Subsequent to the wrecking of the Light of the Age marine concretions and corrosion products formed a cement capping over the cargo, stabilising and protecting it. The site of the Light of the Age was found by divers in late 1960s, and soon became a popular diving site. Huge amounts of intact crockery were removed from the wreck by boatloads of divers, including distinctive brown glazed teapots with legs (one diving author named it 'the Teapot Wreck' (Denmead, 1973: 78-82), 'Greek Key' patterned transferware, Cooper & Wood Portobello black glass three piece bottles, and sauce, preserve and condiment bottles often with contents (gooseberries, raspberries, olives) and seals intact. Larger items including a signal cannon and an anchor were removed from the site, while divers seeking souvenirs commonly used cold chisels to chip objects free of the concretion 'cap' which had stabilised and protected the remaining cargo for so long. In 1982 this situation was drastically changed when someone used explosives to further break concretions. However the charge was too powerful resulting in the site's complete destruction and the remaining items to become scattered and broken. Abraded and worn ceramic objects washed up on the beach are invariably collected by beachgoers, including fragments of crockery, figurines and animal figures used for 19th century household decoration and toys. The Light of the Age is archaeologically significant as the wreck of an international immigrant ship with an inward bound cargo. It is historically significant for its association with both the Black Ball and White Star Lines which carried thousands of immigrants to Australia. Built in 1855 and lost on 16 January 1868 now lies at Point Lonsdale Beach, half a mile west from Point Lonsdale, Port Phillip Heads.01- 1 shallow bowl, 02- 1 sweet bowl, 03- 1 willow pattern service dish, 04- 2 ladle cups [no handles], 05 06- 2 egg cups, 07- 2 bread and butter plates, 08- 1 condiment bowl lidWedgwood deep saucer; Pearl stone china, Ribbon, Wedgewood Willow Pattern service dish, Staffordshire Stone China, Fenton, No10shipwrecks, salvage, crockery, light of the age, clippers

Ailsa ADERN (1918-2006) Born New Zealand Arrived Melbourne 1942 Elsa Ardern arrived in Melbourne in 1942 to earn money for a trip to the United Kingdon. After marrying she settled at Warrandyte. In 1954, after her two children started school, Adern studied Pottery at Melbourne Technical College under John Bernard Knight. In 1961 she joined the Potters' Cottage at Warrandyte with friends Sylvia Halpern and Kate Janeba. She worked from a studio under the family home, exhibiting at the cottage and also through the Victorian Ceramic Group when it was set up in 1969. In 1980 she established a workshop at Tathra on the far south coast of NSW, sharing her time between Tathra and Warrandyte for the next 25 years. Amongst the work made at Tathra were some very large pieces which she fired in the Stafford Brothers' wood-fired brick-kiln at Kalaru. Part of the clay for these came from the Staffords' clay-pits. With Sylvia Halpern and Gus McLaren Ailsa Asern celebrated her long association with the Potters' Cottage by exhibiting in its 45th anniversary exhibition in 2003. 2. Her works are signed with an incised 'Elsa Ardern' or 'EA'.Two thrown and handworked 'bottles' featuring verticle ridges on the edge of each form. Her pots are valued for their strong form , ed by her characteristically subtle wood-ash glazes. ceramics, ailsa adern, pottery