This inset was published to commemorate the Curlip Festival on 28/30 November 2008 and the P.S. Curlip 11 launch. The Snowy River Mail is an East Gippsland Newspaper. The original PS Curlip was a paddle steamer built in a Tabbara sawmill in 1889 by Samuel Richardson and his sons. It was operated along the Snowy River in Australia's Gippsland region between 1890 and 1919, before being washed out to sea, and broken on Marlo beach, by a flash flood. The Orbost and district community started a project in 2002 to construct a live steam powered replica, albeit somewhat larger than the original to meet safety regulations and carry additional passengers for commercial reasons, the Paddle Steamer Curlip II with the assistance of grants from the Federal and Victorian State Governments.Construction was started in earnest by shipwright, Bill Jones, in August 2006, and with the assistance of roughly 200 volunteers (a core group of 10 performing the majority of the work), she was finally completed and launched on the Snowy River in late November 2008. The construction of P.S.Curlip 11 was a community project which began as a project to re-engage the timber-working community of Orbost. The construction and launch was a major community event. The local newspaper, The Snowy River Mail, documented its progress on a regular basis.An insert from the Snowy River Mail newspaper dated November 2008. On the front cover is a coloured photograph of the Paddle Steamer Curlip 11. It contains photographs, information on the history of P.S. Curlip and the construction of Curlip 11. There are details of the Curlip Festival and advertisements.newspaper p.s.curlip

These pencils were supplied to the Orbost railway Station office to be used for clerical work. They were used by Victor Smithers who was the Assistant Station Master at Orbost from 1957 - late 1960's. He was also a reliever until the 1970's after which he returned to Ormond Station on the Frankston line where he worked until his death in 1979. The Bairnsdale-Orbost railway was opened in 1916 to serve the agricultural and timber industry. Because of the decline in traffic and heavy operating costs, the line was finally closed in August, 1987. Orbost Railway Station was opened on Monday 10 April 1916 as the terminus of the Orbost railway line, and closed in 1987. The station was located on the west side of the Snowy River despite the town of Orbost being on the east side of the river, in order to save on the costs of a bridge over the river, which at the time had highly variable levels. This item is associated with the history of the Orbost-Bairnsdale railway line and therefore reflects the role that the rail line played in the social and economic history of Orbost.Two coloured pencils. 2580.1 is a hexagonal blue pencil and has "Wolff's Emperor MADE IN AUSTRALIA". 2580.2 is a round red pencil with "Wolff's Fintorex MADE IN AUSTRALIA coloured copying". Both have "VICTORIAN RAILWAYS" marked in gold lettering on the sides. orbost-railway-station smithers-victor

The video shows Laurie LIght, a sleeper cutter for 42 years, using a swing saw. There is also a video of a lyre bird display. Laurie Light was born on May 12, 1938 to parents, Arthur Vernon Light and Nellie Hall. He started work with his father, a sleeper cutter for the Victorian Railways, at the age of 16. (More info. from newsletter LAURIE LIGHT, SLEEPER CUTTER - Heather Terrell)This item is associated with the history of the Orbost-Bairnsdale railway line and therefore reflects the role that the rail line played in the social and economic history of Orbost. It is also associated with the timber industry of East Gippsland.A D.V.D. of pictures and a video on Laurie Light, a sleeper cutter from 1950-1992. The disc is in a clear plastic case with a black insert. It is a copy of the original. this copy was probably made in 2016.On disc in red marker : "LAURIE LIGHT SLEEPER CUTTING with swing saw and lyre bird display"sleeper-cutting light-laurie timber-industry-orbost

