Colour slide of legatees standing by two cars a timber yard near Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of legatees beside two cars in a timber yard during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Hand written on front 'Eildon / After the job is done' in blue pen. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, cars, wood

Colour slide of three men cutting logs using a sawmill at a timber yard in Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of men cutting logs in a timber yard in Eildon during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Hand written on front 'Champion cutter / Eildon' in blue pen and '22' in pencil. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, wood, sawmill

Colour slide of men cutting logs using a sawmill at a timber yard in Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of men cutting logs in a timber yard in Eildon during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, wood, sawmill

Colour slide of a man repairing a sawmill at a timber yard in Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of a man repairing a sawmill in a timber yard in Eildon during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Handwritten 'Repairs / Eildon' in blue pen. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, wood, sawmill

Colour slide of men cutting logs using a sawmill at a timber yard in Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of men cutting logs in a timber yard in Eildon during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Hand written on front 'Cutting Firewood / Eildon' and '22' in blue pen. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, sawmill, wood

Colour slide of two loaded semi trailers at a timber yard in Eildon. It was during Operation Firewood. Legatees would organise collection of wood from the country and distribute it to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Other slides show the cutting and loading of wood and delivery to widows in metropolitan Melbourne. Was with many other slides taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image the best available.A record of Legacy helping widows by sourcing, supplying and delivering firewood. When open fires were the main source of heating, a load of firewood and help moving it, would have been very important to the widows.Colour slide of two loaded semi trailers in a timber yard in Eildon during Operation Firewood in brown Anscochrome cardboard mount.Printed on front in red ink 'Anscochrome / View from this side / Made in Australia'. Hand written on front 'Loading finished / Eildon' and '23' in blue pen. Printed on reverse in red ink 'Processed by Verycolor photo labs. Melbourne, Victoria'.operation firewood, semi trailers, wood

