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Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph, David and Joan Armfield Studio House and Pottery (1953)
Image 13 David and Joan Armfield Studio House and Pottery Original building commenced by Roger Bell in 1953 Later completed by David and Joan Armfield The Alistair Knox Collection The Alistair Knox Collection is a series of mounted enlarged photos of mud brick houses and related subjects. The collection is understood to have been put together by Alistair Knox although it is the work of several unacknowledged photographers. For some years it was held by the Building Department of the former Eltham Shire Council and was then passed to our Society for safekeeping. Some of the photos have been used in Knox's books and from time to time some of them have been part of various historical displays. As far as we know there has not been a public display of the whole collection which numbers about forty photographs. The collection has been copied on to slides for the purpose of this meeting and to be retained as part of the Society's pictorial collection. Alistair Knox 1912 - 1986 is acknowledged as the founder of Eltham's mud brick building movement. Many of the buildings shown in the collection are of his design and he was also involved with the construction of several of them. Others are the work of his contemporaries and associates such as Peter Glass, Gordon Ford, and John Harcourt. (EDHS Newsletter No. 145 July 2002)Handwritten notes in pencil re details of building, year of construction, owner, designer, builder, etcdavid and joan armfield studio house, david armfield, houses, joan armfield, mud brick construction, roger bell, alistair knox collection -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Kangaroo Ground Presbyterian Church, 28 December 2007
Built in 1878, the orange polychromatic brick structure replaced a slab building which had been used since 1951. The building has changed little with its handsome bricks buttressed on both sides, a slate roof and a Celtic cross on top of the front gable. The carved wooden pulpit and 18 pews are original. The cathedral-style ceiling is fully lined with tongue-and-groove pine boards and the floor is also pine. The walls have arched oblong leadlight windows. In 1977 the congregaton decided not to join the Uniting Church, whcih amalgamated some Presbyterian churches with all the Methodist and Congregational churches in Australia. Together with the store and school, the church is one of Kangaroo Ground's three public buildings. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p91 The small Presbyterian church in Main Road, Kangaroo Ground, has been a spiritual centre for more than a century. Built in 1878, the orange polychromatic brick structure replaced a rude slab building, which had been used as both a church and school since 1851. Earliest settlers, who were Scottish farmers, had worshipped together since 1841 in a barn owned by farmer James Donaldson and led by a layman called Smith.1 However, from 1843, the Reverend Peter Gunn conducted church services. Prominent early church members include the Donaldson, Bell and Cameron families. In 1851, Samuel Furphy (father of author Joseph) built their first church building, a 30 feet x 18 feet (9m x 5.5m) slab structure on half an acre (0.2ha) donated by Mr Donaldson. Conditions could be very uncomfortable in extreme weather.The green slabs of timber and sapling logs, covered partly with mud, had centimetre-wide cracks, allowing rain and wind through, when not blocked out by folds of paper.2 However this did not deter the first couple marrying there in 1857: John Wilson of Nillumbik and Christina Macpherson of Christmas Hills. The Reverend Peter Gunn seldom visited so it was usually left to Andrew Ross, the settlement’s first teacher and founder of the newspaper The Evelyn Observer, to lead the divine services instead.3 In 1877 the settlers raised £355/19/- and hired architect, Charles Maplestone and builder, Mr Self, to construct today’s church building. Each family rented a pew or pews for ten shillings a half-year; they also paid quarterly subscriptions for the minister’s stipend.4 It was not until 1886 that the church celebrated its first wedding, that of John Bell (junior) from Violet Bank and Elizabeth Charlton of Cunis Nillen. The Sunday School’s first recorded meeting was also held that year. In 1892 a weatherboard vestry was built, and the following year John Bell donated a