This toolbox was originally part of the equipment on the barque Marjorie Craig, which brought New Zealand timber into Warrnambool from about 1908 to 1912 for the local merchants P J McGennan & Co. The toolbox was donated by a member of a local family connected with the La Bella rescue in 1905. The toolbox has carvings and markings that make it unique and connect it to the Marjorie Craig. The Craig Line of sailing ships was from Auckland, New Zealand, and traded in timber and some coal from New Zealand ports to Australia, including Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Warrnambool. They returned with produce from Australia as ballast. In 1912 the Craig fleet included the Ihumata, Inga, Jessie Craig, Marjorie Craig, Louisa Craig and Joseph Craig. The steel barque Marjorie Craig, 500 ton, was built in 1891 as the 'Hirotha', in Ardrossan, Scotland for Norwegian owners. The ship was sold to Auckland’s Donald Ross and others in 1900, then in 1905 it was sold, registered by J.J. Craig in Auckland, New Zealand and renamed Marjorie Craig. Marjorie Craig’s commanders included Master R A Campbell in 1907, J MacFarlane in 1909 and Master R.G. Holmes in 1913. From February 1908, the Marjorie Craig was regularly seen in the Port of Warrnambool with loads of timber for merchants P J McGennan & Co. In February 1912 Marjorie Craig delivered white pine for P J McGennan & Co. In April of the same year, she brought 500,000 feet of timber for McGennan & Co and again in May 1912. On May 12 1912 Marjorie left the Port of Warrnambool with 500 tons of flour for New Zealand; it seems that this was her last time at Warrnambool. Prior to 1908, the vessel Speculant brought in timber from New Zealand for the McGennan firm. The Marjorie Craig had a strong reputation for being a ‘Fast Flyer’, breaking the sailing records for voyages between New Zealand and Australia. It was reported that she made passages with a speed equal to steamboats on several occasions. One of her records was from Warrnambool to Hokianga, NZ in eight-and-a-half days. The ship broke the record in October 1913 for the time from Adelaide to Auckland, sailing in 28 days, even with a damaged ship, and the owner presented Captain Holmes with a gold watch and chain. By the end of December 1913, the Craig Line’s last two surviving sailing ships, Marjorie Craig and Jessie Craig, had been purchased by Huddart, Parker & Co. Ltd. to work as coal hulks, one in Melbourne and one in Hobart.The toolbox is significant for being created for use in 1905 when the steel barque Marjorie Craig was purchased by J J Craig and given that name. The carved ships’ images and related inscriptions within the toolbox support the origin of the toolbox. The toolbox is significant for its association with the well-known Marjorie Craig, a frequent visitor to the Port of Warrnambool 1908 to 1912, a supplier of New Zealand timber for the local firm P J McGennan & Co, and one of the fastest inter-colonial sailing ships that broke numerous records for its speed including the fastest sailing from Warrnambool to Hokianga. Wooden toolbox from the ship Marjorie Craig. Wooden box, stained brown, decorative metal handles on sides, dovetailed joints, lid with metal and leather strap hinge, tapered feet and metal keyhole at front. Inscriptions are inside the box. Box contains newspaper clippings relating to sailing and maritime topics. A handwritten tag is attached to the box. Handwritten tag: "SAILING SHIP / MARJORIE CRAIG, EARLY 1900's / TOOL BOX / PORT OF W'BOOL”. Inside the lid is a carved silhouette of a 3-masted sailing ship with pink chalk lettering "M C" and "1912". Inside the front panel is "MARJORIE CRAIG". Inside the left panel is stamped a black oval with lettering inside.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, port of warrnambool, marjorie craig, flour export - warrnambool, toolbox, steel barpue, p j mcgennan & co, craig line, craig fleet, 1891, hirotha, donald ross, j.j. craig, r a campbell, j macfarlane, r.g. holmes

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who were a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist? His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started a business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George You, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years, a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold land when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high-quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union was subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well-improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing-room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853, a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November 1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however, it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much-loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed artworks and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually, the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower areas of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave from 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However, he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 1 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co, 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1910-1911 Tan, leather bound illustrated workLabel on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute that reads Presented by W Lindsay Esq, “Union”, Woolsthorpe. Accession Number 15232 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of bookflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, pattison collection, the birds of australia vol 1, union station, woolsthrope, quamby station, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969.The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1912-1913 Tan leather bound illustrated work. Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15233 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 3 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1913-1914 Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15234 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 3, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 4 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1914-1915 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15235 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 4, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 5 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1915-1916 Tan leather bound illustrated workLabel on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15236 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 5, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 6 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1916-1917 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15237 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 6, quamby station, union station, woolsthorpe

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 7 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co Date: 1918-1919 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15238 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 7, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 8 Part 1 Supplmemt 1 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: Witherby & Co Date: 1920 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15239 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 8 part 1 supplmemt 1, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 9 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby Date: 1921-1922 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15240 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 9, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 10 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1922-1923 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15241 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 10, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 11 Part 1 Supplment 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1924 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15242 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 11 part 1 supplment 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859 "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance The Birds of Australia Vol 11 Part 2 Supplment 3 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H F & G Witherby Date: 1924 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15243 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 11 part 2 supplment 3, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 12 Part 1 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H. F. & G. Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1925-1927 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15244 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 12 part 1, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