The timber display case was presented to Mr Richard Standcombe Harris of Warrnambool (1831-1923). He was a councillor (1875-1891) and predominant businessman. Mr C F Loggin had met Mr Harris while on a trip to Stratford upon Avon in the United Kingdom. Upon his return to Warrnambool, Mr Harris donated the item to the Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery, (established 1886) where Joseph Archibald was Curator: he catalogued the case in 1894. THE LETTERS IN THE CASE The two letters contained within the display case confirm the authenticity of the oak wood sample. The first letter in the case includes the text; "[Stamped Header on banner] High Street, Stratford on Avon [Hand written] Sept. 22nd / 91. Mr. R. S. Harris, Dear Sir, Enclosed you will find [underlined next 3 words] every authentic proof of the Oak from Shakespeare's House (Birth place). I regret very much Sir, that you made a short-day at S. on A. I should have been delighted to have had the honour, & pleasure, of showing you around our Beautiful Country. You did not give [next 3 words underlined] me or yourself a fair chance. But however I hope that we may again some day have more time to go quietly around. With kind regards, and wishing you, Sir, a pleasant voyage, I remain, Dear Sir, Yours very truly, C.F. Loggin. P.S. A paper will be always acceptable to be as how you Jolly Warrnamboolites are desporting yourselves. “ The second letter includes text; “[Printed Letterhead with stamped impression] The Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace Incorporated by Act of 54 and 55, Vict. 1891 Secretary and Librarian - Richard Savage Shakespeare’s Birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon [handwritten] 22 Sept 1891 This piece of oak is a portion of what was cut away at at the restoration of Shakespeare’s Birthplace in 1857-58. C. F. Loggins Chemist 3 High Street Richard Savage Sec. – Shakespeare’s Birthplace Mr C F Loggin was connected with the Shakespeare Trust as the person who had originally donated a scion of Shakespeare's mulberry tree to the "Shakespearean Birthday Committee" in 1842. (The scion that was given to the Shakespearean Birthday Committee, from which the Mulberry sample is derived, still grows today in "New Place" garden.) Mr Richard Savage was the Secretary and Liberian of the then renamed “Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace when the display case was given to Mr Harris in 1891 by Mr Loggin. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he also grew up. He married at 18 years and he and his wife, Anne Hathaway, had three children: They moved to London where he became successful as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company. He later returned to Stratford and purchased his last home, which he called "New Place" in 1602 where he later died in 1616. For the next 150 years, it was known that there existed a black mulberry tree in the garden. At the time there was a fashion for planting mulberry trees. It was the early 17th century after King James had come to the throne, and he imported tens of thousands of saplings in an attempt to get landowners to start a silk industry in England. Unfortunately for posterity, Shakespeare's mulberry was felled around 1756, by the then owner of “New Place" the Reverend Francis Gastrell, who was apparently tired of continual visits by pilgrims asking to see the tree, so he chopped it down. Gastrell had applied for local permission to extend the garden but the application was rejected and his tax was increased. Gastrell retaliated by demolishing the house in 1759, this greatly outraged the local inhabitants. Gastrell was eventually forced to leave town having provoked the wrath of Stratford residents for committing such an act. Today only the garden remains where “New House" used to stand with a scion from the original mulberry tree still growing there. The wood from the felled mulberry tree at “New House" was purchased by an enterprising local clock-maker Thomas Sharp and he spent the next 40 years or so years making souvenirs from the wood. These became early tourist souvenirs and subsequently developed into a profitable sideline for various other makers, including George Cooper and John Marshall. These objects range from relatively small domestic wooden objects, such as snuff boxes and weight scales to large tea caddies and even tables. C. F. Loggin donated a scion or cutting from Shakespeare's mulberry tree to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1862, he was a chemist who lived and worked in Stratford. There is a note on the frame of the donation that the mulberry sample is from this scion, research shows that from Richard Savage's diary notes that there must have been a lot of wood taken from that scion over the years which was planted in the garden of “New Place” and is still growing there today. The "Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace" (1847 -1964) was formed after the house where Shakespeare is believed to have been born fell into disrepair. Subsequently in 1846 after the death of Thomas Court's widow the last owner. Interest in the house was revived when PT Barnum, the American showman, wanted to buy it and ship the house back to America. In response to this, the Shakespeare Birthday Committee was established (by a private Act of Parliament) with the help of such luminaries as Charles Dickens, the Committee of Trustees raised the necessary £3,000 and purchased the house the following year. Once the Committee had acquired the building, restoration work began. Originally the Birthplace formed part of a terrace with later houses built either side. The first stage in its conservation was their destruction. At the time it was thought necessary to avoid the risk of fire spreading to Shakespeare's birthplace. Reconstruction was carried out by the Shakespeare Trust between 1857 and 1864 that restored the outside of the building to its original 16th-century state. It is from this restoration that the donated piece of oak is derived, originally from a beam that was in the house. Communication from The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, dated April 11th, 2019, confirms that the pieces displayed in this case have good provenance. The wood samples are significant for their association with the history of William Shakespeare. The display case and its content is significant to Warrnambool local history for its association with the establishment in 1886 of the Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery. However, it should be noted that the letters of authentication that accompany the wood samples are only applicable to the oak sample. None the less, all the pieces have very good provenance, with Richard Savage's certificate of authenticity for the oak, and the mulberry sample with the letter to Mr Harris from Mr CF Loggin having also been the donor of the scion of mulberry in 1862 to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. This scion was then established at Shakespeare's garden at "New Home" that had been demolished by Rev Francis Gastrell in 1759. Two wood samples associated with William Shakespeare, presented in a hanging, timber and glass display case with metal trim around the frame. The case also contains two letters and a label printed on a card that refers to the contents, their origins and the donor. A card label with a printed number and a round adhesive label are attached on the back of the case. The left round section of wood is from a donated scion (or shoot) derived from the original mulberry tree planted by William Shakespeare at his last home "New Place", Stratford-upon-Avon. The outer section is light brown coloured while the centre is dark grain. The right wood sample in the case is a section of oak rafter from the house where Shakespeare was born in 1564. The wood is mid brown with a distinct grain. The included letters, each dated 22/9/1891, refer to only the oak sample. - The letter on the left comprises two handwritten pages from Mr CF Loggin to Mr Richard Standcombe Harris. The paper has the printed letterhead address of High Street, Stratford on Avon. - The letter on the right is a handwritten certificate of authenticity signed by Mr CF Loggin and counter signed by Mr Richard Savage, Secretary and Liberian of the Shakespeare Trust. It is on the printed letterhead of The Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace Cardboard label inside the glass case “Shakespeare Section of Mulberry Tree, traditionally said to have been planted by Shakespeare in his garden, “New Place,” Stratford-on-Avon. PORTION OF OAK RAFTER from the house in which Shakespeare was born. (Presented by R S Harris 1891.) Printed label on the back of the case “3 2 “ The handwritten adhesive label “0566” flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, shakespeare display case, wood samples, oak from shakespeare's birthplace, mulberry from shakespeare's home "new place", stratford-upon-avon, shakespeare's birthplace, the trustees and guardians of shakespeare's birthplace &c., shakespeare trust, shakespeare birthday committee, r.s. harris, brunswick, victoria, richard s harris, brunswick, victoria, c.f. loggins, chemist, 3 high street stratford-on-avon, richard savage, warrnambool museum and art gallery, thomas court, pt barnum, charles dickins, anne hathaway, black mulberry tree, reverend francis gastrell

