In UK in early 1800's the word 'mechanic' was applied to a broader range of skills such as working man, tradesman or artisan. Mechanics' Institutes were formed originally for voluntary, self-funded organisations, to improve the education of working men and to instruct them on their various trades. The germ of the idea came from a class formed in 1799 by Professor George Birbeck in Glasgow, Scotland, for journeymen mechanics (apprentice trade workers), with the first Institutes being organised in London and Manchester in the 1820's. By then the original aim had broadened and the Mechanics' Institutes were established as popular agencies of adult education. The Mechanics' Institutes were run by committees that provided facilities for a meeting room, hall suitable for lectures, and a library. Funding was raised locally and often supplemented by grants from government agencies for the purchase of books and other resources. Activities were community based. In Australia, Mechanics' Institutes were set up in New South Wales and in Tasmania in the late 1820's. Mechanics' Institutes began in Victoria, with the first one in Melbourne dating from 1839, providing similar services but in time offered services tailored to their specific area. Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. "These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first reading room in November1884 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In q856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art., and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. In 1975 the original building was demolished and the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: - The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. - The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. - The Historic Society has some items - The State Museum has some items - Some items were destroyed - Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. NOTE: Pages of this book have been digitally recorded and archived.The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. Record book, Warrnambool Mechanics Institute Accounts Ledger, 1892-1896. Hard ccover, green with brown fabric protecting corners, Front of book has alphabetical index tabs, remainder of book has numbered pages with accounting columns.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, warrnambool mechanics' institute, mechanics' institute records warrnambool, record book 1892

This book has information about shipping companies and the world's ports. It was a handy guide for travellers of the time and included how and where to board ships going to various countries in 1930 & 1931. In effect, it was a reference work like a timetable for shippers and travellers alike.The book has maps depicting N.Y.K. shipping lines all over the world, indexes (including advertisers), and is thumb-indexed. This book is an official guide that supplies vast information for ships and shipping lines but also for tourists of the time. These types of reference works are keenly collected today.Official Shippers Guide reference book to the Principal Ports of the World, OSAKA SHOSEN KAISHA, 1930 – 1931, Seventeenth Edition, edited, compiled and designed by M. Franklin Kline. Large, hard covered, bound book with margin thumb tabs. Covers are dark red with gold lettering and embossed pattern. Centre of front cover has an oval image of a red steam ship on a gold sea. Above the ship is a white flag with a red emblem.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, traveller's guide, shippers guide, osaka shosen kaishaguide, guide to world ports, m. franklin kline

Leather gloves of unknown purpose and origin.A pair of long brown leather gloves with zip going from wrist to mid forearm. Zip has a tab at the end for ease of zipping. Some numbers written in black. 1. Right glove with 329. 2. Left glove with 419740.1. 329 written in black texta. 2. 419740.gloves, uniform

This accounts book has been used by a Warrnambool butcher whose name is unknown. The entries date from 1913 to 1915 and the names of those with accounts are mostly well-known residents of Warrnambool at the time. The items bought include hams, shoulders, lard, sides, German sausage, pork sausages, bacon, hocks and bones. The book was found in the old Mackay Taylor law firm building and was obviously in storage with that firm. The owner of the accounts book would have been a client of the law firm. Mackay Taylor was formed in 1893 with the merger of the law firms of George Sutherland Mackay and James Fletcher, a business that was known originally as Fletcher and Mackay and then changed to Mackay and Taylor in the 1920s. The business was at 131 Kepler Street.This accounts book is of some interest as it contains the names of many prominent Warrnambool people and their meat-related purchases in the 1913-1915 time frame. These include the names Battarbee, Ward, Milvertion, Harrington, Murrell, Powell, Younger, Smith and Russell. The lists of items bought show the lifestyles and eating habits of the time with some bulk buying of large pieces of meat, some for hotels etc. This is a small maroon coloured bound book of 173 pages (double-sided). There are pages with alphabetical tabs at the start of the book. Inside the front and back covers are inserts of heavy quality paper with a blue and red design. The entries are written in black ink.On spine – ‘Ledger’warrnambool butcher, warrnambool

The personal 'carry-all', a cloth apron like article was utilised by Thomas Hamilton Osborne in his work with the Warrnambool Steamship Navigation Company. He was Company manager in 1883 until its dissolution in 1899. Osborne wrote many articles on early Warrnambool, particularly maritime material under the name of " Sliding Gunter". When he died he was buried at sea off the breakwater.His sister Mrs Annabella Kell is thought to have made this article.This is a significant item as T.H.Osborne was a key figure in 19th Century Warrnambool history, particularly in maritime affairs. Six sided, scalloped edges, four pockets, two metal hooks, purple woven fabric with yellow and gold embroidery, lifebuoy outline with W.S.N.Co and THO initials embroidered and two flags. Machine sewing of pockets and tab to base apron.W.S.N.Co THO initials on top of each other Two metal hookswork apron, warrnambool steamship navigation company, wsnc, thomas hamilton tracey osborne, annabella kell, sliding gunter