The Birds of Australia is a 12 volume work, in a total of 14 books. The books were used as an ornithological handbook. They contain scientific text as well as over 600 hand-coloured lithographed plates by J.G. Keulemans, H. Grönvold, Roland Green, H. Goodchild and G.E. Lodge. The work was written, sponsored and organised by Gregory M. Matthews, F.R.S.C. Erc. who was a wealthy Australian and an amateur ornithologist. His titles included – -Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of London -Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union -Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union The volumes in our collection were originally donated to the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library by William Lindsay. THE LINDSAYS (quoted from the book Of Many Things – A History of Warrnambool Shire by C.E. Sayers) The Lindsays were amongst the most prominent families in the Shire of Warrnambool, as pastoralists, sportsmen, municipal councillors, community leaders. The first of the family William arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and started business as a livestock agent. The gold rushes sent him to the central Victoria diggings dealing in cattle. This was a business that boomed in the early 1850s, and he prospered. In 1859 he took over the Quamby run near Woolsthrope from Paul de Castella, the Yarra Valley Swiss vigneron who had brought the leasehold and improvements in 1853 from George Youl, who had pioneered the run. Quamby was originally 25,000 acres. It was heavily timbered, rough country, much of it swampy, a characteristic of the district. Lindsay used it to fatten cattle which gave large returns with the booming gold diggings towns paying high prices for beef. In 1862 purchases at auction made Quamby a freehold. In the next six years a further 20,000 acres of Crown land were brought at auction to make the run one of the largest in the south-west district. The great profits from his cattle trading enabled Lindsay to make improvements to the holding, and to Union which was added in 1864. Much of the thick timber was cleared and the worst of the swamps drained. Union was 15,000 acres of freehold when Kennedy sold it to Lindsay. It was heavily timbered, mostly blackwood, with large belts of wattle and honeysuckle. Much of the heavy native was ringbarked and cleared; much more was swept away by bushfire. It was expensive work, but Lindsay’s bank passbook was heavy with credit, and he did not spare money to make both Quamby and Union heavily developed stock runs. He was as lavish in social living; the bluestone Quamby homestead was one of the most hospitable in the district when William Lindsay was host there; its paddocks carried high quality thoroughbreds: its stables housed steeplechasers and flat racers which won many races on Warrnambool and other courses; its coach houses were filled with carriages which took his guests to the great racing carnivals of the district. After William Lindsay died in 1897, in his eighty-fifth year, his two sons, William and James, managed Union and Quamby as a joint venture. This partnership ended in 1906 when William took over Union and James kept Quamby. The following year 10,000 acres of Union were subdivided and sold in lots of 100 acres to 700 acres for dairying and general farming. It was well improved country, much of it alluvial flats. By then many of the paddocks were sheltered with blue gum belts, and they carried good pastures. The three Lindsays, father and two sons, gave many years of service to the Shire, and to many charitable, sporting, social and community organisations in the Warrnambool district. William Lindsay senior, was a Shire councillor for 15 years, and President several times. James Lindsay followed his father as a north riding councillor. He served nineteen years, from 1887 until his death in March 1908. He was President four times. Jimmy Lindsay was one of the most popular men in the south-west of Victoria. He was a fine sportsman: horse breeder, owner and a dashing amateur rider. He lived lavishly and played hard. For many years he guarded a herd of kangaroos, as many as 100 head, at Quamby. Descendants of the Lindsay kangaroos are still in the district. James Lindsay’s wife, Margaret Esther was a daughter of Samuel Shaw Parker, the first engineer of the Shire. Nell Lindsay, a daughter, lives in the Bluestone Quamby homestead. Only a little more than 60 acres of the original run still belongs to the property. William Lindsay junior succeeded his brother as a Shire councillor. He served for 25 years from 1908 until his death in 1934. So, the Lindsays, father and two sons, served as Shite councillors for an unbroken period of sixth-five years. William Lindsay junior had a life-long interest in horse racing, as breeder, owner and enthusiastic amateur steeplechase rider. He was elected a member of the Warrnambool racing club in 1901 and was president of the club for thirty-two years. He raced and rode horses for the love of the sport. He won the Villiers and Heytesbury Hunt Cup in the 1870s on his own horse, Ventura. In the year he died his horse Flavedo won the Warrnambool Grand Annual steeplechase. It was a sensational race. All of the contestants fell, or lost their riders. When Flavedo baulked at a jump, its jockey R. Sweetman, remounted and completed the course to win the race. All of the Lindsays were passionately fond of the thoroughbred horse. Nell Lindsay talking to the author in the drawing room of Quamby homestead - with many memories for her of its lavish years – said of a brother that he was put on a horse when he was two years old and never got off. William Lindsay junior made Union into a fine, high-producing property, breeding cattle and horses. He added to the bluestone house that David Kennedy started, established plantations of pines and gums, and made an attractive garden. WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first meeting room in November1854 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. THE PATTISON COLLECTION This book is also part of the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library, as the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute was then called. When the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1945 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Birds of Australia by Gregory M. Matthews is now considered a rare and valuable scientific and historic work on its own. These 12 volumes were donated in 1934 to The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute and were included as part of the Pattison Collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. The Birds of Australia Vol 12 Part 2 Author: Gregory M Mathews Publisher: H. F. & G. Witherby 326 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON Date: 1925-1927 Tan leather bound illustrated work.Label on spine cover with typed text RA 598.2994 MAT Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library that reads “Presented by W. Lindsay Esq. ‘Union’ Woolsthrope” Accession Number: 15245 Date Received: 3-34 “W. Lindsay” embossed in gold on front cover, bottom right of book flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the birds of australia, gregory m. matthews, witherby & co., h.f. & g. witherby, w lindsay, william lindsay, quamby woolsthorpe, union woolsthorpe, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool art gallery, joseph archibald, warrnambool mechanics’ institute and free library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the birds of australia vol 12 part 2, quamby station, union station, woolsthrope

This Jack plane was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. The Jack plane is a woodworking tool. The blade protrudes through the base. A layer of timber is shaved off the article being worked as the plane is pushed along the area. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) According to Berry, her mother Gladys made a lot of their clothes. She was very talented and did some lovely embroidery including lingerie for her trousseau and beautifully handmade baby clothes. Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . Its first station was in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital (a 2 bed ward at the Nelson Street Practice) from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what previously once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr Tom and his brother had worked as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He had been House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan had gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. When Dr Angus took up practice in the Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan’s old premises he obtained their extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926. A large part of this collection is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. and an ALDI sore is on the land that was once their tennis court). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. He had an interest in people and the community They were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Jack plane, part of the W.R. Angus Collection. This jack plane is a medium sized plane. It is a rectangular block of wood, curved handle joined into top of one end, large shaped space in the centre with long straight metal blade inserted into the space, protruding through the base.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, jack plane, woodworking plane, medium plane, woodworking tool, hand tool

