Richard Bennett was the first born child of Richard Bennett and Ann Isabella Kirk in February 1828 in London England. His father was a silk weaver. His family came to Sydney in 1833 but then returned to England in 1837. Richard came out himself in 1843 when he undertook a training course on the care of sheep. He first visited Belfast in January 1846 and described it as being" The centre of a large squatting district". In 1853 he married Elizabeth Nicholson Watson at St Johns Church of England Belfast Victoria. They had 11 children, 6 registered in Victoria and the other 5 born in New South Wales. Richard's aunt (or sister some sources say) Isabella married into "Belfast Royalty" by marrying Lloyd Rutledge in 1852 and they built 'Cooinda' in 1855 and lived there. However, Lloyd apparently fell down the steps drunk one night in 1858 and broke his neck. Richard's brother Ryder Bennett was Rutledge's accountant. (William or Lloyd?) Richard's sister Matilda married James Mylne knight. Richard Bennett worked on a number of properties in the district as well as heading to New South Wales in 1858 -1870 then he returned to the Port Fairy Area. He established the River Shaw Wool Scouring establishment at Yambuk in 1876 but by 1879 he had moved his business to the banks of the Merri River Dennington. He retired in 1887 and lived the rest of his life in Warrnambool. He died on 11th September 1904. Richard Bennett wrote many letters to the local newspapers regarding the early history of the district in 1984 these letters were published under the title "Richard Bennett's Early Days of Port Fairy" A book named "Richard Bennett's Early Days of Port Fairy" was edited by Jan Crichett using his letters Early settler noted for his letters regarding the Early Days of Port FairyBlack and white portrait of gentleman with a squared collarpionner, bennett, richard, dennington., early days of port fairy, river shaw wool scouring

Port Fairy reunion in 1965 at unknown gardens.Historic photograph showing fashions of the era.Black and white photograph mounted on card, rectangular.Some names noted on photograph, Addie Revell, D. Murray, Mary Smith, Mres Searle, Doc Keates, L. King, Dorrie Masterton. George Brown and Beryl Brown. M. Sharkey, Rosebrook. Port Fairy Reunion, 1965. On back of photo, M. Sharkey, Rosebrook, Port Fairy Reunion, 1965.port fairy, reunions, group, 1965

1946 was the year of the biggest flood experienced in Port Fairy. This photograph shows evidence of the inundation at the Port Fairy Cemetery situated at the West of the townBlack and white photograph of headstones surrounded by waterflood, river, 1946, headstone

Port Fairy Souvenir Folder including river MoyneBlack and white photograph from souvenir foldersouvenir folder, moyne river, couta boat, wharf

Goose Lagoon Campsite 1918 A post card of the area a few miles from Port Fairy near BoodcarraBlack and white Photograph of Goose Lagoon campsite.Campsite Goose Lagoon 1918 WRBtgoose lagoon, campsite, post card, port fairy, grassland, swamp

Port Fairy Hospital New outpatient, casualty and ward block extensions during construction Opened in 1976Black and white photograph of Extension of the back of the hospitalhospital, construction

John J. Huntly appears to have been the only licensee of the Royal Oak Hotel, built in 1858. Commercial Hotel Bank Street Port Fairy Formerly known as The Royal Oak and then renamed The Royal Oak in the 1990's. A verandah was added in 1900. Around 1877 the hotel various rooms for visiting doctors and a dentist. Dr Berncastle who was associated with the Sydney Eye Infirmary performed several operations there on those suffering from cataracts. It was the meeting place for the Port Fairy Freemasons, before their lodge was built in James Street and all local sporting clubs at one time or another. Also a Cobb & Co staging post.Large Black and white Photograph of the Commercial Hotel Left hand top corner in Ball point pen- PRESENTED BY MR RON McLEAN Right hand top corner in pen - COMMERCIAL HOTEL Museum Number - 62.04B.012hotel, bank street, port fairy, doctor berncastle, commercial, royal oak, sydney eye infirmary, freemasons, lodge, cobb and co, livery stables

