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The 5th/6th Battalion Royal Victoria Regiment Historical Collection
Photograph - Photograph of soldiers of 2/6th Battalion on exercise in 1943
A photograph 2/6th Battalion soldiers on exercise. The explanation text stating "A Bren carrier from the 2/6th Battalion comes ashore during beach landing exercises at point Walter, Western Australia, 6th February 1943." -
The 5th/6th Battalion Royal Victoria Regiment Historical Collection
Photograph - A photograph of troops loaded in landing boats
A copy of a photograph with text explanation of "Seaward view from the promenade deck of the troopship galena. Troops from the 6th and 7th Battalion loaded in landing boats, are towed to their landing point at Fisherman's Hut North Beach. 25th April 1915". The photograph is in the glass wooden frame -
Parks Victoria - Cape Nelson Lightstation
Instrument - Morse Code Key Set
The battery powered set, which dates from the second half of the twentieth century, comprises two main components, the electronic keyer with a single lever for tapping, and a transmitter (?), both connected by a keying cable. Morse code was invented in the 1830s by American, Samuel Finely Breese by using electrical signals to quickly transmit information over a long range. In the early 1890s Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi improved the technology to the point where it became an essential device used for commercial and government purposes. The first practical applications were demonstrated with maritime messaging, where this simple mode of communication was seen as a timely replacement for the historic practice of signaling by flags, lights and foghorns. Cape Schanck has an earlier Morse code key, which is original to the lightstation (CSLS 0035), and Cape Otway has another early example although its provenance to the lightstation has not been formally verified (COLS 0074). The Morse code set has first level contributory significance for its historical value as an earlier communications device that has since been made redundant by more sophisticated technologies.Morse code key set. Comprised of the tapping component and a metal box part with a white electrical cord.Yes -
Parks Victoria - Cape Nelson Lightstation
Equipment - Rescue Harness
The ‘Resumatic’ brand, British made, lightweight device comprises a red pulley with attached length of white rope and harness. Information on the item indicates that it was the property of the Department of Transport, Australia. The Commonwealth Lighthouse Service was associated with the Department of Shipping and Transport in 1951 and the Navigational Aids Branch of the Department of Transport in 1972 so the harness may date to this period. The easily operated descent device was used for automatic, controlled descents from overhead structures, such as towers and other buildings and did not require a power source or tools. The user needed to make sure the unit is secured to an anchor point so that the cable could be dropped to the ground. As soon as it was secured the user could put on the support harness, step off the edge and travel down to safety. The device complements a number of other items of rescue equipment held in the wider Parks Victoria lightstation collection which attest to the dangers inherent in lightstation work and necessity for first aid kits, resuscitators, life buoys, life jackets and other devices such as harnesses and pulleys used for moving people. These include a bosun’s chair and harness with pulley, Royal Flying Doctor first aid cabinet, resuscitator kit and case, first aid kit, lifebuoy and cork fragments x 4 all in the Gabo Island collection; a rescue basket, resuscitation kit and case, and pulleys and ropes at Cape Otway; rescue stretcher made of bamboo at Wilsons Promontory; and a rescue anchor at Cape Schanck. The Cape Nelson rescue harness, although unique in the broader lightstation collection, is a relatively common device that is still manufactured more or less the same in England. It has second level contributory significance for offering insights into the various methods used in rescue operations by Victoria’s lightstations.Length of white rope attached to a harness and a red pully device.yes -
Parks Victoria - Cape Nelson Lightstation
Instrument - Lamp, Aldis
This portable, hand held visual signaling lamp, with trigger mechanism and inner reflective disk, was used for optical communication via Morse code, with the concave mirror tilted to focus the light into pulse signals. Larger versions of these lamps are fixed on ships or pedestals and have shutters in front of the light that are opened and closed to transmit signals. Smaller hand held versions like the Cape Nelson example have a concave mirror that is tilted to focus the light into pulse signals, and despite their size the lamps were renowned for their brilliant light. Invented by Arthur C W Aldis (1878‐1953) and pioneered by the British navy in the late nineteenth century, they continue to be used to the present day. Details on the Cape Nelson lamp include a serial number, a date of 1960 and the initials of the Department of Transport, which at that time incorporated the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. Another lamp of the same date which is held at Wilsons Promontory was provided to the lighthouse by the Department of Shipping for signaling ships but was also used for communicating with Cliffy Island, 18 nautical miles away. Point Hicks also has an Aldis lamp and an associated case, which is painted an army green colour. A fourth lamp and case formerly at Cape Schanck disappeared from the collection sometime between 1995 and 2003. These types of lamps are not rare in museum collections.These types of lamps are not rare in museum collections however the Cape Nelson example has a reliable provenance to the lightstation and has first level contributory significance as a fine example of the Aldis lamps that were distributed to lightstations throughout Victoria and Australia.This object is comprised of a black metal encased Aldis lamp with electrical cord and associated wooden carrying case with metal clasp and red leather hand grip. yes -
