Showing 550 items
matching hall opening
-
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Tintype, Portrait of two young girls
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, 6 Sturt St Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .2) A tintype portrait of two girls heads, attached to a card. The girls are wearing a cloak with a large bow at the frontlittle gem, women, children, photography, tintype -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Portrait of a Woman
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .3) A tintype portrait of a woman, attached to a card. little gem, tintype, woman, unidentified woman, women -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Portrait of a Man
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .4) A tintype portrait of a man, attached to a card. little gem, tintype, man, unidentified man -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Possibly American Studio, Portrait of a child
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) A tintype portrait of a child, attached to a card. little gem, child, hat -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Photograph - Little Gem tintype, American Studio, Portrait of a Woman
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, 6 Sturt St Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) A tintype portrait of a woman's head, attached to a card. Printed on the lower edge of the card "Allen & Gove, American Studion, 6 Sturt St, Ballarat"ballarat, american studio, little gem, allen gove, tintype, woman, unidentified woman, photography -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Portrait of a Man
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, 6 Sturt St Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .8)A tintype portrait of a man's head, attached to a card. The cheeks have been hand coloured.little gem -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Portrait of a Woman in a hat
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, 6 Sturt St Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .9) A tintype portrait of a woman's head, attached to a card. The cheeks have been hand coloured.little gem, woman, unidentified woman, women, photography -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Possibly American Studio, Portrait of a Boy
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, 6 Sturt St Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) .9) A tintype portrait of a child's head and torso, attached to a card. The boy is wearing a suit and the cheeks have been hand coloured.little gem -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Little Gem tintype, Portrait of a Woman in a Hat
The tintype (or ferrotype or Melainotype) was produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 5.5cm x 9.0cm, but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest were "Little Gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often produced by travelling photographers, and were cheaper than Ambrotypes so made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. The print would come out laterally reversed (as one sees oneself in a mirror). Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s. (Above information abridged from http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/history/tintype.htm) The firm of Gove and Allen opened in Sydney in 1880 and were responsible for the belated popularizing of the gem tintype in Australia. The firm traded as both The American Gem Studio and The American Studio. Others franchises were opened in Melbourne, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). The Sandhurst branch closed in 1882 and Adelaide in 1884. All Gove and Allen studios had ceased trading by 1885. The studio addresses were: 23 King William St, Adelaide; 324 George St, Sydney; 95 Swanston St, Melbourne; Howard Place, Sandhurst; 7 Queen St, Brisbane; The card mounts used in Gove and Allen studios in Australia are identical to those used in America. They were initially made of plain white card with embossing around the oval image opening in the mount while some also had simple geometric and floral printed designs as well. Although Gove and Allen studios produced the majority of gem tintypes in Australia, other studios offered them including: - London, American & Sydney Photo Company, 328 George St, Sydney; - David Edelsten, 55 & 57 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Burman's Portrait Rooms, St. George's Hall, 209 Bourke St, Melbourne; - Bell's Gem Portrait Studio, 57 Bourke St East, Melbourne; - R. H. Kenny, Bridge St, 6 Sturt St Ballarat; - Marinus W. Bent, Sandhurst (Bendigo); - George Fisher, Victoria; - Anson Brothers, Hobart Town. (Abridged information from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/photos/tintypes.html) A tintype portrait of a woman's head and shoulders, attached to a card. The cheeks have been hand coloured.little gem, woman, unidentified woman, women, photography -
Federation University Historical Collection
Invitation and ticket, Invitiation and Ticket to the Opening of the Ballarat College of Advanced Education '1870 Founders Hall'
