Data released by the RSPCA for 2015-16 shows many cases of animal cruelty reported to the RSPCA. The RSPCA work out of their Greensborough Office at 87 Main Street. News clipping, black text.animal cruelty, rspca

Several kangaroo joeys were mutilated in a shocking act of animal cruelty in Greenhills, Greensborough.News article 1 page, black text.animal cruelty, greensborough, browns nature reserve greensborough, kangaroos

Rabbits are recognised as a pest in Australia. They were often trapped and eaten especially during the depression years of the 1890s and 1930s but also the 1950s and 1960s. Steel-jaw traps work by snapping shut on the leg of an animal, holding it until a trapper arrives, or until the animal dies or wrings its paw off. They became illegal in Australia during the 1980s on animal cruelty grounds. Some old rabbit traps are valuable.Used by residents in the Kiewa ValleyA steel jaw trap has jaws that are designed to spring together. It is illegal to use them in Australia. 2 of the rabbit traps are 'S. Griffiths 3 stars IXL Ref. "one of the pioneers, well known among long-experienced trappers' Page 21 Farmyard Relics by Ken Arnold. The other trap ha a picture of a bird engrave on it.rabbit traps, steel-jaw traps

Gertrude Perry was born in California Gully in 1917. Her singing skills were recognized at an early age. She later sang with local choirs and sang on radio. She was involved with the Bendigo Operatic Society for many years. Gertrude began her working life in sales. After studying book keeping she worked at the Bendigo Ordnance Factory during WW2 and then worked for local solicitors and accountants. Gertrude was involved with many community and sporting organizations.Gertrude Perry Collection - International Fund for Animal Welfare 1998 Certificate of Appreciation presented to Miss G.E. Perry, dated 1 March 1998: for your support and leadership to protect animals from cruelty. The certificate is sent in the hope for a further contribution to the IFAW - not taken up by Miss Perry.physical culture class, fitness, exercise, animal welfare

Copy of certificate awarded to G. Goudge, from the Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals ( RSPCA) Mounted on purple card, laminated. Signed by L. Raeburn.education, primary, golden square laurel st p.s.

George (Joe) Bills left a legacy to provide watering troughs for horses and money to combat the cruelty to animals and he was made a Life Governor of the Victorian Society for the Protection of Animals in 1924.bills, george, bills water troughs, rspca

Article in 'The Sun' 1978 about the Blackburn horse trough found by Robin Da Costa at the corner of Blackburn and Canterbury Roads, bequested by George Bills to Australian horse owners. Bill came from Britain to Australia in 1859 and made a fortune. When he died in 1927 he left a large sum of money to prevent cruelty to animals. Robin is producing a pictorial history of Blackburn with the help of a grant from Nunawading Council.horse troughs, bills, george, blackburn road, blackburn, canterbury road, da costa, robin

Hard cover book. Flowering Wilderness Author: John Galsworthy Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd Date: 1932 Further Information: Green cloth boards, gilt/black spine with gilt lettering. William Heinemann publisher's device on the title page, and rebound spine in black cloth. fictionFlowering Wilderness (1932) is a novel by John Galsworthy, and it's the second book in his 'End of the Chapter' trilogy it's a sequel to 'Maid in Waiting', continuing the story of the Cherrell family. It centres on Dinny Cherrell (niece of the Forsyth-adjacent Cherrell clan) and her love affair with Wilfred Desert, a poet who under threat of death while a captive in the Middle East had renounced Christianity and converted to Islam. The novel explores the social scandal and moral judgement that follows him back to England, and Dinny's loyalty to him in the face of society's condemnation. It's part of Galsworthy's broader fictional universe that includes the famous Forsyte Saga, although this particular trilogy follows a different but related family branch.shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, flowering wilderness, john galsworthy

