The forty-two navigational flags appear to be a complete set. Their purpose-built, grey painted wooden locker is divided into forty-two pigeonholes, each holding one of the rolled up flags. It is simply built and stands on short legs and was originally open-fronted, but has since been covered with a protective clear Perspex panel. The set of alphabetic and numeric visual signalling flags (including substitute and answering pennants) are made of wool in various colour combination designs, with canvas sewn to one end that is threaded with hemp rope. Some of the flags have metal clips attached to the rope. The flags were used for communicating messages to passing ships. Knowledge of visual signalling was mandatory for all lightkeepers and all stations maintained a set of flags. Although used for centuries, visual flag signalling formally developed in the nineteenth century and was published internationally as a system in 1857. By the early twentieth century it had developed into an effective means of conveying all kinds of short range visual messages. Most flags are in good condition and their first level significance is enhanced by their completeness and integrity as a set still housed in their original locker, and by the signal charts that remain in the museum collection which offer further insights into visual signalling.1 - 42. Navigational flag set of 42 individual flags. Coloured linen with canvas sewn to one end which has hemp rope threaded through it. Some flags have metal clips attached to the ends of the hemp rope. 43. Wooden cupboard divided into sections with wooden divides. Used to house the 42 flags. • 1. navy & white. 2. navy & yellow. 3. navy & white. 4. white. 5. red & yellow. 6. yellow & navy. 7. yellow & navy. 8.red. 9.red & white. 10. white & navy. 11. red & navy & white. 12.yellow & navy & & red. 13.navy & white. 14. navy & white. 14. navy & white. 15.navy & white. 16. navy & yellow. 17. yellow & white. 18. white & red. 19. white & red. 20. yellow & red. 21. white & navy. 22. yellow & navy. 23. navy & white. 24. white & navy. 25.red & white. 26. navy & white. 27.red & white. 28.red & white. 29. red & navy. 30. white & navy. 31. yellow. 32.red 7 navy. 33. red. 34 navy,white,red & yellow.35. red & blue. 36. white & red. 37. navy & yellow. 38.red, yellow & white. 39. white. 40. white & red. 41. yellow & red. 42.navy. 43.custom built wooden open cupboard divided into sections to house flags.Yes

This item, which dates to 1988, is contained in the original supply packet and survives in good condition. It was commonly used by lightkeepers for both wet and dry bulb thermometers, with the muslin going into the bottom of the dry bulb where it was held in place by the wick and ‘end of the wick was then placed in a jar of deep water to keep the bulb cool’. The difference in temperatures between the dry and wet bulb thermometers could then be worked out to establish the dew point in the air.They were common in lightstations, but this intact item remains in the original packaging and is a fine representative example of its kind. It was acquired from the Bureau of Meteorology. Recording and communicating weather readings was an important facet of lightstation work and a number of different but related items of meteorological equipment survive at the six lightstations managed by parks Victoria. The Cape Nelson collection includes a pair of Australian-made thermometers in their original box, both in Fahrenheit, with one recording the minimum, the other the maximum temperature and a barometer table with instructions for correcting readings. Cape Otway has a Beaufort Scale, a table of wind forces which lists 12 types on a scale of 1 to 12, and provides associated speed in knots and travel time per minute or hour. Gabo Island has an anemometer, wind speed indicator and a wind speed recorder.Muslin and wick for a wet bulb thermomenter in unopened white paper packaging with directions for use printed on the package on the front.On front of package,"MUSLIN AND WICK FOR WET BULB THERMOMETER......."

The rectangular weight is rectangular in shape and made of concrete and metal. A closed metal hook is attached to the concrete block, which is encased in metal, and a section of rope is attached. It was used as a counter weight on a canopy that operated as part of a winch located at the [east] landing deck … Originally there were four weights that formed part of a fibreglass canopy which consisted of a staunch, pulley and a rope so when you lifted the canopy up, the weights on either side countered the weight so objects could be moved. The weights were installed in the 1970s and were dismantled along with the winch in the following decade.The weight has first level contributory significance for its provenance and historical value as a component of an earlier apparatus that was used for hoisting goods at the lightstation sea landing.2 x Rectangular shaped weight with with closed hook embedded in concrete surrounded by metal. A section of rope is attached to the hook.