... .1) Typed orange card reserving seating at the opening...) Typed orange card reserving seating at the opening of '1870 ....1) Typed orange card reserving seating at the opening of '1870 Founders Hall' at Invitiation Ballarat College of Advanced Education. .2) Typed orange card reserving seating at the opening of '1870 Founders Hall' at Invitiation Ballarat College of Advanced Education. -
Federation University Historical Collection
Book, University of Ballarat Annual Report, 2009, 2009
Soft covered book with a building and details from an Aboriginal dot painting on the cover. Contents include: Univesity of Ballarat Charter, About the University, TravelSmart Program, Prospects Restaurant judged Best Training Restaurant in Victoria, IMB Services Centre opening, 'Learn to Succeed' branding, grant Street Foot Bridge,Manufacturing Technology Training Centre, riding for the Disabled, Equine Centre Images include: Grant Paulson, Robert H.T. Smith, David Battersby, Christine Nixon, Angela Carey, Andrew Allen, John Brumby, Jacinta Allan, Mathew Hall, Rowan Waina, Ronnie Smith, Alsion Nguyen, Grant Hackett, Frank Stagnitti, Sam Kameer, Rowena Coutts, Barbara Webb, Trevor Ferguson, Peter Gell, University of Ballarat Council .3) Financial Statementsuniversity of ballarat, battersby, webb, coutts, gell, annual report, david battersby, barabara webb, reconciliation action plan, grant paulson, robert h.t. smith, honorary doctorate - christine nixon, angela carey, andrew allen, geoff howard, dale boucher, frank stagnitti, rowena coutts, sovereign hill, jacinta allan -
Federation University Historical Collection
Programme, The Opening of Civic Hall, 1956, 1956
... The Opening of Civic Hall, 1956... on the occasion of the Opening of Ballarat Civic Hall on in August 1956..., and an artist's impression of the Ballarat Civic Hall. The Opening ...The City of Ballarat unanimously resolved to erect a Civic Hall in Mair Street in 1951. The architects, Gordon Murphy, of Melbourne, and H.L. and L.J. Coburn, of Ballarat, were commissioned in 1952. The Council constructed the foundations and footings for the building under the supervision of the former City engineer, Mr L.H. Finch, in 1953. These footings are of massed concrete. The design for the building took advantage of the cross fall of the land, providing for the Small Hall to be entered from the Doveton Street frontage through a foyer under the Main Stage, the structure is steel with brick panels, with accommodation for 1,592 persons in the Main Hall and 440 persons in the Lower Hall. The front facade faces Mair Street, set back from the building line to provide for the entrance drive-ways and kerbed gardens. Tenders were invited on a firm price basis. A young Ballarat master Builter, Walter Benbow Trahar was the successful tenderer, the contract price being 139,841 pounds. the work was commenced in 1953 and has proceeded in spite of material and labour difficulties until its completion. The following statistics are of interest:- * The foundations contained 200 cubic yards of concrete. * The constructional steel work weighs approximately 270 tons. * The reinforcing steel 47 tons. * Reinforced concrete in the structure, 1,100 cubic yards. * The approximate number of bricks in the building, 580,000. * The flooring is of selected kiln-dried hard wood and totals 40,000 lineal feet. * The dimensions of the Main Auditorium, 100ft by 86 ft, including the side promenades each 82ft by 13ft. *The Main stage, of reinforced concret with parquette finish measures 62 ft by 40ft. *The floor area of the Lower Hall is 74 ft by 38 ft, and has a stage dimensions of 40ft by 20 ft. * Each hall has independent heating and ventillating systems. Where possible the material in the building was furnished from local business houses. The public address installation, which provided for additional microphones, is on the main Stage. There is inter-communication throughout the building connecting the front office, with the bioscope box, the stages in both the large and lower halls, and the Hallkeeper's residence. Local craftsmen have completed the painting, plaster work, and the electrical installation; local produced materials being used in the construction of the buildings with the exception of the timber for the Main Floor, the roofing and the structural steel. The City of Ballarat Councillors in 1956 were Councillors N. T. Callow, F.J. Cutts, K.C. Webb, W.E. Roff, O.W. Curnow, F.T. Woodward, Allan C. Pittard, A.W. Nicholson, J.A. Chisholm, G.L. Scott, F.W. Oliver, A.D. Mason. The Town clerk was H.R. Maddern and the City Engineer was G. Murrowood. A City of Ballarat Council meeting of 25 September 2013 voted to demolish the Ballarat Civic Hall. The Council heard from nearly 50 members of the public during a marathon six-hour meeting. Councilors John Birt, Des Hudson, Amy Johnson, Josh Morris, Peter Innes, John Philips supported the motion to demolish Civic Hall. Councillors Samantha McIntosh, Vicki Coltman and Belinda Coates voted against the motion.Six page souvenir Program of citizens' entertainment on the occasion of the Opening of Ballarat Civic Hall on in August 1956. The front cover features the City of Ballarat Coat of Arms. The programme starts with a message from the Mayor, Cr Neil T. Carrow. It includes the Concert Programme directed by James H. Davey, an asrtist's impression of the Civic Hall from Mair Street, and