The steamer S.S.CASINO was much loved by the whole Port Fairy community- with the possible exception of some of the fishermen whose boats she ran down! Transport of the large quantities of wool, potatoes, onions, grain, sheep, cattle and other produce grown on the rich lands of the Western District Belfast was served by a plethora of shipping, both sail and steam, but only one of the steamers then in the regular trade (S.S. DAWN) would ever be able to get up the river and reap the cost savings of loading against a wharf. It was not unusual for four steamers to be anchored in the bay at once and for seven or eight different steamers to call during a week. A number of inter-colonial steamers also called to pick up produce for delivery to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Production in the Western District was increasing and virtually all of that production had to go through one of the western ports in order to reach markets. By 1882 a meeting 15ft. March, 1882, in the office of auctioneer, J.B. HoIden in Cox Street took action and it was unanimously resolved - that the Belfast & Koroit Steamship Company be formed with a capital of £20,000 in 10,000 shares of £2 each". A number of steamers were offered by letter to the fledgling company, including the new and almost sister ships, CASINO and HELEN NICHOLL. The CASINO was on her delivery voyage from England was due to arrive in Warrnambool to load potatoes for Sydney and, initially, arrangements were made for her to call into Port Fairy for inspection by the BKNS Co directors. She eventually proceeded direct to Warrnambool and the Directors inspected her there. Without hesitation they purchased her even though they had to raise a large bank loan to do so. The CASINO arrived in Port Fairy on Saturday, 29th. July, 1882, steaming triumphantly up the Moyne River, and was greeted by crowds, many of whom had driven in from the surrounding countryside, which gave her “loud ringing English cheers". By 1884 the CASINO could not carry all the cargoes available to her and in December of that year the company purchased the new steamer BELLINGER to provide additional capacity. She helped to open up the intermediate ports of Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, but the BELLINGER was not really suitable for the trade and she was sold in 1887, leaving the CASINO to operate alone -as she was to do for almost all of the next 45 years. The opening of the railway in 1890 decreased the cargo available to the steamers and the economic depression of the early 1890's worsened the situation. The weak soon began to fall by the wayside and when the Portland & Belfast SN Co. decided to go into liquidation in April 1895, the Belfast & Koroit Company bought the Portland Company's steamer DAWN on advantageous terms, a substantial part of the payment being in BKSN Co shares. The BKNS Co and the Howard Smith Line came into direct head to head competition and nearly forced the BKNS Co out of existence. Cargo dropped to such an extent that in 1899, they reached agreement that only one ship would run and that the ship which ran would pay a weekly amount to the competitor to stay out of the trade. This controlled service ceased in1909, and competition intensified when Howard Smith placed the newly built, larger steamer EUMERALLA on the run. The BKNS Co survived this competition and even prospered during it partly by extending on a more regular basis, the CASINO'S voyages to South Australian ports Port Macdonnell, Kingston, Beachport, Robe and, on occasions Adelaide. There were setbacks when, on 20 October 1924, CASINO went ashore at the Kennett River, near Apollo Bay, and again, in February l929, when she struck a submerged object at Warrnambool and had to be beached. The railways placed great competitive pressure on the small steamship company and this pressure was intensified when the Great Depression slashed the market for Western District produce, BKNS Co struggled on, paying dividends in most years, and the company planned a big celebration for the CASINO'S fiftieth anniversary in the trade on 29th July, 1932. Disaster struck soon after 9 o'clock on the morning of Sunday I0 July, 1932 when the CASINO was lost at Apollo Bay together with the lives of 10 crew members. black and white panaramic photograph mounted on cardboardMoyne River & East Beach Port Fairy- s.s.Casino-A.C.Aberline-Canterburyship, boat, sea, river, training walls, wharf, moyne river, s.s.casino, steamer

