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Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Book, Dancing With Bacchus, 2021
This book, written by Pamela Marriott, contains historical information on hotels in South West Victoria from 1839. It includes information on some hotel licensees, newspaper reports and stories and some geographical information.This book is of interest as an addition and companion piece to the historical information available on hotels in south west Victoria and will be a useful research tool.This is a soft cover book of 348 pages. The cover has a white background with gold-coloured print, a red and orange image of dancers on the front cover and a photograph of liquor bottles and grapes on the back cover. The book contains a foreword, an index, printed text and black and white photographs.hotels in south west victoria, warrnambool history -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Instrument - Bugle, 1861
... wall’s family hotel warrnambool... family hotel warrnambool warrnambool garrison volunteer corps ...Bugles have been used for hundreds of years for communicating instructions, particularly in battles, and announcements such as calls to assemble and various other routines of the day, particularly for infantry and military units. This pure silver bugle was presented to the Warrnambool Rifle Volunteers by Lady Helpman, on behalf of the Ladies of the District of Warrnambool, on June 18th, 1861. Lady Helpman's husband, Captain Benjamin Franklin Helpman, was Warrnambool Harbour master. The gift of this silver bugle was presented to the commanding officer of the Warrnambool Volunteer Rifle Corps, Captain Bushe, who then passed it on to the Warrnambool Volunteer Band. On 11th August 2016, during a ceremony at Flagstaff Hill, the Australian Army handed over custodianship of two very significant historical items the 1885 W. Clarke Trophy and the 1861 Warrnambool Ladies Silver Bugle to Warrnambool City Council, for display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime museum, both heritage listed items are strongly connected to the city of Warrnambool and form an integral part in the history of the Warrnambool Garrison.The Silver Bugle is locally significant to the community of Warrnambool for its connection to the Warrnambool Volunteer Rifle Corps., which formed part of the original Warrnambool Garrison to protect the Warrnambool Harbour. The site of the 1888 Warrnambool Garrison and Fortifications is Victorian State Heritage-listed is significant for its intact and operational nature and is one of the best-preserved pieces of Victoria's early colonial heritage. Silver alloy Bugle, with brass mouthpiece, a long tube of metal, narrow at the mouth end and gradually flaring to a wider at the bell shape at the other end. The tube is shaped into 3 bends. The front of the bell has an elaborate design of a ribbon banner attached above an oval floral wreath enclosing an inscription. The outer rim of the bell has an impressed ancient Greek geometric border.On ribbon banner “Armed for the Right”. Within the wreath “TO THE / WARRNAMBOOL / VOLUNTEER RIFLE COMPANY / this tribute of due appreciation / is presented by / THE LADIES / of the District / Warrnambool 18th June / 1861”flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, silver bugle 1861, bugle musical instrument, lieutenant benjamin helpman, doctor breton, captain bushe, bugler corrigan, drill instructor bernard, warrnambool volunteer rifle corps 1861, statistics of warrnambool volunteer rifle corps 1861, warrnambool volunteer rifle company, warrnambool rifle volunteers, warrnambool volunteer band, armed for the right, wall’s family hotel warrnambool, warrnambool garrison, volunteer corps -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Memorabilia - Horseshoe Case, 1906 – 1907
... , and in the Purnim Hotel during the Warrnambool May Races. In the late 1950s... Liebig St Warrnambool, and in the Purnim Hotel during ...The horseshoes in this purpose-built display case were made by Thomas Alfred Chapman in 1906-1907. Chapman operated a blacksmith’s shop in Mortlake Rd, Purnim, about 15 mins drive from Warrnambool. Chapman made this horseshoe case especially for the 3rd Exhibition of Australian Manufacturers and Products, held in the Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which was organised and promoted by the Australian Natives Association (ANA). Reference is made to the horseshoe case in the Exhibition’s Souvenir Catalogue of 1907 on page 85, under the heading 'In the Machinery Section the following exhibits are also shown … 'CHAPMAN, T.A. , Woolsthorpe, via Warrnambool, Case of Horseshoes'. The Australian Natives’ Association (ANA) were a non-partisan and non-sectarian, friendly society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was set-up for the benefit of Australian-born white men, and membership was restricted exclusively to that group. Men of other races including the Chinese and Indigenous people were not allowed to join. The ANA had relatively progressive views on women (for the time) and attracted suffragists seeking support for their cause, and in 1894, the ANA advocated for women’s enfranchisement. Although, white women were only admitted as members from 1964. The organisation was most prominent in Victoria and sought to shape Australia’s national identity and was a training ground for businessmen, trade unionists and politicians including many of Australia’s early prime ministers such as Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, James Scullin and Francis Forde, and the first Australian-born governor-general, Isaac Isaacs, was a member. By 1910 it had developed into a nationwide association with real political and social influence, and members would participate in many activities. The ANA lobbied strongly for anti-Chinese legislation and were an ardent believer of colonial unification. Its mission and efforts are largely credited for the successful referendums that resulted in Federation of the six Australian colonies into a new nation, the association’s most important legacy. The ANA was also a supporter of trade protection, and were a staunch advocate of the first act of Australia's new parliament, the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (cth) or commonly known as the White Australia Policy, which became one of the central pillars of Australian nationalism in the 20th-century. The ANA campaigned against the Australian Federal Government's new immigration policy after the Second World War (non-British immigration from southern and central Europe) in order to maintain a 'white Australia', and resisted changes when the Labor government during the 1970s fully dismantled and abandoned the White Australia Policy. The ANA merged with Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, in 1993 to become Australian Unity Ltd. The display case of horseshoes changed hands several times, going from its maker Thomas Chapman to his mother then various other members of his family. The case was also displayed at the Lee Family’s butcher shop at 188 Liebig St Warrnambool, and in the Purnim Hotel during the Warrnambool May Races. In the late 1950s the horseshoe case went to Thomas’s son, Brian. He was a Master Farrier and completed his apprenticeship at Flemington Racecourse, and in Warrnambool he owned a blacksmith business at the Warrnambool Racecourse Grounds. Brian later operated a blacksmith’s at Flagstaff Hill, where his customers would bring their horses to be shod. Brian passed away in August 2017. The horseshoe case is significant as an example of trades in the early 20th century in Western Victoria, Australia. It is also significant as an example of horseshoes from the early 20th century. The horseshoe display case is also significant for its association with the Australian Exhibition of 1907, showcasing Australian produce and manufacturing to the world. The horseshoe display case is locally significant for its association with local families, essential businesses and community events. Display case of homemade horseshoes. Wooden case with glass front containing 16 horse shoes grouped in sets, each set with a label: Made 1906-1907 for Australian Exhibition of 1907 by Thomas Alfred Chapman of Warrnambool. The case contains (a) complete chrome set each of Trotting Shoes, Hunting Shoes and Racing Plates, and (b) one pair of Hind Polo Shoes and one pair of Front Aluminium Shoes. The wooden frame has gold lettering on each side proclaiming “Australian Natives Association, T.A. Chapman, horse shoer, Warrnambool” and is topped by a painted Australian coat of arms. Gold lettering on frame, in the order of top/bottom/ left/right “AUSTRALIAN.NATIVES.ASSOCIATION / T.A. CHAPMAN / Horse Shoer / Warrnambool”flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, horseshoe display case 1906-1907, chromed set of trotting shoes 1906-1907, chrome set of hunting shoes 1906-1907, chrome set of racing plates 1906-1907, pair of hind polo shoes 1906-1907, pair of front aluminium shoes 1906-1907, australian exhibition 1907, australian natives association (ana), t.a. chapman horse shoer warrnambool, thomas alfred chapman, brian chapman, brian “snacks” chapman, blacksmith warrnambool, warrnambool may races, warrnambool racecourse, purnim hotel, lee family’s butcher shop warrnambool -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Postcard - People, Bill Ferrier - rescuer, 11th November, 1905