Made of canvas and bamboo slats with hemp ropes, adjustable canvas straps and metal buckles and rings, the rescue stretcher was used for carrying an injured person. According to the Powerhouse Museum, the stretcher and was ‘designed to support and carry an injured person in circumstances where the person has to be lifted vertically’. Known as the ‘Neil Robertson stretcher’, it was developed in the early 1900s by John Neil Robertson as a lightweight rescue device and was modelled on Japanese bamboo litters. An identical stretcher is held in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum and is thought to date between c.1967 and 1999. The museum’s statement of significance for the unique stretcher elaborates on its cultural values: The canvas is wrapped around the patient and secured with strong canvas straps. A lifting rope is attached to a ring above the patient's head, while a guideline is tied near the ankles and used to stop the stretcher swaying as it is hoisted up. This style of stretcher was specifically designed for use on ships, where casualties might have to be lifted from engine-room spaces, holds and other compartments with access hatches too small for ordinary stretchers. The original name of the Neil Robertson stretcher was 'Hammock for hoisting wounded men from stokeholds and for use in ships whose ash hoists are 2 ft. 6 in. diameter'. Since those times the Neil Robertson stretcher has also been used in factories and mines and for other emergency rescue situations. It is still possible to buy this type of stretcher although the slats are now more likely to be made of wood. The example in the Powerhouse collection was amongst several items of obsolete first aid and rescue equipment donated by the electricity generation company Delta Electricity. It would have been used - or at least been on stand-by - at the company's Munmorah Power Station or the associated coal mine on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Industrial sites and mines are extremely dangerous work places. Throughout the 20th century to the present there has been a drive, especially in developed countries like Australia, to improve workplace safety. Measures taken to reduce injuries and deaths have included safer industrial equipment, safer work practices, staff training, and the ready availability of accident and emergency equipment.It was also used throughout WWI and WWII. There are two other examples of the stretcher are known in Parks Victoria heritage collections. Canvas and bamboo stretcher with straps and buckles. Hemp ropes are attached to the stretcher.

The cylindrical cardboard container with lid formerly contained a ventometer, a small simple tool for measuring wind speed. It consisted of a clear tube containing a small diaphragm which had a hole in the bottom for wind to enter. Once the wind entered the tube it pushed up the diaphragm, indicating the rate of velocity. Ventometers were common devices that have since been replaced by more sophisticated measuring equipment, such as digital air speed meters. Further information on this particular example, including perhaps the name of the manufacturer, may survive on the container but this has not been recorded. The small simple tool for measuring wind speed pre-dates the electronic devices at Gabo Island.Tubed shaped cardboard container with lid to house instrument for measuring. (instrument is missing) Inscriptions and illustrations on exterior.

As quoted from Wikipedia, ‘An anvil is a block with a hard surface on which another object is, struck. The block is as massive as it is practical, because the higher the inertia of the anvil, the more efficiently it causes the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece’. The lightstation’s anvil is a red-painted iron block with a conical beak or horn at one end that was used for hammering curved pieces of metal. It would have stood on a heavy free-standing pedestal, such as a large tree stump, to allow complete access to the item being hammered. Some anvils display the manufacturer’s name in the metal on the side, but this is not the case here, and its age, although unknown appears to be quite old, perhaps c.1900. It appears to have had a lot of use, and although no record of this survives, it is presumed that a forge operated on site for hammering, cutting, shaping and repairing tools such as bolts, nails, hooks, chain segments, pulley blocks, hinges, crow bars, picks, chisels, horseshoes and harness hardware. A hames hook (which forms part of the collar worn by a draught horse) survives at the lightstation as do many other heavy metal tools and pieces of equipment. The anvil is an example of the necessary resourcefulness and self sufficiency practiced by lightkeepers working and living in a remotely located workplace and home, and many of the iron items in the collection may have been repaired or even made on its working surface. As a lightstation manager Chris Richter used the anvil to manufacture pulley blocks for sash windows, repair brass door hinges & sharpen cold chisels, crowbars and picks and other lightkeepers have used this anvil for many fabricating jobs such as manufacturing ducting for the generator room ventilation system."The lightship only came in every three months with supplies and there would have been repairs to do between visits from a blacksmith - who would have had to travel on the ship. Also, the ship was only anchored in the bay long enough to unload supplies and collect and deliver lightkeeping staff – probably not enough time to get much smithy work done – especially if the weather packed it in and the ship had to depart. Lightkeepers in our time had to be self sufficient, resourceful and innovative and I imagine that would have been the case in the past." It has second level contributory significance.Red painted blacksmith's anvil.