The artefact is the lower portion of a rectangular shanked ‘planking nail’ with a straight-edged ‘flat point’. The distinctive ‘point’ of a planking/skirting nail was designed to be driven into timber across the grain in order to prevent the wood from splitting. This relic is from the shipwreck of the SCHOMBERG, which ran aground near Peterborough in 1855. It was retrieved in 1875 from a large section of the ship’s bow which had been carried by ocean currents to the western coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The nail is still fixed in a fragment of the original timber that it secured in the SCHOMBERG. The top portion, or ‘head’ of the nail, has corroded away but the pronounced rectangular shank and its flat point indicate its likely purpose and position on the vessel. Most fastenings used in sailing ship construction were either wooden treenails or copper bolts, which were relatively resistant to seawater corrosion. In addition, the preferred hull-frame timber of British Oak has a high content of gallic acid which rapidly corrodes unprotected iron work. The ferrous composition of this planking nail suggests it came from an internal and upper portion of the ship’s bow (protected from exposure to the sea or oak). According to an 1855 edition of the Aberdeen Journal, the five outer layers, or ‘skins’, of the SCHOMBERG’s pine hull were “combined by means of patent screw treenails”. However the “beams of her two upper decks” were of “malleable iron”, and “part of the forecastle” was “fitted for the accommodation of the crew”. It is therefore possible that iron nails of this description were used by the ship’s builders to secure floor and wall planks in enclosed areas of the crew’s quarters. (The same reasoning would apply to officer and passenger accommodation amidships and at the stern of the vessel, but it was the bow that floated to New.Zealand.) The SCHOMBERG was a 2,000 ton clipper ship, specifically designed for the Australian immigration trade (back-loading wool for Britain’s mills), and constructed in Hall’s shipyard in Aberdeen, Scotland. She was owned by the Black Ball Line and launched in 1855. Alexander Hall & Son were renowned builders of sleek and fast 1,000 ton clippers for the China trade (opium in, tea out) and were keen to show they could also outclass the big North American ships built by Donald Mackay. Consequently the SCHOMBERG was ‘overbuilt’. Her hull featured five ‘skins’ of Scotch Larch and Pitch Pine overlaying each other in a diagonal pattern against a stout frame of British Oak. Oak has been favoured by builders of wooden ships for centuries. Its close, dense grain made it harder to work, but also gave it great strength and durability. In addition, the lateral spread of its branches supplied a natural curvature for the ribs of a vessel’s hull, as well as providing the small corner or curved pieces (‘knees’ and ‘elbows’) that fit them together. At the launch the SCHOMBERG’s 34 year old master, Captain ‘Bully’ Forbes, had promised Melbourne in 60 days, "with or without the help of God." James Nicol Forbes was born in Aberdeen in 1821 and rose to fame with his record-breaking voyages on the famous Black Ball Line ships; MARCO POLO and LIGHTNING. In 1852 in the MARCO POLO he made the record passage from London to Melbourne in 68 days. There were 53 deaths on the voyage but the great news was of the record passage by the master. In 1954 Captain Forbes took the clipper LIGHTNING to Melbourne in 76 days and back in 63 days, this was never beaten by a sailing ship. He often drove his crew and ship to breaking point to beat his own records. He cared little for the comfort of the passengers. On this, the SCHOMBERG’s maiden voyage, he was going to break records. SCHOMBERG departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6 October 1855 flying the sign “Sixty Days to Melbourne”. She departed with 430 passengers and 3000 tons cargo including iron rails and equipment intended to build the Melbourne to Geelong Railway and a bridge over the Yarra from Melbourne to Hawthorn. She also carried a cow for fresh milk, pens for fowls and pigs, 90,000 gallons of water for washing and drinking. It also carried 17,000 letters and 31,800 newspapers. The ship and cargo was insured for $300,000, a fortune for the time. The winds were poor as she sailed across the equator, slowing SCHOMBERG’s journey considerably. Land was first sighted on Christmas Day, at Cape Bridgewater near Portland, and Captain Forbes followed the coastline towards Melbourne. Forbes was said to be playing cards when called by the Third Mate Henry Keen, who reported land about 3 miles off, Due in large part to the captain's regarding a card game as more important than his ship, it eventually ran aground on a sand spit near Curdie's Inlet (about 56 km west of Cape Otway) on 26 December 1855, 78 days after leaving Liverpool. The sand spit and the currents were not marked on Forbes’s map. Overnight, the crew launched a lifeboat to find a safe place to land the ship’s passengers. The scouting party returned to SCHOMBERG and advised Forbes that it was best to wait until morning because the rough seas could easily overturn the small lifeboats. The ship’s Chief Officer spotted SS QUEEN at dawn and signalled the steamer. The master of the SS QUEEN approached the stranded vessel and all of SCHOMBERG’s passengers and crew were able to disembark safely. The SCHOMBERG was lost and with her, Forbes’ reputation. The Black Ball Line’s Melbourne agent sent a steamer to retrieve the passengers’ baggage from the SCHOMBERG. Other steamers helped unload her cargo until the weather changed and prevented the salvage teams from accessing the ship. Later one plunderer found a case of Wellington boots, but alas, all were for the left foot! Local merchants Manifold & Bostock bought the wreck and cargo, but did not attempt to salvage the cargo still on board the ship. They eventually sold it on to a Melbourne businessman and two seafarers. In 1864 after two of the men drowned when they tried to reach SCHOMBERG, salvage efforts were abandoned. Parts of the SCHOMBERG were washed ashore on the south island of New Zealand in 1870, nearly 15 years after the wreck. The wreck now lies in almost 9 metres of water. Although the woodwork is mostly disintegrated the shape of the ship can still be seen due to the remaining railway irons, girders and the ship’s frame. A variety of goods and materials can be seen scattered about nearby. Flagstaff Hill holds many items salvaged from the SCHOMBERG including a ciborium (in which a diamond ring was concealed), communion set, ship fittings and equipment, personal effects, a lithograph, tickets and photograph from the SCHOMBERG. One of the SCHOMBERG bells is in the Warrnambool Library. This nail is a registered artefact from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG, Artefact Reg No S/35 and is significant because of its association with the SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection as a whole is of historical and archaeological significance at a State level, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S612. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from the SCHOMBERG is significant for its association with the Victorian Heritage Registered shipwreck. The collection is primarily significant because of the relationship between the objects, as together they have a high potential to interpret the story of the SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection is archaeologically significant as the remains of an international passenger ship. The shipwreck collection is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes). The collection is also historically significant for its association with the shipwreck and the ship, which was designed to be fastest and most luxurious of its day. The SCHOMBERG collection meets the following criteria for assessment: Criterion A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history. The object is the bottom end of a slightly curved iron planking nail with remnant of timber still attached, recovered from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG (1855). The shank of the nail is rectangular and it narrows to a flat (chisel like) ‘point’. The ‘head’ is missing although there is a quantity of dark red corrosion within the top of the surrounding wood, suggesting where it might have been. The artefact is from the wreck of the SCHOMBERG (1855) and was retrieved from part of the ship’s bow which was carried by sea currents to the South Island of New Zealand. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, schomberg, planking nail, rectangular ship’s nail, cast iron nail