On a piece of paper subsequently glued near one end of its curved upper face, this length of planed and polished hardwood timber bears the inscription: “A [p]iece of w[r]ec[k] of the Loch Ard wrecked near Sherbroke River”. The timber is carefully worked with rich dark colouring and a uniformly moulded design, suggesting that it was part of a fitting or furnishing that was publicly visible and prominent. If the artefact is what it is declared to be, then it is possible that it formed part of the ship’s railings or companionway stairs. The LOCH ARD was a 1,693 ton, 3 masted barque, built on the Clyde in 1873. In an age of increasing competition for the emigrant passenger trade from steam-driven vessels, special attention was paid to her wooden furnishings and fittings. The Loch Line owners prided themselves on their attractive, distinctively painted, sailing ships. Below decks, where cargo and third class passengers were stowed, was made of iron. But everything above deck, and on show to the saloon and second class passengers, was carved and varnished timber. Captain Daish’s 1878 report for the ship’s underwriters notes “a quantity of general Cargo washed up in a confused mass” in the cove and “a number of Cases, Casks and Bales; also deals and boards floating about in some of the gorges” further west of the shipwreck. Contemporary newspaper accounts also reported a large quantity of cargo and timber washed ashore in the days following the LOCH ARD shipwreck, adding “but those were speedily removed by persons who came down from Port Campbell, Scott’s Creek and other places with carts and pack horses”. The appearance and good condition of this wood artefact, and the aged patina and dated hand-writing style of its pasted on inscription, support the suggestion that it was ‘souvenired’ from the floating debris of the LOCH ARD at or near the 1878 date of its foundering off Mutton Bird Island. HISTORY OF THE LOCH ARD The LOCH ARD belonged to the famous Loch Line which sailed many ships from England to Australia. Built in Glasgow by Barclay, Curdle and Co. in 1873, the LOCH ARD was a three-masted square rigged iron sailing ship. The ship measured 262ft 7" (79.87m) in length, 38ft (11.58m) in width, 23ft (7m) in depth and had a gross tonnage of 1693 tons. The LOCH ARD's main mast measured a massive 150ft (45.7m) in height. LOCH ARD made three trips to Australia and one trip to Calcutta before its final voyage. LOCH ARD left England on March 2, 1878, under the command of Captain Gibbs, a newly married, 29 year old. She was bound for Melbourne with a crew of 37, plus 17 passengers and a load of cargo. The general cargo reflected the affluence of Melbourne at the time. On board were straw hats, umbrella, perfumes, clay pipes, pianos, clocks, confectionary, linen and candles, as well as a heavier load of railway irons, cement, lead and copper. There were items included that intended for display in the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880. The voyage to Port Phillip was long but uneventful. At 3am on June 1, 1878, Captain Gibbs was expecting to see land and the passengers were becoming excited as they prepared to view their new homeland in the early morning. But LOCH ARD was running into a fog which greatly reduced visibility. Captain Gibbs was becoming anxious as there was no sign of land or the Cape Otway lighthouse. At 4am the fog lifted. A man aloft announced that he could see breakers. The sheer cliffs of Victoria's west coast came into view, and Captain Gibbs realised that the ship was much closer to them than expected. He ordered as much sail to be set as time would permit and then attempted to steer the vessel out to sea. On coming head on into the wind, the ship lost momentum, the sails fell limp and LOCH ARD's bow swung back. Gibbs then ordered the anchors to be released in an attempt to hold its position. The anchors sank some 50 fathoms - but did not hold. By this time LOCH ARD was among the breakers and the tall cliffs of Mutton Bird Island rose behind the ship. Just half a mile from the coast, the ship's bow was suddenly pulled around by the anchor. The captain tried to tack out to sea, but the ship struck a reef at the base of Mutton Bird Island, near Port Campbell. Waves broke over the ship and the top deck was loosened from the hull. The masts and rigging came crashing down knocking passengers and crew overboard. When a lifeboat was finally launched, it crashed into the side of LOCH ARD and capsized. Tom Pearce, who had launched the boat, managed to cling to its overturned hull and shelter beneath it. He drifted out to sea and then on the flood tide came into what is now known as LOCH ARD Gorge. He swam to shore, bruised and dazed, and found a cave in which to shelter. Some of the crew stayed below deck to shelter from the falling rigging but drowned when the ship slipped off the reef into deeper water. Eva Carmichael had raced onto deck to find out what was happening only to be confronted by towering cliffs looming above the stricken ship. In all the chaos, Captain Gibbs grabbed Eva and said, "If you are saved Eva, let my dear wife know that I died like a sailor". That was the last Eva Carmichael saw of the captain. She was swept off the ship by a huge wave. Eva saw Tom Pearce on a small rocky beach and yelled to attract his attention. He dived in and swam to the exhausted woman and dragged her to shore. He took her to the cave and broke open case of brandy which had washed up on the beach. He opened a bottle to revive the unconscious woman. A few hours later Tom scaled a cliff in search of help. He followed hoof prints and came by chance upon two men from nearby Glenample Station three and a half miles away. In a state of exhaustion, he told the men of the tragedy. Tom returned to the gorge while the two men rode back to the station to get help. By the time they reached LOCH ARD Gorge, it was cold and dark. The two shipwreck survivors were taken to Glenample Station to recover. Eva stayed at the station for six weeks before returning to Ireland, this time by steamship. In Melbourne, Tom Pearce received a hero's welcome. He was presented with the first gold medal of the Royal Humane Society of Victoria and a £1000 cheque from the Victorian Government. Concerts were performed to honour the young man's bravery and to raise money for those who lost family in the LOCH ARD disaster. Of the 54 crew members and passengers on board, only two survived: the apprentice, Tom Pearce and the young woman passenger, Eva Carmichael, who lost all of her family in the tragedy. Ten days after the LOCH ARD tragedy, salvage rights to the wreck were sold at auction for £2,120. Cargo valued at £3,000 was salvaged and placed on the beach, but most washed back into the sea when another storm developed. The wreck of LOCH ARD still lies at the base of Mutton Bird Island. Much of the cargo has now been salvaged and some was washed up into what is now known as LOCH ARD Gorge. Cargo and artefacts have also been illegally salvaged over many years before protective legislation was introduced. One of the most unlikely pieces of cargo to have survived the shipwreck was a Minton porcelain peacock - one of only nine in the world. The peacock was destined for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880. It had been well packed, which gave it adequate protection during the violent storm. Today, the Minton peacock can be seen at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool. From Australia's most dramatic shipwreck it has now become Australia's most valuable shipwreck artefact and is one of very few 'objects' on the Victorian State Heritage Register. The Loch Ard wreck is of state significance – Victorian Heritage Register S417. However there is a lack of documented provenance that limits the interpretive value of this piece of timber (for example, its potential to interpret nineteenth century souveniring and scavenging from shipwrecks along the south west coast of Victoria). Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from LOCH ARD is significant for being one of the largest collections of artefacts from this shipwreck in Victoria. It is significant for its association with the shipwreck, which is on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR S417). The collection is significant because of the relationship between the objects, as together they have a high potential to interpret the story of the LOCH ARD. The LOCH ARD collection is archaeologically significant as the remains of a large international passenger and cargo ship. The LOCH ARD collection is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes). The collection is also historically significant for its association with the LOCH ARD, which was one of the worst and best known shipwrecks in Victoria’s history. A length of hardwood timber, planed and varnished to smooth finish on three sides, with two unfinished tongues protruding from each end (one broken off), possibly from the wreck of the LOCH ARD. The front or upper face is moulded and routed to a regular, linear (skirting board type) design along its entire length, the two sides flat planed. One side contains two inserted dowel rods that have been broken off. The bottom face has not been finished to the same standard. The sample is good quality wood that has retained its density and weight and shows no evidence of having been submerged in seawater for any length of time. Glued on to the upper face of the length of timber near the right hand end is a deteriorated square of paper bearing an inscription. The paper, peeling back and with torn edges, is stuck over an original wood stain but under a subsequent layer of varnish. The faded ink words are indecipherable where paper is missing, but written carefully in an old fashioned cursive script.The inscription on the paper reads: “A [p]iece of w[r]ec[k] of the Loch Ard wrecked near Sherbroke River”. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, loch line, loch ard, captain gibbs, eva carmichael, tom pearce, glenample station, mutton bird island, loch ard gorge, nineteenth-century souveniring, shipwreck scavenging, loch line sailing ships, wood sample

