In architecture a corbel serves a decorative as well as structural function as a solid piece of stone, wood or metal that is built into a wall and juts out like a bracket to carry a weight. The smoothly shaped corbel was formerly built into the external wall of the lighthouse facing the sea. It consists of two cupped, rounded forms, one bigger than the other, which are attached to a damaged flat base. Made of cast concrete, it is the same fabric as the lighthouse and shows evidence of white paint on its surface. An early architectural drawing of the tower shows the corbel as a projecting, decorative moulding underpinning the balcony floor associated with the auxiliary light. It indicates the original corbel was a much larger architectural feature which started as a solid rectangular block and terminated with a smaller block and then two tapering, rounded forms. Prepared in mid-1888, the architectural drawings for the lighthouse by Victorian Public Works Department architect, Frederick Hynes, were amended in 1888-89 to provide for an auxiliary light, which comprised an arched opening and door in the tower wall below the lantern room and small balcony. In the late nineteenth century all of Victoria’s lightstations installed a red auxiliary light to serve as a danger warning to mariners sailing too close to shoare. Existing lightstations, like Cape Otway, built a pavilion below their lighthouse facing out to sea, but newly constructed towers like Point Hicks and Split Point incorporated them into their designs. The efficacy of auxiliary lights became a controversial issue and all were discontinued on 1 January 1913. The Point Hicks balcony was removed from the face of the tower in 1971 after it was found to be badly rusted. This resulted in the complete removal of the corbel, from which the rounded moulding and part of the base survives. The auxiliary light and door were subsequently removed in 1975 and glass blocks now fill the opening. Cape Schanck Lightstation retains four cast iron brackets from its auxiliary light balcony which are currently stored in the lighthouse on the ground floor. No other architectural fabric associated with the auxiliary light has been identified at Point Hicks Lightstation. The fragment of corbel has first level contributory significance for its historic and architectural values as a relic of the auxiliary light and as an original moulding from the fabric of Victoria’s first concrete lighthouse.A masonary corbel.

Captain Benjamin Francis (Frank) Helpmann was once the owner of the S.S. CHAMPOIN, then owned it in partnership with S. G. Henty. S.S. CHAMPION was an early steamship and one of the first coastal traders to operate between Melbourne and Portland in Victoria from December 1853 until August 1857, when she collided with the S.S. LIRDY BIRD in the open sea off Cape Otway. CHAMPION was returning from Melbourne, and sank with thirty-two people still on board. The thirty others were saved by the LIRDY BIRD (ref. The Story of a Port : Portland, Victoria, by Noel F. Learmonth)This picture Lithograph) is associated with the S.S. Champion, which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR S110. The wreck of the SS Champion is significant historically as one of Victoria's worst shipwrecks. As an early steamship it played an important part in the development of and communications between the Western district and Melbourne . Although the site has not yet been located it is predicted to be highly significant archaeologically with the potential to yield information about early coastal shipping and the western district passenger and cargo trade. It is significant technically as an example of an early iron screw steamship, and is part of the western district steamship resource including the SS Casino, SS Coramba and SS Julia Percy.Painting. Lithograph of the schooner S S Champion, hand coloured watercolour, in a cedar frame behind glass. Unusual cross member bracing on the corners of the frame (one missing). Title "Iron S.S. Champion Frank Helpmann Esq. Comr" (in script) on bottom of picture.On the bottom of the painting "Iron S.S. Champion" (in printing), "Frank Helpmann Esq. Comr" (in script) shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwrecked artefact, flagstaff hill maritime village, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, lithograph, frank helpmann, henty