The grey painted heavy wooden, homemade box has a freehand inscription in black on outside, which reads ‘LEVINGS To MAAT IS’. The writing refers to Alan and Marlene Levings, who began their twenty-two year career in lightkeeping with a posting to Tasman Island, off Port Arthur, in the 1960s. After four years they moved to Maatsukyer Island off south-west Tasmania, Australia’s southern-most lightstation, followed by postings to South Bruny, Eddystone Point and Wilsons Promontory. The robust box journeyed with the Levings through their postings to five lightstations and came to rest at Wilsons Promontory when Alan retired. It is not known whether the box was used in an office or domestic context. The movement of people and objects is a significant and unique theme that runs through the history of Australia’s lightstations. This historical process relates Victoria to the much bigger story of Australia’s network of lightstations. Alan Levings has been described as an extremely interesting character and artist. When Levings was a lightkeeper at Wilson’s Promontory, delivery of goods was by boat, then off the boat by a winch and onto the back of a truck. For this reason, packing boxes in earlier years had to be extremely robust. Today, anything that is not carried into Wilson’s Promontory Lightstation by foot, comes by helicopter, eradicating the need for heavy packing boxes such as Levings’. This humble box has first level contributory significance for its reliable provenance which traces its journey through five lightstations; for its association with a former lightkeeping family; and for contributing to an understanding of the pattern of lightstation life.Wooden box, light blue/grey painted. Made of horizontal pieces of timber with some tin reinforcment on the sides. Writing in black on side of box.On side of box in freehand,"LEVINGS To MAAT IS"

The two wooden oars were formerly painted white. They were used on lightstation boats and are now displayed on the wall of Room 2 which is located next to the light tower. Numerous images of the lightstation show rowing boats either on stand‐by on land or in the sea performing duties in the surrounding sea and at the East Landing. The wooden boat rudder with brass and other metal fittings was also formerly painted white and is possibly from the same boat that used the oars. Meets second level threshold.Two long wooden oars, Residue of white paint. Possibly made of Australian hardwood. They were used on lightstation boats.

The rusted metal machine part has an inscription discernible on an attached plate. It is part of the hydraulic system used in the East landing crane between 1971 and 1978.Meets second level threshold.Rusted metal machine part with plate with inscription.

The power board, which was the main power board for the lightstation between 1975 and 2007, retains a number of ceramic fuse parts and a wooden reel with fuse wire. The grey metal door has a plastic switch and a small metal plate is inscribed with ‘Custom styles by Thomson and Mackenzie’. Power board with ceramic fuse parts. Also wooden reel with fuse wire. ‘Custom styles by Thomson and Mackenzie’.

The three metal pulley wheels, two larger one smaller, were possibly used in the mechanism associated with the operation of the clockwork weights that helped to turn the light in the lantern room between 1913 and 1975. If this information is confirmed, the wheels have first level contributory significance for the insights they provide into the technology and operations of a late nineteenth/early twentieth century lighthouse.Three pulley wheels, two larger one smaller.

They include various iron spanners of different size which were used on vehicle maintenance at the lightstation, (landrover and Toyota) Different sizes of different spanners in a bag with a zip.

Part of secondary water pump from a Southern Cross engine which was in the pump shed north of the lightstation. Fly wheel iron, hole in the middle.

The metal ladle was made by a lightkeeper in the 1980s for melting lead to make sinkers.Handmade metal ladel.

The iron hook dates to the 1860s and was used for attaching a load to a horse harness.Meets second level threshold.Iron hook

Used as display in AMSA workshop foyer, Moorabbin, Vic. Nautical charts x 2 , The framed and glazed chart identifies strategic points in the notorious Bass Strait passage, which in the nineteenth century was known as the ‘Eye of the Needle’. It covers the whole of Tasmania, Bass Strait and the islands, and the lower part of Victoria with its coastline between Cape Otway and Gabo Island. The chart has an electric cord connecting it to a wall switch which enables a series of small lights to flash on strategic geographical locations.. While it is not known if it is original to Wilsons Promontory, it certainly elates to its location. A similar chart at Cape Otway shows less of Tasmania and is not electrified. Gabo Island Lightstation has two large framed charts; one is the same as the Wilsons Promontory example but without the lights and the other is entirely different, focussing on the east coast between Point Hicks and Montague Island. The Wilsons Promontory chart is unique as an illuminated version of the other charts and has first level significance if its provenance to the lightstation can be confirmed.The framed and glazed chart has an electric cord connecting it to a wall switch which enables a series of small lights to flash on strategic geographical locations.Yes