Parks Victoria - Cape Nelson Lightstation
Furniture - Desk
The desk was used by the head keeper and supplied by the Public Works Department, and possibly dates to when the lightstation commenced operations in 1884. Closer inspection of the wood may reveal the Crown motif and PWD monogram on the side or underpart of the furnishing. The PWD operated in Victoria from 1855 to 1987 and was responsible for the design of Victoria’s major public buildings and infrastructure as well as the supply of stores, furniture and equipment. The desk is identical to the large example remaining at Point Hicks. A smaller version, which is at Cape Schanck, has two sides stamped with the crown motif and PWD monogram. Another of the smaller desks formerly at Cape Schanck is now missing. Gabo Island has a small cedar desk or table in the same style, but with one drawer. There are also c.mid‐twentieth century desks remaining in the collections at Wilsons Promontory and Gabo Island. The Cape Nelson desk has first level contributory significance for its provenance and historical value as a government issued furnishing that is original to lightstation’s head keeper’s office.The large, late nineteenth century cedar desk has two drawers, leather inset top and sturdy turned legs. The drawers each have a pair of wooden knob pulls. -
Parks Victoria - State Coal Mine - Wonthaggi
Timber claw, C 1920
Used in State Coal Mine by Bill Tyrell'S' shaped hook with a sharp point on one end and two claws on the other. -
Parks Victoria - Andersons Mill
Tool - Pattern, wooden
Used as pattern to cast crown wheel of drive on water wheel. Actual drive has since been sold, only mold remainsCircular wooden pattern, raised centre circular area surrounded by four wide, flat spokes at regular intervals (the interim spaces being cut out with rounded corners) which are in turn surrounded by a rim which tapers back from the centre of the piece and has fixed to it regularly interleaved slats. Slats of protruding oblongs tapered from attachment to top and also central end to outer point. Light coloured wood 1 & 2 are Broken off pieces of back. -
Parks Victoria - Gabo Island Lightstation
Tables
Commonwealth government issue. This nest of tables are currently in use by the lighthouse staff.The set of three tables of descending size are designed in the same distinctive style as the bookcases and share the same wood type and finish (GILS 0012.2). Information on the underside of the tables indicates they were purchased by the Commonwealth through the Department of Transport for the CLS. The design bears the stylistic marks of the easily recognisable furnishings produced by the Kalmar firm, Sydney. Steven Kalmar (1909-1989), who migrated to Australia in 1939 and opened his own interiors business in 1949, played a significant role in popularising modernist design concepts in Australia drawing his ideas from Scandinavian and American trends. Born in Hungary, he trained as an architect and his contemporary affordable furnishings were especially suitable for the open-plan houses built in Australia’s new post-war suburbs. He closed the retail side of this in 1957 and concentrated on commissions, some for large-scale orders. One of these bulk orders came from the Commonwealth Government sometime between 1957 and the early 1970s, with several examples of light, compact and functional domestic furnishings supplied to lightstations in Victoria. Because the order was placed by the CLS, it is possible that Kalmar furnishings were also provided to lightstations in other states. Additional examples at Gabo Island include three bedside tables (GILS 0042.2 & 0076.10), chest of drawers (GILS 0077) and two bookcases (GILS 0012.2), with the backs of at least two of the furnishings bearing the Kalmar label. Kalmar furnishings in the other Victorian lightstations investigated by this study include bookcases at Cape Otway, Cape Nelson (3 examples) and Point Hicks (2 examples); two bedside tables at Cape Otway, and a long coffee table at Wilsons Promontory. The set of tables has first level contributory significance for their clear provenance, completeness and association with Steven Kalmar whose functional designs introduced modern, low cost furnishings to a number of Australia’s lightstations.Nest of three Scandinavian style tables, solid wood. Curved U shaped legs, one bar at base of table.Underside of GILS007.3:"C of A / D.O.T 1444248" (Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Transport.) •All tables have "16" on underside. -
Parks Victoria - Gabo Island Lightstation
Hatch cover
Wreckage from unknown ship. Found on "big beach" at Telegraph Point. 2002. Made of wood with corroded metal fragments, the hatch is undated wreckage from an unknown ship. The remnants of shipwreck fabric have second level contributory significance for their interpretive and historic value as artefacts that highlight the distinctive history of the Gabo Island Lightstation.Timber & steel hatch cover from ship.(wrekage) Rectangular shaped piece of wood with a circular shape cut from centre. Corroded metal fragments have adhered to the wood. -
Parks Victoria - Gabo Island Lightstation
Lens section
Detached sector panel from upper lantern. The lens segment is one of a pair of freestanding panels that formerly stood on a platform in the upper lantern room on either side of a small fixed light. The platform rested above the 1860/62 Chance Bros. first order, fixed lens and could be accessed by a ladder. The two sector lens panels were each set in a bronze frame and comprised a curved wider (belt) piece in the centre with nine curved, slim line pieces above and below it (19 pieces in total). The belt aligned with the light source to provide optimal focus and range. The panels, the light and the platform were installed in 1934 to upgrade the original optical system with red warning lights. Fitting them above the lantern was a convenient and inexpensive way to do this, with each lens panel set up behind a red glass panel to project a red sector to the seaward over to Cape Howe and the Western Shore. The two sectors are likely to be Chance Bros. by manufacture although they do not appear to bear the maker’s name. This is probably because