Sir Harold Winthrop Clapp KBE (7 May 1875 – 21 October 1952) was a transport administrator who over the course of thirty years had a profound effect on Australia's railway network. In two decades as its Chairman of Commissioners, he revolutionised Victorian Railways, with unprecedented attention to customer service and innovations such as more powerful locomotives, air-conditioned carriages, and faster services culminating in the introduction of the flagship Spirit of Progress express train. Seconded to the Federal Government in World War II, he played a pivotal role in the manufacture of fighter aircraft in the defence of Australia. As Director-General of Australia's Land Transport Board, he presented a report on railway gauge standardisation that ultimately led to the eventual linking of all Australian mainland capital cities by a uniform rail gauge. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Winthrop_Clapp, accessed 02/10/2013)Grey, soft covered, stapled report of 89 pages. "Standardization of Australia's Railway Gauges" by Harold Clapp is a report and recommendation regarding the standarization of Australia's railway gauges. The contents include: * Lines suggested for conversion or new lines to be constructed * scheme of conversion of tracks and structures * scheme of conversion of locomotives and rolling stock * Estimated costs * Associated works * Estimated manpower which the project will absorb in its various phases *Standardization of rolling stock * Other considerations associated with the project * Estimated time involved in the various phases of the work. The report includes 8 maps: * Map of Australia showing the various proposals referred to *Map of Australian railways showing extent of standard gauge if proposals are carried out * Map of Australian railways as of 30 June 1944 *Map of Australia showing principal mileages referred to in the report * Railway Map of Western Australia, 1945 * Railway Map of South Australia, 1945 * Railway Map of Victoria, 1945 * Railway Map of Melbourne Suburbs, 1945 railway, guage, standardization, standardisation, fremantle, perth, kalgoorlie, peterborough, silverton, tramway, tram, train, townsville, dajarra, bourke, cunnamulla, charleville, blackall, longreach, winton, hughenden, townsville, gajarra, birdum, darwin, narrow gauge

In Australia, precious opal is found in Cretaceous age sandstones and mudstones. These sedimentary rocks were deeply weathered and this weathering released silica into the groundwater.Australia is the only part of the world where opalised animal and plant fossils have been found. Opal artefacts several thousands of years old have been discovered in East Africa. As early as 250 BC the Romans prized opals, thought to have come from mines in Eastern Europe, the ancient world's main source of opals. There are many aboriginal dreamtime stories that feature opal. Australian opals discovered during the late 1800's found little favour with European markets but their commercial value increased in the 1900's and in 1932 Australia took over as the major producer of opals in the world and remains the largest producer to this day. Opal is found around the world (Brazil, Mexico, Honduras and the western US) however Australia produces 95% of the world's precious opal and it is our official national gemstone. Opal was first mined commercially at Listowel Downs in Queensland in 1875 and later at White Cliffs in NSW. Today, Coober Pedy (SA) is the main producer of white opal, though in recent years this field has expanded and all types of opals are found. Other centres in SA include Andamooka and Mintabe. Lightning Ridge (NSW) is renowned for black opal and formerly White Cliffs was a large producer of high quality opal. Boulder opals (opals in concretionary ironstone) are mined in Queensland from numerous localities in a zone extending from the Eulo and Cunnamulla district in the south and northwest for a distance of over 700 km to Kynuna in the north. The towns of Quilpie, Yowah and Winton are the main opal mining and wholesale centres. Opals are considered gemstones and have been used in jewellery for thousands of years.Throughout much of history, opals were actually believed to be good luck. The Romans thought that opals were one of the luckiest gemstones and a symbol of hope. In the Middle Ages, opals were believed to be bestowed with all the positive properties of coloured gemstones due to its rainbow-like play of colour. Finally, there is a superstition that you should not wear an opal unless it is your birthstone otherwise misfortune will befall you. This, of course, is far-fetched, but the notion could have been promoted in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries by diamond traders who were trying to increase sales of diamonds and deter people from buying opals. Possibly related to this is the thought that you should set opal jewellery with diamonds as their powers of good fortune will override any negativity held by the opal. The great majority of opal does not show play of colour and is called common opal or potch however this is not the case with a precious opal. Opal is a precious gemstone, like rubies, emeralds or diamonds. Opal is rare, and it is expensive to prospect and mine for.Silica is one of the most common minerals on the planet, but precious opal is very rare – far more rare than diamonds. Precious opal is rare because the natural processes that create it rarely occur.Most (at least 95%) of the opal found by miners is common opal without gem colour. In Australia we call it potch. It can be white, grey, black or amber coloured. Even when a miner finds gem-coloured opal, most of it can’t be cut into gemstones because it’s too thin, or sandy. This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.It is not known where this opal originated, except that it is probably from Victoria, as it has been recorded from many localities in the State. Common Opal is formed from silica-rich water circulating through rocks near the Earth’s surface. It consists of minute spheres of silica arranged in different ways. In common opal, the spheres are of different sizes and randomly arranged, unlike in precious opal where the spheres are of similar size and uniformly arranged in three dimensions. These differences account for common opal generally being translucent to opaque and without the play of colours, or opalescence, displayed by precious opal. Common opal is found in many localities and different geological environments throughout Australia and the world. Precious opal requires special conditions to form and is much less common. Australia produces most to the world’s precious opal. burke museum, beechworth, indigo shire, beechworth museum, geological, geological specimen, precious opal, opal, brazil, mexico, honduras, queensland, coober pedy, gemstones, jewellery, play-of-colour, light blue