A leg vice is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it by a carpenter or cooper such a planning wood. Vices generally have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever. A leg vice gives greater holding power or force to a piece of material while a carpenter works on the timber.The subject item at this time cannot be associated with an historical event, person or place, provenance is unknown, item assessed as a collection asset as it is believed to have been produced before 1950.Leg Vice metal attached to cooper's bench Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, vice, leg vice, coopers tools, workbench vice, carpenters tools, woodworking tools

The artefact is the lower portion of a rectangular shanked ‘planking nail’ with a straight-edged ‘flat point’. The distinctive ‘point’ of a planking/skirting nail was designed to be driven into timber across the grain in order to prevent the wood from splitting. This relic is from the shipwreck of the SCHOMBERG, which ran aground near Peterborough in 1855. It was retrieved in 1875 from a large section of the ship’s bow which had been carried by ocean currents to the western coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The nail is still fixed in a fragment of the original timber that it secured in the SCHOMBERG. The top portion, or ‘head’ of the nail, has corroded away but the pronounced rectangular shank and its flat point indicate its likely purpose and position on the vessel. Most fastenings used in sailing ship construction were either wooden treenails or copper bolts, which were relatively resistant to seawater corrosion. In addition, the preferred hull-frame timber of British Oak has a high content of gallic acid which rapidly corrodes unprotected iron work. The ferrous composition of this planking nail suggests it came from an internal and upper portion of the ship’s bow (protected from exposure to the sea or oak). According to an 1855 edition of the Aberdeen Journal, the five outer layers, or ‘skins’, of the SCHOMBERG’s pine hull were “combined by means of patent screw treenails”. However the “beams of her two upper decks” were of “malleable iron”, and “part of the forecastle” was “fitted for the accommodation of the crew”. It is therefore possible that iron nails of this description were used by the ship’s builders to secure floor and wall planks in enclosed areas of the crew’s quarters. (The same reasoning would apply to officer and passenger accommodation amidships and at the stern of the vessel, but it was the bow that floated to New.Zealand.) The SCHOMBERG was a 2,000 ton clipper ship, specifically designed for the Australian immigration trade (back-loading wool for Britain’s mills), and constructed in Hall’s shipyard in Aberdeen, Scotland. She was owned by the Black Ball Line and launched in 1855. Alexander Hall & Son were renowned builders of sleek and fast 1,000 ton clippers for the China trade (opium in, tea out) and were keen to show they could also outclass the big North American ships built by Donald Mackay. Consequently the SCHOMBERG was ‘overbuilt’. Her hull featured five ‘skins’ of Scotch Larch and Pitch Pine overlaying each other in a diagonal pattern against a stout frame of British Oak. Oak has been favoured by builders of wooden ships for centuries. Its close, dense grain made it harder to work, but also gave it great strength and durability. In addition, the lateral spread of its branches supplied a natural curvature for the ribs of a vessel’s hull, as well as providing the small corner or curved pieces (‘knees’ and ‘elbows’) that fit them together. At the launch the SCHOMBERG’s 34 year old master, Captain ‘Bully’ Forbes, had promised Melbourne in 60 days, "with or without the help of God." James Nicol Forbes was born in Aberdeen in 1821 and rose to fame with his record-breaking voyages on the famous Black Ball Line ships; MARCO POLO and LIGHTNING. In 1852 in the MARCO POLO he made the record passage from London to Melbourne in 68 days. There were 53 deaths on the voyage but the great news was of the record passage by the master. In 1954 Captain Forbes took the clipper LIGHTNING to Melbourne in 76 days and back in 63 days, this was never beaten by a sailing ship. He often drove his crew and ship to breaking point to beat his own records. He cared little for the comfort of the passengers. On this, the SCHOMBERG’s maiden voyage, he was going to break records. SCHOMBERG departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6 October 1855 flying the sign “Sixty Days to Melbourne”. She departed with 430 passengers and 3000 tons cargo including iron rails and equipment intended to build the Melbourne to Geelong Railway and a bridge over the Yarra from Melbourne to Hawthorn. She also carried a cow for fresh milk, pens for fowls and pigs, 90,000 gallons of water for washing and drinking. It also carried 17,000 letters and 31,800 newspapers. The ship and cargo was insured for $300,000, a fortune for the time. The winds were poor as she sailed across the equator, slowing SCHOMBERG’s journey considerably. Land was first sighted on Christmas Day, at Cape Bridgewater near Portland, and Captain Forbes followed the coastline towards Melbourne. Forbes was said to be playing cards when called by the Third Mate Henry Keen, who reported land about 3 miles off, Due in large part to the captain's regarding a card game as more important than his ship, it eventually ran aground on a sand spit near Curdie's Inlet (about 56 km west of Cape Otway) on 26 December 1855, 78 days after leaving Liverpool. The sand spit and the currents were not marked on Forbes’s map. Overnight, the crew launched a lifeboat to find a safe place to land the ship’s passengers. The scouting party returned to SCHOMBERG and advised Forbes that it was best to wait until morning because the rough seas could easily overturn the small lifeboats. The ship’s Chief Officer spotted SS QUEEN at dawn and signalled the steamer. The master of the SS QUEEN approached the stranded vessel and all of SCHOMBERG’s passengers and crew were able to disembark safely. The SCHOMBERG was lost and with her, Forbes’ reputation. The Black Ball Line’s Melbourne agent sent a steamer to retrieve the passengers’ baggage from the SCHOMBERG. Other steamers helped unload her cargo until the weather changed and prevented the salvage teams from accessing the ship. Later one plunderer found a case of Wellington boots, but alas, all were for the left foot! Local merchants Manifold & Bostock bought the wreck and cargo, but did not attempt to salvage the cargo still on board the ship. They eventually sold it on to a Melbourne businessman and two seafarers. In 1864 after two of the men drowned when they tried to reach SCHOMBERG, salvage efforts were abandoned. Parts of the SCHOMBERG were washed ashore on the south island of New Zealand in 1870, nearly 15 years after the wreck. The wreck now lies in 825 metres of water. Although the woodwork is mostly disintegrated the shape of the ship can still be seen due to the remaining railway irons, girders and the ship’s frame. A variety of goods and materials can be seen scattered about nearby. Flagstaff Hill holds many items salvaged from the SCHOMBERG including a ciborium (in which a diamond ring was concealed), communion set, ship fittings and equipment, personal effects, a lithograph, tickets and photograph from the SCHOMBERG. One of the SCHOMBERG bells is in the Warrnambool Library. This nail is a registered artefact from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG, Artefact Reg No S/35 and is significant because of its association with the SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection as a whole is of historical and archaeological significance at a State level, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S612. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from the SCHOMBERG is significant for its association with the Victorian Heritage Registered shipwreck. The collection is primarily significant because of the relationship between the objects, as together they have a high potential to interpret the story of the SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection is archaeologically significant as the remains of an international passenger ship. The shipwreck collection is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes). The collection is also historically significant for its association with the shipwreck and the ship, which was designed to be fastest and most luxurious of its day. The SCHOMBERG collection meets the following criteria for assessment: Criterion A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history. The object is the bottom end of a slightly curved iron planking nail with remnant of timber still attached, recovered from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG (1855). The shank of the nail is rectangular and it narrows to a flat (chisel like) ‘point’. The ‘head’ is missing although there is a quantity of dark red corrosion within the top of the surrounding wood, suggesting where it might have been. The artefact is from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG (1855) and was retrieved from part of the ship’s bow which was carried by sea currents to the South Island of New Zealand. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, schomberg, planking nail, rectangular ship’s nail, cast iron nail