Chance Bros. typically fixed metal plaques to their apparatus and tended not to stamp smaller components such as their lens frames. It could possibly indicate that the two sectors are former components of a larger system, i.e. another lens. This can easily be confirmed by closely inspecting the bronze frames. A series of holes on the frame would indicate that ‘they would have bolted to other panels to make a larger lens assembly’. The absence of holes would confirm that ‘they were made specifically to stand alone’. The sector panels were removed from the Gabo lantern in February 1992. At some point after their removal, they were found in boxes marked with ‘Ince Pt.’, however it is thought that Ince Point lighthouse ‘never had … stand alone sectors’. The panel in the Gabo Island collection is one of two segments discovered at the Eden Killer Whale Museum in about 2007. One section was repatriated to Gabo Island and the other was to go to Smoky Cape Lighthouse in northern NSW. The Gabo lens segment has first level contributory significance for its historic value and provenance to the lantern room. It is recommended that Parks Victoria/AMSA seek to return the Smoky Cape segment to Gabo Island and reunite the sector panels.The Gabo lens segment has first level contributory significance for its historic value and provenance to the lantern room.Section of a lens from a lighting apparatus , rectangular louvers of glass enclosed in a metal frame. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Cabinet
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The two-door nineteenth century cabinet was purpose built with a curved back to fit the proportions of the lantern room interior and is likely to date from 1888-89 when the new lighthouse was fitted out and provided with furnishings and fixtures. The Public Works Department provided a range of lightstation furnishings including office desks and cabinets, and domestic settings for keepers’ quarters, with nineteenth century items often stamped with a crown motif and the PWD monogram. The curved cabinets installed in lantern rooms however do not appear to display this small feature. The cabinet needed to be custom made to fit the proportions of the room, and for this reason it was possibly made on site or perhaps even supplied by Chance Bros as part of the entire lantern room installation. The company usually provided timber panelling for their lantern room interiors (since removed from Point Hicks), and a cabinet may have been included in the assemblage. It may not have originally been painted; today doors area grey/silver colour and the rest of the cabinet is emerald green. It is not known whether it is freestanding or fixed to the wall. A similar cabinet with panelled doors remains in the Gabo Island lighthouse and evidence of green paint on the wood indicates that the cabinet frame was also formerly painted green but later stripped to reveal the wood finish. The Cape Nelson lantern room has a curved cabinet with the same door type but has a drawer above each door. It too was formerly painted emerald green before it was stripped back to its present wood finish. Cape Schanck’s lantern room cabinet is unique for its curved front as well as curved back, and it stands on a skirting. The two doors are in the same style, although they open with a brass knob. Further research into these distinctive cabinets may resolve the interesting question of their construction. The Point Hicks cabinet is a unique, original feature of the lighthouse lantern room and has first level contributory significance for its historic values and provenance. The Point Hicks cabinet has two doors, each framed and beaded around a central panel, and there is a simple door knob. The back is curved and the front is straight and the doors are painted a grey/silver colour and the rest of the cabinet is emerald green. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Telephones
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The lightstation was connected by telephone to Cann River in 1928. The lighthouse retains ablack Bakelite telephone attached to the lantern room wall on timber box mount. It has a crank handle with instructions for its use on the crank dial, and a coiled handset cord, which probably dates the phone to just after 1949 when coiled examples like these began to replace fabric covered smooth cords. An image in 1991 shows the phone in the lower level of the lantern room It is one of four telephones at the lightstsation; with two others attached to walls in the assistant keepers’ quarters, and one in the head keeper’s quarters. The four phones formed an intercom system that facilitated communication between the lightstation buildings. Three telephones of the same wall-mounted, crank dial type remain at Gabo Island Lightstation; four remain at Cape Otway and five older examples remain at Cape Nelson Lightstation As fixtures attached to the wall, the four telephones are considered to be part of the building fabric and therefore included in the existing Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation (VHR 1983).As fixtures attached to the wall, the four telephones are considered to be part of the building fabric and therefore included in the existing VHR listing for the lightstation (VHR 1983).Four telephones with a crank handle mounted on a wooden base, one is fixed to the wall of the lantern room and is black bakelite. Yes -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Weights
