‘MESSAGE ONLY.’ Right side ‘ADDRESS ONLY.’ Top right corner inside a dotted rectangle ‘STAMP HERE’. Bottom on card ‘BY THE CROWN STUDIOS, SYNDEY.’ Under the vertical line down the middle line ‘Neither the Address not the Message must cross this line’. In ink ‘With Compliments / from’. An oval stamp with scalloped rim ‘LEE HEAP FURNITURE MANUFACTURER’ inside inner oval ‘FURNITURE WAREHOUSE, / WILLIAMSTOWN’.postcard, gardens, post-card, williamstown-botanic-gardens, hobsons-bay-city-council, entrance gates, entrance-gates, cast iron, finials, cannon, crown studios, lee heap furniture warehouse

Rodney SCHERER (24/02/1951 - ) Born Campbelltown, NSW Rodney Scherer studied at the National Art School, East Sydney Technical College (1968 -1972); the Canberra School of Art (1973-75) Dip, Art Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education (1978); and a Grad, Dip, Art (Painting) at Gippsland Institute of Advanced Educaton (1985). He curated a number of significant exhibitions for the Gippsland region of Victoria, including the first national travelling exhibition of regional artist "Contemporary Gippsland Artists 1990-92". Rodney Scherer is a painter, print maker, sculptor, Curator, retired Public Gallery Director, and fine art consultant. He was the founding chair of the Art Resource Collective, arcYinnar. He was an Artist in Residence at the Gippsland Trades and Labour Council, Yallourn Power Station in 1991, and site manager of the Fifth Sculpture Triennial at the 1992 Melbourne International Arts Festival. In 2021 he curated "The Happy Wanderer. Victoria Cobb 1876-1945" at the Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, Victoria.This work was purchased by the donor from Rodney Scherer's solo exhibition 'Ubiquitous Orange' at Sparc Gallery, Yinnar.rodney scherer, alumni, sculpture, available