The first Orbost Presbyterian Church was opened on January 9 1898. It was built by Mr R. P. Cameron for three pounds. The Harvest Festival display was always put together by the church ladies. The Festival was a family friendly festival celebrating the end of summer.This item is reminiscent of the late 19th - mid 20th centuries when church-going was more common.A black / white photograph of inside the Orbost Presbyterian Church decorated with rural produce and flowers for the "Harvest Festival". It is on a white buff card with a blue photographer's stamp in the bottom left hand corner.on front - stamp -" Herbert Sherwood" on back - "M. Gilbert, Orbost" - "Mrs J. Sterling, 6 Marine Parade , Elwood"church-presbyterian-orbost harvest-festival

This photograph is of the first Church of England in Orbost, dedicated on Sunday, 6th March, 1892 by the Rt. Rev. T. Geo, Bishop of Melbourne, The church was later used in the `1970s by the Orbost State School as a music, physical education room until it was moved. The rectory was later moved so the new church could fit.This item is reminiscent of the late 19th - mid 20th centuries when church-going was more common.Three copies of the first Orbost Church of England with the small rectory adjacent.on back - "Mary Gilbert - Church of England"church-orbost church of england-orbost

Food covers were used to cover food and protect it from insects. This food cover is a simple shape and would be a domestic utensil.This food cover is an example of a simple kitchen item used in the late 19th-mid 20th century.Small black metal meat cover with small handle.food-storage domestic kitchen

Ossie Green was a retired primary school principal living in Marlo. He wrote many historical books including Marlo The Township; The Plains The Cape. Mrs Green was a McKeown from Marlo. McKeowns had large land holdings around Marlo for farming.This item is an example of a commonly used item in the late 19th -early 20th century. It reflects a time when accounts were made of paper and retained as records by households. Black cast iron billfile. Ornate design with large spike.bill-file ornaments-metal green-ossie mckeown

Owned by Alexander Cameron who arrived in Australia in 1853. Alexander Cameron ("Big Alex") was an early settler on the Snowy River flats. he worked the paddle steamer Cheviot for a while, having a wharf and sheds on the Snowy River in 1900. Later moved to Cann River.This item is an example of a handcrafted religious ornament of the late 19th-early 20th century.Handmade, round, religious text ornament of celluloid and cardboard with silver writing.Front - "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?"ornament handmade religious

This item is an example of the handcrafts which were popular in the education of young girls in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.A hand sewn tapestry on canvas in a wooden frame and glass. The picture is of a bird cage, with birds, in a garden.hobbies needlework handcraft

This item is an example of a late 19th century ceramic container.Large stoneware ginger beer keg. Dark cream with darker lines near top. Very pale green stripes near bottom. Cork missing from bottom pouring hole. Missing large cork and wood stopper from top - held with nails.2container keg-ginger-beer

Used by Mr Ossie Wehner and siblings. Used 1897. Father was Herman Wehner (1862-1937) blacksmith married Agnes Scouller. Children were Ossie, Ida, Hilda, Elsa, Carl, EricThe Wehner family is/ was a prominent family in Orbost from the late 19th century. Herman Wehner founded Wehner's Blacksmith's at Orbost in 1889. Oswald Wehner began working in 1910 with his father. In 1947 Ossie's son Tom started blacksmithing, retiring in 1991 and closing the business, The building remains in Nicholson street.High chair with curved wooden backing and wood turned spokes. Painted pastel green and used in 1897 by Mr Ossie Wehner and his brothers and sisters.wehner high-chair furniture

Share certificate issued by New Gippsland Boulder Mine - operating at Errinundra and receipt for Herbert, Eric W. Receipt is for amount of four pounds - signed by Bird, W. Prospectus was printed in 1934 at office of Snowy River Mail - 4 page booklet. Gold, copper and silver were the target minerals.The crusher from the Boulder Mine is now at the Slab Hut in Orbost. The first Gippsland Boulder Co.,was at Boulder Creek – 13 miles north of Club Terrace, within 2 miles of Errinundra River. The company registered in January 1898 and commenced crushing in September with a 10-head battery. In the first nine months’ yields totalled 1,418 oz from 972 tons.There was a tramway between the mine workings and the battery.The crusher from the Boulder Mine is now at the Slab Hut in Orbost. This document is a reference for gold mining and exploration in the Far East Gippsland area. The Herbert family has reside in Orbost since the late 19th century.Copy of New Gippsland Boulder Mine share certificate and receipt. Framed in small black wooden frame.certificate-share-new-gippsland-boulder-mine mineralogy mining boulder-creek