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...A small number of heavy cast iron weights and two rods remain at the Point Hicks Lightstation. These weights comprise one rod with a forked top and four circular weights attached to the bottom of the shaft. The weights and rods were part of the original clockwork mechanism that was fitted beneath the lens to keep the kerosene‐fuelled light turning. They were attached to a cable or chains and moved vertically in similar fashion to the way weights move on grandfather clocks. As the weight fell, the optic clock was driven and the lens was turned. To keep the clock turning, the weight needed to be wound back up to the top of its travel. The cables and weights in this lighthouse were visible as they moved through the length of the tower up to the lantern room. It was usual for systems to move inside a tube extending up to the top, but in this case the tower’s cast iron spiral staircase, which is supported on cantilever cast iron brackets set into the concrete wall, spiralled around the space in which they moved. Lighthouse keepers had the arduous job of having to constantly wind the clock to keep the light active, and at least two keepers needed to observe a strict roster of hours. When electric motors were invented, all of this became redundant and the motors were able to turn the optic for as long as there was power to drive them. In December 1964, the original 1890 Chance Bros kerosene‐fuelled light and clockwork mechanism were replaced by small electric motor, and the number of keepers reduced to two. The six circular weights and rods originate from the obsolete system and may have been part of a larger set. Wilsons Promontory retains seven of its original set of ten weights, all of which are detached from the tower’s weight tube. Cape Schanck has a set of fourteen weights remaining in situ as well as another four detached weights, which have inscriptions. One weight is displayed in the lantern room at Cape Otway. The image shows four of the clockwork weights attached to a rod with a forked top. They were part of the original clockwork mechanism that was fitted beneath the lens to keep the kerosene‐fuelled light turning. The Aldis lamp in its case sits on the floor next to the weights. Source: Parks Victoria.The Point Hicks weights have first level contributory significance for the insights they provide into the superseded technology and operations of a late nineteenth century lighthouse. They are well provenanced and are significant for their historic value as part of the lightstation’s Chance Brothers optical system installed in 1890. Four circular metal weights are stored on a metal rod with a forked section at the top. The weights have a cut out section which allows the weights to be removed easily. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Weights
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...A small number of heavy cast iron weights and two rods remain at the Point Hicks. The weights and rods were part of the original clockwork mechanism that was fitted beneath the lens to keep the kerosene-fuelled light turning. They were attached to a cable or chains and moved vertically in similar fashion to the way weights move on grandfather clocks. As the weight fell, the optic clock was driven and the lens was turned. To keep the clock turning, the weight needed to be wound back up to the top of its travel. The cables and weights in this lighthouse were visible as they moved through the length of the tower up to the lantern room. It was usual for systems to move inside a tube extending up to the top, but in this case the tower’s cast iron spiral staircase, which is supported on cantilever cast iron brackets set into the concrete wall, spiralled around the space in which they moved. Lighthouse keepers had the arduous job of having to constantly wind the clock to keep the light active, and at least two keepers needed to observe a strict roster of hours. When electric motors were invented, all of this became redundant and the motors were able to turn the optic for as long as there was power to drive them. In December 1964, the original 1890 Chance Bros kerosene-fuelled light and clockwork mechanism were replaced by small electric motor, and the number of keepers reduced to two. The six circular weights and rods originate from the obsolete system and may have been part of a larger set. Wilsons Promontory retains seven of its original set of ten weights, all of which are detached from the tower’s weight tube. Cape Schanck has a set of fourteen weights remaining in situ as well as another four detached weights, which have inscriptions . One weight is displayed in the lantern room at Cape Otway. The Point Hicks weights have first level contributory significance for the insights they provide into the superseded technology and operations of a late nineteenth century lighthouse. They are well provenanced and are significant for their historic value as part of the lightstation’s Chance Brothers optical system installed in 1890.PHLS0005.1 Round cast iron weight with flat base used for lens clock-work mechanism attached to a bent metal rod. PHLS0005.2 Removable round cast iron weight with flat base used for lens clock-work mechanism stored above the other weight. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Lid, ship tank
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The heavy cast iron, round lid was originally fastened into a large, riveted metal box, known as a ship tank. It has the name ‘John Bellamy London’ cast in capitals in a continuous circle on the outer edge of the lid face, and the words ‘Byng St Millwall’ on the inner circle. , of Millwall, London, manufactured boilers and ship tanks from the 1860s to the 1930s and came from a family of tank makers who began manufacturing tanks some time before 1856. Ship tanks were invented in 1808 by notable engineer, Richard Trevithick and his associate John Dickinson. Their patent obtained the same year described the tank’s superior cubic shape that allowed it to fit squarely as a container in vessels and thus use space efficiently, while its metal fabric preserved and secured its liquid or solid contents from damage. The containers revolutionised the movement of goods by ship and made wooden casks redundant. Research by Michael Pearson has determined that they were carried on passages to Australia from at least the 1830s conveying ships’ victuals and water storage, as well as general goods heading for the colonies. Pearson found photographic evidence of their use in the 1860s, and by the 1870s they appeared to be in common use. lids surviving from containers indicate that nearly all the tanks transported to Australia came from London manufacturers. It was usual for the brand name to also feature as a stencil on the tank but in most cases this eventually wore off. A tank without its original stencil