This book was conceived by the Nillumbik Women's Network as a way of writing women into local history. When seeking nominations for the 2010 editon, the press release stated: Nillumbik Shire’s official histories don’t reflect the important but often unacknowledged contribution of local women to the development of the area. To redress this, the Nillumbik Women’s Network (NWN) initiated a small project, Celebrating Nillumbik women in late 2007.( For details of the Nillumbik Women’s Network refer to attachment) The NWN sought nominations of local women who had made, or continue to make, a significant contribution to the social and cultural life of our community. The brief profiles of the nominees were published in a booklet, which was launched at an International Women’s Day celebration in March 2008, and a second publication was produced in 2009. We continue to be inspired by the quality and activism of our local women. Many of the biographies tell of women’s contribution to the building of the ‘social’ infrastructure of the Shire. These stories complement the official historical accounts which primarily document men’s role in building the physical infrastructure of the Shire. One begins to develop a clearer picture of how women went about developing the services which we take for granted today, from the small kindergartens operating out of church halls to the wide ranging network of occasional and long day childcare care to the development of home based services for older frail and disabled residents of the area. They also tell of the bravery and resilience of women in their response to the devastating impact of the Black Saturday bushfires. This volume includes profiles of 23 women, 2013 Nominees in addition to those included since the project was launched in 2008. The 2008 nominations are: Wendy Alexander, Jane Ashton, Sharon Banner, Janet Boddy, Catherine Cervasio, Belinda Clarkson, Helen Coleman, Cathy Dean, Judy Duffy, Gwen Ford, Jenny Graves, Cath Giles, Meera Govil, Ona Henderson, Jill Jameson, Vicki Kaye, Mrs Kimber, Nerida Kirov, Jane Lauber, Pam Lawson, Anne Manne, Chris Marks, Elizabeth Marshall, Dawn McDonnell, Jenny Millar, Grace Mitchell, Jenni Mitchell, Michelle Molinaro, Joy Murphy, Rosie Murphy, Barbara Murray, Tracey Naughton, Josephine Norman, Pamela Pederson, Mary Robertson, Vicki Ruhr, Geraldine Sanderson, Dawn Shaw, Fiona Sievers, Myra Skipper, Selina Sutherland, Barbara Talbot, Marjorie Taylor, Julie Tipene-O’Toole, Susie Walker, Donna Zander. 2009: Jan Aitken, Rosemary Aitken – OAM, Edith Apted, Betty Anderson, Thelma Barkway, Diana Bassett-Smith, Jenneke Bateman-Korteweg, Amy Bryans, Sabi Buehler, Jenni Bundy, Audrey Cahn, Linda Cornelissen, Janice Crosswhite, Elean Dansey, Christine Durham Claire Fitzpatrick, Ailsa Fitzmaurice, Lucinda Flynn, Sheryl Garbutt MP, Fran Gronow, Ev Hales, Irene “Rennie” Harrison, Ena Jarvis, Heather Kaufmann. 1948-2007: Helen Kenney, Margot Knox – Pederson, Lois Loftus-Hills, Nina Mikhailovna Christesen AM (nee Maximov), Penny Mullinar, Gwayne Naug, Nanette Oates, Lisal O’Brien, Stella Reid, Laura Rohricht, Meg Russell, Sonia Skipper, Bronwyn South, Pauline Toner MP, Lisa Walton, Diana Warrell, Rachel Watt. The 2013 nominations are: Roslyn Addison, Sue Aldred, Lucy Anderson, Sue Arnold, Mary Avola, Anna Foletta, Morag Fraser, Danielle Green MP, Colleen Hackett, Pam Hayes, Barbara Joyce, Carol Leeson, Sandra and Bruce Poloni, Many Press, Carolyn Royse, Hannah Sky, Lorna Smith, Lynlee Tozer, Kilanthi Vassiliadis, Kerry Wailes, Gale Weiss, Irma Winton and Alexis Wright.This book is a significant in the recording of the contribution of local women to the development of the Shire of Nillumbik, especially for the time frame 2008 -- 2013. Historically women's stories generally have not been told at all, let alone their contributions acknowledged. This book profiles and documents women's stories that otherwise may not have been told.women, nillumbik women's network

Brief history of Qantas airlines4 page supplement to the Australian newspaperwe took a dream and made an airline qantas; queensland and northern territory aerial services; hudson fysh; p.j. mcginness; fergus mcmaster; winton

This book by Ian Shaw is about the Australian nurses who were evacuated from Singapore after it fell to the Japanese in 1942 and their subsequent fates. Two of the nurses, Wilma Oram and Mona Wilton trained at the Warrnambool Hospital. Wilma Oram survived the war but Mona Wilton, born in Willaura near Warrnambool, was killed when the ship ‘Vyner Brooke’ was sunk by the Japanese in 1942. Mona Wilton was a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service and had been part of the 13th Australian General Hospital unit in Singapore. A Mona Wilton memorial window is now in the Warrnambool Hospital (South West Health Care). This book is of interest as it contains the stories of those Australian nurses who served and died in World War Two after the fall of Singapore in 1942 and in particular it has the stories of those nurses who trained at the Warrnambool Hospital before the advent of war. The story of Mona Winton’s war experiences and her death is of special significance as she was born in the Warrnambool district. This is a soft cover book of 370 pages. The cover has a colour photograph of three nurses on the front and printing on the back. The book contains a prologue, three sections of text, a postscript, a bibliography and an index. A middle section contains several black and white photographs. mona wilton, world war two nurse, world war two, warrnambool