information relative to the New Civic Hall. The programme features images of the City of Ballarat Coat of Arms, Cr N.T. Callow, , James H, Davey, and an artist's impression of the Ballarat Civic Hall. Mayor Neil Callow's Message: "To-day, our citizens witness the fulfilment of the most extensive Municipal undertaking in the City's period of recent prosperity and development. Their Hall now fills a requirement of which they have been deprived since the Coliseum building was destroyed by fire over 20 years ago. The building has been designed as an all purpose structure and I am hopeful the citizens will use it and enjoy it to its fullest extent. Your Council and its Architects have planned as broadly as possible for the benefit of all to-day and for years to come. We are proud of the work executed by a Ballaarat Master Builder whose work is a monument to the City's craftsmen. I feel I should also remind this assembly that the women of Ballaarat, back in 1951, provided funds which have been applied in the purchase of a Grand Piano and two Upright Pianos which are now installed in this building. The sincere hope of myself and your Councillors is that this Hall and its amenities will prove of immense value to the development of the cultural and artistic tastes of this community and that it will be freely used for these and many other purposes. From now on this magnificent building and its furnishings and equipment will be available to all. I strongly exhort you to use and protect it. My hope is that the citizens will, for many years to come, enjoy the amenities which it has to offer. ballarat civic hall, civic hall, architecture, finch, art deco, city of ballarat, coat of arms, city of ballarat coat of arms, callow, shugg, lemke, oates, gullan, tuuri, john, robertson, sorrell, antonio, gordon murphy, walter benbow trahar, trahar, coburn, h.l. coburn, l.j. coburn, n.t. callow -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Timer, 1940s
Australia's first telephone exchange was opened in Melbourne in August 1880. It was operated by the Melbourne Telephone Exchange Company. Owned by W. H. Masters and T. T. Draper, the Manager of the Company was H. Byron Moore. This was only two years after the world's first exchange in the United States, and just four years after Bell first spoke on a telephone. The exchange was located in the old Stock Exchange building at 367 Collins Street, a site now occupied by the Commonwealth Bank. In 1884, the operations of the Company, by then known as the Victorian Telephone Exchange Company, had grown considerably and were transferred to Wills Street, Melbourne. Private ownership of this company continued until 1887 when it was bought out by the Victorian Colonial Government. Other colonial governments followed this example. By 1910, the growth in telephone services made additional accommodation necessary. This could not be provided in the existing building in Wills Street and arrangements were made for a new exchange in Lonsdale Street. Alexander Graham Bell visited Australia in 1910 to advise the Federal Government's Postal Commission. Telephone exchanges were established in Adelaide with (48 subscribers), Hobart (10 subscribers) and Launceston (35 subscribers). The first exchange in Western Australia was established in 1887 and located in a small three-room cottage in Wellington Street, Perth with 17 subscribers. The year 1888 marked the opening of the Fremantle exchange in a small room at the rear of the Town Hall. There were nine subscribers. Australia's first automatic exchange was installed in the GPO in Sydney, in 1911, for internal use. But the first automatic exchange for public use was opened at Geelong in Victoria in the next year July 1912 with 800 subscribers. Melbourne's first automatic exchange was opened in the suburb of Brighton in 1914; the first public automatic exchange in NSW began operating at Newtown, Sydney in 1915; and Queensland's first was installed at South Brisbane in 1925. 1929 saw the opening of Tasmania's first automatic exchange in Hobart. an automatic telephone service. In June 1977, the manual telephone exchange at Swansea was replaced with an automatic service and made Tasmania the first State in Australia to have a fully automatic network. The half-century following Federation saw the growth of the automatic operation; a great extension of trunk line services; The automatic telephone contributed greatly to the early popularity of telephones in Australia. It was a quicker and more convenient way of communicating with another person on the same exchange — instead of having to go through tedious processes with the operator. From its introduction, the number of automatic telephones in operation grew to a remarkable extent. In 1886, the first trunk link of 16 km was connected to the exchanges of Adelaide and Port Adelaide in South Australia. Then, in 1907, the first inter-capital telephone trunk line was opened between Sydney and Melbourne. It was followed by a line between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1914. Sydney and Brisbane were linked in 1923, and Perth and Adelaide in 1930. In 1930, the first overseas calls from Australia came possible with the introduction of a radiotelephone service to England, and through there to