survives at Wilsons Promontory. Tanks transporting ‘drinking water or perishable dry goods were hermetically sealed by the use of the tightly fitting lid with a rubber sealing ring ‘which was screwed tight with the aid of lugs cast into the lid and wedges cast into the rim of the loading hole’. The raised iron rod welded across the outer face of many lids such as the Bellamy example, allowed for screwing the lid tight. Once in the colonies, the ship tanks were often recycled and adapted for many resourceful uses such as packing cases, dog kennels, water tanks, oil containers and food stores and this invariably led to the separation of the lid and tank. The Bellamy lid could have been salvaged from a shipwreck but is more likely to have to have originated from a recycled tank that was brought to the lightstation for water storage purposes. Pearson writes that: Ship tanks show up at a wide range of sites, many of them isolated like lighthouses. They were, I think, usually taken there for the purposes they filled, usually water storage, as they were readily available, relatively light to transport, and probably very cheap to buy as second-hand goods containers. In rural areas they may have been scavenged for their new uses from local stores, to whom goods were delivered in them. Parks Victoria has identified five tank lids in the lightstation collections covered by this project. In addition to the Bellamy lid at Point Hicks, they include a Bow brand lid at Point Hicks and another at Cape Otway, unidentified lids at Cape Otway and Wilsons Promontory. Pearson and Miles Lewis have each recorded two versions of the Bellamy trade name on the lids; one being ‘John Bellamy Byng St. London’; the other, ‘John Bellamy Byng St. Millwall London’. The Point Hicks lid has the second version of the name, as do other examples in Victoria that Lewis has identified at Illawarra, Toorak; Warrock homestead, Casterton; Eeyeuk homestead, Terang; Ward’s Mill, Kyneton; and Boisdale homestead near Maffra, and in NSW at Ayrdale Park, Wolumla; and Bishop’s Lodge, Hay. Pearson’s list includes the same lids in NSW at Tumbarumba; the Quarantine Station, Sydney; Willandra Station; Bedervale, Braidwood; Gunnedah Museum; Walla Walla and Macquarie Island. The Point Hicks lid is currently stored in the lighthouse although it is unlikely that its use had any association with this building. The lid is in good condition and retains the central bung. Pearson notes that ‘surviving lids are far less numerous than the tanks themselves, presumably because the uses to which the tanks were put did not require the lid to be retained’.347 The Bellamy ship tank lid has first level contributory significance for its historic values. Circular cast-iron disc with raised outer ridge with inscription. It also has an inner depression with inscription. Two metal sections form handles over inner depression. Hole in middle of disc.Around perimeter of outer edge "JOHN BELLAMY LONDON" Around inner area "BYNG ST MILLWALL" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Lamp, Aldis
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...This portable, hand held visual signalling lamp was used for optical communication via Morse code. It comprises the metal encased Aldis lamp with electrical cord and its associated green-painted, hinged wooden carrying case, which has a metal clasp and leather hand grip. Larger versions of these lamps are fixed on ships or pedestals and have shutters on the front that are opened and closed to transmit signals. Smaller hand held versions like the Point Hicks example have a concave mirror that is tilted to focus the light into pulse signals via a trigger. The lamps were pioneered by the British navy in the late nineteenth century and continue to be used to the present day.317 Details on the Point Hicks lamp include a serial number and other information. Another Aldis lamp and case remaining at Cape Nelson Lightstation dates to 1960 and has the initials of the Department of Transport, which at that time incorporated the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. Wilsons Promontory also has an Aldis lamp and case that dates from around the same year. A lamp formerly at Cape Schanck has disappeared. The Aldis lamp and associated case at Point Hicks has first level contributory significance for its historic values and provenance to the lightstation. PHLS0007.1 Hand held signal light. Painted metal trigger with attached black electrical leads with battery terminals at end. Inscriptions on metal of lantern. PHLS0007.2 Hinged lid, wooden box painted army green to house signal light. Metal plate with inscription on front of box.PHLS0007.1 "D^D / LANTERN PORTABLE SIGNALLING / ADMIRALITY No 5110D / SERIAL No 5482 YEAR 943 / AMALGAMATED WIRELESS / A ASA LTD / 9792-100" •PHLS0007.2 "20 K4 transporting lantern / admirality pattern no 91108" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Lamps, kerosene
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The two hand-held, portable kerosene lamps each have green enamel caps over the glass. They were used from around the 1930s until 1993, and one is now located on the groundfloor level of the lighthouse and the other is in the assistant lightkeeper’s quarters. The brand name of the Point Hicks lamp, while not stated is probably Coleman, Tilley or Austramax, which were all similarly made, portable pressurised kerosene lamps. Coleman brand pressure lamps and lanterns were first made in about 1905 by American, William Coleman, and their English competitor was the firm, Tilley. The Australian company Austramax began manufacturing kerosene pressure lamps in Brunswick in 1946, making the bases and the workings by hand, turning out 1000s of lamps each week. Portable lamps were used worldwide where bright light was needed and they became essential as an emergency back-up source of light for the lightstation as well as the lantern room. Through the multiplication of light by the lighthouse lenses, they could provide a tower with a 26 nautical mile range. Lamps similar to the two Point Hicks examples can be found at Gabo Island, one of which is a green enamelled Austramax lamp; Cape Nelson (Austramax), and similar lamps are held at Cape Schanck and Cape Otway. The two Point Hicks lamps have first level contributory significance for their historic value and provenance, and as representative examples of lamps that were widely used in Australian lightstations between the 1930s and 1960s.PHLS0008.1 & PHLS0008.2 Pressurised kerosene lamp, cover over glass is made of green enamelled metal. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Stand, pump & tank