The floor tile is one of a group of artefacts in the McCulloch Collection that were recovered from the shipwreck Victoria Tower and were donated together. The tile could have been from the ship's cargo or amongst a ship’s fittings. The inscription on the tile is for Maw & Co makers of earthenware encaustic and geometric floor tiles since 1850, when George Maw and his brother Arthur began their first factory in Worcester. In 1862 the company moved to Broseley, Shropshire. The object is now one of the shipwreck artefacts in Flagstaff Hill’s Mc Culloch Collection, which includes items recovered from the wrecks of the Victoria Tower (wrecked in 1869) and Loch Ard (wrecked in 1878). They were salvaged by a diver in the early 1970s from the southwest coast of Victoria. Advanced marine technology had enabled divers to explore the depths of the ocean and gather its treasures before protective legislation was introduced by the Government. The artefacts were donated to Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) by a passionate shipwreck lover and their locations were verified by Bruce McCulloch. In 2017 the Department repatriated them to Flagstaff Hill where they joined our vast collection of artefacts from Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. The Victoria Tower: - The three-masted iron clipper ship was built in 1869 in Liverpool, England, as a passenger and cargo ship for the Australian trade. She was named after one of the two towers of the British Houses of Parliament and owned by the White Star line. The Victoria Tower sailed under the command of Captain Kerr from Liverpool towards Melbourne on her maiden voyage. She carried 34 passengers and 16 crew plus a general cargo including bottled beer, slates, iron pipes and hardware. She was almost at her destination when she was wrecked on 17th October 1869 at Point Impossible, west of Thompsons Creek, Breamlea. The shipwreck is a very popular diving site. The artefact has now been repatriated to Victoria and is located at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The artefact is an example of cargo or personal items on board a ship in 1869. It provides a reference point for classifying and dating similar items. The artefact is significant for its association with the clipper ship Victoria Tower, which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as S698. The Victoria Tower is recorded as the most intact historic shipwreck accessible between Point Lonsdale and Cape Otway. The Victoria Tower is one of only seven shipwrecks in Victoria that have had more than 100 objects recovered from them reported as a result of the Commonwealth Amnesty held in 1993-94.Ceramic tile, square, with star or compass design.Brown tile has cream design of i-pointed star with a circle in the centre and between, and on the end of, each point. The side profile of the tile shows the division between the top layer and the base, with a groove between the two. The tile was made by MAW & Co. of Broseley, England. The back of the tile has parallel ridges and is embossed with an inscription. It was recovered from the wrecked ship Victoria Tower. Inscribed "MAW & CO BROSELEY" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime village, maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, wreck dive, mcculloch collection, bruce mcculloch, white star line, victorian heritage register, clipper ship, victoria tower, captain kerr, shipwreck victoria tower, migrant ship 1869, cargo ship 1869, iron clipper, british clipper ship, 1869, cargo imported to australia, tile, floor tile, ceramic tile, compass pattern, star pattern, flooring

ill, maps, p.51.non-fictionA history of the narrow gauge 2'6" branch line of the Victorian Railways from Colac to Beech Forest and Crowes and it s connecting tramways.puffing billy - victoria - history, vr narrow gauge railways - victoria - history

index, ill, maps, p.102.non-fictionA history of the railways and tramways of the eastern Otway Ranges in South Western Victoria.timber tramways - australia - history, narrow gauge railroads - australia - history

ill, maps, p.20.non-fictionA tour program for a trip to the narrow gauge timber tramways of Wyelangta on the Beech Forest railway in the Otways of Victoria, on the 21 & 22-11-92.timber tramways - australia - history, narrow gauge railroads - australia - history

Ill, p.48non-fictionA photographic profile of the G class 2-6-0 0-6-2 2'6" narrow gauge Garratt steam locomotive of the Victorian Railways and its time working in the Otways from 1954 to 1962.steam locomotives - victoria- history, puffing billy - victoria - history

Ill, maps, p.56.non-fictionA photographic profile of the G class 2-6-0 0-6-2 2'6" narrow gauge Garratt steam locomotive of the Victorian Railways and its time working in the Otways from 1958 to 1962.steam locomotives - victoria- history, puffing billy - victoria - history

Ill, maps, p.48.non-fictionA photographic profile of the G class 2-6-0 0-6-2 2'6" narrow gauge Garratt steam locomotive of the Victorian Railways and its time working in the Otways from 1954 to 1968.steam locomotives - victoria- history, puffing billy - victoria - history