The postcard shows a photograph of William Ferrier, the 25-year-old Warrnambool fisherman from South Warrnambool whose rescue of two sailors from the wrecked La Bella made him an overnight National hero, quoted as “one of the most heroic rescues in Victoria’s shipwreck history”. The La Bella was wrecked on 10th November 1905 and the photograph was taken on the next day. In the photograph, William Ferrier is seated in the centre, with four of the five survivors beside him: (from left to right) Leonard Robertson, R. Payne, Oscar Rosenholme and Jack Noake. The photograph was taken by Foyle Photography Studio in Warrnambool, originally owned by James Charles Foyle. He previously had a photographic studio in Melbourne 1882 1887, then opened “Foyle’s Photo Card Studios” in Liebig St, Warrnambool. James Foyle died on 13th July 1905 and his son and daughter, Charles and Lilian Foyle continued on with the business until 1945. This photograph was most likely taken by either Charles or Lilian Foyle. The story of William Ferrier’s brave act follows on below … The ship from which the sailors were rescued was the three-masted, iron and steel barquentine the La Bella, built in Norway in 1893. She was one of two iron and steel ships by Johan Smith, the company was one of the leading shipping families in Tvedestrand, Norway. She was significant to Norwegian shipping, being one of only 27 iron and steel ships ever built in Norway. She was registered in New Zealand and engaged from 1902 in inter-colonial trading of timber in the Pacific, between New Zealand and Australia and was often in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. On 5th October 1905, the twelve-year-old La Bella left Lyttleton, New Zealand carrying a cargo of timber bound for Warrnambool, Australia. She was manned by a crew of twelve: the Master, (Captain Mylius, previously 1st Mate of La Bella, appointed Captain to La Bella on 6th February 1903) 2 Mates, Cook, six able seamen, one ordinary seaman and a boy. Bad weather en route caused her to shelter at Burnie on Tasmania's North West coast. On November 10th, the 37th day of her journey, La Bella approached Warrnambool. Captain Mylius steered her towards Lady Bay Channel in heavy south-west seas and evening mist. He ordered the helmsman to steer for the light. As the ship came round, a tremendous sea struck her on the port quarter, causing her to breach broadside in a northwesterly direction into breakers. The helm was brought round twice more, but each time heavy seas broke over her, the third time throwing the La Bella on to a submerged reef in Lady Bay now known as La Bella Reef (about 100 yards from the Warrnambool breakwater). The sea was so rough that it even wrenched a one-and-a-half ton anchor from its fastenings and into the sea. As Captain Mylius headed to the steel wheelhouse, intending to send up a rocket flare, a huge sea slammed the steel door into him (resulting in massive bruising front and back) Despite his injuries he still managed to set off a blue light, which he held up in his hands. La Bella’s lifeboats were filled with seawater and broke up on their chocks. The blue light was the first indication to people on the shore that there was a ship in distress. The Harbour Master, Captain Roe (who lived in the Harbour Master’s House opposite Flagstaff Hill), organised a group of volunteers to crew the lifeboat because the trained crew was unavailable; the crewmen were working on a steamer in Port Fairy at the time. He then poured oil onto the water to try and smooth the sea. At around 11 pm three of the crew took shelter in the steel forecastle but the sea crashed into it and broke it up. While the rest of the crew and onlookers watched helplessly in the moonlight the bodies were washed away into the sea, never to be seen again. Some of the crew lashed themselves to the weather rail to keep from being washed away. Watson, the ordinary seaman, became tangled in the rigging lines and was too weak to move, so the 2nd Mate, Robertson, put a line onto him so that he wouldn’t wash off. Around 11 pm three of the crew were unconscious from exhaustion. The situation on La Bella was becoming dangerous. The 2nd Mate moved to the ‘house’ and soon afterwards the ship slipped in the heavy sea. The lashings of the 1st Mate and the ‘boy’ Denham had kept them safe until about 2 am when they were washed overboard; no one was able to help. One by one, the exhausted crew were being washed overboard, too weak to hold on any longer. During the night the La Bella had broken into two and the deckhouse ran out towards the sea. Two more men drowned when trying to reach the lifeboat. By sunrise, the only survivors of the twelve were the Master, 2nd Mate and three seamen. Early in the morning, Captain Roe used the rocket apparatus on shore to try and shoot a line to the ship for a safer rescue but each attempt fell short of the target. Several attempts were made by the lifeboat to rescue the stricken sailors, but the rough conditions made this difficult for the boat to get close enough to the ship and the lifeboat had to return to shore. During a final attempt to reach the ship Captain Mylius ordered his men to jump into the sea. Leonard Robertson, 2nd mate, jumped and swam towards the lifeboat, taking hold of the boat hook offered to him. Oscar Rosenholme managed to reach the boat floating on a piece of timber from the ship’s load and a third survivor, Noake, also made the boat. Along with the lifeboat rescue crew, 25-year-old William Ferrier rowed his small dingy through the heavy seas and managed to rescue the Captain, whom he landed on the breakwater. Ferrier then returned to the ship to attempt a final rescue, losing his oars and rowlocks into the high sea. Using just a spare paddle he skulled towards the La Bella, reaching her stern in time to cut loose the lone surviving sailor, Payne, from the lashing that held him to the ship; the terrified sailor dropped from the ship and into the dingy. Shortly after the last man was rescued, the La Bella was lifted by a huge wave and crashed back down on the reef; she broke up and sank. The ordeal had lasted ten hours. The survivors were taken to the nearby Bay View Hotel and gratefully received warm food and clothing, medical attention and a place to sleep. In the following days, an unidentified body of a young person had washed ashore; it was either Watson or Denham. The body was buried in the Warrnambool cemetery with an appropriate gravestone and inscription. William Ferrier became a national hero as news of the daring rescue spread. In recognition of his bravery in the two daring rescues, he was awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery by the Royal Humane Society and was honoured in the letter from the Prime Minister and the Parliament of the Commonwealth, telegrams and a cheque for £20 from the Governor-General, over £150 subscribed by the public, including Warrnambool and district and readers of The Argus, and a gold medal from the Glenelg Dinghy Club of South Australia. Ferrier’s rescue efforts are one of the most heroic in Victoria’s shipwreck history. (William Ferrier’s son, Frank, received a similar award almost fifty years later when he helped rescue four members of the crew on the yacht Merlan after it ran on to a reef near the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. ) The wreck of La Bella now lies on her port side in 13 metres of sheltered water inside the reef she struck. The bow section is relatively intact and part of the stern has drifted north-easterly towards the mouth of the Hopkins River. The reef the La Bella struck now bears its name. Those five rescued from the La Bella were Captain George Mylius, Leonard Robertson (2nd Mate, 21 years old), R. Payne, Oscar Rosenholme and Jack Noake. Those seven who lost their lives were Mr Coulson (1st mate), Charles Jackman (cook) Gustave Johnson, Pierre Johann and Robert Gent (all able seamen), Harry Watson (ordinary seaman) and Jack Denham (ship’s boy), Captain Mylius was found guilty of careless navigation; he had sailed into the bay without the services of a pilot. His Master Certificate was suspended for twelve months. Later he was also charged with manslaughter of one of the crew who had died when the La Bella was wrecked but found not guilty. The event’s adverse publicity and damage to his career took a toll on his health and he died of a heart attack six months after the wreck; he was only thirty-seven. His body was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery. The La Bella was “the best documented of all sailing ships owned in New Zealand”. Her record books, ship logs, correspondence and supporting papers are still available. At the time of the tragedy, she was owned by Messers David C.Turnbull and Co. of Timaru, New Zealand timber merchants and shipping agents, who had purchased her on 13th December 1901. A detailed account of the last journey of La Bella can be read in “Leonard Robertson, the Whangaroa & La Bella” written by Jack Churchouse, published in 1982 by Millwood Press Ltd, Wellington, NZ. As well as this postcard, Flagstaff Hill’s La Bella Collection includes a photograph of the wrecked La Bella, a brass rail holder and the letter from the Prime Minister and other Members of Parliament that was sent to William Ferrier to commend him for his bravery. Some 15 – 17 ships are believed to have sunk in Lady Bay, but only two have been discovered on the seafloor; the “La Bella” and the “Edinburgh Castle”. Both wrecks are popular diving sites and are preserved as significant historical marine and marine archaeological sites. This postcard is part of the La Bella Collection and is significant at both a local and state level. Its connection to the La Bella shipwreck and the rescue of five survivors highlights the dangers of Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. The photograph of William Ferrier and four of the five survivors demonstrates the bravery of ordinary Australians who risked their lives to save victims of shipwrecks along the coast. The postcard is significant to the history of Warrnambool as it portrays William Ferrier, a local fisherman whose descendants continue to live in the area. It highlights the way of life of people who lived in coastal towns in 19th century Victoria and the effects of shipwrecks upon them. The postcard connects to the congratulatory letter which was sent to William Ferrier by the Prime Minister and Government of Australia and demonstrates the importance they attached to his efforts for Victoria and to Australia. The postcard is also an example of the photography of Foyle Photographers who were in the town of Warrnambool from the late 1800’s. Charles and Lillian Foyle took over the business when their father James died in 1905. Lillian Foyle is significant as the first woman photographer in Warrnambool. It is not known whether Charles of Lillian took this photograph. This postcard is significant because of its association with the sailing ship “La Bella”. The “La Bella” is of local and state and national significance. It is one of the only two shipwrecks discovered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, out of the 15-17 shipwrecks in the bay. Sepia photograph of William (Bill) Ferrier (seated in the middle), heroic rescuer of two crew members of the La Bella, wrecked at Warrnambool. The photograph is a postcard and shows five men dressed formally in suits and hats. Printed below the photograph are the name and place of the photographer, a royal crest and the details of two patrons of the photographer. Also below the photograph are some handwritten words in black pen. On the back of the postcard is a handwritten message in the same writing as the front.Printed on the front of the card is “Foyle, WARRNAMBOOL” “PATRONS: / HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CORNWALL & YORK. / HIS EXCELLENCY LORD BRAS_ EY, R.O.B.” Handwritten on the front of the card is “Bill Ferrier / rescuer / Oh my hero _ _ _ “ Handwritten on the back of the card is a message. “La Bella” Wrecked off W.Bool Breakwater Nov. 1906 (_ _ _ _ show night) Payne Noake Rosenholme Robertson and Capt Mylius (saved) (moonlight bright) Watson (_ _ _ _ boy) Richwoud [possibly Richmond] drowned” and signed “Desdewoua [possibly Desdemona] Slogos”la bella, foyle, william ferrier, bill ferrier, lady bay, 1905, 10th november 1905, 11th november 1905, parliament of the commonwealth, royal humane society medal, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village -