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...Was the stand for a Chance Brothers air & oil containers fitted with pump handle & pressure gauges.This type of installation was once common and relied on the lightkeeper having to pressurise the cylinders manually at regular intervals throughout the hours of darkness. The oil was fed under pressure to the burner mantle. It is all that remains of an air and kerosene oil tank installation, with each rounded side formerly supporting a heavy iron tank. The containers would have been fitted with a pump handle and pressure gauges. An intact assemblage is displayed in the AMSA offices, Canberra with a text that explains ‘This type of installation was once common and relied on the lightkeeper having to pressurise the cylinders manually at regular intervals throughout the hours of darkness’.The system involved vaporising kerosene under pressure and mixing it with air and then burning the vapour to heat an incandescent mantle. The use of kerosene as a fuel to light the lantern became the most common system of illumination from the 1860s after the oil industry in the United States began to develop. The kerosene vapour burner was created in 1901 by British inventor Arthur Kitson (1859-1937) and perfected by Chance Bros for burning a more intense light in their renowned lenses. The lamp had to be watched throughout the night in case a mantle broke, and the tanks needed to be maintained by hand-pumping each hour or so. The Point Hicks lantern was initially lit by a six-wick Trinity house kerosene burner. This was replaced by the more efficient and brighter 55mm vaporised kerosene mantle burner in 1905, and the tank stand is probably original to this apparatus. Electricity eventually replaced kerosene at Point Hicks in 1964 making the tank installation obsolete, and the last kerosene system in an Australian lighthouse was replaced in 1985. Gabo Island Lightstation has a pair of tanks that are not attached to the optical system and are no longer in the lighthouse. They are also missing the pressure gauges that were formerly attached to the top of each cylinder. An intact tank assemblage is displayed at the Cape Schanck Lighthouse Museum it is detached and not original to the lighthouse. Although corroded, the remnant Point Hicks tank stand has first level contributory importance to the lightstation. It is significant for its provenance and historical value as part of the Chance Bros vaporised kerosene burner introduced in 1905 to intensify the light and improve the efficiency of the system. The rusted iron stand rests on four short legs and is shaped like a pair of spectacles. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Megaphone
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...Used to communicate with ships from Point Hicks Lightstation. In Greek mythology, "Stentor" was a herald on the Greek side during the Trojan War. His name has given rise to the adjective "stentorian", meaning loud-voiced, for which he was famous. Homer said his "voice was as powerful as fifty voices of other men." He died after his defeat by Hermes in a shouting contest. See the Iliad, V. The large funnel-shaped device is nearly 750mm (30 inches) in length and is made of re coated cardboard that is riveted together. It has a metal mouth-piece at the narrow end and a metal edge at the wide end, and a metal handle. The maker’s information inside indicates that it is a ‘Stentor Megaphone’ patented on 4 April 1899 by a company in Boston. Stentor brand megaphones were manufactured by Merriman Brothers, a firm established in Boston in 1898 specializing in hardware for yachts. Merriman Bros. Manufacturers. 139 Border St. East Boston, Mass. Their equipment, which included pulley blocks, winches and fittings, was well-known worldwide before the company closed in about 1995. However, their ‘main business was not blocks and winches’…‘it was Merriman megaphones, including the familiar cheerleader megaphones’. They came in different sizes, one of which was employed by the United States Navy because of its scientifically proven horn angle of 22 degrees’. Their patent for the device, dated April 4, 1899, specified details such as the ‘rivets, metal mouthpiece, and adjacent parts’,and an undated pamphlet promoting the Stentor Megaphone emphasizes its ‘highly finished’ appearance ‘with nickel mouthpiece, rim and other fittings’. It also pronounces ‘the carrying power of a Megaphone is astonishing. Even under adverse conditions, it magnifies the power of the voice many times. For listening to distant sounds, it is also of great assistance’. Various sizes were designed for particular uses, and the pamphlet advises that the 30 inch no.2 model, which cost US $2.50, ‘makes it easy to talk half-a-mile and shout a mile’. An advertisement also stresses that it has ‘no iron parts’, making it ideal for marine situations.The Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Maine, United States, has the same or similar model of megaphone in its collection, and the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village Museum, Warrnambool, Victoria, has a galvanised metal ‘Acme Stentor’ megaphone. The Point Hicks Stentor Megaphone has first level contributory significance for its provenance and historic value, and also as a relatively rare item of equipment once used worldwide in marine situations, such as lightstations, as demonstrated by this example in a Victorian lightstation.One large funnel shaped megaphone made of coated cardboard riveted together. Has a metal handle and metal rims at each end. Dark reddish brown colour."No 2 / THE / STENTOR MEGAPHONE / PATENTED APRIL 4TH 1899 / .../ MAKERS / .OSTON. MASS" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Fire extinguisher