This medal is the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society’s “Bramley-Moore medal for saving life at sea 1872”. The Society was formed in 1839. In 1872 Mr John Bramley-Moore donated £500 on condition that the medal have the specific inscription above on its reverse. The Bramley Morre medal was first awarded in 1874 and records show that since that time only one gold medal has been awarded, twenty-two silver medals and seventeen bronze medals, the last being in 1945. This Bromley-Moore medal was awarded to Peter Carmody for his bravery in saving lives on the Newfield shipwreck. The Newfield was a three-masted iron and steel barque, built in Dundee, Scotland, in 1889 by Alexander Stephen and Sons. It was owned by the Newfield Ship Company in 1890 and later that year It was registered in Liverpool to owners Brownells and Co. The Newfield left Sharpness, Scotland, on 28th May 1892 with a crew of 25 under the command of Captain George Scott and on 1st June left Liverpool. She was bound for Brisbane, Australia, with a cargo of 1850 tons of fine rock salt, the main export product of Sharpness. At about 9pm on 28th August 1892, in heavy weather, Captain Scott sighted, between heavy squalls, the Cape Otway light on the mainland of Victoria but, due to a navigational error (the ship’s chronometers were wrong), he assumed it to be the Cape Wickham light on King Island, some 40 miles south. He altered his course to the north, expecting to enter Bass Strait. The ship was now heading straight for the south west Victorian coast. At about 1:30am the Newfield ran aground on a reef about 100 yards from shore and one mile east of Curdie’s Inlet, Peterborough. The ship struck heavily three times before grounding on an inner shoal with 6 feet of water in the holds. Rough sea made the job of launching lifeboats very difficult. The first two lifeboats launched by the crew were smashed against the side of the ship and some men were crushed or swept away. The third lifeboat brought eight men to shore. It capsized when the crew tried to return it to the ship for further rescue The rescue was a difficult operation. The Port Campbell Rocket Crew arrived and fired four rocket lines, none of which connected with the ship. Peter Carmody, a local man, volunteered to swim about one mile off shore to the ship with a line to guide the fourth and final lifeboat safely to shore. He was assisted by James McKenzie and Gerard Irvine. Seventeen men survived the shipwreck but the captain and eight of his crew perished. The Newfield remained upright on the reef with sails set for a considerable time as the wind slowly ripped the canvas to shreds and the sea battered the hull to pieces. The Marine Board inquiry found the wreck was caused by a "one man style of navigation" and that the Captain had not heeded the advice of his crew. According to Jack Loney ‘… when the drama was over . . the Newfield was deserted except for the Captain’s dog and two pigs.’ Peter Carmody was awarded the Bramley-Moore medal by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society for Saving Life at Ssea, which he received by mail on January 21st 1893. The medal and a letter of congratulations were donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum by Peter Carmody’s grand-daughter Norma Bracken and her son Stuart Bracken on 25th May 2006. The Medal and Letter of Congratulations join other items in the Newfield collection.The Carmody Medal recognises the bravery of Peter Carmody in risking his life to rescue crew members of the Barque Newfield when it was wrecked near Curdies Inlet in August 1892. The ‘Bramley-Moore medal for saving life at sea, 1872’ was presented by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. The medal and accompanying letter have local and international historic significance as they demonstrate both the difficulties associated with navigation and the dangers of shipping along the South West Coast of Victoria in the 19th century and the medal’s association with the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society and John Bramley-Moore, who provided £500 to found the Bramley-Moore medal. The medal is socially significant. It emphasises the importance of Peter Carmody in rescuing victims of shipwrecks with little thought for his own safety. The medal reminds us of the importance of local people to Victoria’s maritime history. The Carmody Medal and Humane Society letter were in the Carmody family until they were presented to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, by the grand-daughter and great-grandson of Peter Carmody, on the 25th May 2006. The medal is significant for its complete provenance recorded in the donation documentation. The medal is in very good condition and relatively rare with only 22 silver medals awarded between 1874 and 1945. The Carmody Medal and letter add a human element to the story of the shipwrecks. They give life and significance to the Newfield, its victims and its artefacts. Bramley-Moore medal from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, awarded to Peter Carmody. The round,silver medal is attached to a looped blue ribbon by a decorative, swivelling silver connector. The top of the ribbon has a silver pin bar threaded through it. The obverse of the medal has a design of a man kneeling on a floating part of a wreck. He is rescuing a child from the sea. There is a manned boat in the distance rescuing someone from the sea. In the far background there is a sailing ship. The top third of the medal has an inscription around it. The reverse shows a long-legged hen cormorant with extended wings holding an olive branch in its beak. The bird is surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves made from two branches. There is an inscription between the design and the rim that goes all the way around the circumference. There is a name engraved around the edge of the medal. The medal in embedded in a purple velvet panel that rests inside a brown, leather-covered case. The lid of the case has a gold embossed emblem in the cemtre. Both the lid and base have a rectangular gold border. The lid is attached to the base with two brass hinges. The base has a brass push-button catch. The box is lined with padded cream silk. The lining inside the lid has a gold emblem in the centre.The obverse has the words "LORD, SAVE US, WE PERISH". The reverse has the words "BRAMLEY-MOORE MEDAL FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA" and "1872". Around the edge of the medal are the words "PETER CARMODY, FOR HAVING BEEN MAINLY INSTRUMENTAL IN RESCUING THE CREW OF THE BARQUE NEWFIELD, AUG 29 1892" The pin bar has the words “LIVERPOOL SHIPWRECK & HUMANE SOCIETY” written across it. The gold embossed emblem on the lid of the box has the words in the centre "SHIPWRECK AND …. …. ….FOUNDED 1839" The gold emblem on the cream silk lining has the words “BY APPOINTMENT ELKINGTON & CO” printed on it.medal, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, peter, peter carmody, carmody, bramley moore, newfield, liverpool shipwreck and humane society, 1892, 28 august 1892, august 1892, port campbell, bravery, shipwreck, rescue, nineteenth century, ship, curdie s river, victorian shipwrecks, barque, stuart bracken, norma bracken, gerard irvine, james mckenzie