Hard cover book. Maid In Waiting Author: John Galsworthy Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd Date: 1931 Further Information: Green cloth boards, gilt/black spine with gilt lettering, authors initials emblem in gilt to front cover. William Heinemann publisher's device on the title page, Spine has a Library sticker. fictionMaid in Waiting (1931) is the first novel in Galsworthy’s trilogy End of the Chapter, the last of the Forsyte Chronicles. It shifts from the Forsytes to their cousins, the Cherrells (the name is spelled ‘Charwell’ but pronounced ‘Cherrell’). The family’s one constant in a changing age is their ancestral home, Condaford Grange, which is especially precious to young Elizabeth (‘Dinny’) Cherrell. Her brother faces extradition to South America, falsely accused of murder, and her cousin is threatened by her mentally unstable husband. Dinny does all she can to shield them. The story begins in 1928, with Captain Ferse back from a mental institution; the question is whether he has truly recovered. Dornford is also smitten with Dinny, and a society divorce scandal shocks the family. The first chapter also deals with the death of Uncle ‘Cuffs’ Cherrell, a bishop.shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, maid in waiting, john galsworthy

MEMBER'S CRTIFICATE I will be kind to all living crearures and will protect them as far as I can from cruelty. Richard Henry Watson was a student at Murtoa State School No. 1549 c1920 and signed the following statement on a MEMBER'S CRTIFICATE. 'I will be kind to all living creatures and will protect them as far as I can from cruelty.' Signature Harry Watson Witnessed by Head Teacher - L. WalkerMulti coloured rectangular shaped certificate with a black line border on a white background. In each corner there is an illustration: clockwise from left - a child and two horses; seagulls on a cliff face; koalas on a branch and a dog. In the centre is the Coat of Arms for the Victorian Society For the Protection of Animals with the date 1871.The Certificate is signed in ink by Harry Watson, Murtoa; Branch State School No.1549. The Witness - L Walker Head Teacher league of kindness, victorian state schools, league of kindness certificate, victorian society for the protection of animals, league of kindness member's certificate, murtoa, murtoa state school, l. walker, harry watson, richard henry watson, junior membership certificate

Handwritten notes, undated, on A & G Bills horse trough Main Road Research. Handwritten notes, undated, "Annie and George Bills" listing locations of other Bills horse troughs. Typed notes by Dianna Basset-Smith, July 2003, her memories of the Bills trough at Research. Letter, RSPCE to Andrew Lemon, 17 December 1993, lists other horse troughs known to the RSPCA, use of money from Bills estate managed by John Crook. Newspaper article: Legacy is set in concrete, The Weekly Times, 25 June 2003, history of Bills horse troughs from 1930s, biography of George Bills and Annis Swarm [correctly Swann], quoting Barbie Roach, Gorge Bills' great-grandneice, notes locations of other Bills troughs. Newspaper article: No drought in water troughs, Weekly Times, 9 July 2003, Response to 25 June 2003 article, readers reporting Bills troughs in their area, photograph of trough at Korong Vale. Newspaper article: The horse lover, (photocopy, no publication details), Decaying Bills horse tough in Geelong council yard proposed to be moved to RSPCA, history of George Bills, Annis Bills (nee Swann), legacy, great-grandneice Judith Crook writing Bills history. Email exchange, Eltham District Historical Society and Geraldine Sanderson 2015: enquiry re Bills trough at Research for planned history of Bills trough, and provision of EDHS-held information.Annis Elizabeth Swannmain road, research (vic.), horse troughs, annis and george bills, bills trough, audrey bills, annis bills, george bills, barbie roach, royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, judith crook, audrey morton, kathleen wood, acclimatisation society, john lugg, ian stacey, harry bills, annis swann, james boreas crook, william buesst, myer emporium, richard bills, buesst and bills brothers, daisy bills