The object is a mass of small shipwreck debris that has been concreted together by sediment and marine growth. It was retrieved from the wreck-site of the SCHOMBERG, which ran aground near the mouth of the Curdies River near Peterborough in 1855. The conglomerate of preserved wood impressions, rusted metal pieces, a small square of copper alloy, and black glass-like stones, presents too disjointed a collection to provide information on their purpose or function on the ship. The natural and gradual process of limestone accretion is a significant feature of the wreck-site, which was rediscovered by fishermen and skindivers in 1973. In his book “Exploring Shipwrecks of Western Victoria”, experienced diver and former director at Flagstaff Hill, Peter Ronald writes that the SCHOMBERG’s “triple layered wooden hull has disintegrated almost without trace…The turbulent shallow waters have promoted particularly heavy marine growth which tend to disguise the wreckage…the most prominent feature being a corroded mass of railway iron…Close inspection reveals small artefacts firmly embedded in the marine concretion which…is quite literally as hard as iron”. The huge oblong mass of concretion that now distinguishes the site covers the remains of this heavy cargo. A contemporary account of the SCHOMBERG’s fate (told by two of her passengers to the Melbourne Argus) alleges the ship “was overloaded, drawing over 25 feet when she left, and the cargo was chiefly iron and plant for the Geelong Railway”. The SCHOMBERG was a 2,000 ton clipper ship, specifically designed for the Australian immigration trade (back-loading wool for Britain’s mills), and constructed in Hall’s shipyard in Aberdeen, Scotland. She was owned by the Black Ball Line and launched in 1855. Alexander Hall & Son were renowned builders of sleek and fast 1,000 ton clippers for the China trade (opium in, tea out) and were keen to show they could also outclass the big North American ships built by Donald Mackay. Consequently the SCHOMBERG was ‘overbuilt’. Her hull featured five ‘skins’ of Scotch Larch and Pitch Pine overlaying each other in a diagonal pattern against a stout frame of British Oak. Oak has been favoured by builders of wooden ships for centuries. Its close, dense grain made it harder to work, but also gave it great strength and durability. In addition, the lateral spread of its branches supplied a natural curvature for the ribs of a vessel’s hull, as well as providing the small corner or curved pieces (‘knees’ and ‘elbows’) that fit them together. The shape and texture of this wood sample suggests a dense hardwood like Oak. The timber has been cut off at one end since its recovery from the sea, exposing a smooth and almost shiny surface. Seasoned English Oak has a similar light brown colour and tight grained finish. At the launch the SCHOMBERG’s 34 year old master, Captain ‘Bully’ Forbes, had promised Melbourne in 60 days, "with or without the help of God." James Nicol Forbes was born in Aberdeen in 1821 and rose to fame with his record-breaking voyages on the famous Black Ball Line ships; MARCO POLO and LIGHTNING. In 1852 in the MARCO POLO he made the record passage from London to Melbourne in 68 days. There were 53 deaths on the voyage but the great news was of the record passage by the master. In 1954 Captain Forbes took the clipper LIGHTNING to Melbourne in 76 days and back in 63 days, this was never beaten by a sailing ship. He often drove his crew and ship to breaking point to beat his own records. He cared little for the comfort of the passengers. On this, the SCHOMBERG’s maiden voyage, he was going to break records. SCHOMBERG departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6 October 1855 flying the sign “Sixty Days to Melbourne”. She departed with 430 passengers and 3000 tons cargo including iron rails and equipment intended to build the Melbourne to Geelong Railway and a bridge over the Yarra from Melbourne to Hawthorn. She also carried a cow for fresh milk, pens for fowls and pigs, 90,000 gallons of water for washing and drinking. It also carried 17,000 letters and 31,800 newspapers. The ship and cargo was insured for $300,000, a fortune for the time. The winds were poor as she sailed across the equator, slowing SCHOMBERG’s journey considerably. Land was first sighted on Christmas Day, at Cape Bridgewater near Portland, and Captain Forbes followed the coastline towards Melbourne. Forbes was said to be playing cards when called by the Third Mate Henry Keen, who reported land about 3 miles off, Due in large part to the captain's regarding a card game as more important than his ship, it eventually ran aground on a sand spit near Curdie's Inlet (about 56 km west of Cape Otway) on 26 December 1855, 78 days after leaving Liverpool. The sand spit and the currents were not marked on Forbes’s map. Overnight, the crew launched a lifeboat to find a safe place to land the ship’s passengers. The scouting party returned to SCHOMBERG and advised Forbes that it was best to wait until morning because the rough seas could easily overturn the small lifeboats. The ship’s Chief Officer spotted SS QUEEN at dawn and signalled the steamer. The master of the SS QUEEN approached the stranded vessel and all of SCHOMBERG’s passengers and crew were able to disembark safely. The SCHOMBERG was lost and with her, Forbes’ reputation. The Black Ball Line’s Melbourne agent sent a steamer to retrieve the passengers’ baggage from the SCHOMBERG. Other steamers helped unload her cargo until the weather changed and prevented the salvage teams from accessing the ship. Later one plunderer found a case of Wellington boots, but alas, all were for the left foot! Local merchants Manifold & Bostock bought the wreck and cargo, but did not attempt to salvage the cargo still on board the ship. They eventually sold it on to a Melbourne businessman and two seafarers. In 1864 after two of the men drowned when they tried to reach SCHOMBERG, salvage efforts were abandoned. Parts of the SCHOMBERG were washed ashore on the south island of New Zealand in 1870, nearly 15 years after the wreck. The wreck now lies in almost 9 metres of water. Although the woodwork is mostly disintegrated the shape of the ship can still be seen due to the remaining railway irons, girders and the ship’s frame. A variety of goods and materials can be seen scattered about nearby. Flagstaff Hill holds many items salvaged from the SCHOMBERG including a ciborium (in which a diamond ring was concealed), communion set, ship fittings and equipment, personal effects, a lithograph, tickets and photograph from the SCHOMBERG. One of the SCHOMBERG bells is in the Warrnambool Library. This object is listed on the Shipwreck Artefact Register, No S/49, and is significant because of its association with the ship SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection as a whole is of historical and archaeological significance at a State level, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S612. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from the SCHOMBERG is significant for its association with the Victorian Heritage Registered shipwreck. The collection is primarily significant because of the relationship between the objects, as together they have a high potential to interpret the story of the SCHOMBERG. The SCHOMBERG collection is archaeologically significant as the remains of an international passenger ship. The shipwreck collection is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes). The collection is also historically significant for its association with the shipwreck and the ship, which was designed to be fastest and most luxurious of its day. The SCHOMBERG collection meets the following criteria for assessment: Criterion A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history. The object is an aggregate of limestone sediment that formed at the wreck-site of the SCHOMBERG (1855). It is an irregularly shaped conglomerate of sand, shell-grit and marine worm casings from the ocean floor, but also incorporates an assortment of manufactured metal pieces and pipe fittings (corroded with red rust), a small rectangular piece of copper sheet, some ‘petrified’ wood remains (hardened and a soft brown colour), and pieces of black shiny stone (roughly cube shaped and possibly glass or porcelain remnants). There is an impression left in the stone of a joist or plank end but the original timber that the sediment formed around has since been dispersed by the sea.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, schomberg, shipwreck timber, alexander hall and son, shipwreck debris, black ball line, 1855 shipwreck, aberdeen clipper ship, captain forbes, peterborough shipwreck, ss queen