The Shipwreck Board is a feature of Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village/ its subject is explained briefly in the Museum's handbook, The Flagstaff Hill Navigator, published in 2008: - "Known as the ‘Eye of the Needle’ the treacherous entrance to Bass Strait is littered with the wreckage of large international vessels and smaller sail and steam craft used in coastal trade. The vessels bringing emigrants and cargo to Australia found the western entrance to Bass Strait the most dangerous part of their voyage. They had to thread their way between the southern point of Victoria (Cape Otway) and the northern point of King Island, a stretch of water less than 90 km wide. Many smaller coastal vessels were lost at Portland, Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Apollo Bay which are not safe harbours in certain weather conditions. "The Shipwreck Board shows shipwrecks, strandings and collisions which occurred in this area up to the year 1940. Wrecks are identified by a yellow light and collisions/strandings by a green light. These lights also identify the decade the wreck occurred by lighting up when the relevant decade button is pushed. Interesting happenings of the decades are listed next to the buttons." The Shipwreck Board's demonstration of The Eye of the Needle is an interactive visual display that helps teach the perils and dangers faced by early settlers in Victoria. It tells of the vast number of lives lost. It lists the names of many infamous shipwrecks and significant events.The large stained and lacquered timber board is mounted in a timber, frame. It is painted with a small sketch of Australia, and an enlarged outline of the southern coast of Victoria, King Island and the North West coast of Tasmania. The interactive display highlights the shipwrecks, standings and collisions suffered by many vessels as they navigated the 'Eye of the Needle', a narrow stretch of Bass Strait. The locations of the Lighthouses are pinpointed. Lists of groups of ships are below the coastlines. A painted scroll shows eight major shipwrecks with the number of lives lost for each one. A table shows historical facts associated with the decades from pre-1830 to 1940. A system of coloured lights compares the decades with the vessels that suffered damage. The board was created by artist and signwriter, Alex O'Flynn Computer Signs.flagstaff hill, maritime museum, maritime village, shipwreck coast, eye of the needle, shipwreck locations, bass strait, basses strait, king island, north west tasmania, south coast of victoria, cape otway, victorian lighthouse, king island lighthouse, strandings, coastal tracers, emigrant ships, sea trade, 1930s-1940s, shipwreck board, the eye of the needle, collosions, alex o'flynn, alex o’flynn computer signs, shipwrecks of western victoria