This magazine was first published in January 1959 and was a fortnightly edition which was distributed for free. The story is that in May 1963 at the National Theatre in Richmond when the film titled "KRYSTALLO" ("Κρυστάλλω") was about to be screened for the first time "Cosmopolitan Motion Pictures" thought of a very unique way of promoting it. Apart from the usual publications to the "Kinimatografikos Astir" (Film Star) magazine and the flyers, they decided to display on the theatre roof 25 live sheep in a scene from a typical Greek village stable with a shepherd etc. They also assigned the task of creating a large banner sized 2 metres by 8 meters approx. to an Australian artist (name unknown) to adorn the front of the National Theatre. When these sheep and the banner were finally displayed before the first screening there was so much traffic congestion created in front of the theatre that it became a standstill. Very quickly the police was informed and the RSPCA who attended and ordered the organisers to dismantle the setup of sheep on the roof as it was considered cruelty to the animals and that it was organised without a proper license. Nevertheless the film had so much success, that it was unprecedented for the times. First showing was 9th May 1963Primary historic significance to the Greek Film and Entertainment industries in Australia. Secondary Social and Rarity publication significance.Bi-weekly magazine size A4, published in black and white by "Cosmopolitan Motion Pictures" for the purposes of film shows and distributed free of charge."Κινηματογραφικός Αστήρ" magazine, entertainment, film, greek, language, publication, plutarch, yiannoudes

Newspaper article outlining RSPCA plans to sell 5 or 6 acres of its East Burwood property at market value to help fund the new veterinary clinic and hospital. The sum required to build the new hospital and clinic is $4 million. RSPCA plans to sell 5 or 6 acres of its East Burwood property at market value to help fund the new veterinary clinic and hospital. royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, burwood east, barber, peter, veterinary services, land sales

A retirement village will be constructed next to the RSPCA, Burwood Highway on part of the site of the former Burwood Brickworks, which will house 400 elderly. This has been approved by the Whitehorse Council.A retirement village will be constructed next to the RSPCA, Burwood Highway on part of the site of the former Burwood Brickworks, burwood east, brickworks, city of whitehorse, royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals

Article from Williamstown Historical Society Newsletter No 157 dated 1 January 1997 about establishment of horse troughs by George Bills.Article from Williamstown Historical Society Newsletter No 157 dated 1 January 1997 horse troughs, williamstown historical society, bills, george, royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals

Whitehorse Council has dropped its pound contract with the RSPCA due to fees increasing 300% and has accepted a tender from the Coldstream - based Victorian Animal Aid Trust.pounds, city of whitehorse, royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, dogs, victorian animal aid trust

Australia Day 1978 Melbourne had the biggest collection of historic vehicles seen in this country. There were electric and horse drawn trams, steam trains, veteran and vintage cars and even a fly past of old flying machines. Officially the occasion marked the unveiling of Harold Freeman's giant mural at Spencer Street Station depicting a century of transportation in Australia. Another paragraph refers to the horse trough referred to in E - C - 3 and research by Amy Bunker into the story of George Bills. It points out that the RSPCA emergency home in Burwood is the George Bills Rescue Centre.transport, freeman, harold, spencer street station, horse troughs, bills, george, royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, bunker, amy