Donor, Connie Cruikshank was grand-daughter of Poppy Kerr whose father was the first doctor in Orbost. Machine belonged to her grandmother, Mrs Hilda Kerr(Temple).This item is significant for its use by an influential and well-known Orbost identity. It is also an example of a common domestic appliance of the late 19th-early 20th century.Hand-operated sewing machine. Black with gold designs, large metal turning wheel. All set on large polished block of wood.Wertheim Francfortsewing-machine kerr-dr temple-hilda cruikshank-connie wertheim

Newspaper found inside frame backing dated Tues, Nov,12 1918. Harry French was a well known architect in Bairnsdale for over 40 years. Harry French of Bairnsdale was A. J. Macdonald's supervising architect for Bairnsdale Court House built in 1893.This drawing is significant for its connection to the Brodribb family. The architect, Harry French, was a well-known Bairnsdale architect. Maize has been a major crop in the Orbost district since the late 19th century.Graphic illustration of Mr H Brodribb's maize shelter to half inch scale. In glass with wooden frame.H French A-R-V-I-A- Bairnsdale 6-8-1918drawing civil-engineering drafting rural-industry agriculture maize brodribb

Belonged to Mary Gilbert who was a passionate local historian. She was awarded a British Empire medal in recognition of her work for education and the community. Mary Isabelle Gilbert was born in 1905 in Orbost, Australia. She was born to John Gilbert and Annie Cameron Gilbert, and had seven sisters and one brother. Four siblings died at a young age. .She was a teacher historian loved and respected by her family and the wider community.This item is an example of late 19th century English porcelain.Hand-painted Conway plate with illustrations of birds, sunsets, butterflies and sailing ships. Cream background.Back - British coat of arms. 3 logos.plate domestic crockery porcelain conway gilbert-mary

Doily was hand made by Riuth Woodward who was the daughter of Alan Richardson, a sawmiller at Tabbara. He held ticket for the paddlesteamer Curlip.This item represents an important pastime of Australian women of the late 19th to mid 20th century. Women's focus was the home and its decoration was important. Embroidery and crochet work was an affordable way to personalise and add aesthetic value, and examples of embroidered and crocheted pieces could be found in most Australian homes, decorating or protecting furniture, floors and walls, and keeping off flies and insects from food.Small square needlepoint doily with kangaroo pattern and beaded triangular fringe. Centre is white with pink clear beading.doily handcrafts needlework beading richardson-alan

This appears to be a "special" petticoat, one that could have been made as part of of a trousseau in preparation for marriage.This item is an example of the skills shown by the women of Orbost in the late 19th to early 20th centuries.A full-length fine cotton petticoat with lace around the neck and bodice and about 50cm of lace at the bottom of the garment. A pale blue ribbon is threaded through the lace. This garment appears to be be hand-made rather than mass-produced.petticoat hand-craft dressmaking womens-clothing

This roughing plane was used by Peter Jensen who came to Martin's Creek (35 miles north of Orbost) in 1890 having been told that Martin's Creek would be on the railway line. He was a cooper who made the casks from silver wattles. He cleared the area for farming and then built an accommodation house, Danebo.Ths item is an example of a woodworking tool used in the late 19th to early 20th century.Large smooth wooden roughing plane. It is curved and has a large metal blade. roughing-plane tool jensen-peter

From the estate of Elsie Cook, daughter of early Brodribb settler John Cook. Elsie Cooke lived all her life in Gippsland,. She was born at Brodribb in 1895 and died in 1970, Elsie Cooke lived at Bruthen for a short time and, in 1937, moved to live with her aunt, Miss Jean Munro. Miss Cooke was Librarian at the Mechanics Institute for many years. Kindness and consideration for other were Miss Cooke’s attributes and she endeared herself to all who knew her. She was a loyal member of the Presbyterian Church and a stalwart of the Ladies’ Guild, an energetic worker for the Municipal Auxiliary and a member of the Red Cross. (ref. Mary Gilbert) These items are an example hand-made wooden items of the late 19th centuryTwo small hand-turned wooden egg cups decorated with rings around centre.egg-cups carving handcrafts domestic food