Europe and America. A similar service opened to New Zealand in the same year. Initially, trunk channels linked different manual trunk exchanges. It was necessary for a succession of trunk operators to connect the appropriate channels, one after the other until the connection was made. As trunk traffic grew. the system became increasingly unsuitable. More trunk operators had to be employed and so labour costs increased. It was a tedious and slow way of making a long-distance call, and it was sometimes hard to hear, particularly when several exchanges were linked With technical advances, trunk switching moved from manual operation through a partly automatic phase. Automatic transit switching equipment was used and only a single operator was required to connect a trunk call to a wanted automatic subscriber. Until well beyond the middle of this century, the majority of trunk traffic went through this single telephonist control. In 1953, the number of telephones in use in Australia passed the one million mark. By then, the need for improvement in the automatic exchanges was becoming well recognised. The need was for a telephone switching system which would do a better job more economically than the conventional step-by-step ex-change. This led to the adoption of the Crossbar system as the standard in automatic telephone exchanges in 1960. The introduction of Crossbar switching was a big step forward in the automation of trunk calls. It substituted automatic switching and charging equipment for the originating trunk operator, and improved the quality of the system radically. Before the introduction of the Crossbar system there were often very long delays in obtaining a booked trunk call, and the quality of sound was often very poor. With Crossbar, Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) became a reality. A trunk call by STD was as easy to make and almost as fast to connect as a local call.The item was made around the 1940s and used up until the 1970s in manual cord telephone exchanges as a way to time and charge users for trunk calls made over the telecom system of the time. Post Master General dept. - Trunk Call Timer.Inscribed PMG, C. of A, 37. Bell chimes at 3 min increments.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, timer, trunk call, telephone, cord exchange -
Federation University Historical Collection
Programme, Opening of the 1870 Founders Hall, 1981, 28/03/1981
... to the opening of the 1870 Founders Hall by His Excellency the Right.... .3) Invitation card to the opening of Founders Hall made out ...On 28 March 1981 the Ballarat College of Advanced Education 1870 Founders hall was opened. The hall was erected from the proceeds of the Centenary Appeal for a sum of approximately $800,000. The hall commemorates the initiative of the founders of the original Ballarat School of Mines and its "descendants", including Ballarat College of Advanced Education, as well as formal technical education in Australia. The hall was build to accommodate 670 persons in a theatre type seating and was intended for multiple purpose use by community groups as well as by the College. Construction of the hall commenced in 1978. It was opened approximately 110 years after the Ballarat School of Mines (26 October 1870) and 10 years after the opening of the Mt Helen Campus (31 October 1870)..1) White card with blue and brown ink relating to the opening of the 1870 Founders Hall by His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor-General of Australia. .2) Souvenir Programme and Entree to inaugural concert in the 1870 Founders Hall. .3) Invitation card to the opening of Founders Hall made out to Mr and Mrs Z.A. Plavinaballarat college of advanced education, founders theatre, founders hall, theatre, zelman cowen, m.b. john, e.j. barker, w.j.c. north, ian gordon, zig plavina, invitation, 1870 founders hall -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photographs - 5 black and white, Ballarat Junior Technical School Social Function - 1975, 1975
On 28 March 1981 the Ballarat College of Advanced Education 1870 Founders hall was opened. The hall was erected from the proceeds of the Centenary Appeal, held in 1975. It cost approximately $800,000. The hall commemorates the initiative of the founders of the original Ballarat School of Mines and its "descendants", including Ballarat College of Advanced Education, as well as formal technical education in Australia. The hall plans were to erect a building to accommodate 670 persons in a theatre type seating arrangement and to be used for multi-purpose use by community groups as well as by the College. Construction of the hall commenced in 1978. It was opened approximately 110 years after the Ballarat School of Mines (26 October 1870) and 10 years after the opening of the Mt Helen Campus (31 October 1870)..1) Morgan B. John on left with Bill North right. .2) L to R:- Betty Barrell; W.J.North; John Vernon; A.C.Burrow; Mrs North; Dulcie Burrow; Mrs Webb; K.C.Webb; Geoffrey Barrell .3) L to R:- unidentified; E.J. Tippett; Bert Stohr .4) L to R:- Mrs Handford-Stevens; Mrs Nicholson; J Handford-Stevens; Sir A Nicholson, Mayor of Ballarat .5) L to R:- Bill North; unidentified; S Martin-Brown; unidentifiedPhotographer's stamp on back of each photograph. .1) In pencil: "at Centenary Appeal conclusion reception 1975"; "M.B.John, President of (BIAE crossed out) SMB Council; W.J.C.(Bill) North, appeal committee chairman"; 10 - 3. .2) 10 - 4 .3) 10 - 2 .4) 10 - 1 .5) 10 - 5 a.w. nicholson, e.j. tippett, m.b. john, morgan b. john, ballarat junior technical school, ballarat school of mines, ballarat college of advanced education, 1870 founders hall, centenary appeal, 1978, 1981 -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, before 1911