Amateur Radio Cards sent to William Douglas VK3GAFor the owner to preserve the cards as a record of radio contacts made and today to preserve the collection as an historical record.Items kept in two plastic tubs.Several thousand amateur radio cards and 32 log books. amateur radio cards, bill douglas vk3ga, amateur radio, radio hamsamateur radio cards, bill douglas vk3ga, amateur radio, radio hams

ill, maps, p.96.non-fictionA pictorial history of railways in the Victorian Otway Ranges including the Victorian Railways lines to Wensleydale, Forrest and Timboon as well as the 2'6" narrow gauge railway to Crowes.railroad construction - victoria - history, logging railroads - victoria - otway range - history

index, ill, maps, p.262.non-fictionAn history of the rail stations on the Victorian Railways lines in the Colac Otway Shire including the lines to Forrest, Alvie, Cressy and the 2'6" narrow gauge railway to Crowes.railroad construction - victoria - history, logging railroads - victoria - otway range - history

Steering Gear Operation: All steering was done from the stern of the ship and a steering mechanism was used to connect the rudder to the ship's wheel, often housed in a box-like construction behind the helm. The rudder was, in turn, mounted on a pintle or stern-post held in place by gudgeon's (sockets). The steering was activated with lines attached to the blocks on the two threads (half left hand, half right hand) of the steering gear. As the helmsman turned the helm in the direction in which he wished the ship to travel, the central screw of the steering gear, which was attached to the back of the helm, turned horizontally. This caused the rods on either side of the gear to move backwards or forwards at the same time, which then turned the pintle and rudder to port or starboard. A brief history of the Newfield (1889-1892): - The Newfield was an iron and steel sailing barque of 1306 tons, built in 1889 by Alexander Stephen & Sons Dundee (Yard No 89) for Brownelles & Co., Liverpool. The Newfield was on a voyage from Sharpness to Brisbane on 29 August 1892, with a cargo of 1850 tons of fine rock salt. The Cape Otway light had been sighted in squally, bumpy weather, but the captain was under the impression it was the King Island light. The ship’s chronometers were wrong, and orders were given to tack the ship away from the light, which headed it straight for the cliffs of the Victorian coast. The vessel struck rocks about 100 yards from shore, and five feet of water immediately filled the holds. The captain gave orders to lower the boats which caused a disorganised scramble for safety among the crew. The panic resulted in the deaths of nine men, including the captain when they drowned after the boats capsized in heavy seas. The seventeen men who regained the ship decided to wait until daylight and rowed to Peterborough in the ship’s jolly boat and gig after locals had failed to secure a rocket apparatus line to the ship. The Marine Board inquiry found the wreck was caused by a "one-man style of navigation" and that the captain had not heeded the advice of his crew.The Newfield wreck and its collection of recovered items are heritage listed and are regarded as historically significant. They represent aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and their potential for us today to interpret the maritime history and social themes of the time. The assemblage of various Newfield artefacts held in the Flagstaff Hill Museum is not only significant for its association with the shipwreck but helps archaeologists when examining the relationship between the objects to better understand our colonial marine past.Ship’s steering gear, cast iron, consists of a long round metal rod into which gears have been machined. The thread of the gear from one end to almost the centre winds in a left hand direction while the thread of the gear from the other end to almost the centre winds in the right hand direction. Each end of the rod has a metal coupler attached and two narrower round rods are also attached to the coupling, one each side of the gear rod, the same length as it and parallel to it. Two more ‘S’ shaped couplers are joined to the gear rod. Each of these have an opening through which the gear rod is threaded and can move along. There is another opening in these couplers through which one of the narrower rods is threaded. The other end of this coupler has half length metal rod attached to it by a bolt through the ring at the end of the rod. One end of the steering gear still has the brass hub of the ship’s wheel solidly attached. The hub no longer has its wooden spokes but the ten holes for the spokes can be easily recognised.Noneflagstaff hill, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, peter carmody, carmody, newfield, shipwreck, peterborough, south west victoria, rocket, rocket crew, shipwreck artefact, flagstaff hil maritime museum, steering, steering gear, screw steering gear, sailing ship