church bell, which the fire brigade used as a warning for several years. Conditions have varied greatly during the century. In 1893 the Reverend Darroch had to travel more than 2000 miles (3220km) to attend to his scattered parishioners. Then in the Depression, the minister Mr Brown, subsisted only on lodgings with no stipend. The Sunday School ceased for many years because of the small population, but reopened in 1949. The building has changed little with its handmade bricks buttressed on both long sides, a slate roof and a Celtic cross on top of the front gable. The carved wooden pulpit and 18 pews are original and in fine condition. The cathedral-style ceiling is fully lined with tongue-and-groove pine boards and the floor is also of pine. The walls have arched oblong leadlight windows. One window has stained glass commemorating Mrs Jessie Agnes Cameron and her ancestors – the pioneering Bell family. It depicts The Sower because the family comprised farmers who came to a strange land to sow the seeds of their faith as much as their crops. Thistles signify their Scottish ancestry and the pigeons are a symbol of Pigeon Bank, the Kangaroo Ground farming property where Jessie Cameron was born.5 Other historical ties are seen on two marble memorial tablets and carved wooden chairs dedicated to former members. The Church still has the original Bible with gold edged paper, presented by the women of the congregation in 1871, although it is no longer used. In 1977 the Presbyterian congregation decided not to join the Uniting Church, which amalgamated some Presbyterian churches with all the Methodist and Congregational churches in Australia. Together with the store and school, the church is one of Kangaroo Ground’s three public buildings.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, kangaroo ground presbyterian church -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Foundry Patterns set, Briggs Brass Foundry, Early 20th century
The wooden crate contains a set of patterns or moulds that were once used at Briggs’ Brass Foundry for making sand moulds. The traditional method of sand casting is over 2000 years old. It is part of a crafted process used to make brass and copper alloy goods suited to marine use; bells, boat hooks, cowls, propellers, handles, lids, rowlocks, hooks, letters, bolts, rail holders, brackets, deck plates, flanges, rudder guides, portholes and covers. Briggs’ Bronze is a copper-based alloy made from local ingots of copper, tin, zinc and lead in carefully measured quantities. The finished product is non-corrosive and can last indefinitely. The crate of patterns was donated by the Briggs family in the early years of Flagstaff Hill, along with other related items such as brassware, tools and machinery. The donated items were displayed in a simulated Brass Foundry in the Village. The items were on show from the completion of the building in 1986 until 1994 when the building was repurposed. The patterns represent the trades of foundering and metalwork, both supporting maritime industries such as shipwrights and boatbuilders. Farmers, manufacturers and other local industries also needed the castings made by foundries. The Brass Foundry display was one of the early ‘working craft’ shops at Flagstaff Hill. It included a historic Cornish chimney that was set up as a working model, telling the story of heat from furnaces to smelt metal, which would then be poured into the sand moulds. This chimney is made from specially curved bricks and is about two-thirds of its full height when originally located at the Grassmere Cheese factory. HISTORY of BRIGGS BRASS FOUNDRY: - The family business was founded in 1912 by Herbert Harrison Briggs (1963-1931) with his son George Edward Briggs, trading as Briggs & Son Foundry at 70 Wellington Street, Collingwood. Younger son Cyril Falkiner McKinnon Briggs joined the foundry in 1922, and it was renamed H H Briggs & Sons Foundry. Both sons ran the firm after Herbert’s death in 1931, making products mainly for marine purposes. They became Bell Founders in 1936 and were known for their specialty of high-quality ship bells. They produced miniature varieties of these and other decorative items such as small propellers. The firm became known as Briggs Marine Foundry. The great-granddaughter of Herbert Briggs inherited the Briggs Brass Bell, similar to the one at Flagstaff Hill. Cyril became the sole family member of the firm in 1965. The Briggs Marine was an exhibitor at the 1965 Boat Show, where he