Photograph, black and white, of the three-masted barque SPECULANT at a jetty in low water. On the jetty and the shore are stacks of cut timber. The ship is in a wide river or bay, hills in the background, trees (like gum trees) in the foreground. Inscribed "Wrecked 10.2.11. Cape Patten. Jacobson. Munro. - - - -" Written on the photograph in blue pen "Rosbercon". (The SPECULANT was wrecked on 10th February 2011 at Cape Patton, Victoria, (not Patten as on the photograph). She was sailing under the control of Captain James Jacobsen and her First Mate was James Mumro.) The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Photograph, black and white, of the three-masted barque SPECULANT at a jetty in low water. On the jetty and the shore are stacks of cut timber. The ship is in a wide river or bay, hills in the background, trees (like gum trees) in the foreground. Inscribed below photograph "Wrecked 10.2.11. Cape Patten. Jacobson. Munro. - - - -" Written on the photograph in blue pen "Rosbercon"Inscribed below photograph "Wrecked 10.2.11. Cape Patten. Jacobson. Munro. - - - -" Written on the photograph in blue pen "Rosbercon"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, warrnambool historical photograph, cape patten, munro, james munro, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, before 1911
Photograph, black and white, of the sailing barque Speculant, berth at Warrnambool Breakwater. Two steamships are also in the photograph. There are people on the Speculant and on the breakwater. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Photograph, black and white, of the sailing barque Speculant, berth at Warrnambool Breakwater. Two steamships are also in the photograph. There are people on the Speculant and on the breakwater.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, warrnambool breakwater, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, The Barquentine "Speculant" at Melbourne Docks, before 1911
This photograph is of the barque "SPECULANT" during one of her voyages to Melbourne. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Photograph, black and white, titled "The barquentine "Speculant", at Melbourne Docks"Title below photograph reads "The barquentine "Speculant", at Melbourne Docks"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, photograph, speculant, melbourne docks, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, f. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, before February 1911
Title "Bqt Speculant" on front of photograph - where "Bqt" is the abbreviation for "barguentine" [see The Shipslist, Ancestry.com] The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Back and White photograph of the barquentine Speculant, at dock. Title "Bqt Speculant" on front of photo.Title "Bqt Speculant" on front of photo.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, c 10th February 1911
This photograph was taken after the SPECULANT was wrecked at Cape Patton, Victoria. It is uncertain which ship is in the photograph insert to the the top right hand corner of this photograph. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton, steep hills in the background. A second photo in top right hand corner of a different ship aground, with a crowd in the foreground, Hand written in white on front of photograph "SPECULANT ASHORE ON CAPE PATTEN 10/2/11" (incorrect spelling of Cape Patton).Hand written in white on front of photograph "SPECULANT ASHORE ON CAPE PATTEN 10/2/11" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, photograph, speculant, cape patton, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, f. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime historyla bella, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, 10/02/1911
This photograph of the wrecked SPECULANT would have been taken soon after the ship ran aground, as her sails are still flying. There are people aboard at the stern of the ship. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton, some sails still hung, people on board. White hand writing on front of photograph "SPECULANT WRECKED CAPE PATTEN.10/2/11" (incorrect spelling of Cape Patton)White hand writing on front of photograph "SPECULANT WRECKED CAPE PATTEN.10/2/11" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, Mr. H. Pengilley, c. February 1911
This photograph would have been taken a while after the SPECULANT was wrecked at Cape Patton, Victoria, because she has broken up and the bow has been moved away from the ship. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the Bow of the Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton. On reverse side it states that the photograph was taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay "Taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, Mr. H. Pengilley, c. 10/02/1911