This bucket was made from vertical planks of wood with bands of metal around it for strength. Buckets such as this were made by coopers, who had expertise in making wooden barrels. Wood or animal skin was used to make buckets in colonial times when other materials were unavailable. Buckets had many uses in domestic and agricultural life including carrying, measuring and storing. Cooper tradesmen used carpentry and blacksmithing skills to make a wide range of wooden containers and other objects. They sometimes used water or steam to bend and mould the timber.The bucket is an example of a product made from wood and iron by an experienced Cooper. In early colonial timeswhen ready-made products were scarce so the trades of coopers, blacksmiths, metal smiths, carpenters, builders and others were necessary for domestic, commercial and industrial establishment.Wooden coopered bucket; three metal bands around vertical wooden planks that form the body of the bucket. Two lugs extend higher than the planks and have a rope joined between them.warrnambool, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, bucket, wooden bucket, container, domestic bucket, cooper, cooper trade, coopered bucket

Bendigo Advertiser ''The way we were'' from 2000. Iron works: 21 Garsed Street, Bendigo, circa 1900. Garrett John Sweeney was born in 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. He opened his timber and saw milling yard in 1882. The factory was able to produce all types of fancy wood products to supply builders within a 100-mile radius of Bendigo. The two-storey building housed machinery on the ground floor and timber stocks upstairs. The clip is in a folder.newspaper, bendigo advertiser, the way we were

Black and white photograph of the recovery of the body of Horse Tram No. 1 at the Anderson St. Ballarat home of J. Leviston on Friday 13 December 1985. See also Ref. No. 734 and 751. Body yet to be loaded on the trailer. Photos of end views of the tram body. 788.1 - Garry Wood working to slide tram body along a piece of timber east end. 788.2 - end view of body - note piece of timber under frame to enable movement - west end..trams, tramways, horse tram no. 1, btps, tramcars, tram recovery