Published: (1934, June 26). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Published title: VICE-ROYALTY GREETS THE KING OF THE BEASTS AT THE ZOO. Published caption: Lord Huntingfield experienced a pleasant “induction ceremony” as Patron of the Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society yesterday, when he made a tour of the Zoological Gardens. The picture shows the Governor, accompanied by Lady Huntingfield, inspecting the King of Beasts, who is submitting to a little playful treatment from the Director of the Gardens, Mr. Wilkie, while the Director whispers in his ear that a distinguished visitor has come to see him. (Inset), is a picture of Lord Huntingfield greeting one of the Koalas. Trove article identifier: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204818472 Description: A man wearing a hat, scarf and overcoat reaches up to pat a koala in a tree watched by a man in a hat and suit. Research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer: In 1932, the Zoo built an Australian native animal enclosure which visitors could enter and closely view koalas, wallabies, kookaburras and magpies all placed together. The branches of the trees in the enclosure were cut so that visitors could easily see and feed the koalas sitting in them. The cost to feed each koala fresh gum leaves was fifteen shillings per week. By 1924, Queensland was the last stronghold in Australia for the koala. They were functionally extinct in South Australia, only a few hundred in NSW, and an estimated population of 1000 animals remained in Victoria. There had been a six-month open season on koalas in Queensland in 1919 where over a million had been slaughtered, however with its vast, dense forests it was impossible to accurately know their numbers. Koala fur is tough, warm and waterproof and was in high demand from consumers in Canada, Britain and the US to make hats and gloves and for lining greatcoats. In 1927, with Queensland suffering a crippling drought and high unemployment, the cash-strapped McCormack Labor Government declared an “Open Season” on koalas and “opossums” for their skins, for the month of August. (Possums were often called “opossums” at this time but they are actually possums). There were widespread protests from many groups including the Nature Lovers League, Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia, Queensland Museum, C.W.A. Royal Australian Ornithologist Union, Boy Scouts, religious and women’s groups. There were letters to newspapers from ordinary people, editorials and pleas to women to refuse to wear or purchase koala fur. People questioned the masculinity of koala hunters as it was felt that no proper bushman or sportsman would kill such a defenceless creature. The Brisbane Courier newspaper led the campaign, devoting six columns a day to “Spare the Bear”. Author Vance Palmer sent an impassioned letter to the editor of the The Brisbane Courier, 19 July 1927: “Sir- It is be hoped that the disgust which all humane people have felt at the declaration of an open season for native bears in August will not be allowed to fade away until some protest... so overwhelming and effective that the question will never be raised again. For the shooting of our harmless and loveable native bear is nothing less than barbarous. His case is entirely different from that of other furred animals. No one has ever accused him of spoiling the farmers’ wheat, eating the squatters’ grass or even spreading the prickly pear. There is not a social vice that can be put down to his account. In addition, he is comparatively defenceless. He affords no sport to the gunman, and can be trusted to present a sitting target to the creature mean enough to aim at him. For this reason he has been almost blotted out already from some areas, in days when our fauna and flora were held in such little regard that the settlers’ first instinct was to shoot every strange animal and to sink his axe into every unfamiliar tree.” The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Gerald Sharp, had his letter published in The Brisbane Courier on 16 July 1927: “Sir... The extermination of fauna so distinctive of our country, especially of such harmless and pretty creatures as our native bears, seems to me a shameful thing, and this is likely to mean their extermination.” But it was all to no avail. Known as “Black August”, the government was unmoved by the public’s outrage. 10,000 licences were issued to hunters and “the slaughter of the innocents” went ahead. The newspapers were full of stories of dreadful cruelty against the helpless, benign creatures by the heartless hunters who not only used guns and spotlights but wire snares and cyanide baits so that pelts wouldn’t be damaged. Infant koalas were left orphaned and unlikely to survive without their mothers. Top quality pelts were sold at an average price of 56 shillings and 9 pence per dozen, poor quality skins for as little as 2 1/2 pence each. In December 1927, the Minister for Agriculture and Stock, Mr W. Forgan Smith told the Parliament that during the August open season 597,985 koala pelts worth £139,595 had netted the state’s coffers £6000. 