Glenelg Shire Council Cultural Collection
Postcard - Postcard - Mac's Hotel Portland, Victoria, n.d
Coloured postcard. Depiction of Mac's Hotel Portland, advertisement, map of location on reverse of postcard.Front: 'MAC'S MOTEL-HOTEL' - black print in white border, bottom edge of postcard -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Clothing, Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade, Mid 20th century
This jacket was part of the working uniform of the Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade in the mid 20th century. It belonged to John (Jack) Sizeland, a member of the Fire Brigade for over 37 years. He retired in 1977. Prompted by a fire at the Flying Buck Hotel in Liebig Street the Warrnambool Fire Brigade was established in the mid 1860s. It has been successful in Victorian Fire Brigade Championships over the years, especially in the 19th century. It is currently situated in Mortlake Road. This jacket is of interest as an example of the clothing worn by firefighters in Victoria in the mid 20th century. It is also of interest because it was worn by Jack Sizeland, a local firefighter for over 37 years. This is a black double-breasted cloth jacket with six brass buttons down the front and two brass buttons on the lapels. The buttons are impressed with a shield and the words ‘Country Fire Authority Victoria’. There are two brass clips on the side to hold a belt. There are two black and red cloth attachments at the top of each sleeve (‘Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade’). There is some black cloth lining inside the garment across the shoulders. The maker’s label, ‘David Lack Pty Ltd, Melbourne’ is on the inside collar. ‘David Lack Pty Ltd Melbourne’ ‘Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade’ warrnambool fire brigade, jack sizeland, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Clothing, Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade Belt, Mid 20th century
This belt was worn with the jacket issued to members of the Warrnambool Fire Brigade in the mid 20th century. The jacket was part of the uniform that served both as a dress uniform and a work uniform. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade was formed in 1863 following unsuccessful attempts to establish a permanent fire service in the town. It was prompted by a fire at the Flying Buck Hotel in Liebig Street. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade, now located on the Mortlake Road, has been successful in Victorian Fire Brigade competitions and demonstrations, particularly in the 19th century. The owner of the belt and uniform was John (Jack) Sizeland, a member of the Warrnambool Fire Brigade for over 37 years. This belt is of interest as it was part of a Warrnambool Fire Brigade uniform during the second half of the 20th century. It also has individual local provenance as it belonged to Jack Sizeland, a member of the Warrnambool Fire Brigade who retired in 1977 after 37 years of service. This is a brown leather belt with a gold metal buckle and nine punched holes on the buckle, two of them hand-punched. It has a leather attachment to keep the belt end in place. It has the name of the owner, John Sizeland, written in biro on the inside of the belt. This belt is meant to be worn with the Warrnambool Fire Brigade jacket with the brass buttons. ‘J. Sizeland, W’bool’warrnambool fire brigade, jack sizeland, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Clothing, Jacket Warrnambool Fire Brigade, Mid 20th century Place Made
This blazer was worn by a Warrnambool Fire Brigade member (Jack Sizeland). It was part of the dress uniform for fire brigade members in the 1960s and 70s. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade was established in the early 1860s after a fire at the Flying Buck Hotel in Liebig Street prompted a public meeting to establish a permanent fire authority in the town. There had been a couple of attempts previously to set up a local fire brigade. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade actively participates in Country Fire Authority Championships and competitions and has been very successful, particularly in the 19th century. John (Jack) Sizeland retired when he was 65 in 1977 (37 years of service).This blazer is of interest as it shows us what fire fighters in Warrnambool were wearing in the mid 20th century (dress uniform). It is also a memento of one long-serving firefighter, Jack SizelandThis is a man’s black blazer with three large black buttons. The sleeve ends and the three pockets have a diagonal red and black patterned braid stitched on. The upper portion of the blazer and the sleeves are lined with black material. The top pocket has the badge of the Warrnambool Fire Brigade in red and yellow stitched on. The badge features a Fire Brigade helmet, a ladder and two axes set in two concentric circles. A printed label with the owner’s name (Sizeland) is stitched inside the collar areaName ‘Sizeland’ stitched inside collar areawarrnambool fire brigade, country fire authority, john sizeland, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Uniform, Warrnambool Fire Brigade, Mid 20th century
This is a complete uniform of the Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade in the mid 20th century. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade, located today in Mortlake Road, Warrnambool, was established in 1863. The formation was prompted by a fire at the Flying Buck Hotel in Liebig Street. The Warrnambool Fire Brigade has a long proud history of service to the people of Warrnambool and district for over 150 years. The uniform belonged to John (Jack) Sizeland, a firefighter for over 37 years. He retired in 1977. This uniform is of some significance as it shows the type of uniform worn by Warrnambool firefighters in the mid 20th century. It is also of importance because it belonged to a local firefighter, Jack Sizeland. This is a Warrnambool Fire Brigade uniform consisting of:- .1 A black cloth single-breasted jacket lined with black and white material. It has four silver metal buttons down the front and two on the top pocket lapels. The buttons have the inscription ‘Country Fire Authority Victoria’. There are two red and black cloth tabs stitched on the top of the sleeves (‘Warrnambool Urban Fire Brigade’). The belt is stitched at the back and loose at the front. .2 Black cloth trousers with a red braid stripe down each leg. .3 Black leather belt with a silver-coloured buckle. .4 Black officer-type hat with red plastic lining, a plastic peaked front with a green backing, a red and black braid around the rim with two metal buttons and a silver-coloured metal badge of the Country Fire Authority. .5 Black cloth (polyester) tie with orange lining. Trousers: ‘C.F.A., I. L. Wise’ Tie: ‘Mark Andrew Made in Australia’ Hat: ‘Emerco, Melbourne, Registered Trademark, This is Your Guarantee for Quality, Made in Australia’ warrnambool fire brigade, jack sizeland, history of warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Cards, Post Cards Warrnambool, Early 20th century
These cards have been sent to Christina Lawrance (1889-1970). She was born in Williamstown, Victoria and married James Robertson in 1912. They lived in the Gundagai area of N.S.W. on a property named ‘Nargoon’ (sheep and cattle) and they had five children. One of the daughters, Margaret, married Jeffrey (Bill) Whitehead of ‘Goodwood’ near Hawkesdale and the cards have been passed on to us from a Whitehead descendant. It is not known who sent the cards to Christina Lawrance who would have been 16 or 17 at the time. These cards are of interest because they are of Warrnambool scenes and demonstrate the practice at the time (1906) of sending cards that had photographs of local scenes. The photographs, although printed in great numbers, are of historical interest today. The cards are also of interest because of the recipient’s connection with the Warrnambool area – Christina Lawrance is an important person in the family tree of the Whitehead families today. These are four colour post cards in green, yellow and black tonings. They have photographs of the Hopkins River, Warrnambool and the Hopkins Falls on one side. They all have a penny red Victorian stamp and were posted from Warrnambool in 1906. The address is handwritten in black ink. Addressed to: ‘Miss C. Lawrance, C/O Kirkpatricks Hotel, Mornington, Victoria’whitehead family of ‘goodwood’, christina robertson nee lawrance, history of warrnambool and district -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Document, News Sheet Almanac for 1870, 1870
This Almanac records the many various organisations, such as churches schools councils and law related information.It lists public holidays, members of Parliament as well as births and deaths natural events such as rainfall, sunrise/sunsets and moon charts. it records mail charges and coach timetables.A middle section presents a calendar for 1870 with a record of events which were deemed important since the time of settlement It lists such things as the first telegram from Melbourne to Sydney1858, Governor Bligh deposed 1808, Burke and Wills funeral 1863. At the bottom of the page is a Warrnambool Business Directory which includes J S Rowley Corio brewery, Royal Hotel , J H Rule Painter, plumber and glazier, J Brady , tinsmith and A Lanagan , Golden Boot The Warrnambool Examiner was founded by John Wilkinson and Richard Osburne in 1851. After a gap of a couple of years Richard Osburne resumed publication in October 1853 and continued until 1867. William Fairfax and Henry Laurie then leased the paper (1867 to 1872) before Richard Osburne again became the proprietor from October 1872 to April 1878 and from December 1879 to December 1880 when publication ceased. Fairfax and Laurie were the proprietors of the paper when this Almanac was published. William Fairfax was a member of the Fairfax family which was, and still is, associated with the publication of many Australian newspapers. Henry Laurie later became well-known as a Melbourne University Philosophy Professor.This single sheet of newspaper is an interesting and valuable record of Warrnambool and its people in 1870. There are names of many local people recorded and it also gives an insight into the variety of businesses and orhganisations which were established by 1870. It is also interesting to note that there are at least ten different styles of print on the page.Large single broadsheet of newspaper with large black heading and eight columns of print. The back of the page is blank.Fairfax and Laurie's Almanac for 1870 presented with the Warrnambool Examiner. Published as a supplement to the Warrnambool Examiner of 7th January 1870 Vol.XX No 1597.warrnambool, warrnambool almanac 1870,, examiner almanac warrnambool, fairfax and laurie, examiner warrnambool -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Document - Warrnambool. Woodford. Winslow. Purnim Race Books, Modern Print, W’Bool, Victoria, 1920's and 1930's