This remote-controlled ship model was made by the blacksmith at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in the likeness of the Village's display passenger ferry, the S.S. Rowitta. SS ROWITTA: - The 1909 steam ferry, SS Rowitta, was installed as an exhibit at Flagstaff Hill in 1975 and was enjoyed by many visitors for 40 years. Rowitta was a timber steam ferry built in Hobart in 1909 using planks of Huon and Karri wood. She was a favourite of sightseeing passengers along Tasmania’s Tamar and Derwent rivers for 30 years. Rowitta was also known as Tarkarri and Sorrento and had worked as a coastal trading vessel between Devonport and Melbourne, and Melbourne Queenscliff and Sorrento. In 1974 Rowitta was purchased by Flagstaff Hilt to convert into a representation of the Speculant, a historic and locally significant sailing ship listed on the Victorian Heritage Database. (The Speculant was built in Scotland in 1895 and traded timber between the United Kingdom and Russia. Warrnambool’s P J McGennan & Co. then bought the vessel to trade pine timber from New Zealand to Victorian ports and cargo to Melbourne. She was the largest ship registered with Warrnambool as her home port, playing a key role in the early 1900s in the Port of Warrnambool. In 1911, on her way to Melbourne, she was wrecked near Cape Otway. None of the nine crew lost their lives.) The promised funds for converting Rowitta into the Speculant were no longer available, so she was restored back to her original configuration. She represented the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication in Australian times before rail and motor vehicles. Sadly, in 2015 the time had come to demolish the Rowitta due to her excessive deterioration and the high cost of ongoing repairs. She had given over 100 years of service and pleasure to those who knew her. The remote-controlled model of the S.S. Rowitta is significant for its association with the Tasmanian early to mid-1900s passenger ferry, the wooden screw steamer Rowitta. It is is connected to the history of the Rowitta, that was a large exhibit on display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village from the museum’s early beginnings until the vessel’s end of life 40 years later. The display was used as an aid to maritime education. The Rowitta represents the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication along the coast of Victoria, between states, and in Australia before rail and motor vehicles. The vessel was an example of a ferry built in the early 20th century that served many different roles over its lifetime of over 100 years. Model of the wooden steam ferry "S.S. Rowitta". This is a radio-controlled model built by the Flagstaff Hill blacksmith.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, ship model, remote controlled steam ship model, s.s. rowitta, tarkarri, speculant, purdon & featherstone of hobart, passenger ferry 1909, tasmanian passenger ferry, vessel, charles street wharf launceston, sorrento, remote control boat, rowitta model, remote-controlled model

