Built in 1858 at the Port and Harbour Master's yard in Williamstown Victoria, the Portland Lifeboat was overseen by Harbour Master Charles Ferguson. It is understood to have been constructed from the same moulds used to build the Port Fairy Lifeboat, designed by William White, in 1857. Both boats are similar to the lifeboats designed in England by James Peake and adopted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in the UK. The Portland Lifeboat's 9.14 m (30 ft) long hull is double diagonally planked in New Zealand kauri, and many of the planks run from gunwale to gunwale in one piece under the inner keel section. Eucalyptus and oregon were used elsewhere and the local blacksmith made the iron work. The fastenings are copper. There are two flotation or buoyancy tanks at either end, with prominent whaleback style decking. Under the thwarts is a deck with scuppers so that the craft is both buoyant and self draining whenever large waves are taken aboard in rough conditions. The lifeboat was oar-powered with a sailing rig. The original rig was a lug mainsail, but this was replaced with a lug and headsail rig taken from a fishing boat in 1903. The lifeboat was manned by volunteer crews, mostly local fishermen from Portland. They maintained this service until 1915 when the boat was replaced with a new motorised craft. The lifeboat's most outstanding service was to the steamer ADMELLA in 1859 when the ship grounded on a reef off Cape Banks in South Australia, 150 km to the west of Portland. Survivors clung to the rigging in heavy seas for over a week and 89 people lost their lives in the shipwreck. Taken to the scene by the steamer LADY BIRD, the Portland Lifeboat was unable to assist until eight days after the ADMELLA's grounding when the seas abated enough for the lifeboat to manoeuvre close to the ship and rescue the last 19 survivors. Since its retirement in 1915 the lifeboat has been a memorial to those who manned it and those it rescued. For a long period it was on display in the Portland Gardens, first in the open and then under a canopy. In 2008 it was on display inside the Portland Maritime Discovery Centre, still in original condition complete with the rig from 1915. It is one of the oldest vessels of its type in Australia, and the world.Portland LifeboatPhotograph showing the Portland Lifeboatphotography, portland lifeboat, admella

Black and white photo, white border. View of Julia St. Portland, taken from middle of road, looking west, left hand side, block between Bentinck and Percy Streets. Four cars, 1 motorbike, road not sealed.'JULIA STREET, PORTLAND', black print, lower borderphotography, julia street, portland

Photograph showing the pioneers of portlandBack: Presented by Harry Goldsmithphotography, pioneers, portland

Black and white photo. Fishermans wharf in background. Long pier. Ocean pier. Baths. Cypress trees in foreground of Bentinck Street. Electric light poles. Ute carying wool bales.Front: Portland Victoria. (Length of Ocean Pier 2880ft).portland, photography, fishermens wharf

View of Battery Point in Portlandphotography, landscape, battery point

Displayed at History HouseP & B Film Developing Service Envelope Paper envelope with green graphic and text, with line drawing of a camera in rounded in lower right. Sewn with green thread down sides. Folded to form pouch and cover.Front: H 3711/WET TF/537/8/13.6 (pencil, in boxed areas on front).camera, photography, film developing

Displayed at History House.397.1 - Collapsable flash gun 397.2 - Leather case. "Hanimex" logo embossed on lid.Front: Hanimex/Flashmaster (centre, print)photography, flash, flash gun

Vern Mc Callum CollectionDigital copy of a monochrome photo of Portland, N 1859 View of buildings on south side of Julia street, between Percy and Bentick streets.photography, vern mccallum, portland cbd

Black and white photograph, old stone cottage, tin roof; wooden building beside it, wooden paling fenceBack: '14' crossed out, '15' in pencilcottage, photography, rural

A stereoscope is a device for viewing a stereoscopic pair of separate images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, as a single three-dimensional image. A typical stereoscope provides each eye with a lens that makes the image seen through it appear larger and more distant and usually also shifts its apparent horizontal position, so that for a person with normal binocular depth perception the edges of the two images seemingly fuse into one "stereo window". In current practice, the images are prepared so that the scene appears to be beyond this virtual window, through which objects are sometimes allowed to protrude, but this was not always the custom. A divider or other view-limiting feature is usually provided to prevent each eye from being distracted by also seeing the image intended for the other eye.Stereoscope, silver metal decorated face piece, with glass viewing holes, wooden folding handle, wooden cross-piece with wire loop at each end, to hold the stereoscopic cards/photos. Cross piece detachable. 'PAT'D APR 5TH 1904' stamped on metal'PAT'D APR 5TH 1904' stamped on metalstereoscope, 3d, photography

Glass slide - Glenelg River in floodslide, photography, glenelg river