The Warrnambool Amateur Turf Club was first formed in September 1859, but didn't become a properly constituted club until April 1873, when a meeting was held at the Commercial Hotel, now the Whaler's Inn, and a committee was elected.Part of the present racecourse of 100 acres was set aside as a racing and recreation reserve in August 1855. It is one of the finest racecourses in Australia, ringed by the gentle slopes of a huge basin.The first race meeting was held on the course in August 1858. The Warrnambool Racing Club has managed racing at Warrnambool since it was formed on 5 April 1873.Apart from a number of smaller meetings held throughout the year, the feature of racing in the district is the Grand Annual Steeplechase. The first steeplechase over the now famous cross-country course was run on 13th June 1872 then known as the Grand Annual Steeplechase. The paddocks now know as Brierly and Granters were first used on that date. The course, over four miles, was made up of different kinds of jumps including a stone wall, a log fence, a ditch and parapet, a paling fence and numerous post and rails. The name Grand Annual was first used for this steeplechase in May 1895. It is the longest horse race in Australia, and the thirty three fences of the course, the most of any steeplechase in the world is raced over 5,500 metres. The three day May racing carnival is the major racing event on the horseracing and social calendar. Many of these race booklets relate to those May meetings. The Warrnambool Racecourse has been the home of district racing clubs such as Woodford, Purnim and Koroit over the latter part of the 20th century. The Woodford Racing club holds their annual meeting after Christmas each year. The Winslow races were held from approximately mid-19th century to around 1946. It began as a small picnic race club in Tobin’s paddock to a splendid race course on the property, “Green Hills” owned by Mr. John O’Keefe about one mile north of the Winslow township.. The annual meetings held on New Year’s Day drew crowds of seven to eight thousand people. All of these books contains family names which in some cases are still strongly linked to horse racing in the district.These booklets are a tangible link to a great sporting and social event in the Western District. A collection of programmes for race meetings. They relate to Warrnambool, Woodford, Purnim, Winslow and Victoria Racing Club meetings in the period 1922 to 1931. All are soft card covers with approximately 16 pages in each in white paper. They are numbered as follows: 001250.1 WRC Soft green cover with blue text 01/05/1923 001250.2 WRC Mauve cover with blue text 03/05/1923 001250.3 WRC fawn cover with red text 06/05/1924 001250.4 WRC Orange cover with blue text 08/05/1924 001250.5 WRC Soft green cover with light brown text 05/05/1925 001250.6 WRC Soft green cover with red text 07/05/1925 001250.7 WRC fawn cover with brown text 04/05/1926 001250.8 Woodford racing Club soft pink cover, Blue text 01/04/1922 001250.9 Woodford racing Club green cover, Blue text 07/04/1923 001250.9 Woodford racing Club grey cover, Blue text 05/04/1924 001250.10 Woodford racing Club grey cover, Blue text 05/04/1924 001250.11 Woodford Racing Club green cover, Blue text 22/11/1924 001250.12 Woodford Racing Club green cover, brown text 04/04/1925 001250.13 Woodford Racing Club orange cover, blue text 10/04/1926 001250.14 Woodford Racing Club pink cover, green text 10/04/1926 001250.15 Warrnambool Racing Club pink cover, blue text 18/11/1922 001250.16 Warrnambool Racing Club pink cover, red text 13/11/1926 001250.17 Warrnambool Racing Club cream cover, brown text 15/11/1924 001250.18 Warrnambool Racing Club cream cover, green text 18/01/1922 001250.19 Warrnambool Racing Club grey cover, blue text 15/01/1924 001250.20 Warrnambool Racing Club cream cover, blue text 13/01/1925 001250.21 Warrnambool Racing Club pink cover, blue text 15/01/1925 001250.22 Warrnambool Racing Club olive green cover, blue text 12/01/1926 001250.23 Warrnambool Racing Club blue cover, blue text 14/01/1926 001250.24 Warrnambool Racing Club soft green cover, blue text 13/01/1931 001250.24 Warrnambool Racing Club orange cover, black text 16/01/1930 001250.25 Warrnambool Racing Club orange cover, black text 16/01/1930 001250.26 Purnim Racing Club green cover, blue text 19/05/1924 001250.27 Winslow Racing Club pink cover,black text 21/04/1923 001250.28 Winslow Racing Club green cover,black text 06/12/1924 001250.29 Victoria Racing Club cream cover,green text 11/07//1923 001250.30 Victoria Racing Club cream cover, red text 14/07//1923 Most of the booklets have markings with place getters and jockeys marked in pencil. Warrnambool Racing club books have R U Forbes, C T Alexander A H Davies and William White as secretaries. Woodford club has Thomas Gleeson as secretary, Winslow 's secretary is W Latta and Purnim is P J Kelly. The local booklets are printed by The Modern Print Co Koroit St Warrnambool.warrnambool, warrnambool racing club, winslow racing club, woodford racing club, purnim racing club, victoria racing club -
Warrnambool RSL Sub Branch
DIARY & LETTERS, from July 1915 to July 1919. TRANSCRIBED by Walter J R Barber). Bob's diaries and letters are mostly typed. Some letters were hand-written, in ink or pencil, on letter-headed paper. Page1 of Bob's original diary. 3 sample letter-heads
This collection of Bob Snape's diary and letters was transcribed because of the large body of material. 55 numbered letters (out of some 160 plus) survive. Many letters were typed. As a clerk in HQ, Bob had constant access to a type-writer, and sometimes said to his family that typing was much more efficient for him than writing by hand. There are many letters in hand-writing, some in ink , others in pencil. Some letters are on letter-headed paper, eg: YMCA, TSS (HMAT) 'Demosthenes', hotels, family in Wales.snape collection -
Warrnambool RSL Sub Branch
CORRESPONDENCE: (Postcard January 1916 H in camp in Ismailia, Egypt.) Letters: 16 February 1916, 7 June 1916, 1 July 1918, 12 August 1918. Postcards: Elysée Restaurant, North British Railway Hotel, La Bohème
snape collection -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Domestic object - China bowl, Gibsons and Paterson Limited, St Ann's College, Mid 20th Century
St. Anns College had its beginnings in the arrival in May 1872 of a group of nuns from Ireland. They were the third group of Sisters of Mercy to come to Victoria. The Warrnambool nuns worked hard to establish a school and orphanage for the socially disadvantaged children of the district. They purchased Wyton from Captain Ardlie that year and also Amhurst later on. The Nazareth sisters of Ballarat took over the orphanage in the late 1880's and moved the children to Ballarat but the school continued to develop an expanding curriculum. A chapel was built in 1887 and a school wing in 1906. They survived on tuition fees and the generosity of benefactors though the early and middle part of the 20th century including a large bequest by Mrs Vera Kenna in the 1960's. Boarders were a regular part of convent life until the 1970's which is probably the source of this plate. St Ann's College was combined with St Joseph's CBC college as Emmanuel College and operates today as the largest Catholic college in the district.This has significance as it is associated with one of the longest running schools in the district and hence would have a connection to many Warrnambool people as well as district people who boarded at the college.White bowl, with green and yellow stripe around edge and emblem. Surface is quite scratched on front and bottom of bowl.Inscription on emblem. " St. Anns Warrnambool around edge of logo with Omnia Vincit Labor on banner through the middle with four stars in the background. Printed in green. Inscription on base Grindley Hotel Ware England . Vitrified . Gibson and Paterson Limited New Zealand. CIR stamped into china on base.secondary school, catholic, warrnambool, st ann's college, sisters of mercy, education, emmanuel college -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Book - Book: Watering Holes of the West, Watering Holes of the West, Published 1997
A study of hotels, inns and breweries in the city of Portland and the former shire of Heywood, Victoria.Sepia coloured soft card cover with drawing of an inn with people and coach outside. Drawing is identified as the Halfway House Tyrendarra from a photo courtesy of Miss J Brownlaw with artist Pam Sillard. Title in brown text. Author’s name in brown text at bottom of front cover. 112 pages with 22 chapters and index at the back.non-fictionA study of hotels, inns and breweries in the city of Portland and the former shire of Heywood, Victoria. watering holes, portland, shire of heywood, pubs, hotels, inns, breweries -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Newsletter - Postcode 3280, Hotel Warrnambool Newsletter Autumn 2013, 2013 Autumn
... Hotel Warrnambool Newsletter Autumn 2013...warrnambool hotel... grand annual warrnambool hotel Heavy paper, 4 pages historical ...Advertising. Warrnambool May carnival. History snippetsHistory of May Races and timeline 1847 to 2012. People playing at the hotel. Debate between lobster & crayfish. History of Tommy Corrigan - Jockey and his riding at the Carnival. History of Galleywood 1986 Grand Annual win. Other highlights in Warrnambool 3rd March to 12 MayHeavy paper, 4 pages historical and advertising material, A4 Bright blocks of colour with photographs and or text super size imposedwarrnambool may carnival, may races, tommy corrigan, grand annual, warrnambool hotel -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Programme - Back to Warrnambool 1930 official souvenir program, January, 1930