The collection includes a small number of cast iron kitchen range components which appear to originate from more than one fuel-burning cooker. They are possibly relics from the two nineteenth century kitchens destroyed in the 1951 bushfire or bits from abandoned obsolete cookers. There are two oven doors, both with different types of hinges and handles discernible despite their badly corroded condition. One door is rectangular with a raised edging and a handle in the shape of a fist gripping a rod; the other door has a slightly curved top and is also framed and retains its strap hinges and central lock/handle. Door from a fuel burning domestic oven. It has a slightly curved top, is framed and retains its strap hinges and central lock/handle

This Phillips FM 880 radio telephone was used by lightkeepers between 1973 and 2005 for communication with the meteorological bureau. This relatively large device is in a white enamel metal cabinet and has a number of dials and switches and instructions. It has six chrome handles. There are 'decommissioned' labels on the face."Phillips FM 880 ..."

Used by PMG in telephone transmission. Printed information on the front of the paper packet identifies both it and the contents as the property of the PMG. The contents comprise black carbon rods that were used by the PMG for telephone transmissions.Carbon rods, paper packet with PMG identification & carbon rods, Yes

Type used by RAAF Radar station at Wilsons Promontory Lightstation (RS 14) for backup communications 1942 - 1946. This is an AT5 MF/HF 50 watts radio transmitter with black face and multiple dials and switches; There is also an AR8 radio receiver with a brown face and various dials and switches; and an AT5 radio aerial coupling unit with black face and dials and switches in the WP collection. They functioned as a set and were manufactured in 1938 at the Ashfield, Sydney workshop of AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd, later AWA Ltd), Australia’s largest electronics manufacturer and broadcaster. They are rare outside Australia as they were seldom exported to other air forces, and remained in service until the late 1950s. An AT5 transmitter and AT5 coupling unit are held in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.The three units in the Wilsons Promontory Museum were deployed by the RAAF in WWII and represent the types of communications equipment used at the 14 Radar Station, Wilsons Promontory. It is not known, however if these particular examples were used at the lightstation and are part of the same set. They have interpretive relevance to the collection, but their significance to the lightstation is dependent on whether they have a direct historical association with the radar station that operated there. The units will have first level contributory significance if it is confirmed they were used at the Wilsons Promontory Radar Station.Radio receiver, grey metal face with multiple dials & switches

Type used by RAAF Radar station Wilsons Prom (RS 14) for backup communications 1942 - 1946. This is an AR8 radio receiver with a brown face and various dials and switches; They functioned as a set and were manufactured in 1938 at the Ashfield, Sydney workshop of AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd, later AWA Ltd), Australia’s largest electronics manufacturer and broadcaster. They are rare outside Australia as they were seldom exported to other air forces, and remained in service until the late 1950s.202 An AT5 transmitter and AT5 coupling unit are held in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.203 The three units in the Wilsons Promontory Museum were deployed by the RAAF in WWII and represent the types of communications equipment used at the 14 Radar Station, Wilsons Promontory. It is not known, however if these particular examples were used at the lightstation and are part of the same set. They have interpretive relevance to the collection, but their significance to the lightstation is dependent on whether they have a direct historical association with the radar station that operated there. The units will have first level contributory significance if it is confirmed they were used at the Wilsons Promontory Radar Station.The units will have first level contributory significance if it is confirmed they were used at the Wilsons Promontory Radar Station.Radio tuning unit, brown metal face with multiple dials & switches.Yes

Type used by RAAF Radar station (RS 14) for backup communications 1942 - 1946. This one is an AT5 radio aerial coupling unit with black face and dials and switches. They functioned as a set and were manufactured in 1938 at the Ashfield, Sydney workshop of AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd, later AWA Ltd), Australia’s largest electronics manufacturer and broadcaster. They are rare outside Australia as they were seldom exported to other air forces, and remained in service until the late 1950s.202 An AT5 transmitter and AT5 coupling unit are held in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.203 The three units in the Wilsons Promontory Museum were deployed by the RAAF in WWII and represent the types of communications equipment used at the 14 Radar Station, Wilsons Promontory. It is not known, however if these particular examples were used at the lightstation and are part of the same set. They have interpretive relevance to the collection, but their significance to the lightstation is dependent on whether they have a direct historical association with the radar station that operated there. The units will have first level contributory significance if it is confirmed they were used at the Wilsons Promontory Radar Station.radio aerial coupling unit grey metal face with multiple dials & switches

Used on radio aerial installation during the period that the RAAF were based at the Lightstation. 1942 - 1946This technical item has second level significance because it's use is likely to be directly linked to WWII communications activity at the lightstation: Small brown glazed ceramic insulator. The shape is similar to a door knob.