Black and white panoramic photograph of the Moyne rivership, boat, sea, river, ss casino

Iron Steamship SS Casino in the Moyne River (sank at Apollo Bay in 1932)Black & white photograph of ship near wharfboat, sea, river, ss casino, moyne river, steamer

The Dredge 'Pioneer' brought in to clear sand drift from the Moyne river caused by the South West passage sweeping throughBlack and white photograph of a dredge in Moyne riversea, river, moyne river, south west passage, pioneer, deredge, ship

HMAS Huon berthed at the wharf in Port Fairy Nov 1921. HMAS Huon (D50), named after the Huon River, was a River-class torpedo-boat destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Originally to be named after the River Derwent, the ship was renamed before her 1914 launch because of a naming conflict with a Royal Navy vessel. Huon was commissioned into the RAN in late 1915, and after completion was deployed to the Far East. In mid-1917, Huon and her five sister ships were transferred to the Mediterranean. Huon served as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol ship until a collision with sister ship HMAS Yarra in August 1918 saw Huon drydocked for the rest of World War I. After a refit in England, Huon returned to Australia in 1919. The destroyer spent several periods alternating between commissioned and reserve status over the next nine years, with the last three spent as a reservist training ship. Huon was decommissioned for the final time in 1928, and was scuttled in 1931 after being used as a target ship. She visited Port Fairy on a goodwill trip in November .Black and white photograph of naval ship berthedship, boat, sea, river, h.m.a.s.huon, moyne, naval ship

This photograph show the ship in dry dock (possibly Melbourne) for maintenance. The steamer S.S.CASINO was much loved by the whole Port Fairy community- with the possible exception of some of the fishermen whose boats she ran down! Transport of the large quantities of wool, potatoes, onions, grain, sheep, cattle and other produce grown on the rich lands of the Western District Belfast was served by a plethora of shipping, both sail and steam, but only one of the steamers then in the regular trade (S.S. DAWN) would ever be able to get up the river and reap the cost savings of loading against a wharf. It was not unusual for four steamers to be anchored in the bay at once and for seven or eight different steamers to call during a week. A number of inter-colonial steamers also called to pick up produce for delivery to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Production in the Western District was increasing and virtually all of that production had to go through one of the western ports in order to reach markets. By 1882 a meeting 15ft. March, 1882, in the office of auctioneer, J.B. HoIden in Cox Street took action and it was unanimously resolved - that the Belfast & Koroit Steamship Company be formed with a capital of £20,000 in 10,000 shares of £2 each". A number of steamers were offered by letter to the fledgling company, including the new and almost sister ships, CASINO and HELEN NICHOLL. The CASINO was on her delivery voyage from England was due to arrive in Warrnambool to load potatoes for Sydney and, initially, arrangements were made for her to call into Port Fairy for inspection by the BKNS Co directors. She eventually proceeded direct to Warrnambool and the Directors inspected her there. Without hesitation they purchased her even though they had to raise a large bank loan to do so. The CASINO arrived in Port Fairy on Saturday, 29th. July, 1882, steaming triumphantly up the Moyne River, and was greeted by crowds, many of whom had driven in from the surrounding countryside, which gave her “loud ringing English cheers". By 1884 the CASINO could not carry all the cargoes available to her and in December of that year the company purchased the new steamer BELLINGER to provide additional capacity. She helped to open up the intermediate ports of Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, but the BELLINGER was not really suitable for the trade and she was sold in 1887, leaving the CASINO to operate alone -as she was to do for almost all of the next 45 years. The opening of the railway in 1890 decreased the cargo available to the steamers and the economic depression of the early 1890's worsened the situation. The weak soon began to fall by the wayside and when the Portland & Belfast SN Co. decided to go into liquidation in April 1895, the Belfast & Koroit Company bought the Portland Company's steamer DAWN on advantageous terms, a substantial part of the payment being in BKSN Co shares. The BKNS Co and the Howard Smith Line came into direct head to head competition and nearly forced the BKNS Co out of existence. Cargo dropped to such an extent that in 1899, they reached agreement that only one ship would run and that the ship which ran would pay a weekly amount to the competitor to stay out of the trade. This controlled service ceased in1909, and competition intensified when Howard Smith placed the newly built, larger steamer EUMERALLA on the run. The BKNS Co survived this competition and even prospered during it partly by extending on a more regular basis, the CASINO'S voyages to South Australian ports Port Macdonnell, Kingston, Beachport, Robe and, on occasions Adelaide. There were setbacks when, on 20 October 1924, CASINO went ashore at the Kennett River, near Apollo Bay, and again, in February l929, when she struck a submerged object at Warrnambool and had to be beached. The railways placed great competitive pressure on the small steamship company and this pressure was intensified when the Great Depression slashed the market for Western District produce, BKNS Co struggled on, paying dividends in most years, and the company planned a big celebration for the CASINO'S fiftieth anniversary in the trade on 29th July, 1932. Disaster struck soon after 9 o'clock on the morning of Sunday I0 July, 1932 when the CASINO was lost at Apollo Bay together with the lives of 10 crew members. Black and white photograph of ship in dry dockship, boat, sea, river, industry, belfast and koroit steam navigation company