advertised as “non-ferrous founders” and “Bell Specialists”. The foundry relocated to Chesterville Rd, Moorabbin. Cyril passed away in 1967. It is thought that either Cyril or his business partner Frank Lee donated the objects from the Briggs’ Foundry around the time when the business moved to Moorabbin. However, Flagstaff Hill hadn’t been thought about until 1972. The donated items were registered in the Collection in 1986 but they could have been in storage from an earlier date. In October of that same year, Briggs Marine restored Schomberg Bell, a shipwreck artefact from the collection at Flagstaff Hill. Peter Oram, who had worked for the previous owners of Briggs Marine as a fitter and turner, took over the firm in 2014, reviving some of the old casts for current use. The business is now located at Seaford in Victoria and is part of Alliance Casting & Engineering Solutions (Alliance Casting Pty Ltd). In 2016 the original Collingwood Foundry building was repurposed as a thriving business hub named The Foundry. The crate and its patterns are significant for their association with brass foundries locally and generally in coastal areas of Victoria. Marine industries such as ship and boat building rely on good quality castings for their machinery, equipment and fittings. The patterns are associated with the long-running firm, Briggs Brass Foundry, that specialised in cast goods for the marine industry, ready to supply the needs for once-off or mass-produced items. Their products would have been fitted to sail and steam vessels along coastal Victoria including Warrnambool. Briggs Marine is also associated with the Schomberg Bell in Flagstaff Hill, restoring the bell to is former state to show an example of the bell from a luxury mid-19th century vessel. The craft of sand-casting from carved wooden patterns to create metal is an example of skills from the past that are still used today. Wooden rectangular crate with removable wooden lid. Inside is a set of wooden patterns of various shapes and sizes for making sand moulds in a metal foundry. The crate is made from thick wooden planks nailed together. The extended wooden struts on the long sides form a frame to hold the wooden lid. A pair of metal handles are at each short end of the crate, fixed with strong metal bolds. Between each pair of handles is an inscription stamped into the wood. The underside of the crate has red paint splashes. There are insect holes in the wood but no sign of current infestation. Stamped: "H.33 / II" (H may be N or a square B)flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, pattern, mould, foundry, brass foundry, metal foundry, crate, box, wooden container, briggs, traditional method, trade, sand cast, cast, brass alloy, copper alloy, marine equipment, marine tools, marine fittings, briggs' bronze, copper tin zinc lead, non-corrosive, briggs family, brassware, metalware, foundering, metalwork, maritime, casting, cornish chimney, curved bricks, grassmere cheese factory, 1912, herbert harrison briggs, h h briggs, george edward briggs, briggs & son foundry, collingwood, cyril falkiner mckinnon briggs, cyril briggs, h h briggs & sons foundry, bell founders, schomberg bell, alliance casting & engineering solutions, collingwood foundry, ship chandlers, marine products, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, briggs & son brass foundry, briggs marine, moorabbin -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - MCCOLL, RANKIN AND STANISTREET COLLECTION: PRINCE OF WALES TRIBUTE CO SHARE REGISTER
Hard cover book, blue cover, buff spine and corners, 'Share Register' written on spine. Affixed to front page Act No. 228, blue document, certifying that the mining company called 'The Prince of Wales Tribute Company' was incorporated at the Court of Mines Sandhurst. Dated 30th May 1870. Book contains an alphabetical listing of shareholders, dates 1869 - 1870, providing details such as who the shares were transferred from and to, calls on shares. Names include: Francis Babett; William Blackham, Joseph Bell, Joseph Brandon, Joseph Bullen, Josephy William Carrs, Charles Henry Colliers (Collins?), W.J. Cocking, J Davies, John Gregory Edwards, P. Fletcher, George Freeman, Peter Gilbert, John Henry Giles Harry Giles, Thos Gilbert, J.P Gray, J. Greenslade, Alfred Horbury, Michael Hayes, J(?) Holman, Geo Hull, Hugh McColl Henry Marshal, Matthew Moran, Alfred Miller, John Miller, Henry Oates, Phillip O'Neill, John Powell, Morris Phillips, William Piggott, Charles Quinn, John Roberts, Aime Ruedin, Nm Rae, John Scott, John Sinclair, P Simonsens, R Southby, William Thomas, Edward Tinsdale, William Henry Templeton, Sam Trant, John Taylor, David Veale, Walter Watkins J & S Williams, S. Williams, N (?) Winter, Geo Watson N (?) Webb, ITEMS IN THIS BOX HAVE NOT BEEN SCANNED.business, mining, prince of wales tribute co. -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Document - Memorandum, Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), "Victoria House Window Displays", 4/10/1949 12:00:00 AM