This model was used in lectures in the College from the mid 20th century. An ophthalmotrope is a mechanical model constructed to demonstrate the movements of the eyes and the actions of the various muscles which produce them. The first ophthalmotrope was made by Theodore Reute in 1845 and it was he who gave it the name 'ophthalmotrope'. Frans Donders (1818-1889) became interested in eye movements on reading Reute's work, and his subsequent studies were of physiological interest and also provided the basis for principles underlying the correction of squint. Because of the complexity of the actions and counter actions of the eye muscles, ophthalmologists of the 19th century sought a practical solution with the construction of mechanical models. Reute's second model of 1857 was more sophisticated. Its eyeballs contained lenses and the optical system could be moved backwards and forwards to simulate accommodation. Later ophthalmotropes are known by Landolt, Knapp and Snellen.This ophthalmotrope is the one that was used as a teaching aid in the College from the mid 20th century.Brass framed model to illustrate actions of extra-ocular muscles. Two painted wooden globes mounted in brass frame with coloured strings attached to brass weights positioned to show actions of various extra-ocular muscles. Also wooden storage box. Materials: brass, metal, wood, string.optometry, ophthalmology, ophthalmotrope, eye, eye movements, extra ocular muscles, eye muscles, eye teaching

This is an early photograph of Orbost C1880 - 1890s. The photograph is part of the Mary Gilbert collection.This is a pictorial record of Orbost in the late 19th century.A black / white photograph mounted on crean card. There are trees in the foreground, buildings in the background. The buildings are wooden construction, some with shingle roofs and some bark.There are some red pencil marks around frame of photograph.orbost-1880s main-street-orbost

Gold was found at Club Terrace in 1896. One of the best finds at Club Terrace was the 'Ace of Clubs' mine which was later sold to the Mallina Gold Mining Company. Syd Cadwallader was appointed manager of the company. The gold was smelted and brought to Orbost on horseback. The only protection against thieves was a revolver and riding crop, which the manager always carried. The 'Ace of Clubs' was eventually closed as the company was unable to cope with the rising water problem. (information Newsletter February 2011 - John Phillips)This is a pictorial record of mining methods in East Gippsland in the late 19th century to early 20th century.A black / white photograph of a mine. It is in a bush setting. Men are standing in front of timber mine constructions. Some wooden buildings can be seen behind the structureson back - "Cadwallader's Malina Mine"mining-gold mining-east-gippsland cadwallader-malina-mine gold-mining-battery

There is no information with this item. In the Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tamboon and Omeo Chronicle on Thursday August 3 1893, there is mention of a letter from Mr Harry Roberts, Marlo Road, "offering to sell the corduroy road to the council for £10, on condition that the council arranges for the exchange of the old road for one on the nothern boundary of his property.-Application to be made to the Lands department for the necessary exchange of roads to carry this proposal into effect. From the secretary for Lands, asking the council to mark the roads required in the M'Colloch on the plan,-Attended" This is likely to be the man in the photograph. This photograph seems to be associated with a very early settler in the Orbost / Marlo area. It is also a pictorial record of dress in the late 19th century.A sepia portrait photograph of a bearded man wearing a high-buttoned coat seated on a chair with a woman standing beside him on the right. The woman is wearing a long gownwith a full skirt, low at the waist. The fitted bodice is tightly buttoned and has a lace panel. Her hair is in a bun. She appears to be wearing a wedding ring. The photograph has been taken inside a studio. The photograph is mounted on card.on back - hand-written - "Mr & Mrs H. Roberts My Best Friend" front under photograph - :Vandyck Studios 3 Bourke St E Melbourne next door Gen Post Office portrait-roberts

This postcard seems to have been written by Grace Cameron to Annie (Cameron) Gilbert. There is mention of a harvest festival.The Cameron and Gilbert families are early settlers of the Orbost area. This photograph is a pictorial record of dress in the late 19th and early 20th century. It depicts the the high standards of dress at informal occasionsA photograph / postcard which shows a group of men and women in a large forest clearing. The women are dressed in white(?) dresses with ribbon bows at the neck. The men are in suits. Most are wearing hats. In the back right corner are two horse - drawn carriages.on the back is a hand -written lettercameron-annie celebrations-outdoor

This photograph was taken at what is now the Young’s Creek picnic area which is located on the site of an old sawmill, once owned and operated by L.E. & H. Williams, dating back to the early 1920’s. The mill was eventually sold, dismantled, and the machinery transferred to a sawmill at Cabbage Tree Creek. there are still some items of old sawmill debris. The old steam engine at the edge of the car park is the remains of the mill’s former power plant. This portable steam engine was constructed in Leiston, Suffolk, in England.This is a pictorial record of a popular recreational area in the Orbost district in the late 19th century.A black / white photograph of a wooden bridge over a creek in forest setting. There is a second copy.on back - handwritten "the Young's Creek Bridge June 1897"young's-creek-orbost bridge-young's-creek