... for local businesses. Back to Warrnambool celebrations were ...This booklet contains the Program for the Back to Warrnambool Celebrations for 1930. It contains a brief history of the town and photos of current council Office bearers and local scenic spots. There is also a map of the town and a large number of advertisements for local businesses. Back to Warrnambool celebrations were an important event on the social calendar and were run over a number of years in the town. This program is one glimpse into the city and its people in 1930. Some of the events held over the week included processions, sports Carnivals, concerts, card playing, Church services and local tours. Many of the advertisements are for businesses of long standing and importance to the prosperity of the town. Twenty page Booklet with light card, grey, mottled cover. Text in brown and blue. Picture of Warrnambool main beach in centre. Price 2/- in bottom right corner. Back cover has full page advertisement for Bruce and McClure. Text and illustrations are brown. M Armstrong is written in blue biro on top right corner. Song “Back to Warrnambool,” written and composed by Reg A.A. Stoneham,” is printed below picture on front cover. Published by A.A. Stoneham, 241 Carlisle St, Balaclava.younger pty ltd, warrnambool, back to warrnambool, 1930, souvenir program, warrnambool cordials, morse pty, swinton, warrnambool cheese and butter factory, batros shoes, tattersalls hotel, bruce and mcclure, warrnambool woollen mill, reg a. a. stoneham -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Poster - Warrnambool Ozone Hotel Poster, Circa 1895
... Warrnambool Ozone Hotel Poster...hotel warrnambool... hotel hotel warrnambool ozone fire 1929 Jordan in bottom LH ...The Ozone Coffee Palace was built in 1890-1891. It was designed by Mr J McLeod. It was grand in design and decoration. The term Coffee Palace was used to describe temperance hotels which were built during the 1880’s -1890’s. They typically were multi-purpose and had a large number of rooms for ballrooms and leisure activities. Coffee palaces were aimed at families in coastal areas and inner city locations. Examples of some are The Windsor Hotel Melbourne, Ozone, Queenscliff and Kilbreda Convent in Mentone. The bottom part of the advertisement is a testimonial written by Brassey and Sybil De V Brassey, Lord Brassey being Governor of Victoria around 1895. Their visit to Warrnambool and their stay at the Ozone sparked a much needed interest in the Ozone. In 1896 the price to stay at the Ozone was two pounds two shillings and it remain in business for several years but in 1910 it closed after losing money for many years. It remained closed until it was bought by Mr Howard Lawson in 1920. It continued to struggle financially. It was burnt down in February 1929. When the Ozone was built in1891 it was the largest building in Warrnambool. It occupied a prominent position on the corner of Koroit and Kepler Streets. The grand architectural style in which it was built, was used for a number of similar buildings throughout the state. The fire which destroyed the building was one of the largest in the town.Large photograph glued to the top of the card with text in various styles underneath. Photo is sepia and card is cream. The bottom part of the piece has broken away. Jordan in bottom LH corner of photograph. “L.N. Moore 2 Landcox St Nth Brighton” written in pencil on back. warrnambool, ozone coffee palace warrnambool, mansions hotel, hotel warrnambool, ozone fire 1929 -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Booklet, Port Fairy Historical Society, Historic Buildings of Port Fairy, 2012
Port Fairy, a small town in Western Victoria established in 1836, has an exceptional collection of public buildings and dwellings dating from the 1840s. This booklet gives short descriptions of 58 of these historic buildings, many with accompanying photographs. These include many buildings in Gipps and Sackville Streets, the Powder Magazine, some hotels, the Drill Hall, Dublin House, the Port Fairy Cemetery and several schools and churches. This booklet is useful for those seeking quick information on the historic buildings in Port Fairy and for those wanting to undertake a walk around the town’s historic spots. TryBooking will show you the full breakdown on the Booking Payment Report and the Event Revenue Itemised Report so you can clearly see the ticket sales, credit card processing fee and the funds that are yours. Front cover: ‘Historic Buildings of Port Fairy, Port Fairy Historical Society Inc.’ Photograph on front cover: ‘Sackville Str. Port Fairy’, ‘Sackville St. looking south 1910’ Back cover map: ‘Port Fairy Historic Buildings’ warrnambool, port fairy, western victoria, historic buildings -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Album - Views of Warrnambool by J Jordan, C 1901
Joseph Jordan was born in 1841 in Leicester England and spent over a decade in India with his regiment. In 1867 he gained first prize for his views of Indian scenery. He followed the same profession when he came to Victoria in 1884 and set up a professional photographic studio in Warrnambool He became very well known in the Western District for family photographs as well as official photographs of local councillors and groups as well as views of local scenery. This album is one which was advertised in 1901. Of the two albums in the collection they seem to consist of a core number of the same photographs with others included in the selection. The business was taken over by his son Arthur around 1917. This album includes a number of professionally taken photographs which give a high quality view of Warrnambool and the popular spots around the district at the turn of the century.Faded Maroon cloth over card cover with title in gold lettering on front cover. Advertisements for local businesses inside front and back covers. The album contains a number of black and white photographs from around Warrnambool, including the Titan crane at the Breakwater, banks of the Hopkins, Stephens Coachbuilders, Grand Annual Show, panorama of Warrnambool and Suspension Bridge on the Merri. All are mounted on card. It includes advertisements of J J O Mullane, Bay View Hotel, Hopkins Hotel, T Redford, Royal Hotel, Robinson and Morse, H D Stewart & Co, F Uren.2142 in grey lead inside front cover.warrnambool, joseph jordan, views of warrnambool, photograph album of warrnambool, views of warrnambool 1891 -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Craft - Ship Model, after 1850
This little model dinghy or rowing boat, together with its two oars and its display case, was made by Edward Richter using timber from the New Zealand-built schooner, the Enterprise, wrecked in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, in 1850 after only three years of sailing. The dinghy was originally presented to the old Warrnambool Museum and transferred to Flagstaff Hill along with its two descriptive card tags. EDWARD RICHTER (1853-1937) Edward Richter was the son of Henry and Charlotte Richter, who migrated from London and arrived in Port Phillip, Victoria, in 1850. Henry had worked in the Bank of England in London. In Australia, he worked for the Morning Herald and was a business partner in the Geelong Daily News. He served in the Volunteer Corps and had the honour of being one of the 500 Volunteers in the firing party at the grave of Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria. In Warrnambool, Henry was the Host/Licensee of the Royal Archer Hotel. He was also connected with Sheldrich's brewery (the Western Brewery) there. Henry and Charlotte’s son Edward was born in Collingwood, a Melbourne suburb, in 1853. The family moved to Warrnambool in 1867. In 1878 Edward married Susan (nee Saltz) and they had a family of twelve children. Sadly their son, Edward Henry Richter, died from drowning in Warrnambool’s Shelly Beech in 1907, aged 29 years. Edward was a prominent Warrnambool citizen. He worked as a coach painter and his hobbies included model making. He made this model dinghy and presented it to the old Warrnambool Museum in the late 1800s. He also made some model violins that are now in the care of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society. After the museum closed, this model was eventually transferred to Flagstaff Hill. Edward’s son, Herman, was also a model maker, making model boats and even boats in bottles. Edward passed away in Warrnambool in 1937. THE ENTERPRISE 1847-1850 The wooden, two-masted schooner Enterprise was built in New Zealand in 1847 and registered in Melbourne, Australia. The Enterprise carried cargos of agricultural produce and other commodities for trade between the ports of the Colony. On September 14, 1850, the Enterprise was at anchor in Lady Bay under its Master, James Gardiner Caughtt, loaded with a cargo of wheat and potatoes. A strong south-easterly wind caused the vessel to drag on its only anchor and the rudder was lost. The gale-force wind blew it sideways and it became grounded. A local indigenous Buckawall, braved the rough sea to take a line from the shore to the Enterprise. All five members of the crew were able to make it safely to land. The Enterprise was wrecked. The Enterprise wreck was in an area called Tramway Jetty in Lady Bay. Since then the area became the location of the Lady Bay Hotel and now, in 2019, it is in the grounds of the Deep Blue Apartments. In fact, with the constantly changing coastline through built-up sand, the wreck site is now apparently under the No 2 Caravan Park on Pertobe Road, perhaps 150 metres from the high tide. Its location was found by Ian McKiggan (leader of the various searches in the 1980s for the legendary Mahogany Ship). DIFFERENTIATING the New Zealand Schooner “Enterprise” from John Fawkner’s “Enterprize“ Dr Murray Johns, Melbourne, says in his article The Mahogany Ship Story “… As I documented in 1985, the Warrnambool wreck was of an entirely different ship, also called Enterprize [with the spelling ‘Enterprise’], but built in New Zealand in 1847. Fawkner’s ship had already been sold to Captain Sullivan in 1845 and was wrecked on the Richmond Pier in northern New South Wales early in 1847. “ - (further details are in NOTES: and FHMV documents)The model of a dinghy is significant for its association wreck of the schooner Enterprise, now on the Victorian Heritage List VHR S238, being a New Zealand built but Australian owned coastal trader. The wreck is also significant, by connection with the Enterprise, for its association with indigenous hero Buckawall who saved the lives of the five crew on board. The maker of the model, Edward Richter, is significant as a member of one of Warrnambool’s pioneering families, which has contributed to the growth of the community in several ways over the years, living, working and bringing up their families in the coastal city. Ship model; model of a small wooden boat or dinghy and wooden two oars, displayed in timber case with open sides that have vertical wire strands from top to bottom. The model was made by Mr Edward Richter from the timber of the schooner Enterprise, built in New Zealand 1847 and wrecked three years later in Lady Bay, Warrnambool.Handwritten tag in pen and ink: "Model of Boat made from the timber of the schooner "Enterprise" wrecked at Warrnambool" Type written tag "MODEL DINGEY Made from Timber of Schooner "Enterprise". Made and presented by Mr Edward Richter."flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, wooden ship building, carpentry, ship modelling hobby, dinghy, dingey, dingy, edward richter, enterprise, lady bay warrnambool, schooner enterprise, wreck of the enterprise 1850, richter family, warrnambool history, buckawall -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Painting - Oil painting, W. Langley-Taylor, Cape Schank [Schanck], Late 19th to early 20th century