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

The subject of this photograph is the S.S.Rowilla, a passenger steam ferry built in Hobart for use in Tasmania's rivers, the Derwent and the Tamar. The photograph shows her docked at the Charles Street Wharf in Launceston. The S.S. Rowitta was built by Purdon & Featherstone, at Battery Point, Hobart (Tasmania) in 1909 from Huon Pine and Kauri planking. Her final configuration included three masts and a ship rig. S.S. Rowitta took its first voyage from Hobart to Launceston in 1909 and operated for 30 years as a passenger ferry on the Tamar and Derwent Rivers. She also served as a freighter, an army supply ship, a luxury charter ferry and a floating restaurant as well as a prawn boat at Lakes Entrance. (She has also been named “Sorrento” and “Tarkarri”.). In the very early days of Flagstaff Hill ‘Rowitta’ was purchased from Lakes Entrance by Warrnambool City Council and the Victorian State Government for $20,000. The Rowitta had a hull configuration very similar to a local boat named the SPECULANT, which played a key role in the Port of Warrnambool in the early 1900s. The Speculant was the largest ship ever registered with Warrnambool as her home port. Local owner and trader P J McGennan & Co, (Peter McGennan) used her as a freight carrier to Melbourne and timber trader between New Zealand and Victoria. She sunk at Cape Otway in 1911 on a voyage to Melbourne. In 1974 Rowitta was delivered to Port Fairy and then later sailed to Warrnambool’s Breakwater where she was lifted out of Lady Bay and loaded onto the back of a long transport truck and slowly and carefully driven along Pertobe Road, through the Surfside Caravan Park and over the railway line, into Flagstaff Hill’s Maritime Village. Transfer arrangements were coordinated by Jack Morse, of Morse Engineering, a member of the Flagstaff Hill Planning Board, and Ken Goyen, a local crane operator. The ‘Rowitta’ was originally acquired to be rebuilt to match the original SPECULANT. When finances became tight in 1976 a review of all plans ended in the decision to restore the “Rowitta” to her original configuration. She was then restored, renamed the original name of “Rowitta” and installed in the Village’s Harbour Lake to become one of the popular vessels on display for visitors to enjoy. It was the decision of the Advisory Committee to Flagstaff Hill to have Rowitta demolished in April 2015 due to extensive deterioration. Items associated with the Rowitta continue to be held in Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village’s Collection.The photograph of the passenger ferry S.S. Rowitta.is significant for its association with Tasmanian history from the early to mid-1900s. It is also connected to the history of the Rowitta, which was a large exhibit on display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village from the museum’s early beginnings until the vessel’s end of life 40 years later. The Rowitta represents the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication along the coast of Victoria, between states, and in Australia before rail and motor vehicles. The vessel was an example of a ferry built in the early 20th century that served many different roles over its lifetime of over 100 years. Black and white photograph of the steamship S.S. Rowitta at Charles Street Wharf, Launceston. It shows the vessel docked at the Charles Street Wharf in Launceston. Smoke is coming from its funnel and there are people on board. There is a handwritten inscription on the top edge of the photograph. The vessel was built in 1909 by Purdon & Featherstone, Hobart. Blue-green handwriting on top left margin "ROWITTA AT LAUNCESTON"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, photograph, s.s. rowitta, charles street wharf,, launceston., purdon & featherstone, rowitta, tarkarri, speculant, purdon & featherstone of hobart, passenger ferry 1909, sorrento