This photograph was taken at the junction of the Snowy and Brodribb Rivers. The Snowy River starts in New South Wales on the slopes of Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain, in New South Wales. It flows into Bass Strait at Marlo in Victoria. The Brodribb River is a tributary of the Snowy which enters the estuary at Marlo. This is a pictorial record of a road in Marlo near Orbost in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. It also depicts the transport used at that time.A black / white photograph of four men in suits seated in a horse - drawn buggy on a dirt road alongside a creek or river. There appears to be another horse - drawn vehicle behind them.on back - "at the Brodribb - Snowy junction. this road was corduroy (packed logs of tea trees?)brodribb-river snowy-river marlo transport-horse-drawn

The building in this photograph of Boggy Creek is probably the first Nowa Nowa Hotel built by Moses Faithfull, in 1890. Moses Faithful came to Australia from England with his parents on the Royal Consort in 1844. After living at Bulla, Pakenham and Wurruk he and his wife moved to Hospital Creek in about 1885 where he took up the first selection of land at Upper Hospital Creek. As well as farming he built the first hotel at Nowa Nowa in 1890. He had charge of the hotel until 1895 when he sold to Mary Stirling. Moses died on 8th July 1901, aged 66, at the residence of his son-in-law, David Price, at Newmerella, and buried in the Orbost cemetery.This hotel was built in 1890 and doubled as a coaching stop on the inland route. Settlement grew up around the hotel. It was sold 1895 to Mary Stirling who husband own the land the hotel stood on. The hotel burned down on 29 July 1955. This is a pictorial record of Nowa Nowa in the late 19th century.A black / white photograph / postcard of a creek with a building on the rightside. a windmillis to the left. The banks of the creek are well-vegetated.on front - bottom left -"BOGGY CREEK NOWA NOWA"boggy-creek-nowa-nowa

This is a directory of towns giving distances fro Melbourne, populations. There is an entry on Orbost listing the contemporary businesses.Directories are an effective way of researching businesses and trades in small trades. Many small businesses needed to ensure the public was aware of their activity and one of the better ways to do this (in an age before media dominated) was via a directory. Advertisements in the directories often provide extra valuable information . This item is a useful research tool for Orbost in the late 19th century.A heavy, thick, hard-covered book with a red cover and gold print. On the spine in gold print is the title, "Victoria Post Office Commercial Directory 1895 - 6" and some advertisements. There is an index at the front. Inside people are named with their addresses under: Alphabetical directory (colony-wide); Trade and professional directory Towns and districts directories;Other sections including names but usually not addresses:Commerce management, banking, insurance companies, exporters of English goods to Victoria Government, MPs, heads of departments, clergy, University of Melbourne academic staff, teachers in private schools medical practitioners, hospitals, dentists, pharmacists courts, judicial officers, barristers, solicitors, Justices of the Peace .on page edges - "TOWNS, ALPHABETICAL TRADES, ENGLISH SECTION"directory-post-office directory-commercial orbost-c19th-businesses

Link with item 1178. This is a surveyors' camp in the McCulloch Ranges, Murrangowar, April, 1897. Included in the photograph are: L. Thorn; Pearson; L. Coburn, Clem Bates; Sam Blacklock with a packhorse. They were surveying for a road or railway. Surveyors were among the first European settlers to arrive in Australia. A Surveyor-General was present on the First Fleet, as well as the first two ships which landed in South Australia. These men were issued with instructions to record observations in a journal that included the country’s general appearance, its soil, flora and fauna and the customs and language of local inhabitants. The conditions they worked in were harsh and they embarked on journeys with drays carrying cumbersome surveying and camping equipment, spending months camping out in the bush and mapping the land. It was not until well into the second half of the nineteenth century that the professional training of surveyors became mandatory in Australia.This is a pictorial record of a surveyors' camp in the late 19th century.A black / white photograph of a group of men standing in front of a tent / camp in a dense bush setting.surveyor's-camp-mccullochs-ranges-murrangowar land-settlement