This trinket box was made by Johann Landmann during his journey on the sailing ship Wilhelmsburg and was donated to Flagstaff Hill by the wife of Landmann's great-grandson. Landmann (or Landman, also known as August Landmann) was born in 1826 in Ganhor, Silesia, Prussia. At the age of 20, he travelled through Europe, working from town to town as a cabinet maker. At 26 years old he returned to Germany, married Anna Rosina in Wahlstatt, Prussia, and on the same day sailed for Australia on the Wilhelmsburg in 1853, the year the ship was registered. The Wilhelmsburg was a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship built at Reiherstieg, Hamburg, and registered in Hamburg on 27th April 1853. On her maiden voyage in 1853, the ship sailed from Hamburg, Germany, to Australia with 510 passengers on board, including emigrants under the Bounty Scheme. Johan Landmann was one of the passengers. The Wilhelmsburg arrived in Hobson’s Bay, Melbourne after sailing for 100 days. Johann spent a week in Melbourne then travelled to Warrnambool aboard the Merry Kitty, arriving fourteen days later. Johann had landed in Melbourne with only 16 shillings in his pocket and by the time he arrived in Warrnambool, he only had one shilling and sixpence left. He also had very limited ability to speak English. He settled in the Allansford area, near Warrnambool, together with other families from Germany and went on to play a significant role in the history of Warrnambool. Johann worked as a cabinet maker in Warrnambool, making the first coffin in the Warrnambool cemetery. He also worked as a general merchant. He built many of the earliest shops in Warrnambool, and the first paddle boat used on the local Hopkins River. He made models of Warrnambool’s Ozone Hotel and Presbyterian Church; the model of the Hotel is now in the Warrnambool Art Gallery, and the model of the Presbyterian Church has been in the care of the Warrnambool & District Historical Society since around 2017. One of Landmann's residences was a two-storey building in Henna Street Warrnambool where he, lived upstairs and operated his business downstairs. After he retired Landmann built a ‘handsome stone residence’ at 30 Mickle Street, Warrnambool, where he lived until his death in June 1920; he was aged ninety-five. “Landmann Street” in Warrnambool has been named after Johann and appears on a map in 1872. He has also been honoured on Warrnambool’s Pioneer Memorial Board which is displayed at the Warrnambool and District Historical Society. Landmann's son Adolph Fritz Landmann (Fritz Landmann) born in 1861, was a Councillor from 1905 to 1915, and Mayor of Warrnambool from 1912 to 1915. The Wilhelmsburg sailed from Hamburg in 1863 heading for Queensland, Australia, but in December the vessel was wrecked off the coast of Holland during storms, with the loss of 247 lives.The trinket box is significant as an early Warrnambool historical artefact with a connection to the maiden voyage of the ship Wilhelmsburg a vessel that holds the record for the number of passengers carried in one journey on a small vessel. Johann Landmann is regarded as a significant and historical figure in the development of Warrnambool as one of the earliest pioneers, not only as a businessman but the civic duties he undertook. First as a councilman and later the mayor of Warrnambool. Trinket box, wooden, with inlaid timber patterns and images. The design includes a mirror with a hidden compartment inside the hinged lid, a removable inner tray divided into compartments, and a fitted brass lock. The trim around the base is angled to widen the base. Images on the lid and three sides represent sailing vessels and a building. The lid and corners have a rope-edge design. Panels of the top and three sides have an intricate inlaid pattern featuring various wood grains. Images are framed by lines etched into the wood. The inside corners of the frames have inlaid quarter-circles of contrasting woods, resembling photograph corners.shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwrecked artefact, warrnambool, trinket box, inlaid woodwork box, wilhelmsburg, landmann, johann landmann, augustus landmann, landman, fritz landmann (warrnambool mayor), presbyterian church warrnambool, 30 mickle st warrnambool, ozone hotel warrnambool, johann carl augustus landmann, jewellery box

The Bow Saw is considered by many to be the most satisfactory saw for cutting shapes since the narrow blade negotiates curves easily, and is held in tension. Both the handle and knob (at the other end of the blade) can be turned so that a cut can be made more or less parallel to the required cut. Obviously the blade must be free of twist when in use. It is available with blade lengths of 25 to 40 cm (10 to 16 in). Generally both hands grips the one handle, hence the bulbous shape with narrow neck, but when thick wood has to be sawn it is helpful to have a person at each side, both sides of the wood having been marked. In this way it is much easier to keep the cut square to the sides of the timber. The rivets holding the blade to the handle can be withdrawn so that the saw can be used for an internal cut, the blade being threaded through a hole drilled through the timber.A vintage bow saw used in cabinet work by a cabinet maker in the mid to later part of the 19th century probably made in England.Bow saw wooden frame and handles. Twine attached to upper section of frame.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, bow saw, carpenders tools, cabinet makers tools, wood working, wood saw

Possibly has a strong association with the Ballarat depot and the equipment used there.Electrical Current or Amp Meter mounted onto a piece of timber. Meter has the current marked in Amps from 0 to 15. No manufacturer or use details known, would have been collected from the depot. Could have been used for the grinder or wheel lathe. Wood block has four mounting holes, bevelled edges and opening for cables on the lower edge. White meter face, has a marked reading of 6Amps. Rest of the meter is generally painted black except for the bottom and rear of the timber which is unpainted. trams, tramways, depot, meters, electrical equipment

A steel curved bladed woodworking tool with two wooden handles used to remove thin slices and big chunks of wood from timber. It can be used to fashion wooden sculptures, debarking trees and trimming beams. The final finishing on such work was done by a Spoke Shave tool which we also have in our collection.ROBT SORBY AUS STEELwoodcarving tools, drawing knives, shaves, handtools, steel, wood, woodworking tools