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The Minimax conical fire extinguishers were manufactured until 1960 and then removed from the company’s product range. The earliest model had been produced with a simple handle made of folded pressed metal that is similar if not the same as that on the Point Hicks extinguisher. Later handles were moulded and had more substance to the way they were cut and then folded to form a solid grip. The Point Hicks Minimax extinguisher is an early model that probably dates from the years when these devices were demonstrated across parts of Australia. While numerous examples of the extinguishers survive in public and private collections in northern hemisphere countries, few appear to exist in Australian museum collections. However, the auction house records confirm that some do survive in private collections. The Point Hicks extinguisher was found by lighthouse keepers in 1974 buried in the sand in a flattened but surprisingly intact condition. It was beaten back into its original shape but the body still retains various dents. In 2010, AMSA located the extinguisher at the National Trust’s Polly Woodside historic ship museum and it is now at the Point Hicks Lightstation. The Minimax conical extinguisher has first level contributory significance as a historic item of early fire-fighting equipment from the lightstation that dates from the early twentieth century.Conical shaped brass fire extinguisher painted red with small nozzle at one end and a pump section at the other end. There is a handle on one side with closely spaced rivets down one side. Brass plaque with instructions attached to the body. There ia a square hook to hang the object form a wall or similar." ...ANKS ... / QUENCH.../ FOR FIRE / DRIVE IN PLUNGER / AT BIG END / ...ON GROUND /..../..../..." -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Bookcase (2)
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The two identical bookcases probably date to the 1960s-70s period and retain their original light wood finish. They contain two adjustable shelves as well as the base shelf and stand on four legs braced by a stretcher extending across the front and around the sides. The bracing and the angled slightly curved front legs, which do not align with corners of the cabinet, produce the appearance of a box resting on a separate frame. These modern style bookshelves are examples of the low-cost furnishings that the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service (CLS) introduced to Australian lightstations in the post-war years. Most notably, it commissioned a number of light, compact and functional items in bulk from émigré designer, Steven Kalmar (1909-1989), who played a significant role in popularising modernist design concepts in Australia and drew his ideas from Scandinavian and American design trends. Born in Hungary, he trained as an architect and his contemporary affordable furnishings were especially suitable for the open-plan houses being built in Australia’s new post-war suburbs. It is not known whether the bookcases bear the Kalmar label, but the design, particularly the legs and bar bracing, is a signature style of his Sydney-based firm, Kalmar Interiors. The CLS supplied the same bookshelves to a number of other lightstations, including Cape Nelson (3 examples), Cape Otway and Gabo Island (2 examples), as well as other types of furnishings such as tables and nests of coffee tables, cabinets, drawers, bedside tables. The Point Hicks bookcases original function was more likely office-related rather than domestic. The bookcases have first level contributory significance for their provenance and historic value as examples of the modernist furnishings that the Sydney-based firm, Kalmar Interiors supplied to the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service in the post-war years.Two bookcases in the Scandinavian style. Each have 3 internal shelves and four legs, light coloured wood. -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Lid, Ship tank
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The circular cast iron object is a lid that was originally fastened into a ship tank. This particular lid is cast with the name ‘Lancaster & Co Bow London E’ in capitals in a continuous circle on the outer edge of the lid face, and has the words ‘Bow Tank Works’ on the inner circle. It is the same type of round heavy lid that was made by tank manufacturer John Bellamy although it may be a younger example. According to Pearson, the Lancaster & Co firm produced tanks between 1910 and 1930 from their works in Bow, East London. It was possibly preceded by the company, Lancaster & Bawn, which ran between the 1870s and 1890s.Pearson has collected a list of Lancaster & Co tank lids that he and others have sighted at various locations in Australia including Coolgardie, WA; Gulgong Museum, NSW; the Quarantine Station, Sydney NSW; Blundell’s Cottage, NSW; and Woolmers homestead complex, TAS. In addition, Lewis has identified lids at Ayrdale, NSW, and the shearing shed at Murndal homestead, Western Victoria. It is most likely that more than three lids survive in Victoria and more will be identified, however, as noted by Pearson, ‘surviving lids are far less numerous than the tanks themselves, presumably because the uses to which the tanks were put did not require the lid to be retained’.Parks Victoria has identified five tank lids in the lightstation collections. There is another Lancaster & Co lid at Cape Otway and possibly a second example there as well. In addition there are Bellamy lids at Point Hicks and Cape Otway and an unidentified lid at Wilsons Promontory, and a tank without a lid at Wilsons Promontory. The Lancaster & Co ship tank lid has first level contributory significance for its historic values.Circular cast-iron disc, with raised outer ridge with inscription and inner depression with inscription. One metal section forms a handle over an inner depression.Around perimeter of outer edge "BOW LONDON.E LANCASTER & CO " Around inner area "BOW ANK WORK" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Desk