Marlo, fifteen kilometres from Orbost, has always been a popular fishing and boating destination for Orbost locals. This is a pictorial record of a popular recreational activity in the late 19th century in Marlo.A black / white photograph of a sailing boat with five people on board.on back, handwritten in pen - "SAILING BOAT BREAM POINT EASTER< 1899"marlo-sailing bream-point-marlo recreation

this is a photograph taken at the original jetty at Tabbara on the Brodribb River used by Samuel Richardson who established his mill in 1882. There was a constant demand for timber to supply the growing townships of Orbost , Marlo and surrounds. It was at this mill that the original paddle steamer Curlip was built. More information in "Curlip" by May Leatch. Helena Warrem (1871-1962) was a self-taught photographer who became both the local press correspondent and a producer of humorous trompe l'oeil postcard images. Helena Warren was a thirty-two year old settler living on a small mixed farm with her husband, William, at Newmerella, near Orbost in Gippsland, Victoria, when she bought her first camera, an Austral Box quarter-plate. Her family says she was entirely self-taught, like many women photographers who started out with nothing but the instructions on the packets of film and chemicals. In over fifty years practice she graduated from the total novice, who opened all her first mail order plates in bright sunlight and ruined them, to a competent photographer who became both the local press correspondent and an inveterate producer of humorous trompe l’oeil postcard images. Helena Francis Warren (nee McKeown) was married to William John Warren and lived in Newmerella. She supplied the photos for the Back-To-Orbost celebration book in 1937 and also designed the Back-To-Orbost badge. She was known for her soft toy making. (by Ivy Rodwell in from Personalities and Stories of the Early Orbost District by Mary Gilbert).This photograph is a pictorial record of a typical family activity in the late 19th - early 20th century in the Orbost area, The clothing and manners are reflective of that time, This photograph also has significance in its association with Helen Frances Warren, a popular Orbost identity who was well known as an accomplished photographer and needleworker,A black / white photograph of a family group seated on a wooden jetty. There is a man on the right with a fishing rod. A man is standing next to woman holding a teapot and cup and saucer. On the left a woman is sitting and holding a baby on her knee. The rest are sitting or kneeling with a picnic cloth spread in front of them. There are bottles, jars, plates and cups on the cloth. on back - "The Warren Family Tabara Jetty"tabbara-jetty warren-family-orbost recreation-picnic

Image of a Tom Roberts painting on front of soft covered book titled The Artists' Camp at Box Hill - Eleanor Finlay, Marjorie MorganFOREWORD by William Dargie Kt., C.B.E., FRSA (London) FRAS (NSW) As one born between two worlds I find it difficult to identify wholly with either Australian art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries or the infinitely varied styles of today. At the beginning of the 1930s, when I first began to take any sort of interest in art, I had the natural feeling of youth that anything that had happened thirty to forty years ago was already far down the dark and backward abysm of time. As for today, all that one of my generation can do is to enjoy what is enjoyable and avert one's eyes and close one's ears against the rest. This is the time of life one realizes that distaste, as well as taste can be cultivated. Well, youth repeats itself in each generation and among the young there will always be .some determined and dedicated to the making of new images of the physical world. All artists throughout history have shared this common experience. All have remembered the suddenly-formed friendships, the sketching expeditions and camps, the first exhibitions, the formation of groups, the 'manifestos' - these last to return in later life all too often as embarrassments - but above all, the enthusiasm. 'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive but to be young was very heaven'. Thus we can be time-travellers back one hundred and six years to that first plein-air camp set up by Roberts, McCubbin and Abrahams on part of David Houston's property at Box Hill. This was indeed the prelude to all that followed: Mentone and the meeting with the young Streeton painting on the rocks, and Heidelberg later.

These perfumes were owned by Marjorie Burton. Marjorie Burton ( nee Whiteman), born 12 June, in Birmingham, England came to Orbost in 1995. In England she did office work – typing, shorthand and secretarial work - in accountants’ offices and also trained as a comptometrist with Burroughs in London. She came from a middle-class, working, church-going family. Her mother was a milliner who made many of Marjorie’s clothes, hats and outfits. Marjorie was married in 1938 to a salesman who later became a mechanic in the R.A.F Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils used to give the human body a pleasant scent. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century but it was only in the 20th century that scents and designer perfumes were really mass produced. These items are evocative of the mid 20th century.One bottle of 4711 Eau de Cologne. It has round shoulders, a gold cap and a green and gold label. 2483.58 is a box containing three bottles : Carven Ma Griffe; Robe d'un Soir and Vert et Blanc. The box is pale green with darker green diagonal stripes. 2483.59 is a packet of two sachets of cologne tissues.2483.57 has 4711 embossed on the back of the bottle. 2483.58 has a sticker on the back - sold on board of KLM aircraft. 2483.59 - Boots perfumes burton-marjorie cosmetics