952,194 “opossum” pelts were sold and £9000 made for the State. The backlash that followed helped topple the Queensland Labor Government in 1929. The Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia lobbied the Prime Minister Mr Stanley Bruce to refuse to issue exportation permits for koala pelts and from 10 November 1927 the Commonwealth Government suspended the issuing of permits. In 1930, the Society made a direct appeal to USA President Herbert Hoover and he signed an order prohibiting the importation of koala and wombat fur to USA, eliminating a major market. Koala pelts were often deliberately mislabelled “wombat” to get around restrictions. The ban most likely saved the koala from probable extinction. Three years later the Australian Federal Government banned the export of koala products. This movement against koala killing was really the first conservation campaign in Australia. It raised awareness of the vulnerability of a beloved animal and eventually brought about national parks and national laws for their protection. By 1936, community opposition to possum open seasons was beginning. The koala was made a Protected Species in all states in 1937, meaning no one is allowed to harm a koala, however the laws protecting the gum trees they rely on for food and shelter are weak. The Australian Government estimates the wild koala population in Australia is between 225,000 and 500,000 in 2024. The Australian Koala Foundation estimates the national population at less than 60,000 in 2021 with a 30% decline in three years. Habitat loss from land clearing, dog attacks, road deaths, chlamydia, bushfires and drought exacerbated by climate change, continues to cause their decline. Over eight million koalas were killed for their pelts between 1888 and 1927. Any one of the annual harvests killed more koalas than are alive now. At this time, children were also being taught to appreciate Australian native animals. In 1933, “Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian” book for children was published by Angus and Robertson. It was written and illustrated by New Zealand-born author Dorothy Wall and “Dedicated to my son Peter and all other Peters and Johns and Bobs and Toms and Marys and Bettys and Joans and Pats and all kind children.” The book tells the story of Blinky Bill - a mischievous, patched knickerbocker-wearing koala and his mother and father. The story has messages of conservation and instances of human unkindness and cruelty. Mr. and Mrs. Koala and young Blinky lead a mostly idyllic family life amongst a variety of other animals in the forest. However it all changes in chapter two, when Blinky Bill’s father is distressingly shot by a hunter. There is a harrowing description of Mr. Koala’s shooting and eventual death. “The Koala family lived so happily; never thinking of harm, or that anything could happen to disturb their little home, as all they asked for were plenty of fresh gum-leaves and the warm sun. They had no idea such things as guns were in the world or that a human being had a heart so cruel that he would take a pleasure in seeing a poor little body riddled with bullets hanging helplessly from the tree-top... That same being might just as well take his gun and shoot baby kookaburras, so helpless were they all and so trusting.” “Poor Mr. Koala one day was curled up asleep in his favourite corner, when the terrible thing happened. Bang! He opened his eyes in wonder. What was that? Did the limb of the tree snap where that young cub of his was skylarking? ... bang! again. This time he felt a stinging pain in his leg... Peering over the bough of the tree he saw a man on the ground with something long and black in his arms... Another bang and his ear began to hurt. Bang! again and now his little body was stinging all over. He grunted loudly and slowly climbed up the tree, calling Mrs. Koala and Blinky as he went. He managed to reach the topmost branch... Tears were pouring down his poor little face. He brushed them away with his front paws and cried just like a baby. Fortunately Mrs. Koala and Blinky Bill were hiding in the leaves quite motionless, and the shadows of the tree made them appear as part of it. The man with the gun stood and waited a long time, then walked away, whistling as he went - the only sound to be heard in the bush except the cries of the little bear far up in the tree.” Blinky and his mother quietly and fearfully wait for Mr. Koala to wake. In the morning, grunting and crying, they feel his lifeless body with their paws. Eventually Mrs. Koala realises that her husband is dead and that they need to move to a safe place. After travelling deeper into the forest, Mrs. Koala and Blinky meet koalas Mrs. Grunty and her son Snubby and she describes how she was captured as a baby by koala fur trappers to be a pet for a little girl. The trapper forgot to bring gum leaves for the koala so they try to feed her cake, milk and bananas, making her sick. The little girl’s father relays something he read in the paper: “During the year 1920 to 1921, two hundred and five thousand six hundred and seventy-nine koalas were killed and their skins sold to the fur market, under the name of wombat.” They place the koala in a box with a teddy bear for company. The baby koala’s health deteriorates and the alarmed trapper returns her to the bush. Mrs. Grunty tells Mrs. Koala that she and Blinky are the only bears that she has seen for ten years: “I remember well the little girl’s father telling her... that not so many years ago the bush was alive with us bears, from Queensland to the south of Victoria. Now, we are so rare that we have become a curiosity, something to put in zoos, for children to see; and actually in museums. I believe our grandparents sit there in glass cases, stuffed with something inside to make them appear alive, and, oh dear, glass eyes. In New South Wales, I think we could wander for miles from one corner to another and never meet a bear. I don’t know why we were all killed. As you know, we don’t eat the farmers’ crop or ruin their orchards. All we asked for were our own gum-trees.” At the end of the book, Dorothy tells her readers - “The kindest action of all would be to leave the koala baby