The Launch Master Frederick Heather was licensed to be Master of Launches within the Port of Launceston. Amongst the vessels that he captained was the S.S. ROWITTA. Fredrick’s son is one of the volunteers at the Low Head Pilot Station Museum, Frederick Heather is also related to a Harry Heather from Tasmania and was also a ship master, one of his ships being the "Alma Doepel", a sailing schooner built in 1903 and sailed by Harry for about 21 years until his death in 1937. Flagstaff Hill’s collection includes a painting of the Alma Doepel. SS ROWITTA: - The 1909 steam ferry, SS Rowitta, was installed as an exhibit at Flagstaff Hill in 1975 and was enjoyed by many visitors for 40 years. Rowitta was a timber steam ferry built in Hobart in 1909 using planks of Huon and Karri wood. It was a favourite of sightseeing passengers along Tasmania’s Tamar and Derwent rivers for 30 years. Rowitta was also known as Tarkarri and Sorrento and had worked as a coastal trading vessel between Devonport and Melbourne, and Melbourne Queenscliff and Sorrento. In 1974 Rowitta was purchased by Flagstaff Hilt to convert into a representation of the Speculant, a historic and locally significant sailing ship listed on the Victorian Heritage Database. (The Speculant was built in Scotland in 1895 and traded timber between the United Kingdom and Russia. Warrnambool’s P J McGennan & Co. then bought the vessel to trade pine timber from New Zealand to Victorian ports and cargo to Melbourne. It was the largest ship registered with Warrnambool as her home port, playing a key role in the early 1900s in the Port of Warrnambool. In 1911, on her way to Melbourne, it was wrecked near Cape Otway. None of the nine crew lost their lives.) The promised funds for converting Rowitta into the Speculant were no longer available, so it was restored back to its original configuration. The vessel represented the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication in Australia times before rail and motor vehicles. Sadly, in 2015 the time had come to demolish the Rowitta due to her excessive deterioration and the high cost of ongoing repairs. The vessel had given over 100 years of service and pleasure to those who knew her. The licence is significant for its association with the Tasmanian early to mid-1900s passenger ferry, the S.S. Rowitta. It is connected to the history of the Rowitta, which was a large exhibit on display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village from the museum’s early beginnings until the vessel’s end of life 40 years later. The display was used as an aid to maritime education. The Rowitta represents the importance of coastal traders to transport, trade and communication along the coast of Victoria, between states, and in Australia before rail and motor vehicles. The vessel was an example of a ferry built in the early 20th century that served many different roles over its lifetime of over 100 years. Launch Master's License No 8 issued to Fredrick Heather to act as Master of a steam, oil or electric launch trading within the Port of Launceston. Date issued 13th February 1920. The license is printed with hand written details added.Handwritten on License "Master's" "Frederick Heather" "Master" "13th February 1920" Also two signatures (indecipherable) of Master Warden and Secretary.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, launch master's licence, rowitta, frederick heather, port of launceston, launch master's license, marine board of launceston, tarkarri, speculant, purdon & featherstone of hobart, passenger ferry 1909, vessel, charles street wharf launceston, sorrento

A moulding plane is a specialised plane used for making the complex shapes found in wooden mouldings that are used to decorate furniture or other wooden object. Traditionally, moulding planes were blocks of wear resistant hardwood, often beech or maple, which were worked to the shape of the intended moulding. The blade, or iron was likewise formed to the intended moulding profile and secured in the body of the plane with a wooden wedge. A traditional cabinetmakers shop might have many, perhaps hundreds, of moulding planes for the full range of work to be performed. Large crown mouldings required planes of six or more inches in width, which demanded great strength to push and often had additional peg handles on the sides, allowing the craftsman's apprentice or other worker to pull the plane ahead of the master who guided it. All we known about Richard Routledge is that he was a tool maker and retailer that operated a business at either 23 or 64 Bull St Birmingham between 1869 to sometime in the early 20th century. There are many of his tools including decorative moulding planes of all sizes and designs for sale around the world and that his tools in particular moulding planes are well sought after by collectors of vintage tools. A vintage tool made by a known maker, this item was made commercially for firms and individuals that worked in wood and needed a tool that could produce a ornamental finish to timber. The tool was used before routers and spindle moulders came into use to produce a decorative moulding for a piece of furniture, door trims etc. or other timber items that had to be accomplished by using hand tools and in particular one of these types of planes. Profiled planes came in various shapes and sizes to achieve the required decorative finish. A significant tool from the mid to late 19th century that today is sought after by collectors. It gives us a snapshot of how furniture and other decorative finishes were created on timber by the use of hand tools. Side bead single box Moulding plane 1''Stamped JAS Burdenflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