The wooden door was salvaged from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red, which was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. Eric the Red was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871, having had a 1,580 tons register. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows 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. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. On 4th September 1880 the Eric the Red approached Cape Otway with 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. He 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 also 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. 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 for care 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, 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 and samples of wood. 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) Door from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. The wooden singular rectangular door includes three insert panel sections. The top section is square shaped and is missing its panel or glass. The centre timber panel is about a third of the height of the top panel and the bottom timber panel is approximately equal in height to the total height of the two upper panels. The door fastenings include both a metal door latch and traditional door bolt. They are both attached to the front right hand side of the door. The bolt is just below the top panel, and the door latch is in approximately the centre of that side. The door latch has a round mark where a handle could have been attached. The wood of the door has scraping marks in a semi-circle around the door latch where the latch has swung around on its one remaining fastening and grazed the surface. There is a metal hinge at the top section of the door on the opposite side to the latch. The painted surface has been scraped back to expose the wood. The door is shorter than the average height of a person. On the reverse of the door there are lines on the panels, just inside their edges, is what appears to be pencil. The door is not aligned straight but is skew to centre.warrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, jaques allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition 1880, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, bass strait, eric-the-red, door

This medal for bravery, for rescue of the crew from the shipwreck “Eric the Red” on 4th September 1880, was awarded to one of the crew of the steamer S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States in July 1881. The medal is engraved with the name “Nelson Johnson” (the anglicised version of his Swedish name Neils Frederick Yohnson). It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in 2013 by Nelson’s granddaughter. Nelson had migrated from Sweden to Sydney in 1879. The next year in 1880, aged 24, he was a seaman on the steamship Dawn and involved in the rescue of the survivors of the Eric the Red. Nelson Johnson was a crew member of the S.S. Dawn and was one of the rescue team in the dinghy in the early morning of September 4th 1880. Medals were awarded to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States, through the Consul-general (Mr Oliver M. Spencer), in July 1881 “ … in recognition of their humane efforts in rescuing the 23 survivors of the American built wooden sailing ship, the Eric the Red, on 4th September 1880.” The men were also presented with substantial monetary rewards and gifts. The city of Warrnambool’s care of the survivors was also mentioned by the President at the presentation, saying that “the city hosted and supported the crew ‘most graciously’. Previously, a week after the shipwreck, the Australian Government had also conveyed its thanks to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn “Captain Griffith Jones, S.S. Dawn, The Hon. Mr Clark desires that the thanks of the Government should be conveyed to you for the prompt, persevering and seamanlike qualities displayed by you, your officers and crew in saving the number of lives you did on the occasion referred to. The hon. The Commissioner has also been pleased to award you a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion, and a sum of 65 pounds to be awarded to your officers and crew according to annexed scale. I am, &c, W Collins Rees, for and in the absence of the Chief Harbour Master.” The Awards are as follows: - Crew of DAWN'S lifeboat-Chief Officer, Mr G. Peat, 15 pounds; boat's crew-G. Sterge, A.B., 5 pounds; T. Hammond, A.B., 5 pounds; J. Black, A.B., 5 pounds; H. Edwards, A.B., 5 pounds. Dinghy's Crew-Second Officer, Mr Christie, 10 pounds; boat's crew -F. Lafer, A.B., 5 pounds; W. Johnstone, A.B., 5 pounds; Mr Lear, provedore, 5 pounds; Mr Dove, purser, 5 pounds. Captain Jones receives a piece of plate. (from “Wreck of the ship Eric the Red” by Jack Loney) The medal’s history, according to the Editor of ‘E-Sylum’ (the newsletter of The Numismatic Bibliomania Society “… appears to be an example of an 1880 State Department medal, catalogued as LS-3 (page 322 of R. W. Julian's book, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century 1792-1892). The reverse is mostly blank for engraving, surrounded by a thin wreath. It was designed by George Morgan, chief engraver for the Philadelphia Mint, and struck in gold, silver and bronze. The one pictured here (in The Standard newspaper, 2nd July 2013) appears to be silver.” The following is an account of the events which led to the awarding of this medal. The American ship 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, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson, 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 - 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 Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and a hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30 am 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, southwest of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its riggings, then the mainmast also 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 4:30 am 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 SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, and its sailing time was different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey, she was commanded by Captain Jones and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two 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 for care 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 Zaccheus 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 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. 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 steamship 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 onto 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 f locating wreckage about 10 miles off land, southeast 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 flycatchers 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 a 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 this medal awarded for the rescue of the crew. 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 teapots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that was awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is similarly inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). 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 shed 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 shipbuilding 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. Nelson Johnson married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children, the father of the medal’s donor being the youngest. They lived in 13 Tichbourne Place, South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. 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 medal for bravery is associated with the ship the “The Eric the Red which 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) This medal was awarded to Nelson Johnson by the U.S. President for bravery in the rescue of the Eric the Red crew. The obverse of the round, solid silver medal has an inscription around the rim. In the centre of the medal is the head of Liberty to the left, hair in a bun, with a sprig of leaves in the top left of a band around her head. There is a 6-pointed star below the portrait, between the start and end of the inscription. There are two raised areas on the rim, horizontally opposite each other, from the edge to just below the lettering and coinciding with the holes drilled in the edge. Slightly right of the top is a round indentation in the rim. The reverse has a wreath of leaves as a border, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bow. In the centre of the medal is an inscription, decorated with 3-pronged design and dots. The edge is plain with 2 small, rough and uneven holes horizontally opposite to each other, as though they had been used for mounting the medal at some stage. The medal has a matte finish on both sides and is slightly pitted and scratched.“PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” around the perimeter of the obverse of the medal. “TO / Nelson Johnson, / seaman of the British, / str “Dawn”, for bravery, / at risk of life, / in / rescuing the crew of / the American Ship / “Eric the Red.” “M” on obverse, truncation of the portraitwarrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, zaccheus allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, medal, nelson johnson, neils frederick yohnson, s.s. dawn, george morgan, hero