This photograph of the wreck SPECULANT was taken shortly after the ship was wreck, sails still on masts. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the Barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton, sails still up, steep hill in background. Black pen written on pfront of photograph "Wreck Speculant", "Cape Patten". On reverse side it states that the photograph was taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay On front, Black pen written on pfront of photograph "Wreck Speculant", "Cape Patten". On reverse, "taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay "flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, Mr. H. Pengilley, c. 10/02/1911
This photograph was taken shortly after the wreck of the SPECULANT at Cape Patton, Victoria. There are people on board the ship and it seems that they are taking the sails down. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the Barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton. Several people are on board. Some sails are still on masts. White hand writing on front "Wreck Speculant On Rocks Cape Patten". On reverse side it states that the photograph was taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay. on front, hand written in white "Wreck Speculant On Rocks Cape Patten". On reverse "taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, mr. h. pengilley, photograph, speculant, cape patton, apollo bay -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, Mr. H. Pengilley, c. 10/02/1911
Photograph of the wrecked SPECULANT taken shortly after the ship was wrecked at Cape Patton, Victoria. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the Barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton. On front hand written in white "Wreck of Speculant on Cape Patten". On reverse side it states that the photograph was "taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay" On front, white hand writing, "Wreck of Speculant on Cape Patten". On reverse "taken by Mr. H. Pengilley Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph, c. 10/02/1911
Photograph of the wreck of the barque SPECULANT, wrecked at Cape Patton, Victoria. The barquentine SPECULANT was a steel, three-masted sailing ship built in 1895 in Inverkeithing, Scotland, registered in Warrnambool, Victoria and wrecked at Cape Paton, Victoria, 10th February 1911. The SPECULANT had been involved in the timber trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, until sold to its Warrnambool owners and timber merchants Messrs. P.J. McGennan & Co. (Peter John McGennan) in 1902 for 3000 pounds and had her sailed to Warrnambool as her new port. Peter John McGennan was born in 1844 and worked as a builder and cooper in Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales. He immigrated to Australia in 1869 as a free settler and arrived in Warrnambool in 1871 and undertook management of a property in Grassmere for Mr. Palmer. Peter met his wife Emily in South Melbourne and they married in 1873. They had ten children including Harry who lived to 1965, and Andrew who lived until 1958. (The other children were their four brothers - John who was killed in the Dardenalles aged 35, Frederick who died aged 8, Peter who died aged 28, Frank who died aged 5 weeks - and four sisters - Beatrice who died age 89, Edith who died aged 49, Blanche who died aged 89 and Eveline who died aged 48.) In 1874 Peter starting a boating establishment on the Hopkins River. In 1875 he opened up a Coopers business in Kepler Street next to what was Bateman, Smith and Co., moving to Liebig Street, next to the Victoria Hotel, in 1877. In 1882 he then moved to Lava Street (which in later years was the site of Chandlers Hardware Store). He was associated with the establishment of the Butter Factory at Allansford. He started making Butter Boxes to his own design and cheese batts for the Butter Factory. In 1896 established a Box Factory in Davis Street Merrivale, employing 24 people at its peak, (it was burnt down in 1923); and in Pertobe Road from 1912 (now the Army Barracks building). Peter was a Borough Councillor for Albert Ward from 1885 to 1891, he commenced the Foreshore Trust (including the camping grounds along Pertobe Road), and he was an inaugural Director of the Woollen Mill in Harris Street, buying an extensive share-holding in 1908 from the share trader Edward Vidler. They lobbied the Town Hall to have a formal ‘Cutting’ for the waters of the Merri River to be redirected from its natural opening south of Dennington, to its existing opening near Viaduct Road, in order to have the scourings from the wool at the Woollen Mill discharged into the sea. He sold Butter Boxes around the state, and had to ship them to Melbourne by rail. Peter’s purchase of the SPECULANT in 1902 enabled him to back-load white pine from Kaipara, New Zealand to Warrnambool to make his butter boxes then, to gain profitability, buy and ship potatoes and other primary produce bound to Melbourne. (McGennan & Co. had also owned the LA BELLA, which had traded in timber as well, until she was tragically wrecked with the loss of seven lives, after missing the entrance channel to Warrnambool harbour in 1905. It appears that the SPECULANT was bought to replace the LA BELLA.) In 1911 the