S. S. ROWITTA: - The 1909 steam ferry, S. S. Rowitta, was installed as an exhibit at Flagstaff Hill in 1975 and was enjoyed by many visitors for 40 years. S. S. Rowitta was a timber steam ferry built in Hobart in 1909 using planks of Huon and Karri wood. She was a favourite of sightseeing passengers along Tasmania’s Tamar and Derwent rivers for 30 years. The Rowitta was also known as Tarkarri and Sorrento and had worked as a coastal trading vessel between Devonport and Melbourne, and Melbourne Queenscliff and Sorrento. In 1974 the S. S. Rowitta was purchased by Flagstaff Hill to convert into a representation of the Speculant, a historic and locally significant sailing ship listed on the Victorian Heritage Database. (The Speculant was built in Scotland in 1895 and traded timber between the United Kingdom and Russia. Warrnambool’s P J McGennan & Co. then bought the vessel to trade pine timber from New Zealand to Victorian ports and cargo to Melbourne. She was the largest ship registered with Warrnambool as her home port, playing a key role in the early 1900s in the Port of Warrnambool. In 1911, on her way to Melbourne, she was wrecked near Cape Otway. None of the nine crew lost their lives.) The promised funds for converting the S. S. Rowitta into the Speculant were no longer available, so she was restored back to her original configuration. She represented the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication in Australia times before rail and motor vehicles. Sadly, in 2015 the time had come to demolish the Rowitta due to her excessive deterioration and the high cost of on-going repairs. She had given over 100 years of service and pleasure to those who knew her. Arthur Victor Gregory (known as A. V. Gregory) was born in Melbourne in 1867. He was the son of George Frederick Gregory who was an established marine painter with a studio in South Melbourne. A. V. Gregory worked with his father and his elder half-brother (George Frederick Junior). They made numerous photographic reproductions of their ships' portraits, selling the originals to captains and owners and the photographic prints to the crews. A. V. Gregory inherited the business on the death of his father in 1890 and continued to paint until World War 2 when he stopped for wartime security reasons. Gregory worked mainly in watercolour and gouache. He kept all his working sketches so he could repeat earlier paintings and make more copies of the same ship. His carefully detailed portraits of every kind of vessels seen on Port Phillip Bay created a body of work regarded as a valuable record of the maritime traffic of that period.This print is a significant example of the work of the well-known and well-respected marine painter A. V. Gregory who created a detailed record of shipping in the Port Phillip Bay area in the years before W.W. 2. It is also significant as it connects the history of the S. S. Rowitta, which was a large exhibit on display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village from the museum’s early beginnings until the vessel’s end of life 40 years later. The S. S. Rowitta represents the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication along the coast of Victoria, between states, and in Australia before rail and motor vehicles and is significant for its association with Tasmanian history from the early to mid-1900s. The vessel was an example of a ferry built in the early 20th century that served many different roles over its lifetime of over 100 years.This is a photograph of a watercolour painting of the S. S. Rowitta. It shows a steamer moving through the water. The ship has a blue, metal hull, a wooden lower and upper deck, a lifeboat and smoke coming out of a chimney. Flags are flying from the bow, the stern and the mast. Seven figures can be seen on the decks. A second boat can be seen in the distance in the far left of the picture. It has the signature "A. V. Gregory - 12" in the bottom left corner and the title "S. S. Rowitta - 121 tns" in the lower right corner.Signed "A. V. Gregory -12-" Titled "The S. S. Rowitta / -121 tns" Printed on the ships' bow - "ROWITTA"flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, s. s. rowitta, rowitta, a. v. gregory, painting, marine painting, marine painter, steamer, steam ferry, passenger ferry, alfred gregory, tarkarri, sorrento, speculant, print, photograph

non-fictionThis record catalogue for 1958 - 1959 of L'Oiseau-Lyre, is from the company established in France by Louise Hansen Dyer one time Lady Mayoress of Melbourne. The book collection at Hymettus contains examples of her press, records and ephemera such as Christmas cards. lyrebird records, france, melbourne, hansen-dyer

The item is a hard cover book recording weekly work of T.J. Connolly, Ironmongers, Sandhurst. A list of names is written inside the front cover. An alphabetical index at the front of the book, lists types of goods and equipment. The index is followed by handwritten pages recording each week's work including goods, fittings and equipment types, client surname or business name and a numbering system. The work records have also been checked off with ticks or crosses separately. The hard cardboard cover is green with red marbling, which is worn and torn. The leather binding has peeled away from the pages and front cover but is attached to the back cover. The pages are fragile with many loose pages due to the state of the binding. The book is full and includes the date range of 29 May 1886 to 12 October 1888. This item is part of the Margaret Roberts Collection.Business stamp on torn loose page inside front cover. margaret roberts collection, ironmongers, forest street, bendigo businesses

intersection of Myer Street with Church and Roadknight Streets taken from Police Station corner shows flower gardens in traffic islands, Myer Street businesses and holiday units opposite Police Station Lakes Entrance Victoria 1999 Inscriptions and markings Languages Production methods Materials Dimensions No dimensions recorded Other measurements Duration Weight Weight unit Colour photograph of roundabout at intersection of Myer Street with Church and Roadknight Streets taken from Police Station corner shows flower gardens in traffic islands, Myer Street businesses and holiday units opposite Police Station Lakes Entrance Victoriabusinesses, roads and streets

Digitised video (1.90GB). Duration: 35 minutes. Recorded March, 2023 (Video is available for viewing at Ringwood & District Historical Society Archives by appointment)Ringwood and District Historical Society President Russ Haines presents this talk on Bamford’s timber yard following the donation to the Society of the account books dating from the business’s inception in 1908 until the mid-1950s.