... Sir Norman Martin, Peter Duckett, Mr Bell... Board (MMTB) Sir Norman Martin, Peter Duckett, Mr Bell ...Memos - carbon copy on quarto paper - from the Publicity Officer to the Chairman regarding a window display in Victoria House London, dated 4/10/19?9? (Year only typed as a 9). Refers to a letter from Sir Norman Martin. Suggests two large photos of the SW6 trams exterior and interior, and the possibility of a scale model by Meadmore Engineering where Peter Duckett works and notes that Mr. Bell gave him recently a controller. Has a reference to Mr. Bell. Mr Risson commenced work on 1/10/1949 though in correspondence with Paul Nicholson, he felt that 1949 would be correct.Initialled by Lewis Russell.trams, tramways, sw6 class, london, models -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Book, Alan Bradley, "The Golden City and its Tramways - Ballarat's tramway era", 2005
Hard cover book - 144 pages + end covers + hard covers bound with dust jacket, titled "The Golden City and its Tramways - Ballarat's tramway era". Author Alan Bradley. Published by the BTM September 2005. Covers establishment of tramways in Ballarat, horse trams, electrification, the SEC, rehabilitation, War and Peace, the politics of the tramways in Ballarat, closure, the community that the tramways operated in, preservation, with appendices for fares, tramcars. Has a list of sources, index, foreword by Peter Hiscock. Layout by Frank Stamford. Printed by Hedges and Bell Maryboroughtrams, tramways, ballarat, sec, esco, btps, btm -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Newspaper, MX Newspaper, Andrew Fyfe, The Age, "Melbourne passes on crowning glory", "For Denmark's little prince, a rattle, a bell and an tram", Nov. 2005
Set of newspaper clipping featuring tram 965: .1 - titled "Melbourne passes on crowning glory" being handed over by the Minister for Transport Peter Batchelor to the Danish Consol General Jorgen Mollegaard. From the MX Newspaper, 10/11/2005. .2 - cartoon - undated, from the Herald Sun by Andrew Fyfe about the event and the Royal couple holding a baby. .3 - clipping from The Age, 21/2/2006 of W6 965 running on the Danish Tramway Museum track in the snow, showing route 16. Photo from Associated Press.trams, tramways, denmark, tram museum, restoration, cartoons, minister for transport, w6 class, tram 965 -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Newspaper, The Age, "For who the tram bells toll", 1992
Newspaper cutting from The Age, Good Weekend supplement, February or March 1992, based on an advert on the final page. Comprises four pages. Article titled "For who the tram bells toll", written by Anthony Dennis and illustrated by Rocco Fazzari. Article looks at travelling on the trams, depots and their characteristics, South Melbourne, North Fitzroy, Malvern, the Bundoora line, people and place in Melbourne life, Essendon Depot, migrants. Includes notes on Peter Spyker, Minister for Transport, Norm Maddock, Lou di Gregorio and an illustration of them and Mario Lawrence?? of South Melbourne depot, V214 and passengers.trams, tramways, w class, melbourne, south melbourne depot, crews, malvern depot, north fitzroy depot, essendon depot, people and places, tram v214 -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph - Vessels Speculant and S. S. Flinders, Between 1902 and 1907