This concretion of tobacco pipes is one of a group of artefacts in the McCulloch Collection. It was recovered from the shipwreck of the Victoria Tower. The pipes may have been amongst the ship's cargo but could have been included in a passenger’s personal effects. The object is now one of the shipwreck artefacts in Flagstaff Hill’s Mc Culloch Collection, which includes items recovered from the wrecks of the Victoria Tower (wrecked in 1869) and Loch Ard (wrecked in 1878). They were salvaged by a diver in the early 1970s from the southwest coast of Victoria. Advanced marine technology had enabled divers to explore the depths of the ocean and gather its treasures before protective legislation was introduced by the Government. The artefacts were donated to Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) by a passionate shipwreck lover and their locations were verified by Bruce McCulloch. In 2017 the Department repatriated them to Flagstaff Hill where they joined our vast collection of artefacts from Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. The Victoria Tower: - The three-masted iron clipper ship was built in 1869 in Liverpool, England, as a passenger and cargo ship for the Australian trade. She was named after one of the two towers of the British Houses of Parliament and owned by the White Star line. The Victoria Tower sailed under the command of Captain Kerr from Liverpool towards Melbourne on her maiden voyage. She carried 34 passengers and 16 crew plus a general cargo including bottled beer, slates, iron pipes and hardware. She was almost at her destination when she was wrecked on 17th October 1869 at Point Impossible, west of Thompsons Creek, Breamlea. The shipwreck is a very popular dive site.The artefact is an example of cargo or personal items on board a ship in 1869. It provides a reference point for classifying and dating similar items. The artefact is significant for its association with the clipper ship Victoria Tower, which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as S698. The Victoria Tower is recorded as the most intact historic shipwreck accessible between Point Lonsdale and Cape Otway. The Victoria Tower is one of only seven shipwrecks in Victoria that have had more than 100 objects recovered from them reported as a result of the Commonwealth Amnesty held in 1993-94.Concretion of clay tobacco pipes. Bowls and stems of several broken orange tobacco pipes are joined together in ac irregularly shaped clump of concretion from the sea. The concretion also contains stones, shells, sand and particles of seaweed. It was recovered wreck of the ship Victoria Tower.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime village, maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, wreck dive, mcculloch collection, bruce mcculloch, white star line, victorian heritage register, clipper ship, victoria tower, captain kerr, shipwreck victoria tower, migrant ship 1869, cargo ship 1869, iron clipper, british clipper ship, 1869, cargo imported to australia, pipe cluster, concretion of pipes, pipe, ceramic pipes, tobacco pipes, smoker's pipes