Coastal Steamer which occasionally visited Port Fairy DINGADEE 640 gross tons. Lbd: 180'4" x 28'1" x 13'6". Built by Queenstown & Passage West Dock Co., Queenstown Ireland. Acquired 1883 ASN Co. Of AUSN Co 1887 and sold 1890 to Union Steamship Co., New Zealand. October 1900 owned by Black Ball Coal Co. 1903 owned by Dingadee Steamship Co. 1906 owned by T Tanaka of Tokyo and renamed Chokyu Maru No 3. 1924 owned by Taiwan Setofuku. Hayashi Kozo owned from January 1924 until scrapped 1926Black and white photograph of Ship with derrick and masts ship, boat, sea, river, ss dingadee

In this image a woman weaves two different colours of plastic cording into a interconnecting X shaped pattern. Weaving has often been done as a commercial skill taught by blind institutes, however machine woven materials and goods have now turned this skill into a recreational one.1 black and white photograph of woman weavingrecreation, weaving

In this image two woman sit in a canoe and paddle across a waterway. There are bushes and trees in the background, with a wide clearing separating the water way from the bush. Both woman wear life jackets and hats.1 black and white photograph of woman in a canoerecreation, canoeing

Rehabilitation covers learning how to undertake various tasks with assistive devices. In this image, a seated man presses buttons, guided by the hands of a female rehabilitation instructor. Some buttons are labelled with Braille markers.1 black and white photograph of man and womanrehabilitation, royal victorian institute for the blind

2 photographs of residents (one unknown with a volunteer and the other of Evelyn Grace Bryant and Terry Fraser, and 1 photograph of Terry Fraser and Carole O'Reilly at the launch of the Australian Large Print cookbook. Terry Fraser was the manager of Baringa and Carole O'Reilly a public relations officer with the AFB.3 black and white images of various sizesnon-fictionelizabeth maxwell, neil maxwell, association for the blind, terry fraser, carole o'reilly, evelyn grace bryant

Articles in annual report include: a short history of the AFB, President's Report, report on Ballarat, Bendigo and Brighton Homes, financial information, the work of the Welfare Service division, opening of two flatlets for aged blind at Ballarat, resignation of Celeste Baird as choirmaster after 17 years and A Williams stepping into the role, need for a better clubhouse which has been little changed since it was built over 30 years ago, students from Ballarat Teachers college read to home residents, publication of 'Courage' magazine to keep everyone up to date on Association events, and a profile on Russian migrant Alex Momot and how the AFB assisted him settle into Australia.1 printed volume with black and white illustrationsassociation for the blind, kelaston home (ballarat), elanora home (brighton), mirridong home (bendigo), alex momot, rosalie tyers, e irvine, l adamson, mrs r clarke, matron e mcleod, a sharry, matron rosewall, mrs s mcenroe, celeste baird, e goulding, mrs a bulluss, mrs a n roach, mrs m macdowell, mrs t carson, mrs j stanley smith, pam barker, mrs l thomas, mrs a mansfield, mrs l rogerson, elsie henderson, mrs murphy, mrs w christian, h h mackenzie, sister b agar, annual reports