in his own bushland, among his own playmates, with the sun, the sky, the birds, and the gum-trees, where he will grow to manhood and live for many years - happy as he should be.” In 1934, a “Wild Zoo”, the Sir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary, opened on 32 hectares of land, formerly part of Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve in the Yarra Valley, exclusively displaying Australian native animals, birds and reptiles. It was later renamed Healesville Sanctuary and is now managed by Melbourne Zoo and home to over 200 species of Australian native fauna. The Sanctuary is committed to rescuing, breeding, researching and raising awareness of the vulnerability of Australian animals. Andrew Arthur Wellesley Wilkie, 1853-1948, was Director of the Melbourne Zoo from 1923 to 1936 and was associated with the zoo for 70 years. He first worked as a horticultural assistant to Government botanist Baron Ferdinand von Mueller at the Botanical Gardens at the age of 13, along with his older brother David. One of Andrew’s jobs was to capture moths for the National Herbarium. In 1857, a group of prominent Melburnians assembled at St. Patrick’s Hall to form the Zoological Society of Victoria, with the aim of introducing animals and plants from overseas. It was conceived, “For the purposes of science and for that of affording the public the advantages of studying the habits of the animal creation in properly arranged zoological gardens.” The Victorian Government granted 32 acres (13 hectares) of land to the Zoological Society at the southern end of Richmond Paddock on the opposite bank to the Botanical Gardens. (This is where AAMI Stadium and Collingwood Football Club now stand.) In 1861, the Zoological Society of Victoria was renamed The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria. Unfortunately the Yarra River frontage was damp, swampy and subject to flooding, so the animals were briefly housed at the Botanical Gardens until in 1862, the City of Melbourne donated 55 acres (22 hectares) of land at Royal Park for the fledgling zoo. Baron von Mueller secured employment at Royal Park for Andrew and David and they helped to lay out the gardens, plant trees and take care of a collection of deer, pheasants, hares and partridges. Initially the zoo was used for the acclimatisation of animals recovering from the long voyage to Australia and for breeding them for sport. In 1872, the zoo bought two lions, a leopard and a cheetah that had been seized from circus showmen Keith and Phillips when they were unable to pay the bill of butcher Mr T K Bennet of Bourke Street. The first zoo director, Mr. Albert Le Souef, negotiated with captains of ships to buy animals at overseas ports they visited and soon a multitude of exotic species arrived, including a ten-year-old Indian elephant in 1878. In 1923, after being head keeper for some years, Andrew was appointed director of the zoo. By 1933, the zoo had 110 different species of animals, 200 species of birds and 72 species of reptiles under Andrew’s care. He had personally planted all but six trees and laid out the garden beds. As director he lobbied authorities for funds to build more humane enclosures for the animals. In June 1928, Table Talk magazine wrote of Andrew Wilkie: “Up at the Zoo there is a humble gentleman who is a lion among the lions, who knows the proper specific to employ when the boa constrictor has chilblains, and who is a friend and confidant of Queenie the elephant. His fount of zoological lore has never been plumbed. It is bottomless, like his good fellowship and geniality. Every day he may be seen somewhere in the grounds of that growing sanctuary for the strange and arresting fauna and creeping things of the world, and I assure you as one who is privy to his passion that that area and its inhabitants are rarely out of his thoughts.” Andrew retired from the zoo in 1936 at the age of 83 and in 1948 died at his home in Brunswick aged 94. He and his wife Josephine had six children. The Victorian Acclimatisation Society was founded in 1861 by Edward Wilson, 1813-1878, then owner and editor of The Argus newspaper. He said that Australian indigenous animals were practically useless, providing only “a little sport and an occasional meal”. The Society believed that Australia’s plants and animals were vastly inferior to those in Europe. They wanted to introduce and acclimatise to Victoria “all innoxious animals, birds, fishes, insects and vegetables, whether useful or ornamental” for sport and for the table, and to spread indigenous animals and plants from the colony around the world. Their motto was “if it lives, we want it”. The Society was primarily responsible for introducing sparrows, starlings, sambar and hog deer, ostriches, brown trout, blackberries, and carp to the Murray River. They released the European songbirds, thrush and blackbird to quell the homesickness of British settlers. The Society also sent Australian animals like platypus, echidnas, kangaroos and koalas to Europe for scientific and novelty purposes. Thomas Austin, a wealthy sheep farmer of Barwon Park, Winchelsea (property now owned by the National Trust) was a member and in 1859 he introduced hares, blackbirds, thrushes and partridges onto his property. He is probably best known for introducing 24 breeding rabbits onto his estate as game for shooting parties. Thomas quipped, “The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting." In 2022, genomic data confirmed that Australia’s feral rabbit population is entirely descended from these rabbits. Biological control has brought the rabbit population down from an estimated high of 10 billion rabbits in the 1920s to