SPECULANT had been attempting to depart Warrnambool for almost the entire month of January to undergo docking and overhaul in Melbourne. A month of east and south-easterly winds had forced her to remain sheltered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool apart from one morning of northerlies, when an attempt was made to round Cape Otway; she had to return to shelter in Portland after failing to make any headway. With only 140 tons of sand ballast aboard, the ship would not have been easy to handle. Captain Jacobsen and his crew of nine, mainly Swedes, decided to make for Melbourne, leaving Portland Harbour on 5th February 1911. By the 9th they had reached Cape Otway, where they encountered a moonless night, constant heavy rain, and a heavy sea with a south-easterly wind blowing. After safely rounding Cape Otway the course was changed to east, then north-east to take the vessel to a point six miles off Cape Patton, following the orders of Captain Jacobsen, who told the crew to be very careful with the steering, as the wind and sea was running to leeward. The patent log (used to measure speed) had been out of order for the last four months as no-one in Warrnambool was able to fix it: it was intended to have it repaired in Melbourne. In the meantime the crew measured the vessel's speed by looking over the side and estimating wind strength. This compounded the difficulties of imprecise positioning, as the strong cross wind and sea were acting on the lightly laden vessel to steadily drive it towards the shore. At 3.30am on Friday 10 February 1911 Captain Jacobsen and the first mate were looking over the side of the vessel when they heard the sound of breakers and suddenly struck the rocks. The crew immediately knew they had no chance of getting the SPECULANT off, and attempted to rescue themselves by launching the lifeboat, which was instantly smashed to pieces. One of the crew then volunteered to take a line ashore, and the rest of the crew were all able to drag themselves to shore, some suffering hand lacerations from the rocks. Once ashore they began to walk along the coast towards Lorne, believing it was the nearest settlement. Realising their mistake as dawn broke they returned westwards to Cape Patton, and found a farm belonging to Mr C. Ramsden, who took them in and gave them a change of clothes and food. After resting for a day and returning to the wreck to salvage some of their personal possessions, at 10am on Saturday they set out for Apollo Bay, a voyage that took six hours, sometimes wading through flooded creeks up to their necks. The Age described the wreck as "listed to starboard. All the cabin is gutted and the ballast gone. There is a big rock right through the bottom of her, and there is not the slightest hope of getting her off". A Board of Marine inquiry found that Captain Jacobson was guilty of careless navigation by not taking steps to accurately verify the position of the vessel with respect to Cape Otway when the light was visible and by not setting a safe and proper course with respect to the wind and sea. It suspended his certificate for 6 months and ordered him to pay costs. The location of the wreck site was marked for a long time by two anchors on the shoreline, until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen. Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of, and directly below Cape Patton. Parts of the SPECULANT site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides. Peter J McGennan passed away in 1920. The Gates in the western wall of the Anglican Church in Henna Street/Koroit St are dedicated to him for his time of community work, which is matched with other prominent Warrnambool citizens; Fletcher Jones, John Younger, J.D.E (Tag) Walter, and Edward Vidler. After Peter J McGennan's death Harry, Andrew and Edith continued to operate the family business until July 11th 1923 when the company was wound up. (Andrew lived in Ryot Street Warrnambool, near Lava Street.) Harry McGennan (Peter and Emily’s son) owned the Criterion Hotel in Kepler Street Warrnambool (now demolished). His son Sid and wife Dot lived in 28 Howard Street (corner of Nelson Street) and Sid managed the Criterion until it was decided by the family to sell, and for he remained Manager for the new owners until he retired. Harry commenced the Foreshore Trust in Warrnambool around 1950. The McGennan Carpark in Pertobe Road is named after Harry and there are Memorial-Stone Gates in his memory. (The Gates were once the original entrance to the carpark but are now the exit.). Peter’s great-grandson, also called Andrew, is a Security Officer in Warrnambool. The Patent Log (also called a Taffrail log) from the SPECULANT, mentioned above, and a number of photographs, are now part of the Collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The SPECULANT is historically significant as the largest ship to have been registered in Warrnambool, and is believed to have been the largest barquentine to visit Melbourne. It is evidence of the final days of large commercial sailing vessels involved in the Victorian and New Zealand timber trade. The SPECULANT is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S626Black and White photograph of the Barquentine Speculant, on rocks at Cape Patton. On front in white hand writing "Speculant wrecked 10/2/11 Cape Patten"."Speculant wrecked 10/2/11 Cape Patten".flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, la bella, speculant, cumming and ellis, international timber trade, p. j. mcgennan and co. warrnambool, peter mcgennan, capt. james jacobsen, warrnambool maritime history, h. pengilley apollo bay, cape patton victoria, warrnambool historical photograph -