Letter from Government House advising that Neil Maxwell will be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, congratulating him on this achievement and outlining the steps of his investiture.A4 white page with Governor-General letterheadnon-fictionneil maxwell, awards

Brief article on Neil Maxwell and his involvement with Vision Australia Foundation.1 newspaper article with black and white photographnon-fictionneil maxwell, vision australia foundation

An older man looks to camera as he smokes his pipe. He wears a flannelette shirt, jumper and jacket as he sits on a couch.2 black and white photographs of an elderly manelanora home (brighton), association for the blind

Business card used by Ron Black in his role as a Public Relations officer. It was found inside an album of images that he used when speaking about the Royal Blind Society of New South Wales and it's programs.1 white with burgundy print and RBS logoroyal blind society of nsw, ron black

RNIB sold a number of devices around the world, including games, clocks, brailling equipment and handicraft items. These are listed in this catalogue and some are found in this collection. 62 page booklet with black and white illustrationsroyal national institute for the blind, braille equipment, games, recreation equipment

Boys scramble over a 1920's style car, in the front gardens of RVIB St Kilda Road. One sits on the roof and another on the bonnet, both reaching to feel the windscreen wipers. Three boys are at the front, touching the engine, whilst two more touch the front of the tyre and another boy touches the rear of the tyre. The final three boys sit on the running board with various components in their hands.royal victorian institute for the blind, education, children

Carols by Candlelight was initially held to raise funds for the children's ward at the Austin Hospital. This image was probably taken for publicity purposes once the building was completed in 1951, for inclusion in the programs. In 1949, it was decided to split funding between the Austin and RVIB. From 1965, RVIB (now Vision Australia) has been the sole beneficiary.Black and white image of a three storey buildingChildren's Ward Austin Hospitalcarols by candlelight, austin hospital

As well as assistance in education and employment, agencies also provided support for adapting around the home. In this example, one woman is shown by a worker how to feel the temperature points in a pressure cooker. They stand in a kitchen, in front of an upright Davell cooker, next to a fridge and with steel utensils hanging on the wall behind the cooker.orientation and mobility, royal blind society of nsw

Weaving is a craft activity that has been a part of many day centres. In this image, a blind woman sit in front of a loom, holding the threads, her lips slightly pursed, as if in conversation. Another woman stands beside her and looks down at the work, her hand holding the weaving slightly forward as she looks at the stitches.royal victorian institute for the blind, day centres

Front of the Royal Blind Society of NSW's Newcastle branch. The building has two storeys, large glass windows and a staircase is also visible.Black and white photograph of the RBS branch in Newcastleroyal blind society of new south wales, newcastle

Employment is a key area that blind or vision impaired people are under-represented. These photographs were taken to demonstrate and provide examples of how blind and visually impaired workers can undertake skilled positions as switchboard operators. In the first image, a man wearing a headset sits behind a small switchboard and on the desk is a sign that reads "Please buzz for attention. Our receptionist/telephonist is blind". In a second image, two people sit at a desk. The woman uses a device to locate a key on the switchboard whilst wearing a headset. Beside her a man points to the key and holds a telephone receiver to his ear. In the third image, a seated man reaches forward to find a socket in the switchboard, with an audio jack attached to his finger. Beside the switchboard a man stands and holds his wrist, possibly guiding him.employment, royal victorian institute for the blind