A moulding plane is a specialised plane used for making the complex shapes found in wooden mouldings that are used to decorate furniture or other wooden object. Traditionally, moulding planes were blocks of wear resistant hardwood, often beech or maple, which were worked to the shape of the intended moulding. The blade, or iron was likewise formed to the intended moulding profile and secured in the body of the plane with a wooden wedge. A traditional cabinetmakers shop might have many, perhaps hundreds, of moulding planes for the full range of work to be performed. Large crown mouldings required planes of six or more inches in width, which demanded great strength to push and often had additional peg handles on the sides, allowing the craftsman's apprentice or other worker to pull the plane ahead of the master who guided it. All we known about Richard Routledge is that he was a tool maker and retailer that operated a business at either 23 or 64 Bull St Birmingham between 1869 to sometime in the early 20th century. There are many of his tools including decorative moulding planes of all sizes and designs for sale around the world and that his tools in particular moulding planes are well sought after by collectors of vintage tools. A vintage tool made by a known maker, this item was made commercially for firms and individuals that worked in wood and needed a tool that could produce a ornamental finish to timber. The tool was used before routers and spindle moulders came into use to produce a decorative moulding for a piece of furniture, door trims etc or other timber items that had to be accomplished by using hand tools and in particular one of these types of planes. Profiled planes came in various shapes and sizes to achieve the required decorative finish. A significant tool from the mid to late 19th century that today is sought after by collectors. It gives us a snapshot of how furniture and other decorative finishes were created on timber by the use of hand tools. Plane, Moulding, HollowI M and Denham stamped one end (owners)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

A moulding plane is a specialised plane used for making the complex shapes found in wooden mouldings that are used to decorate furniture or other wooden object. Traditionally, moulding planes were blocks of wear resistant hardwood, often beech or maple, which were worked to the shape of the intended moulding. The blade, or iron was likewise formed to the intended moulding profile and secured in the body of the plane with a wooden wedge. A traditional cabinetmakers shop might have many, perhaps hundreds, of moulding planes for the full range of work to be performed. Large crown mouldings required planes of six or more inches in width, which demanded great strength to push and often had additional peg handles on the sides, allowing the craftsman's apprentice or other worker to pull the plane ahead of the master who guided it.A vintage tool made by an unknown maker, this item was made commercially for firms and individuals that worked in wood and needed a tool that could produce a ornamental finish to timber. The tool was used before routers and spindle moulders came into use to produce a decorative moulding for a piece of furniture, door trims etc. or other timber items that had to be accomplished by using hand tools and in particular one of these types of planes. Profiled planes came in various shapes and sizes to achieve the required decorative finish. A significant tool from the mid to late 19th century that today is sought after by collectors. It gives us a snapshot of how furniture and other decorative finishes were created on timber by the use of hand tools. Tongue and groove match plane with metal strip affixed with 5 screws Mc Vicar stamped on end and No 2. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

John Hawkins started work in the supplies shop when he was 15 and has since been employed there for 30 years.The Briar Hill Timber and Trading Company was active during the 1930s - 1950s during the development of the local area with many houses being built by owner-builders who used the company for their needs. A group of 6 black and white photographsbriar hill timber and trading company, briar hill timber, alison lendoudis, bob manuell, sherbourne road briar hill, squire family, john hawkins

“Dominion” single ended tenoner at Briar Hill Timber. Used for smaller runs of specialised work.The Briar Hill Timber and Trading Company was active during the 1930s - 1950s during the development of the local area with many houses being built by owner-builders who used the company for their needs. A group of 6 black and white photographsbriar hill timber and trading company, briar hill timber, alison lendoudis, bob manuell, sherbourne road briar hill, squire family, woodworking tools

Invoice for flex Wire and Pulley for school. Sent to Mrs. I. Warren, PO Box 30, Halls Gap. Paid on 22/5/33. Amount 2 12". See additional image for envelope.Invoice for work completed May 22, 1933 from Anthony & Co., Timber Merchants, Ironmongers, Grocers and Furniture Dealers sent to Halls Gap School Committee. original envelope.education, schools, halls gap

Part of a 43-photo record of the MMBW�s engineering feat in drilling a 12 inch pipe line up to 40 feet deep through rock hardened by volcanic action associated with geological fault that occurs along the line. The work took place from October 1979 to May 1980 on the southern boundary of Hubbard Reserve, North Ringwood. The collection was presented to the Ringwood Historical Research Group by J Clarke on 9th June 1980.E561 N15 3 March 1980 A43 View towards Debbie Place, showing 2 swivel cranes at shafts, timber of manhole in creek, the tracked drill rig and its compressor caravan.