Used as a junction box for metal conduit in RAAF power house.This technical item has second level significance because their use is likely to be directly linked to WWII communications activity at the lightstation:Round metal piece with protrusions and with "12 VOLT / CHARGING" stamped on a metal plate on the front."12 VOLT / CHARGING"

Used on military uniforms 1942 - 1946. Two small metal buttons. One is larger.

Used by RAAF personell in accommodation quarters 1942 -1946. WWII wartime objects – living in the RAAF camp . They provide evidence of the contents of the RAAF barracks and recreation hut erected in 1942 and occupied until 1945. Some of the items such as cutlery, a wood heater/stove, domestic radio (remnants) were used in daily life by servicemen. Spoons x 3 (WPLS 0101.3; likely provenance); spoon and knife (0148.2 likely provenance)The two metal small spoons, two large spoons and knife without its handle are known to have been used by WWII RAAF or navy personnel in their accommodation quarters 1942-1945. The items, if original to the site, have second level contributory significance for the evidence they provide of the WWII buildings and their use between 1942 and 1945. Metal spoon and a serrated edged knife without a handle. Both items have some corrosion.

Used by lightkeeping families. The twenty shards of crockery represent tableware from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The pieces were recovered from a rubbish dump in the grounds used by previous lightstation residents. They include blue and white transfer-printed tableware in the ubiquitous ‘Willow’ pattern as well as floral designs with distinctively British flowers, both of which remained in constant production by all the major Staffordshire companies and were hugely popular with the Australian market. Other pieces in the collection include part of a plate with a distinctive red and yellow border, a small Chinoiserie jug probably dating from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and fragments of heavier, more utilitarian white ceramic ware. A few of the shards are printed with trademarks or other insignia, and closer examination of these marks as well as the patterns should be able to yield information on their date and manufacturer. Most if not all the fragments are from affordable, everyday wares that were common in lower income homes. Numerous ceramic fragments are also held in the Cape Otway Lightstation collection.Domestic crockery fragments x 20. Some have been burnt.

The fragments appear to be associated with three stoneware vessels, with two at least dating from the nineteenth century. One of the vessels is a late-nineteenth century stoneware ale or stout bottle which survives largely intact except for the base which is broken into three pieces and held together by a band wrapped around the bottle. The upper part of the bottle has a light brown glaze, and interestingly the pale stoneware body is discoloured by ash. The other items in this sub-set; two ceramic fragments from another unidentified vessel and a brown glazed short neck from a third (perhaps an ink bottle), are also fire damaged. -Ceramic Bottle & fragments, ceramic, fire damaged.

The catalogue includes twenty-one diverse types of bottles ranging from beer, soft drink and chutney bottles to bottles designed to hold perfume, medicines and poisons. They appear to range in date from the nineteenth to c.mid-twentieth centuries and represent various types of mass-produced consumer goods that were commonly available at the time. The five different types of bottles included in 0156.5 are made of clear glass with tapered necks and narrow openings to facilitate pouring. One can be positively identified as an imported mineral soda water/soft drink bottle because of the marble stopper in the neck and thickness of the glass. The globe-stopper bottle, also known as a ‘Codd’ bottle, was invented by English engineer, Hiram Codd in 1873 for holding gaseous soft drinks. The thick glass could withstand the pressure of the contents as well as repeated bottling by manufacturers. The bottles were probably used by former lightkeeper households. and tapered, narrow necks. The older ‘porter’ has a slightly bulbous neck. The bottles were probably used by former lightkeeper residents. Five glass bottles. Four are clear glass and one has coloured to green.

The items include a wooden ruler, masonite and metal clipboard, metal stapler and desk calendar holder made of metal, date from the 1970s. Three clear glass ink bottles and a black Bakelite fountain pen with screw on top are a little earlier in date, and all appear to have a reliable provenance to the lightstation. They have second level significance as small items of office equipment used in the day-to-day running of the lightstation. Maintaining the lightstation – equipment (themes 2, 3, 5) This sub-collection of workplace objects under the main theme of ‘Running the Lightstation’, includes the equipment used for and maintaining the lightstation. All have second level contributory significance for the insights they provide into the types of appliances needed to keep the lightstation running and functioning as a navigation aid.Metal clipboard, wooden ruler, metal stapler metal calendar /date holder.