These nails were made for Walter John Mundy (1868-1944). Often imported nails made for the softer English and North American timbers bent when hammered against the harder colonial woods and so The Mundy family were farmers / settlers in the Snowy River area since c. 1880s. The original Mundy family moved to a land "selection" at Betebolong in the early 1880's from Buchan. It's only over the past century or so that the mass-produced nail has become an inexpensive and common way to join materials. These three iron nails were hand made by an early Orbost settler or blacksmith in the 1880's, using iron, forge and anvil. They are examples of the types of nails used in the 19th century. A rectangular, wooden(athel pine?) board with three hand-made nails glued in fan design to top left corner of section of floorboard. There is a short length of yellow cord attached for hanging. To the right of the nails is hand-written text in black. the nails have irregular shanks and hammer marks on both shanks and heads.right of nails - " Flooring & nails from Walter Mundy's house at Jarrahmond built C.1885. Still in use to this day."mundy-walter hand-made-nails

Slate has been used for hundreds of years as a base for writing and many young students began their schooling using one to practise their writing. They had many advantages among them the fact that they were reusable and errors could be erased and corrected. A small duster or cloth was often attached for cleaning. This is an example of a typical school slate and as such has representative and historic value.Many older people would identify it as an object from their own school days.Rectangular black slate, bordered with timber, which is painted green, darker on one side than the other. The lighter side has the alphabet engraved down either side and animals on the top and bottom. The reverse has numbers 1-10 at the top and also animals. engraved. There is a red felt tie at the top , threaded through a hole in the wood.The lighter side has the alphabet engraved down either side and animals on the top and bottom. The reverse has numbers 1-10 at the top and also animals engraved. Made In Portugal trade mark. warrnambool, school slate, slate, writing slate

V.R. Powder & General Goods Van NH1 Gauge 2'6" The NH Powder and Goods van was built in 1910. Its purpose was to carry explosives and general goods, Originally classed as NPH. There were two compartments: a 10ft 8¾ inch (3,270 mm) section for explosives and a 13 ft 7 in (4,140 mm) section for general goods. The sides, ends and doors were covered in sheet metal. With the closing of the mines at Walhalla the need to carry explosives ended and both compartments were used for general goods. The doors were replaced with NU type louvre doors for ventilation. NH1 Covered Truck Service History : NPH NPH 1 was built and issued to traffic June 1910. It was a bogie boxvan set up for general goods and the transportation of explosives. It could carry 6 tons of goods and 4 tons of explosives. No doubt the van was stationed on the Moe - Walhalla line. Walhalla was a gold mining town and the rail line had been built from Moe to provide a faster means of transportation than bullock teams from the sailing boats from Melbourne to Port Albert/Sale via Heyfield. In 1911 the van was converted to all goods transport and recoded to NH. NH The van was fitted with autocouplers in 1928. It was scrapped in 1954. By 1968, the vehicle body had been found and was placed into the Museum at Menzies Creek. Body donated to the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. Vehicle Length 25 feet 2 inches ( 7671 mm) Coupled Length 27 feet 4 inches (8330 mm) Width 6 feet 3 inches (1905 mm) Weight 7 tons Capacity 10 tons Built 1910 Number Built 1 In use - Static displayHistoric - Victorian Railways - narrow gauge rolling stock - Powder & General Goods Van Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2187 Puffing Billy Locomotives and Rolling Stock Collection1 NH - Powder & General Goods Van Made of Timber - wood, wrought iron and metal sheet There were two compartments: a 10ft 8¾ inch (3,270 mm) section for explosives and a 13 ft 7 in (4,140 mm) section for general goods. The sides, ends covered in sheet metal with NU type louvre doors for ventilation. NH1 To carry 10 tonspuffing billy, powder & general goods van nh1, nh1, powder & general goods van, victorian railways, narrow gauge rolling stock

This sheet of copper sheathing or Muntz metal has been recovered from the sea. It has been damaged by the reaction of the metals to the sea. It also has encrustations from the sea such as sand. Other damage, such as movement of the sea or objects in the sea, has caused the edges to break away or fold over. The hulls of early timber sailing ships had a problem of being eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called ‘sea worms’ or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in seawater and the bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by applying coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch onto the timber. In the 18th and 19th centuries, ships were built with their hulls sheathed in sheets of copper or a combination of 60 per cent copper and 40 per cent zinc (called Muntz metal). The ships would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing remained effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating.This piece of Muntz sheathing is representative of building methods and materials used in late 19th and early 20th centuries for ship building.Muntz or copper sheathing. Irrectangular shape, with about a fifth of the piece missing from a corner. Another corner is bent upwards. Salvaged from a shipwreck. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, copper sheathing, muntz, copper sheating, muntz metal, teredo worms, sea worms, sea termites, ship building, late 19th century sailing ships

A dowel is a cylindrical rod, usually made of wood. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is called a dowel rod. Dowel rods are often cut into short lengths called dowel pins.These are commonly used as structural reinforcements in cabinet making and in joining large timbers together. To make a dowel, a piece of wood is split or whittled to a size slightly bigger than desired and to place the stock into a vice then rotate past a fixed knife, or alternatively, to rotate the knife around the stock such as the subject tool was used. Machines based on this principle emerged in the 19th century. Frequently, these are small bench-mounted tools, prior to this time dowels had to be cut by hand. The tool is an example of early to late 19th century hand tool used to make timber dowels. It is not associated with an historical event, person or place, makers provenance is unable to be determined at this time. Many small American and British tool manufactures were taken over by Stanley tools after 1843 when the company was established and this item could have been made by one of these. However the subject item appears to be rare and would be regarded as a collector's item.An adjustable woodworking tool know as a Moot, used for making Trunnels or Treenails (Dowels) for fastening joints in timber. Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, moot, trunnels, treenails, circular, dowels, woodworking tool