This photograph was one of ten photographs donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village by Fred Trewartha. Frederick John Fox Trewartha (Fred) was a well-known Warrnambool businessman. He was born in Beeac near Geelong in 1920 and came to Warrnambool with his family as a very young child. He was apprenticed to his father John, as a saddler and later opened his own shop on Raglan Parade. He then moved into working with tarpaulins and canvases for the trucking industry. Fred was keenly interested in photography (and was a member of the Warrnambool Cine Club), yachting and boat building. He kept his yacht moored at Port Fairy for many years and participated in sailing events locally and interstate. He also built boats with his sons. He had the opportunity to meet many older sailors and it's thought this photo (and others in the set) may have been given to him by one of these men. Fred Trewartha died in 2016 in Warrnambool. The two identifiable ships in this picture are the "Speculant" and the "S. S. Flinders" - both coastal trading vessels that regularly came and went from Warrnambool. The third steamer on the left hasn't been identified The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.. The S. S. Flinders was built by A. J. Inglis, Ltd, Pointhouse, Glasgow in 1878 for the "Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company', Hobart which merged with the "Union Steamship Company" of New Zealand and it was later sold to the firm "McIlwraith, McEacham and Company". It was built of iron and was 1000 tons and 227 feet, 1 inch long. It was described as "splendidly fitted up for the carriage of passengers and her cargo space was also very large". In the saloon about 130 passengers could be accommodated while the second class had sufficient room for one hundred passengers. In 1890, the S. S. Flinders would leave Melbourne on Mondays and Thursdays at 5 pm and reach Warrnambool the following morning at 8 am. On the return it would leave Warrnambool on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 5 pm and reach Melbourne the following morning. In 1896, the Weekly Times described the "steamer Flinders (otherwise known as "the Warrnambool mailboat") as "as good a sample of a seagoing steamer as there is trading on the Victorian Coast at the present time". In April 1896 newspaper reports noted the S. S. Flinders took 2915 bags of potatoes from Warrnambool to Melbourne (the largest shipment of that season) as well as 50 tons of tinned rabbits from the Hamilton Preserving Factory. It was also noted that particularly during the Christmas period, there were excessive demands for berths from holiday makers wanting to enjoy a holiday in Warrnambool. In May 1903, the S. S. Flinders narrowly escaped destruction when an explosion and subsequent fire occurred during the passage from Melbourne to Warrnambool. A drum (which apparently contained carbide of calcium) exploded and blew off a hatch cover. As the steamer got to within a mile or two of Warrnambool, smoke was seen coming out of the hold and (unknown to the passengers) flames had taken hold. The crew quickly got to work - closing down all the hatches and pumping water into the hold through a hole in the saloon floor. There were 30 or 40 cases of kerosene on board. The Flinders continued on to Warrnambool and berthed at the Breakwater. The passengers all went ashore - many unaware of the danger they had been in. A telephone message was sent to the local Fire Brigade Station however the fire was extinguished before the firemen and their equipment arrived. After the hold was checked, the Flinders was certified as seaworthy and left for Portland. The Flinders continued to transport Western District produce as well as passengers from Warrnambool to Melbourne until 1906 when (due to a decrease in shipping trade during the Winter and the availability of train services) the Flinders was replaced by the smaller steamer "Dawn" and in 1907 when it was sold to the "Adelaide Steamship Company" for use in the Western Australia coastal trade, it was replaced by the "S. S. Barrabool".This photograph is a significant record of two of the well known coastal traders (the "Speculant" and the "Flinders") that sailed along the south west coast of Victoria for many years - transporting goods and passengers between Melbourne and Warrnambool.Black and white photograph of the Breakwater in Warrnambool with two ships docked and another in the bay. On the front boat (the Speculant), men can be seen at the wheel, on the deck and on the bottom two booms where they appear to be furling the sails. The sails of the top booms are already furled. A small boy can be seen on the deck and a young girl, two women and a dog are on the Breakwater. There is a steam ship (the S. S. Flinders) tied up behind the "Speculant" and an unidentified steam ship (with smoke coming from its smokestack) in the bay. There is a blue and black handwritten label on the back of the photo - naming the ships and the owner of the photo.Speculant and Flinders / Passenger ship in / Lady Bay / name of donor and phone numberflagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, speculant, barque speculant, flinders, s. s. finders, steamship flinders, coastal trader, passenger ship, goods, steamer, breakwater, lady bay, warrnambool mailboat, p. j. mcgennan, peter john mcgennan, butter boxes, captain jacobsen, cape patton, tasmanian steam navigation company -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph - Vessels at Breakwater Pier, Warrnambool, Foyle Photographic Studio, circa 1906