Federation University Historical Collection
Book, The Old Pioneers' Memorial History of Melbourne From the Discovery of Port Phillip to the World War, 1924
Blue hard covered book of 494 pages. Images, and a large plan of prominent burials in the Melbourne Old Cemetery, and a Map of Melbourne. melbourne, melbourne cemetery, melbourne old cemetery, john batman, edmund hobson, batman's map, st francis' church, james balfour, mrs hornbrook, paddy's market, wilson hall, working men's college, henry kendall, le souef's cottage, world war one, westernport, melbourne cup, hoddle, collingwood, south melbourne, prahran, richmond, kew, brunswick, coburg, preston, hawthorn, camberwell, nunawading, doncaster, st kilda, brighton, sandringham, cheltenham, caulfield, oalkleigh, footscray, sunshine, north melbourne, carlton, ballarat school of art library, ballarat technical art school, book plate, library plate, hume and hovell's overland journey 1824-5, major mtichell's overland journey, australia felix, booplate, aborigine, aboriginal, captain cook, arthur phillip, isaac smith, george bass, matthew flinders, john murray, catain baudain, captain collins, edward henty, portalnd, map od melbourne in 1938, john pascoe fawkner, the "enterprise: and fawkner's first home, old colonists' homes, rushall crescent north fitszroy, richard bourke, the old melbourne post offfice, old governmnt house, toorak, latrobe's house at jolimont, first melbourne land sale, melbourne water supply, peter henry smith, victorian legislative council opening, map of melbourne and collingwood, prince's bridge, crossing the rivers by punt, f.a> rucker, canvas city emerald hill, arrival of the gold escort in melbourne, the yarra, queen's wharf, tall ships, old st james, mary e. budd, st francis church, michael carr, meolbourne city mission, state library of victoria, melbourne public library, bourke street, angus mcmilan, methodist ladies college, ormond college, armistance celebrations, robert russell, mia mia, theatre royal bouke st, melbourne from flaggstaff hill, federal coffee palace collins st, lord melbourne, melbourne mint, old melbourne town hall, robert russell's melbourne and yarra falls, mandevalle hall, point lansdale lighthouse, wilson's promontory, margaret m. ward cole, williamstown, flinders st melbourne, queenscliff battery, broadmeadows soldiers' camp, embarkation of first troops on the 'ceramic', general monsash, ian hamilton, general bridges, victorian war memorial, national war memorial, st kilda pier, first melbourne cup, hoddle's grid, albert park, melbourne mechanic's institute, st kilda toll gate, munted policeman, springthorpe memorial, james bonwick, mornane's paddock, victorian railways melbourne and surburban lines, carlton gardens, thomas napier, wiliam westgarth, george augustus robinson, william lonsdale, elizabeth mary batman, peomena frances darling batman, dig tree, exhibition of 1854, exhibition of 1866, exhibition buildings, geelong harbour, jubilee lake, port campbell, warrnambool, queenscliff lightboat, batman's first house -
Federation University Historical Collection
Scrapbook, Ballarat Teachers' College Scrapbook, 1951-c1970, 1951-c1970
in 1950 Mavis Canty graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts.Brown hardcovered scrapbook folio relating to the Ballarat Teachers' College. It inlcudes Mavis Canty's graduation photo, appointment letter to the Ballarat Teachers' College, flyer for Education Week in Ballarat at Alfred Hall, signatures of 1952 & 1954 & 1958 & 1959 & 1960 graduands, Gillies Street Campus Opening, and various newsclippings mavis canty, ballarat teachers' college, ceaviney mavis canty, prudence hamono, kay o'keefe, eileen liddle, maureen liddle, gillies street campus, gillies street campus opening -
Ringwood and District Historical Society
Newspaper - Clippings, Melbourne Herald 8th May, 1959 - Norwood High School, Ringwood, Victoria
Norwood High School started the school year in multiple temporary premises while the new school was being erected in Byron Street, eventually opening mid 1959.Temporary alternative classroom accommodation report with photographs.Altogether, 214 pupils of the school work in what teachers say are impossible conditions in the East Ringwood drill hall, the Anglican Church Hall, and (East Ringwood) football pavilion. -
Ringwood and District Historical Society
Booklet, Twenty-five Years On (1955-80) - Warrandyte Lodge No.772, A.F. and A. Masons of Victoria, Ringwood, Victoria
Outline of Warrandyte Lodge 772 history since consecration in 1955. Includes list of foundation members, first initiates in 1956, secretaries 1955-1977, membership statistics, and naming of longest serving officer - Wor. Bro. H.W. Amos, 22 years. Also includes copy of opening Consecration Ceremony programme at Masonic Hall, Rochester Road, Canterbury, 9th September, 1955.