Colour photo in light wood frame and light brown matt.Depicted in picture is a soldier squatting down in front of a red and dark blue painted rock, half rock red - other blue In centre of the rock is a shield in light blue with a leopard, palm tree and boomarang. 105 Fd Bty is written on top of the rock In the background there is timber building and jeep.105 FD BTY.Vietnam 65-66 Vietnam 69 -70. UBIQUE My Vietnam Collection /The Biggest Rock in Vietnam - Nui Dat 1969.Copy right. Colin Howard ,back Gift Horse Gallery - orignal works by local and interstate artists and craft's people. 105 Field Battery.photograph, nui dat, 105 field battery

Queen Victoria’s appreciation of German artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) began after she saw portraits by him of other European monarchs. Accordingly, between 1842 and 1861 he made fifteen visits to England and painted over 100 portraits of Her Majesty, the royal family and other friends and dignitaries. In 1843 Winterhalter was commissioned to paint matching portraits of Queen Victoria and Albert, the Prince Consort. These originals hang in the Garter Throne Room at Windsor Castle and are part of the UK Royal Collection. Many legitimate copies of Winterhalter’s portrait were produced and presented to the Parliaments of the British Empire, including the Parliament of Victoria. Such copies are referred to as “After F. X. Winterhalter” and artists responsible include William Corden and John Prescott Knight. When creating copies, artists were not restricted by the size of the original portrait. Walterhalter’s original is 2.7m x 1.7m whereas copies can reach an impressive 4.5 metres in height. The portrait that hangs in Queens Hall at the Parliament of Victoria is not signed. Comparison with other copies of the work suggest that the Parliament’s painting may have been completed by William Corden. The Government Art Collection (United Kingdom), has a Queen Victoria copy in their collection and Parliament’s portrait has similar traits. A copy by John Prescott Knight which hangs in the Legislative Council in the Parliament of Tasmania is quite different, particularly with reference to the shape of the young Queen’s face, which is rounder in the Corden portraits.This portrait of Queen Victoria was presented as a gift by the British Government to the Parliament of Victoria in April 1860. Painted on fine linen supplied under Royal Warrant by the workshop Winsor and Newton, London, the frame has been embellished with elaborate wooden carvings. Framed portrait, oil on linen, of Queen Victoria. Victoria is posed in front of a curtain partially obscuring a building (possibly Buckingham Palace) in the background. Timber frame with a layer of gesso and decorative composition ornaments. There are rose, scotch thistle, clover leaf and Acanthus ornaments. A carved wood and composition element crown, resting on a tassled pillow sits on top of the frame.Canvas unsigned. Verso printed: ‘WINSOR AND NEWTON / Rathbone Place, London’. Embossed stamp into stretcher wood, stamped ‘Winsor and Newton’ in black ink.victoria queen of great britain, 1819-1901, winterhalter, franz xaver, 1805-1873, corden, william, queens hall, parliament of victoria

A music box table with a decorative hinged lid of dark brown, light brown, yellow and green inlaid timber in a pattern of nine squares and rectangles on the top of the lid. Inside is plain wood with a recessed open box cavity. Around the edges of the table under the lid on the outside there is a green and yellow patterned inlay. It has four finely shaped wooden legs."Hand work Made In Italy"music boxes, tables

Cropped photograph of male Iredale. In 1858, James Iredale owned the General Store in Main Street Greensborough, when it became the Town’s Post Office. The Farmers Arms Hotel was built on the corner of Main and Hailes Street in 1864 by George Iredale to cater for the ever increasing number of wood carters and other hauliers carting their wares between Melbourne, timber mills and the gold fields. The Farmers Arms Hotel is currently the site of the Greensborough Hotel. Cropped section of black and white studio photograph.george arthur iredale, james iredale, farmers arms hotel

The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built many ships that had wheels with the same decorative, starburst pattern on them as this particular wheel segment, including the Eric the Red. The wheel was manufactured by their local Bath foundry, Geo. Moulton & Co. and sold to the Sewall yard for $100, according to the construction accounts of the vessel. Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Segment of a ship's wheel, or helm, from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red. The wheel part is an arc shape from the outer rim of the wheel and is made up of three layers of timber. The centre layer is a dark, dense timber and is wider than the two outer layers, which are less dense and lighter in colour. The wheel segment has a vertically symmetrical, decorative copper plate inlaid on the front. The plate has a starburst pattern; six stars decorate it, each at a point where there is a metal fitting going through the three layers of timber to the rear side of the wheel. On the rear each of the six fittings has an individual copper star around it. The edges of the helm are rounded and bevelled, polished to a shine in a dark stain. Around each of the stars, front and back, the wood is a lighter colour, as though the metal in that area being polished frequently. The length of the segment suggests that it has probably come from a wheel or helm that had ten spokes. (Ref: F.H.M.M. 16th March 1994, 239.6.610.3.7. Artefact Reg No ER/1.)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ship's-wheel, eric-the-red, helm, shei's wheel, ship's steering wheel