Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.A[?] M[?] Winterwool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.Mr Winterwool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.W Bakkuwool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.W Bakker [?]wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.Mr Bakker [?]wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.W M Bakku [?]wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.wool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Donated by Mr Leslie Rourke.W M Bakkerwool brokering wool sales textile mills textile mills, national council of wool selling brokers of australia, wool brokering, wool sales, textile mills

Manufactured by Botany Knitting Mills Pty LtdOne piece ladies swimsuit with boy style leg and plunging backline. Thin shoulder straps. Built in black woollen knickers. The advert pictured is from the Adelaide Register News, 28 Nov 1930Seagull Flex-o-knit

Pair of knee-high tweed woollen gaiters with attached leather straps and metal buckles to tie around each footcostume accessories - gaiters

Christian Den Besten was Born 1972. Through art Christian interprets his community - the current affairs, infrastructure, and people that affect his everyday life. He is a prolific artist and often works with an accumulation of small components in creating his artworks. Christian is an artist living with an intellectual disability. He takes pleasure in drawing the beautiful buildings that dot Geelong’s cityscape. He exhibits and sells his work regularly.Denny’s Lascelles building Geelong by Christian Den Besten, 2019.

Owned by the Belfast & Koroit Steamship Co. Used primarily for shipping freight between Port Fairy and Melbourne, the Coramba was lost off Phillip Island during a storm on 30th November 1934. Her location was not discovered until 29th May 2011B&W photographship, boat, sea, river

Olive green pants with bracesWestcott

Gift of the artist, 2005

Shearing time at Cooninbil Station, NSW, 2006. The Ferrier Wool Press sits among penned sheep in an old woolshed. Invented and made in Geelong, the Ferrier wool press could be found in woolsheds all over Australia and around the world.A Green large wool press reaches towards the ceiling in the centre of the image. Rays of bright orange sunlight extend around the green wool press. Surrounding the wool press are numerous sheep. The sheep are penned within a large multileveled wooden woolshed.shearing, ferrier wool press, cooninbil station

The story of 90 years of wool classing between father & son begins in 1936, when a young boy by the name of Stanley James Hucker walked through the doors of the Gordon Technical School in Geelong. Born in 1921, Stanley was 15 years of age when he began his 3-year course in Wool Classing. 30 years later, Stanley’s second son Denis completed the same 3-year wool classing course. Beginning in 1966, Denis attended the same Gordon Technical School and walked the same halls as his father before him. Stanley finished his course in 1938. He went back to the family farm in Lake Bolac for a brief period before enrolling in the Second World War. At the completion of the war, Stanley returned home and married before gaining a soldier settler allotment, north of Willaura. This enabled Stan to use his wool classing knowledge. He ran between 1,500 and 2,000 sheep for many years, while his wool classer stencil also allowed him to go out and class at various sheds around the area. He held his stencil from 1938 until he retired at the age of 60 in 1981. On retirement, his second son Denis was working in the district, managing a local property while also leasing land himself. Upon his father’s retirement, Denis had the opportunity to lease his father’s farm, an opportunity he could not refuse. Denis had finished his wool classing course at the Gordon Technical School in 1968, graduating dux of his class. He began working with a local contractor and started classing wool in his team. Denis gained a great deal of experience working as part of this team in big sheds of up to 8 stands servicing between 10 & 20,000 sheep. It was not all smooth sailing for Denis however, and he soon learnt an important lesson. Class wool the way you’re taught, don’t listen to the owner standing over your shoulder. At a clip of Corriedales near Casterton, Denis was pushing too many fleeces into the line of fine wool. This resulted in a notice from the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) “mixing counts too much, submit three clips for inspection”. Denis was able to submit 3 clips with no further complaints, however, this proved a valuable lesson he would never forget over his long career classing wool. In the early 1980s, when Denis was leasing two properties including his father’s, things were going well until drought struck. February 1983 was the date of the Ash Wednesday bushfires, and saw Melbourne have three days over 40 °C for only the second time on record. This period saw Denis give away farming, turning towards contracting work instead. After the difficult times of the early 1980s, the next two decades were a good time for the sheep industry. 15 micron wool was selling for prices between 4 to 5,000 cents per kilo, double what you’d expect for the same wool in 2022. In 1995 a single bale of wool sold for a million dollars. This was a good time for Denis too. His contracting work saw him employing local shearers and shed staff. His team was involved with the shearing and classing of more than 130,000 sheep. After 20 years of contracting, it was time for Denis to transition into the next phase of his life. He gave up independent contracting, preferring instead to return to being a member of someone else’s team. In 2018, having completed 50 years of wool classing, it was time to call it a day and retire completely. At the annual Gordon Wool School Old Students Association dinner held in 2018, Denis was presented with his 50 years as a registered wool classer stencil awarded by the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX). This is a rare honour achieved by few. As of February 2020, a total of 430 wool classers had achieved this 50-year milestone. For Denis however, his proudest achievement is achieving 90 years of wool classing with his father. The National Wool Museum is proud to share the collection of objects gained from 90 years in the wool classing industry by Stanley and Denis. This ranges from Stanley’s first stencil and Wool Sample book, started when he first attended the Gordon in 1936. The collection concludes 90 years later with Denis’ 50 years of wool classing Stencil. The collection contains many more objects, all telling the story of these 90 years, and the hard work invested by this dedicated father and son duo. Thin sheet of orange plastic with letters and numbers moulded to produce a consistent pattern for the surface below through the application of ink. This wool classing stencil once belonged to Denis Hucker. The top number is Denis’ Wool Classing Stencil Number. On the next line is the emblem of the Australian Wool Exchange, followed by an image of Australia, and finally the letters AW. The final line reads 50 years, indicating Denis’ experience in the profession of wool classing. This stencil is reserved for wool classers who have held their stencil and been actively classing wool in Australia for more than 50 years. Wool classers sort, classify, and grade wool into various lines so that it can be sold at best market price. They also manage and supervise wool-handling teams. The stencil is used in the final step of preparing a bale of wool for sale. It is branded across the front of a wool bale to indicate the quality of the wool, with the classers number used as a seal of approval. Accompanying the stencil are two sheets of white A4 paper with printing in gold and black ink. The first sheet was presented by the Australian Council of Wool Exporters & Processors to Denis Hucker for achieving 50 years of wool classing. Surrounded by a thin gold boarder, the page is made up of black text with gold headings. In the top right corner, an image of a sheep with an outline of Australia is found. The second piece of paper was presented by the Australian Wool Exchange to Denis Hucker for achieving 50 years of wool classing. Two thirds of the page is made up of a gold stencil which reads “50 years”. Accompanying the stencil is black text. Moulded letters, numbers, emblem, and imagery. “950326 / (emblem AWEX) (Image Australia) AW / 50 Years” A4 Paper. Printed. See Multimedia A4 Paper. Printed See Multimedia wool classing, stencil, 90 years wool classing between father & son

This stencil was used as a ship identifier stamp for the transportation of wool bales. Plassy was a troopship in the Boer and then the Indian Garrison rotation run. During WWI the Plassy was converted into a Grand Fleet hospital ship serving in European waters. All wool bales stamped with PLASSY would be transported on the Plassy ship.Wool bale export stencil - PLASSYPLASSYwool transportation, wool export, wool sales