This photograph was one of ten photographs donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village by Fred Trewartha. Frederick John Fox Trewartha (Fred) was a well-known Warrnambool businessman. He was born in Beeac near Geelong in 1920 and came to Warrnambool with his family as a very young child. He was apprenticed to his father John, as a saddler and later opened his own shop on Raglan Parade. He then moved into working with tarpaulins and canvases for the trucking industry. Fred was keenly interested in photography (and was a member of the Warrnambool Cine Club), yachting and boat building. He kept his yacht moored at Port Fairy for many years and participated in sailing events locally and interstate. He also built boats with his sons. He had the opportunity to meet many older sailors and it's thought this photo (and others in the set) may have been given to him by one of these men. Fred Trewartha died in 2016 in Warrnambool. The three identifiable ships in this picture are the "Speculant", the "S. S. Barrabool" and the "S. S. Flinders" - coastal trading vessels that regularly came and went from Warrnambool. The steamer on the left hasn't been identified. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.. The S. S. Flinders was built by A. J. Inglis, Ltd, Pointhouse, Glasgow in 1878 for the "Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company', Hobart which merged with the "Union Steamship Company" of New Zealand and it was later sold to the firm "McIlwraith, McEacham and Company". It was built of iron and was 1000 tons and 227 feet, 1 inch long. It was described as "splendidly fitted up for the carriage of passengers and her cargo space was also very large". In the saloon about 130 passengers could be accommodated while the second class had sufficient room for one hundred passengers. In 1890, the S. S. Flinders would leave Melbourne on Mondays and Thursdays at 5 pm and reach Warrnambool the following morning at 8 am. On the return it would leave Warrnambool on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 5 pm and reach Melbourne the following morning. In 1896, the Weekly Times described the "steamer Flinders (otherwise known as "the Warrnambool mailboat") as "as good a sample of a seagoing steamer as there is trading on the Victorian Coast at the present time". In April 1896 newspaper reports noted the S. S. Flinders took 2915 bags of potatoes from Warrnambool to Melbourne (the largest shipment of that season) as well as 50 tons of tinned rabbits from the Hamilton Preserving Factory. It was also noted that particularly during the Christmas period, there were excessive demands for berths from holiday makers wanting to enjoy a holiday in Warrnambool. In May 1903, the S. S. Flinders narrowly escaped destruction when an explosion and subsequent fire occurred during the passage from Melbourne to Warrnambool. A drum (which apparently contained carbide of calcium) exploded and blew off a hatch cover. As the steamer got to within a mile or two of Warrnambool, smoke was seen coming out of the hold and (unknown to the passengers) flames had taken hold. The crew quickly got to work - closing down all the hatches and pumping water into the hold through a hole in the saloon floor. There were 30 or 40 cases of kerosene on board. The Flinders continued on to Warrnambool and berthed at the Breakwater. The passengers all went ashore - many unaware of the danger they had been in. A telephone message was sent to the local Fire Brigade Station however the fire was extinguished before the firemen and their equipment arrived. After the hold was checked, the Flinders was certified as seaworthy and left for Portland. The Flinders continued to transport Western District produce as well as passengers from Warrnambool to Melbourne until 1906 when (due to a decrease in shipping trade during the Winter and the availability of train services) the Flinders was replaced by the smaller steamer "Dawn" and in 1907 when it was sold to the "Adelaide Steamship Company" for use in the Western Australia