approximately 200 million today, inhabiting 70% of Australian landmass (5.3 million square kilometres). In 1872, the Acclimatisation Society was renamed The Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria and they focused on importing exotic animals for display purposes to the zoo. In 1937, the Royal Acclimatisation Society of Victoria was recreated as the Zoological Board of Victoria with a focus on research of native animals threatened with extinction. In an editorial for The Argus newspaper, 16 March 1856, Edward Wilson lamented: "...this country has been shamelessly stolen from the blacks. Had they been like the New Zealanders or the North American Indians, we should have bought their land, and supplied them with the means of living when we took it... In less than twenty years we have nearly swept them off the face of the earth. We have shot them down like dogs. In the guise of friendship we have issued corrosion sublimate in their damper, and consigned whole tribes to the agonies of an excruciating death. We have made them drunkards, and infected them with disease which has rotted the bones of their adults, and made such few children as are born amongst them a sorrow and a torture from the very instant of their birth. We have made them outcasts on their own land, and are rapidly consigning them to entire annihilation. There are but a few of them left, comparatively. This is what we would do for that few. We would feed and clothe every one of them.” [Note: this last sentence is italicized in the original newspaper article text]. Lord Huntingfield, (William Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck) 1883-1969, Governor of Victoria 1934-1939, was a British Conservative Party politician and the first ever Australian-born Governor of an Australian state (although he was always considered British). He was patron of the Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria and was acting Governor-General for six months during the absence of Lord Gowie in 1938. Lady Huntingfield (née Margaret Eleanor Crosby) 1884-1943, his American-born wife showed great interest in social welfare and the advancement of women and children. She was president of the City Newsboys Society and Patroness of the Girls Friendly Society. In 1937, rose breeder Alister Clark named a yellow hybrid tea rose for her. In 1940, the City of Melbourne opened the Lady Huntingfield Free Kindergarten in North Melbourne, now the Lady Huntingfield Early Learning and Family Services Centre. Lady Huntingfield died in London in 1943 after her house was bombed during a German airstrike. The Lady Huntingfield Memorial Scholarship was established after the City of Melbourne raised £1000 in a public appeal conducted in her memory for students undertaking a Social Work degree at the University of Melbourne. It is awarded annually to this day. The Queen Victoria Hospital named a bed in her honour. References: VICE-ROYALTY GREETS THE KING OF BEASTS AT THE ZOO. (1934, June 26). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved August 23, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204818472 Prominent Personalities ANDREW WILKIE (1928, June 7). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), p. 15. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146562949 'Edward Wilson (journalist)', Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Wilson_(journalist) 'Thomas Austin (pastoralist)', Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Austin_(pastoralist) 'The Acclimatisation Society was driven by misguided ideals about 'fixing nature' in Australia', ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/acclimatisation-society-introduced-species-history-listen/101588262?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web Blinky Bill: the quaint little Australian (eBook); by Dorothy Wall, 1933, 2023, Project Gutenberg Australia, https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400571h.html "Black August": Queensland's Open Season on koalas in 1927 (thesis); Glenn Fowler, 1993, Australian National University, https://www.savethekoala.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Black-August.pdf Unfair game: Queensland's Open Season on koalas in 1927; Jacqui Donegan, 2000, University of Queensland, https://mesto-ku.narod.ru/koalas.pdf OPEN SEASON CONDEMNED. (1927, July 19). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 15. Retrieved September 5, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21863465 COUNTRY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. (1927, July 30). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 25. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21866965 AUSTRALIA: Barnardo's children at Melbourne Park Zoo (1929), British Pathé, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wcrbo_cHpI 'Kodak Cinegraph Compilation No 8', ACMI Collection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCrBng5RwFI KOALA SKINS. EXPORT BAN SOUGHT. (1927, August 4). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 10. Retrieved September 15, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21868746 THE ABORIGINES. (1856, March 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 28, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4833244 Koala Bears (1937), British Pathé, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbqgMtyuzwE Australian Koala Bear (Earliest Archive Footage: 1929), Pond5, https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/152767491-australian-koala-bear-earliest-archive-footage-1929Photographer notations on slide: "Vice Regal visit to zoo B42".1930-1939, zoos, governors, koalas, conservation, possums, botanic gardens