Made for children of Camp 3 by German Officers.Dark brown, light brown and red leather, brown star. Red diagonal strip across front fixed to wallet with buttonhole stitch. Brown tab fastener, edge laced with brown leather. 1 pocket inside. Cream lining.wallet, leather, griffin h, camp 3, ww2 camp 3, accessory, helga girschik

Found in Audrey Lascelles Barwon Heads house.Ledger, bound in brown leather, marbled end papers, "Ledger" embossed on spine. First pages alphabetically tabed, remaining 170 pages printed blue and red lines. Entries are a personal record of expenses of the Dennys family 1879-1882wool stores wool sales, dennys, lascelles limited, lascelles, mr edward harewood dennys, mr charles john, wool stores, wool sales

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. This item is an example of a home-made item of clothing and reflects the needlework skills of women in the mid twentieth century.A long, coffee-coloured, organza dress with a plain weave, sheer fabric. It is sleeveless, collared and waisted with a scalloped hemline. It opens on the left side with 5 metal press studs and the inside shoulders have tabs with studs (probably to hold straps in place.)dress women's clothing burton-marjorie organza

Red felt Hostess hat with small brim with small Dent in right top side. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs, Black band inside with black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

Red felt Hostess hat with small brim with small Dent in right top side. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs, Black band inside with black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

Olive Drab sealed tin with key to open stuck on top. To open the key slot is slid onto to a tab on the top left side. The key is then twisted around in a clockwise direction until the top is able to be peeled back, to access the contents (unknown) AMF (Australian Military Forces) EMERGENCY RATIONS NOT TO BE OPENED EXCEPT IN EMERGENCYtinned emergency ration

These items are original records from the Warrnambool City Council and contain information on land sales and sub-divisions within the city area for the second half of the 20th century. The ledger contains the names of those involved in the sale and transfer of land and the file cards give illustrative details of the allotments – plans, maps etc. These items are of considerable significance as they are Warrnambool City Council records dealing with land sales and sub-divisions in the second half of the 20th century. They will be useful for research. .1 A metal-bound ledger with a dark red leather cover and pages printed with red and blue lines. There are red alphabetical tabs with gold print attached to the outer edges of the pages. The entries are handwritten in blue ink. .2 A grey metal cabinet, rectangular in shape and rusted on the base. The cabinet has two drawers with handles and these drawers contain file cards. The cards have a negative or transparency inserted into the top corner. .3 File cards with a negative inserted and a green backing .4 File cards similar to .3 above but of a different size. .5 A packet of unused file cards with tabs land sales and sub-divisions, warrnambool city council

This ledger lists the 1920s and 30s mortgages which were administered by the Warrnambool legal firm of Mackay and Taylor. This firm arose out of the merger of the legal businesses of George Mackay and James Fletcher in 1893 and the subsequent acquisition in the 1920s of a partner, J. Taylor, to make the firm, Mackay and Taylor. This firm with added partners survived until the 1990s. The list of mortgagees and mortgagors in the ledger are summaries of the transactions of the borrowings and repayments. The ledger has some significance as it contains the names of some mortgagors and mortgagees in Warrnambool in the 1920s and 30s and the information would be useful to researchers.This is a ledger (foolscap size) with a bound blue cover with red binding on the spine. The red binding is in poor condition. The pages have alphabetical tabs and there is one set of 5 loose pages listing mortgages expiring in and before 1930. Entries are handwritten in blue ink. Inside front cover: ‘Register of’ Spine: ‘Register of Mortgages’ mackay and taylor, warrnambool mortgages 1920s and 30s

Orange faded felt Hostess hat with small brim with 4 small dents on top. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs. Black band inside with stretched black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

A badly damaged small antique brown leather Lutheran German Missal which has no title page and the cover is broken away from the pages. There are two small leather tabs on the back cover which would have closed the missal. 330.Pp. non-fictionAs the title page is missing there are no details as to the publisher of this missal. It is written in German. A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest to celebrate Mass publicly and others for private and lay use. missals, religious books, churches

Document titled "Sundry Traffic Information Cable and Electric Depots" 23-3-1927 photocopied from an original MMTB document. Lists for each depot, both cable and electric, details of the personnel, tramcars, operations, route details and for electric depots, location of cross overs.Yields detail information about cable and electric tram depots in Melbourne.Information book - card covers, containing photocopied pages - 26 sheets for cable trams and 28 sheets for electric depots. Covers and binding strip cut from a 1967 Sands McDougall calendar. Cable tram section has letraset black tabs. tramways, trams, cable tram, depots, car houses, operations, tramcars, mmtb

Red felt Hostess hat with small soft brim with 5 Dents on back & front & right side. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs, Black band inside with black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

Red felt Hostess hat with small brim, 5 dents at back, 3 small dents at front. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs, Black band inside with black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

Red felt Hostess hat with small brim with 3 vertical dents in top front & right side. Thin red band with 3 lines of white stitches around crown of hat with 2 tabs, Black band inside with black hat elastic sewn in by Nivek Headwear Reg. Melb.