coastal trade, it was replaced by the "S. S. Barrabool". The S. S. Barrabool was a coastal steamer built by "Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited" in Jarrow, Durham in 1874. It was bought by "Howard Smith Ltd" who was a pioneer in the coal trade between Melbourne and Newcastle. Howards Smith's early fleet contained ships named after local hills and mountains -"You Yangs", "Macedon", "Dandenongs" and "Barrabool". Later they extended their fleet to include ships that were well known in Warrnambool including the "Dawn" and the "Edina". The S. S. Barrabool had a chequered start and was nicknamed the "Great Australian Ram" because of the numerous accidents it was involved in. Between 1875 and 1883 it collided with three other vessels - sinking the "Queensland" on August 3rd, 1876, near Wilson's Promontory and sinking the "Bonnie Dundee" on 10th March 1879 off Lake Macquarie, New South Wales (with the loss of five lives). In August 1884 the Barrabool collided with the steamer "Birksgate" in Port Jackson causing considerable damage to "Birksgate". However in a newspaper article published in the "Truth" in March 1899 the S. S. Barrabool was described as "one of the fine old type of vessels" and "still a stout a craft as ever". The article was describing the practice of a "two-mate" system on board many ships (the Barrabool being one) whereby the company only employs two men (a first and second mate who must alternate watches of four hours each) rather than three mates who work four hours on and eight hours off. It was suggested that ships employing the "two-mate" system may find their insurance policies "null and void" should an accident occur. However the writer did note that the Barrabool was "officered by a captain and first and second mates .. whom it would be impossible to find more capable officers amongst the maritime fleet of the colonies". Between 1900 and 1909 the Barrabool was making regular trips along the east coast of Australia, carrying coal to Hobsons Bay (Melbourne) from Newcastle, Bellambi and Sydney. In 1907 it was brought in as a temporary replacement on the Melbourne to Warrnambool route for the S.S. Flinders. In 1912 the S. S. Barrabool ran aground off the Fitzroy River in Queensland and was found to be uneconomic to repair. It was brought back to Sydney and converted into a hulk. In August 1952 it was towed 17 miles off Sydney and scuttled. “Foyle” written on the photograph is the name of Foyle’s Photographic studio - originally owned by James Charles Foyle. He owned “Foyle’s Photo Card Studios” in Liebig St, Warrnambool, which operated between 1889 – 1919 At the time of the photograph the studio was owned by both Charles and Lilian Foyle (sometimes known as Lillian or Lily), either of whom could have taken this photograph. They also worked together at a later date on the photographs, sketches and paintings of the famous and historical Pioneers’ Honour Board.This photograph is a significant record of three of the well-known coastal traders (the "Speculant", the "S. S. Barrabool" and the "S. S. Flinders") that sailed along the southwest coast of Victoria for many years - transporting goods and passengers between Melbourne and Warrnambool.A black and white photograph titled "Breakwater Pier, Warrnambool". A line of coal trucks on rails are on the Breakwater. There are three ships (one sailing ship and two steamers) moored at the pier. In the left side of the picture is another ship. The name of the photographer is printed in the lower right corner. On the back of the photograph are the handwritten names of the moored ships written in blue pen. It also has the handwritten name, town and telephone number of the donor. In the bottom right hand corner is an upside down stamped number in black ink.Front of photograph - "BREAKWATER PIER, WARRNAMBOOL." "FOYLE PHOTO" Back of photograph - "Sailing Ship" "Speculant sail ship" "Barrabool coal ship" "Flinders Passenger ship" Name of donor W'Bool (and telephone number) "K-7148 M" (stamped upside down)flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, speculant, barque speculant, p. j. mcgennan, peter john mcgennan, speculant wreck, captain jacobsen, s. s. flinders, steamer flinders, a. j. inglis ltd, tasmanian steam navigation company, mcilwraith mceacham and company, warrnambool mailboat, coastal steamer, s. s. barrabool, howard smith ltd, two-mate system, coal ship, dawn, edina, lady bay, breakwater, warrnambool breakwater, foyle, foyle photographic studio warrnambool