This painting is one of a pair of large paintings by W. Langley-Taylor in our collection. Currently, no further information has been found about the artist but research is ongoing. The subjects of these paintings are seascapes of notable areas of the coast on each side of Port Phillip Bay, south of Melbourne, Victoria. The subject of this painting is Cape Schanck, Victoria, which is on the east side of Port Phillip Bay. It includes the Cape Schanck Lighthouse and its Flagstaff. The Cape Schanck Lighthouse was built in 1859 and is the second of Victoria’s coastal lights. It is 21 metres tall and made from limestone. Unusually, its stairway is made from stone rather than wrought iron. Gilded tours are available to explain its use and significance to visitors. The lighthouse keepers at Cape Schanck kept records of the ships that sailed past them along Bass Strait; ship’s names, direction, time and date and so on. The details would also be passed on to shipping agencies, Harbour Masters and newspapers, which published Arrivals and Departures into and out of shipping ports such as Port Phillip Bay and the Port of Melbourne. INSCRIPTIONS “Mrs M Irby” (and on the Eagle Rock, Warrnambool, painting “980/Regency”) The inscription “Mrs M Irby” is on the back of both paintings but the significance of the inscription has not yet been discovered. Perhaps she was connected with the ship or shipping company “Irby”. A ship named “Irby”, built in Merseyside, Liverpool in 1881 by R & J Evans, Birkenhead. It was a four-masted iron ship built for the White Star Line. Henry Wilson Hewitt bought her in 1882, then later she was owned by Chadwick & Pritchard. In 1888 she was registered under the Irby Ship Co. Ltd. (trading as J. Joyce) in Liverpool. In 1912 Galgate Co. Ltd owned her. She traded between London, England and Australia, and is recorded as being in Melbourne and Hobart. In 1919 the Irby was destroyed by a mine when on her way to England. Or perhaps her name and the inscription in pencil “980/Regency” on the Eagle Rock Warrnambool, painting could be a delivery address for the paintings, perhaps an apartment in a hotel. NOTE: The artist’s spelling of the title “Cape Schank, Vic.” is incorrect. The location in this painting is named Cape Schanck. This painting is significant geographically for its representation of the coastal scenery of Victoria, Australia. It is also significant as one of a pair of paintings of seascape, one at sites each side of Port Phillip Bay. The painting is significant historically as an example of late 19th and early 20th methods and materials used to construct a painting’s frame. Painting oil on board in a dark wooden frame, portrait orientation. Seascape of coast with cliffs, lighthouse and flagstaff, flying birds, high waves breaking onto rocks, blue sky with clouds. The title is painted on lower left corner and the Victorian artist, W. Langley-Taylor, has signed his name on lower right. The inscription on back is handwritten script in red crayon or thick red pencil. The board is held in place inside the timber frame with small, dark metal tacks around all sides. Metal eyes join the wire to the frame. Small round, dark metal nail heads are dispersed around the frame and there is a change of colour on both the board and the wood of the frame. Painted on front “W.LANGLEY-TAYLOR.” and “CAPE SCHANK, VIC.” [NOTE: correct spelling is Schanck] Handwritten on back “Mrs. M. Irby” flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, painting, oil painting, cape schanck painting, w. langley-taylor, wall decoration, seascape of victoria's coast, art, mrs m irby, victoria's coast, pair of paintings -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Painting - Oil painting, W. Langley-Taylor, Eagle Rock, Warrnambool, Vic, Late 19th to early 20th century
This painting is one of a pair of large paintings by W. Langley-Taylor in our collection. Currently, no further information has been found about the artist but research is ongoing. The subjects of these paintings are seascapes of notable areas of the coast on each side of Port Phillip Bay, south of Melbourne, Victoria. This painting is of Eagle Rock, Warrnambool, which is on the west of Port Phillip Bay. Eagle Rock is located about 400 metres west of Thunder Point, near Shelly Beach. The painting includes the rocky cliff formations looking east towards the Warrnambool Breakwater. The walk from the Thunder Point car park westwards to Shelly Beach has been popular over the decades with residents as well as tourists. Many photographs include the rock, with varying backgrounds depending on the angle of the camera. It is a popular dive site for locals and visitors, in calm weather! The site can be approached by boat from the open sea in favourable conditions, and there is plenty of native marine to be seen in this marine sanctuary. This part of Warrnambool’s rugged coastline is unprotected from the Southern Ocean with its wild icy winds and high seas. The painting’s crashing waves and the northerly direction of the smoke on the steamship sailing north show the effect of the southerly wind. INSCRIPTIONS “Mrs M Irby” and “980/Regency” The significance of the inscription “Mrs M Irby”, on the back of each of the two paintings, has not yet been discovered. Perhaps she was connected with the ship or shipping company “Irby”. A ship named “Irby”, built in Merseyside, Liverpool in 1881 by R & J Evans, Birkenhead. It was a four-masted iron ship built for the White Star Line. Henry Wilson Hewitt bought her in 1882, then later she was owned by Chadwick & Pritchard. In 1888 she was registered under the Irby Ship Co. Ltd. (trading as J. Joyce) in Liverpool. In 1912 Galgate Co. Ltd owned her. She traded between London, England and Australia, and is recorded as being in Melbourne and Hobart. In 1919 the Irby was destroyed by a mine when on her way to England. Or perhaps her name and the inscription in pencil “980/Regency” on the Eagle Rock Warrnambool, painting could be a delivery address for the paintings, perhaps an apartment in a hotel. This painting is significant geographically for its representation of the coastal scenery of Victoria, Australia. It is also significant as one of a pair of paintings of seascape, one at sites each side of Port Phillip Bay. The painting is significant historically as an example of late 19th and early 20th methods and materials used to construct a painting’s frame. Painting oil on board in a dark wooden frame, portrait orientation. Seascape of rock formation and cliffs, two yachts, a two-masted steamboat with red funnel and smoke, flying birds, high waves breaking onto rocks, blue sky with clouds, some tinted pink.. The title is painted on lower left corner and the artist, W. Langley-Taylor, has signed his name on lower right. The inscription on the back is a handwritten script in red crayon or thick red pencil. The board is held in place inside the timber frame with small, dark metal tacks around all sides. Metal eyes join the wire to the frame. Small round, dark metal nail heads are dispersed around the frame and there is a change of colour on both the board and the wood of the frame. Painted on front “W.LANGLEY-TAYLOR.” and “EAGLE ROCK, WARRNAMBOOL, VIC.” Handwritten on back “Mrs. M. Irby” and “980 [underlined] Regency”flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, eagle rock warrnambool, w. langley-taylor, oil painting, wall decoration, seascape of victoria's coast, mrs m irby, art, seascape, pair of paintings -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Award - Medal, Nelson Johnson, November 1880
This medal for bravery, for rescue of the crew from the shipwreck “Eric the Red” on 4th September 1880, was awarded to one of the crew of the steamer S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States in July 1881. The medal is engraved with the name “Nelson Johnson” (the anglicised version of his Swedish name Neils Frederick Yohnson). It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in 2013 by Nelson’s granddaughter. Nelson had migrated from Sweden to Sydney in 1879. The next year in 1880, aged 24, he was a seaman on the steamship Dawn and involved in the rescue of the survivors of the Eric the Red. Nelson Johnson was a crew member of the S.S. Dawn and was one of the rescue team in the dinghy in the early morning of September 4th 1880. Medals were awarded to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States, through the Consul-general (Mr Oliver M. Spencer), in July 1881 “ … in recognition of their humane efforts in rescuing the 23 survivors of the American built wooden sailing ship, the Eric the Red, on 4th September 1880.” The men were also presented with substantial monetary rewards and gifts. The city of Warrnambool’s care of the survivors was also mentioned by the President at the presentation, saying that “the city hosted and supported the crew ‘most graciously’. Previously, a week after the shipwreck, the Australian Government had also conveyed its thanks to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn “Captain Griffith Jones, S.S. Dawn, The Hon. Mr Clark desires that the thanks of the Government should be conveyed to you for the prompt, persevering and seamanlike qualities displayed by you, your officers and crew in saving the number of lives you did on the occasion referred to. The hon. The Commissioner has also been pleased to award you a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion, and a sum of 65 pounds to be awarded to your officers and crew according to annexed scale. I am, &c, W Collins Rees, for and in the absence of the Chief Harbour Master.” The Awards are as follows: - Crew of DAWN'S lifeboat-Chief Officer, Mr G. Peat, 15 pounds; boat's crew-G. Sterge, A.B., 5 pounds; T. Hammond, A.B., 5 pounds; J. Black, A.B., 5 pounds; H. Edwards, A.B., 5 pounds. Dinghy's Crew-Second Officer, Mr Christie, 10 pounds; boat's crew -F. Lafer, A.B., 5 pounds; W. Johnstone, A.B., 5 pounds; Mr Lear, provedore, 5 pounds; Mr Dove, purser, 5 pounds. Captain Jones receives a piece of plate. (from “Wreck of the ship Eric the Red” by Jack Loney) The medal’s history, according to the Editor of ‘E-Sylum’ (the newsletter of The Numismatic Bibliomania Society “… appears to be an example of an 1880 State Department medal, catalogued as LS-3 (page 322 of R. W. Julian's book, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century 1792-1892). The reverse is mostly blank for engraving, surrounded by a thin wreath. It was designed by George Morgan, chief engraver for the Philadelphia Mint, and struck in gold, silver and bronze. The one pictured here (in The Standard newspaper, 2nd July 2013) appears to be silver.” The following is an account of the events which led to the awarding of this medal. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three-masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first-class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and a hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30 am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However, he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, southwest of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its riggings, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually, the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30 am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time, they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, and its sailing time was different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey, she was commanded by Captain Jones and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight, the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much-needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship nor its cargo was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steamship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay, the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally, those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation, Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated onto Point Franklin. Some of the vessels' yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of f locating wreckage about 10 miles off land, southeast of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and flycatchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with a chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and this medal awarded for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and teapots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that was awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is similarly inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high-quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and shed around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7-foot-long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at shipbuilding in Apollo Bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children, the father of the medal’s donor being the youngest. They lived in 13 Tichbourne Place, South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". The medal for bravery is associated with the ship the “The Eric the Red which is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) This medal was awarded to Nelson Johnson by the U.S. President for bravery in the rescue of the Eric the Red crew. The obverse of the round, solid silver medal has an inscription around the rim. In the centre of the medal is the head of Liberty to the left, hair in a bun, with a sprig of leaves in the top left of a band around her head. There is a 6-pointed star below the portrait, between the start and end of the inscription. There are two raised areas on the rim, horizontally opposite each other, from the edge to just below the lettering and coinciding with the holes drilled in the edge. Slightly right of the top is a round indentation in the rim. The reverse has a wreath of leaves as a border, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bow. In the centre of the medal is an inscription, decorated with 3-pronged design and dots. The edge is plain with 2 small, rough and uneven holes horizontally opposite to each other, as though they had been used for mounting the medal at some stage. The medal has a matte finish on both sides and is slightly pitted and scratched.“PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” around the perimeter of the obverse of the medal. “TO / Nelson Johnson, / seaman of the British, / str “Dawn”, for bravery, / at risk of life, / in / rescuing the crew of / the American Ship / “Eric the Red.” “M” on obverse, truncation of the portraitwarrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, zaccheus allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, medal, nelson johnson, neils frederick yohnson, s.s. dawn, george morgan, hero -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Souvenir - Wood sample, Mr John Flett, c1885
This small piece of wood was cut from a rib of the wreck of the Enterprise in c1885 by Mr John Flett (1869 – 1944), whilst it was lying on the beach in Lady Bay, Warrnambool. Mr Flett was about 16 years old at the time and used the wood (with other pieces from the wreck) to make a picture frame. A newspaper report published in the Gippsland Gazette on Tuesday 16th July 1912 titled "An Interesting Relic" describes a picture frame being displayed in Mr. Flett's shop in Warragul which was of interest as it had been made from wood taken from the wreck of the Enterprise when it was lying on the beach at Lady Bay, Warrnambool. This was still in his possession in the 1930’s when Mr. Flett presented the small sample of wood to Mr. Henri Worland of the Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery - along with a signed letter of ownership. A transcription of the letter is as follows - “Kalos” 12 Yendon Road Glen Huntly S.E.9 Dear Mr Warland, I am enclosing herewith a small piece of timber which, about 50 years ago, I cut from a rib of the old wreck which at that time was well known as the old “Enterprise”. I am prepared to sign a sworn statement that this is a piece of that wreck and has never been out of my possession since I cut it from the wreck. Since returning to the city I visited the museum and inspected the walking stick and small model of a boat, presented I think, by Mr Richie. I notice the different grain of the timber and would suggest that they are not Blue Gum, and the piece I am enclosing is definitely of that Tasmanian timber. Of course there may have been other imported timbers used and only the frame of the vessel made of the Blue Gum; I am not suggesting an error on the part of Mr Richie, who evidently knew the old wreck [in an?] earlier date than I did. The piece I am enclosing was incorporated in an old picture frame which I made 50 years ago, and although not used for many years has always been in my possession. With kind regards Yours faithfully J Flett (signature) P.S. I have other small pieces in a small photo frame which I may let you see some day, but not just now. Mr R. Christian will recognise the other frame when he sees it, as we were working together when it was made. J.F. There were several branches of Fletts living in Warrnambool in the mid to late 1800’s. They were all related and had emigrated from Stromness in the Orkney islands – arriving mostly in the 1850’s on different ships. John Flett’s mother was Jessie Isbister who arrived in Australia in 1852 with her family on board the Ticonderoga. Over 168 passengers died on the voyage including two of Jessie’s sisters and one of her brothers. Mrs Jessie Flett's obituary (titled "An Old Colonist") which appeared in the West Gippsland Gazette on Tuesday 8th September 1914 describes her early connections to Warnambool and the Ticonderoga. John Flett moved from Warrnambool to Birchip, Warragul and later went to Melbourne where he worked for the YMCA. During WW1, he worked at the Caulfield Military Hospital and volunteered for active service with the YMCA in France -caring for the welfare of the soldiers. After the war, he continued to work with the YMCA in a secretarial capacity. THE ENTERPRISE 1847-1850 The wooden, two-masted schooner Enterprise was built in New Zealand in 1847 and registered in Melbourne, Australia. The Enterprise carried a cargo of agricultural produce and other commodities for trade between the ports of the Colony. On September 14, 1850, the Enterprise was at anchor in Lady Bay under its Master, James Gardiner Caughtt, loaded with a cargo of wheat and potatoes. A strong south-easterly wind caused the vessel to drag on its only anchor and the rudder was lost. The gale force wind blew it sideways and it became grounded. A local aboriginal, Buckawall, braved the rough sea to take a line from the shore to the Enterprise. All five members of the crew were able to make it safely to land. The Enterprise was totally wrecked. The Enterprise wreck was in an area called Tramway Jetty in Lady Bay. Since then the area became the location of the Lady Bay Hotel and now, in 2019, it is in the grounds of the Deep Blue Apartments. In fact, with the constantly changing coastline through built-up sand, the wreck site is now apparently under the No 2 Caravan Park in Pertobe Road, perhaps 150 metres from the high tide. Its location was found by Ian McKiggan (leader of the various searches in the 1980s for the legendary Mahogany Ship). DIFFERENTIATING the New Zealand Schooner “Enterprise” from John Fawkner’s “Enterprize“ Dr. Murray Johns, Melbourne, says in his article The Mahogany Ship Story “… In fact, as I documented in 1985, the Warrnambool wreck was of an entirely different ship, also called Enterprize [with the spelling ‘Enterprise’], but built in New Zealand in 1847. Fawkner’s ship had already been sold to a Captain Sullivan in 1845 and was wrecked on the Richmond Pier in northern New South Wales early in 1847. “ - (further details are in NOTES: and FHMV documents) Mr Flett had assumed the timber was Tasmanian Gum as he thought it had come from the Enterprise which had been owned by Mr Fawkner and built in Tasmania but we now know the ship was built in New Zealand and the timber was most probably New Zealand Rimu.This piece of wood is significant for its association with the wreck of the schooner Enterprise, now on the Victorian Heritage List VHR S238, being a New Zealand built but Australian owned coastal trader. The wreck is also significant, by connection with the Enterprise, for its association with indigenous hero Buckawall who saved the lives of the five crew on board. The original owner of the wood (Mr John Flett) is significant as a member of one of Warrnambool’s pioneering families, which has contributed to the growth of the community in several ways over the years, living and working in the area.Small square piece of brown wood with a handwritten inscription on the back. The front is polished with a prominent grain and a shallow indentation along two sides. The back has the words "FLETT" and "ENTERPRISE" written in ink with a line separating them. The back is rough and has two indentations - possibly from a nail or tack. The wood sample is accompanied by a letter. Handwritten letter (two pages) of authenticity by Mr. John Flett to Mr. Worland (Manager of the Warrnambool Museum and Art Gallery). Transcribed below"FLETT" and "ENTERPRISE"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, carpentry, enterprise, lady bay warrnambool, schooner enterprise, wreck of the enterprise 1850, buckawall, shipwreck relic, john flett, warrnambool museum and art gallery, flett relic, letter, flett letter, ticonderoga, henri worland -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Foot Grip, Frank McDowell, Early 20th century