Hard cover book. Pipistrello Author: Ouida/Marie Louise de la Ramée Publisher: George Robertson Date: 1880 Further Information: Red Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.fictionPipistrello is the Italian word for 'bat'. The title story is set in Italy, a frequent setting for Ouida's work, as she lived there for much of her adult life. Like much of Ouida's fiction, the story serves as social commentary on class division, human cruelty and the tragic nature of innocence. Set in a rural Italian community, the story centres on a poor, marginalised individual nicknamed Pipistrello ('the Bat') because of their nocturnal, outcast existence, poverty or physical appearance. Its core explores themes of alienation, social prejudice, unrequited devotion, and the exploitation of the poor by wealthier or more cynical figures. The collection of six short stories contains several narrative pieces typical of Ouida's later style, which shifted from her earlier, highly romantic high-society melodramas (such as Under Two Flags) toward melodramatic realism, animal welfare and sympathy for peasant life. The stories are a critique of industrialisation and greed, and the opposition to modern greed and the harshness of societal structures on vulnerable people and animals. The work is dramatic, emotional, and often tragic where pure intentions are tested by a unforgiving world.book, cecil castlemaines gage, ouida, maria louise ramé, marie louise de la ramée), shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Hard cover book. Santa Barbara Author: Ouida/Marie Louise de la Ramée Publisher:Chatto and Windus Date: 1891 Further Information: Red Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.fictionSanta Barbara, published in full as Santa Barbara, etc., is an 1891 collection of six short stories by the English Victorian author Ouida (the pen name of Maria Louise Ramé). It contains "Santa Barbara", "Poussette", "Rinaldo", "The Halt", "The Stable Boy" and "La Rossiccia". Set against Italian backdrops, the title story follows a tragedy involving social injustice, passion, animal welfare and human suffering in rural Italy. The broader collection examines typical late-Victorian issues such as class divides, emotional betrayal, the clash between traditional Italian peasant life and industrial modernisation, and cruelty toward animals.book, santa barbara, ouida, maria louise ramé, marie louise de la ramée, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road