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The large cedar desk was formerly used by the head light keeper at Point Hicks. It was made in the nineteenth century, probably by the Victorian Public Works Department (PWD) as an item of standard issue for use in government offices. The PWD operated in Victoria from 1855 to 1987 and was responsible for the design of Victoria’s major public buildings and other infrastructure including the supply of stores, furniture and equipment.The desk has turned legs, leather top and two drawers each with a pair of wooden knob hand pulls and is identical to the large desk remaining at Cape Nelson. A smaller version is at Cape Schanck, and another desk formerly at Cape Schanck is not able to be located. Gabo Island has a small cedar desk or table in the same style. Two sides of the Cape Schanck desk are stamped with the crown motif and monogram of the PWD but it is not known if the Point Hicks desk and the other nineteenth century examples are stamped with these details. There are also c.mid-twentieth century desks remaining in the collections at Wilsons Promontory and Gabo Island. officeThe Point Hicks desk has first level contributory significance for its historic values as government issued furnishing that is original to lightstation’s head keeper’s. Early, large two drawer cedar desk. Each drawer has two wooden handles. Leather insert on top of desk is worn. Commonwealth of Australia, Dept of Transport stamp with stock number on side of desk.On label on side, "C. of A. / D. O. T. / 143581" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Schedule, ‘Aids to Navigation Schedule'
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...‘Aids to Navigation’ schedule. The schedule, dated 1985, is displayed in a black-painted wooden frame attached to the wall of the lantern room. It is presented on the Commonwealth of Australia letterhead and appears to be typed. The Cape Otway lantern room also retains an ‘Aids to Navigation’ schedule of the same date and type. The Point Hicks schedule has first level contributory significance for its historic value and provenance to the lighthouse.Aids to navigation schedule. Framed in black painted timber. Screwed to wall of lighthouse.Yes -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Plaque
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...The rectangular brass plaque commemorates the centenary of the official opening of the Point Hicks Lightstation on 15 May 1890. The engraved text in capitals reads ‘Point Hicks Lightstation/This plaque commemorates/The opening of/This Lighthouse/ (Then known as Cape Everard) /On the 15 May 1890/’. It finishes with the date of 13 May 1990. It is not known whether the plaque is a fixture attached to one of the lightstation buildings, or a detached object. If it is attached, it is defined as building fabric and is included in the Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation. Details of the commemorative ceremony presumably held on 13 May 1990 are not known. It is not known whether the plaque is a fixture attached to one of the lightstation buildings, or a detached object. If it is attached, it is defined as building fabric and is included in the Victorian Heritage Register listing for the lightstation. Brass plaque with an engraved inscription. to commemorate opening of the lighthouse."POINT HICKS LIGHTSTATION/ THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES/THE OPENING OF/ THIS LIGHTHOUSE/ (THEN KNOWN AS CAPE EVERARD) / ON THE 15 MAY 1890 / .....13 MAY 1990" -
Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation
Corbel
... Parks Victoria - Point Hicks Lightstation Lighthouse Track ...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. -
Parks Victoria - Maldon State Battery
Pan, Berdan
A Berdan pan was a grinding pan. The circular pan was set at an angle, and as the pan revolved, a heavy iron ball rotated in the lowest point, grinding sand or mineral to a fine powder. It was frequently used to grind impurities out of amalgam (gold in mercury), and to grind batch-lots of heavy mineral. It is also known as a ball mill. Two strong wooden A frames supporting large iron pivotable bowl with a large iron ball inside the bowl. There are cogs underneath bowl which are connected to rotating belts extending from main battery shaft. The chute attached below the bowl is directed into a circular metal container. The frame is painted green. -
The Celtic Club
Book, Rex Harcourt, Southern invasion, northern conquest: Story of the founding of Melbourne, 2001
This book is an account of how exploration and settlement of Port Phillip paved the way for colonising present day Victoria.Index, bib, plates, maps, ill. p. 240.non-fictionThis book is an account of how exploration and settlement of Port Phillip paved the way for colonising present day Victoria.exploration and development - melbourne, john batman - melbourne - history -
Phillip Island Conservation Society Inc.
Work on paper - PICS scrap book 1, article 1, "Points about Penguins", 20/11/1920
Description by author of a visit to rookeries of the Little Penguin at the Point Grant end of Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia, during nesting season, 1920. Includes one photograph of 4 penguins. The author, Tom Tregallis, refers to the birds as moulting, but this takes place in March-April, so the article must have been written at that time, before its publication in November, 1920. Or Tregallis was mistaken in thinking some of the birds were moulting, as they do not go to sea during the moult. Tregallis also describes the penguin rookery at the Little Nobby and Shelly Beach nearby.Few accounts of the Little Penguin rookeries on Phillip Island during the 1920s exist in publicly accessible form, so this is a valuable description of the physical area, the numbers of penguins there at the time, feral animals such as foxes, cats and rabbits, perceived behaviour of these animals at the time.Photocopy of Magazine or Newspaper cutting, black and white/greyscale print, 10 paragraphs. Article includes single greyscale photo of four penguins. Photocopy has darker shading towards top and bottom of image.little penguins, phillip island, nobbies, penguin rookeries, penguin moult, tom tregallis