An inmate's cape, black/dark navy blue serge with a grey stripe, grey lining. Fasteners with tab and single brown button at neck. Outer surface has a dart at each shoulder, lining has dart only on wearer's left. Very roughly made.costume, sunbury asylum, george evans collection

Reproduction Model Mining Cage. This item is constructed of wrought and forged flat iron. It clearly displays how the breaking mechanism of a mining cage is created so that if the tension is released from the support cables , the cage 'locks' on to the side rail (Skid). (see Research Tab)gold mining, miners' safety cage

Presented with 11 b/w portrait photographs of councillors in the City of Glen Eira. Copyright for this image is unknown, although likely commissioned by Council. It has been digitised and published here for educational and research purposes. If you believe that you have copyright to this image and would like it removed from the site please contact us through the 'Leave a Comment' tab below. Colour portrait photograph of Cr Dorothy Ford wearing a dark printed dress with a string of pearls.Handwritten on verso in blue ink pen: " Cr. Dorothy Ford "

Cream coloured linen and lace ladies dickey. Front opening with crossover. Each side made from two pieces of silk fabric. Crossover forms V shaped neckline. Edge of crossover has lace trim (5cm) folded back to form collar effect. Lace has scalloped edge. On each side at waist level. Front has tape tab (2cm X 9cm). Tab on LH side has 5cm loop attached at side. Back panel of linen fabric has .5cm tape stitched along hem with long ties formed either end(59cm & 34cm).costume accessories, female, linen and lace ladies dickey

White cotton, nurse's apron, heavily starched. Three piece skirt, lightly gathered at back, adjoins a 4.5 cm waistband, and bib front which has broad shoulder straps 8.5 cms wide which cross at the back, and button to the waistband, leaving a 10 cm long rounded tab finished end. No buttons evident, which probably suggests removable buttons, fastened with safety pins, or "hair clip" type fasteners. A 3.5 cms tuck has been sewn around the hemline.Two buttonholes in shoulder strap tab end. Three button holes in back waistband. Worn by Merryn Ellison.costume, female, white cotton nurse's apron

These are WW1 Australian soldiers, They have leather bandoliers, leather leggings and spurs. Most have slouch hats. Therefore they are probably drivers. The big officer in the middle has red tabs so it is assumed he would be Colonel or above. Seated on the ground, right side is a veteran. He has a colour patch with the letter "A" . There is a Lance Corporal with a colour patch. I would place this as c1916-1918.This is a small group portrait set into a cardboard frame. The photo is black and white. There are 3 ranks of soldiers in front of a timber weatherboard building.On the back written in texta is Mrs O. Pell.photograph, ww1

Considered significant due to images of Mayor and Mayoress Fred Porter and Town Clerk Mr J. Briggs. Copyright for this image is unknown, although likely commissioned by Council. It has been digitised and published here for educational and research purposes. If you believe that you have copyright to this image and would like it removed from the site please contact us through the 'Leave a Comment' tab below.B/W photograph of the unfurling of the Caulfield Race Course Ground Pennant by Mrs Fred Porter, 23 July 1927

Waist length jacket ,kahki colour ,Twin breast pockets 'long sleeves buttoned cuffs inner pockets 4buttoning front ,Waist fastening tab& buckle. Woollen fabric outer ......cotton fabric inner pockets &bindings .....9 buttons ....2 insignia on each shoulder 71 JOHNSON .......MAKER EDELSTEIN & KARP Made in Australia . Dry cleaning numbers 001 no 16380 attached to hanging up loop .bomber jacket, khaki, infantry, army

Pennants are used to advertise events or places. This pennant includes all the main areas of construction done by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria during their construction of the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme. The pennant advertises the highlights in the construction of the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme.A small triangular navy blue with gold printing fabric with a strip of woollen bias binding on the left side with a tab at the top and bottom for attaching to a rod to enable the pennant to hang. The background of the printing is of mountains with water flowing out of a dam and in the front on the left power poles and power lines.In gold - large letters"Kiewa Scheme" decreasing in size. On the top also in gold "Mt Beauty" "Clover Dam" and "Bogong Village" and underneath "Falls Creek" Rocky Valley"kiewa scheme, pennant

Blue cardboard covered ACCOUNTS KEEPING LEDGER with alphabetical tabs on right hand side detailing purchase and sale of Gold Mine shares / page 6 has a share receipt dated March 12 1880 regarding the Lady Barkly Gold Mining company -200 shares/accounts ledger, shares register