This foot grip was made and owned by Frederick William McDowell (Fred) (1880 to 15-6-1967). It would be been joined to the stafe or frame of a jinker and used to step up from the ground and onto the seat. He was a wheelwright by trade. He made and repaired vehicles such gigs, buggies, jinkers, sulkeys, spring carts and farm wagons. His workshop was on the corner of Cramer Street and Raglan Parade in Warrnambool., previously the site of Fotheringhams, and after McDowell's, and still in 2023, occupied by Reece Plumbing Fred's workplace prior to retiring was at Bryant & Waterson's in Kepler Street, opposite the Criterian Hotel, making rubber tyred horse-driven farm wagons.This jinker's foot grip id part of a jinker or two-wheeled carriage. It is a rare item, made by a local wheelwright Frank McDowell who operated his buggy making and repair business in Warrnambool's CBD in the early twentieth century. It is an example of the equipment used on horse-drawn vehicles for safety and convenience.Foot grip, iron with silver plate finish. Rectangular metal plate with textured crossed over diagonal lines on the top surface and inset rectangles with impressed text. the curved and shaped ends have a drilled round hole. the length of the plate is an inverted 'v' shape towards the base. Made by F. McDowell, Warrnambool."F McDOWELL" "WARRNAMBOOL"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, fred mcdowell, frederick mcdowell, wheelwright, gig, buggy, jinker, sulkey, spring cart, farm wagon, 2-wheeled cart, horse cart, horse cart parts, jinker buggy, transport, vehicle, horse drawn, horse jinker, bryant & waterson, jinker part, jinker foot grip, step, foot plate, horse cart part, stafe, 2-wheeled carriage -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Poster - Shipping Timetable, Barclay and Fry Ltd. London, Time Table of Australian Sailings, circa 1939
"Freight forwarding" is the arranging of the shipping of goods from their point of origin to their final destination. Freight Forwarders worked as an intermediary between companies that needed to ship products and the shipping and transportation firms that could ensure delivery. A key element of "freight forwarding" was the advice and professional handling of documentation and customs requirements provided. Early "freight forwarders" tended to be innkeepers who forwarded on the luggage of their hotel guests. One of the first "freight forwarding" companies was established by Thomas Meadows in 1836 which made it one of the earliest freight companies in Europe. More reliable rail and steamships were beginning to be used to transport goods and this created a demand for the new "freight forwarding" industry. The combination of railroads and steamships became very important in the late 19th and early 20th century. International shipments became common and freight forwarding that could handle their complexity became an integral part of the manufacturing and shipping landscape. Thomas Meadows & Company Ltd moved to offices in Milk Street, London in 1854 (where they remained until 1969 when they moved out of the city to Leytonstone) and continued in the freight business until 1987 when the company was acquired by Rockwell International Freight. The growth of Thomas Meadows & Company Ltd coincided with the growth and development of the colony of Victoria with an increasing need for the transporting of large numbers of people as well as important goods required by the growing colony - furniture, spirits, food, clothing, agricultural implements, household items etc. In the late 1840's only two or three overseas ships a month visited Melbourne but by late 1852 (after gold was discovered) more than a dozen ships arrived each week. By 1939, Thomas Meadows & Co. Ltd. had offices in Canada, U.S.A., New Zealand, France, Belgium and in Flinders Street Melbourne. This poster was sold by "Smarts Authorised Newsagency" in 1988 in Warrnambool - a business that had been owned by Neil and Shirley Smart at 168 Timor Street, Warrnambool since 1976. Previously it had been "Reed's Newsagency and Book Shop" (a local business established by William Reed circa 1912 and known as "William Reed Bookseller and Stationer"). The original owners, Reed's Newsagency and Bookshop were operating the shop in 1939 which suggests the poster may have been on display (for the information of their customers) in their shop at that time. This poster is significant through its association with Thomas Meadows and Co. Ltd. who is considered to be the founder of the "freight forwarding" industry in the early 19th century. It is an example of advertising used by shipping agents in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. Its information includes the addresses of the firm's different offices in the U.K. and abroad, ships, shipping lines and ports used and the timetable the vessels were likely to follow. It is also significant through its association with a well known and long standing local Warrnambool business.A 1939 Timetable of "Australian Sailings" produced by the shipping agents Thomas Meadows and Co Ltd. It lists all their ships (plus dates and ports) sailing from the UK to Australia as well as the addresses of their offices in other cities in the U.K., Canada, U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, France and Belgium. It has three vertical columns depicting (from left to right) January to June sailings, a simple 1939 calendar and their July to December 1939 sailings. The poster is attached on the top and bottom to two thin black metal strips. The top strip has a metal ring with a hole. A stamped label on the back of the poster has the name, telephone number and address of Smarts newsagency plus the date.Front of poster - "FORWARDING AGENTS. INSURANCE BROKERS.PASSENGER AGENTS.CARTAGE CONTRACTORS / MOTOR CAR AND MACHINERY PACKERS.FURNITURE AND GENERALEXPORT PACKERS" "THOMAS MEADOWS & CO Ltd." "ESTABLISHED OVER 100 YEARS" "SHIPPING AGENTS / 35 MILK STREET, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON, E.C.2" "PACKING WAREHOUSES IN LONDON & MANCHESTER" "1939" "TIME TABLE OF AUSTRALIAN SAILINGS" "JANUARY TO JUNE, 1939/ FROM LONDON" "JULY TO DECEMBER, 1939 / FROM LONDON" "HAVE YOUR SMALL PACKAGES SENT BY OUR SPECIAL "SMALLS" SERVICE AT LOWER RATES/RATES TO PORT ONLY OR INCLUDING DELIVERY THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA" "INSURANCE AGAINST ALL RISKS EFFECTED WITH CLAIMS PAYABLE DESTINATION" "ROUTE YOUR SHIPMENTS VIA THOMAS MEADOWS & CO LTD. FOR PROMPTNESS AND ECONOMY" Stamp on back of poster - "SMART'S AUTHORISED NEWSAGENCY' "168 Timor Street, Warrnambool 3280" "Telephone: (055) 62 2092" "12 DEC 1988" Sticker at bottom - "51"flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, great ocean road, shipping, shipping agents, freight forwarding, freight, shipping time table, thomas meadows & co. ltd., thomas meadows shipping agent, shipping and forwarding agent, smart's newsagency, warrnambool, warrnambool newsagency, chart, poster, smart's authorised newsagency, neil and shirley smart, william reed, reed's newsagency and bookshop -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Furniture - Door, 1871 or earlier
The wooden door was salvaged from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red, which was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. Eric the Red was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871, having had a 1,580 tons register. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. On 4th September 1880 the Eric the Red approached Cape Otway with a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. He ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats. The mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod and samples of wood. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Door from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. The wooden singular rectangular door includes three insert panel sections. The top section is square shaped and is missing its panel or glass. The centre timber panel is about a third of the height of the top panel and the bottom timber panel is approximately equal in height to the total height of the two upper panels. The door fastenings include both a metal door latch and traditional door bolt. They are both attached to the front right hand side of the door. The bolt is just below the top panel, and the door latch is in approximately the centre of that side. The door latch has a round mark where a handle could have been attached. The wood of the door has scraping marks in a semi-circle around the door latch where the latch has swung around on its one remaining fastening and grazed the surface. There is a metal hinge at the top section of the door on the opposite side to the latch. The painted surface has been scraped back to expose the wood. The door is shorter than the average height of a person. On the reverse of the door there are lines on the panels, just inside their edges, is what appears to be pencil. The door is not aligned straight but is skew to centre.warrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, jaques allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition 1880, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, bass strait, eric-the-red, door -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Wood Sample, about 1871
This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Triangular shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn