Augustus Bostock was the 9th child of Robert & Rachael Bostock of Vaucluse Epping Forest, Van Diemen’s Land. He was only 4 years old when his mother died. He was inspired by his father to seek his fortune in the Western District of Victoria. He arrived around 1850. He married Margaret Aitkin in July 1865. Augustus owned several properties in the district and leased others. He sat on the court of Warrnambool, Mortlake or Hexham as required. He resided at Marramook in Hawkesdale and later moved to Vaucluse in Hopetoun Road Warrnambool, where he died in 1920 at the age of 87. He was involved in many aspects of life in the Western District, racing, cricket, and social activities to name a few. This lease relates to land at the parish of Ballangeich county of Villiers. This is one of a number of documents which relate to the Bostock family who were one of the most important pioneering families of the Western District. They owned and leased various properties around Warrnambool and were involved in many aspects of social and business life. The document itself is indicative of its time and provides an insight into the details and terms of such documents at the time.Four page beige coloured document showing details of lease and signatures on page 3. Small diagram with area of lease coloured in yellow on front page.Signed by Charles Vaughan, Thomas Vaughan, Augustus Bostock.warrnambool, bostock, augustus bostock, charles vaughan, thomas vaughan, ballangeich,

Three copies of the Anzac Day Commemoration Ceremony. The 1959 and 1960 copies have a photo of the Cenotaph on the back and were printed by Arthur Hocking, Printer. All copies have a copy of the R.S.L. badge on the front. The Order of Ceremony and names of dignitaries are mentioned on all copies. Copies are from the years 1959, 1960 & 1963.memorials, cenotaph, bendigo war monument, r.s.l. bendigo collection - anzac day program 1959 - 1960 & 1963, lt-col l j lockwood, ahq survey regiment, col j w swatton, g f osborne, 38th battalion band, lieut-col h w snell, lt-col e p robinson, 38th infantry battalion, cenotaph, bendigo war memorial, max o'halloran, j t sullivan, e bailie, g wheeler, w e p carruthers, j barnes, r wood, e commins, h pinder, a henderson, w frewin, s j ryan, c vaughan, j wood, d scholes, s peterson, j fay, 6th r.a.a.s.c., 6th royal aust army service corp band, laurence binyon, hon n l beaton mhr, the hon l w galvin mla, hon t h grigg mlc, cr r a rae, colonel f d buckland, survey regiment, colonel i barr, ex-servicemen's organisations, bendigo nurses' associations, victorian police force, supt a carruthers, the bendigo fire brigade, ambulance services, red cross, war widows and ladies auxiliaries of ex-servicemen's associations, strathfieldsaye huntly marong & maldon shires, arthur hocking printer

Bendigo R.S.L. News Volume 1, Number 3 Christmas-New Year Issue. Red, blue, yellow and gold badge on the front cover. Contains advertisements from local businesses, Bendigo R.S.L. Office Bearers 1960, news, notes from Clubs, an article titled 'When the Japs Broke Out at Cowra' and a short obituary of Sir Horace Robertson.A Wicks Knott Publication, Printed by Southdown Press, 33 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne.magazine, organization, bendigo rsl, r.s.l. bendigo collection - bendigo r.s.l. news vol. 1 no. 3, ashmans dry cleaners, h q radio service, f c straub, hampel furniture products, pierce grenfell, ron meurer, h w snell, axedale quarries, a l & k stringer, excavations, al & b g pearce, w mcculloch & co, bendigo motor co, m g taylor, fair-view upholsterers, alwyn nelson, northern terrazzo co, l fawssett & co, bendigo sub-branch r.s.s, &, a.i.l.a., col j w swatton, h a w morey, s thompson, g j baker, j k barnes, a c harridge, j harrison, t h hume, w h pinder, d e mcgregor, f e schilling, g g styles, c vaughan, j e fay, geo j baker, a v palmer, n mclaren young, e m vains & co, g e h rowell, a v & l e smith, j r palmers, graham lowe refrigeration service, a w pulfer motors, b r burns, vic palmer, golden square dry cleaners, j w carter & sons, alltyre service pty ltd, ian wills, bill nicholls jack watts, the robyn, a g power, leo a hughes, bendigo manchester house, frank wilson, hesse bros, frank bouchier, your typewriter sales and service, tom heenan, win patten, bendigo legacy, r wilson, w e p carruthers, antonian café, kairn's auto-bits, cohns, jeffreys bread, 4th armoured regt social club, g e baldwin, bendigo & district ex-p.o.w. social club, w hargreaves, d gregor, bendigo r.s.l. ladies auxiliary, mrs h morey, mrs p floyd, mrs w hocking, mrs h sims, mrs t hall, rsl women's council of victoria, mr & mrsa kersting, w coates, a bolitho, w hocking, n mcivor, perretts, martin washington, e a bennett pty ltd, john burgoyne, 38th battalion (a.i.f.) social club, j plim c findlay, ex-navelmen's club, t staley, airforce association, a stevens, t grimes, rats of tobruk association, j ferguson, catholic war veterans' association, j noonan, t coppock, dads' association, w murphy, bendigo legacy club, win patten, t h iser, t h runnalls, legacy house, 105 anti-tank regiment social club, alwyn nelson, laurie townsing, bendigo repatriation local committee, v w hosking, w rex porter, g a pethard, f t dunphy, l m porter, e h duus, lt col thomas waitson williams dso, ric coulson, r ball & son, lorraine florist, neol searle pty ltd, bendigo and district t & p i social club, e j taylor, t wellins, w phelan, g keily, l boyd, t tuddenham, e butler, g armstrong, geo j baker, easter fair society, bendigo agricultural society, 6th battalion (a.i.f.) social club, f t dunphy, w green, r c wright, bendigo showgrounds r.a.a.o.c. camp club, j j davies, e p perrett, t g heenan, w rex porter, fred coulson, harry hall, alan bath, tom hume, ted commons, geo h baker, percy floyd, stan hunter, joe wagland, railway sub-section r.s.l., g brown, don chalmer pty ltd, bendigo timber co pty ltd, g p hyett, a w comber, w nichols, maurice f noonan, allans walk delicatessen, r b webb, jack l lyons, perrow, s paints, t c sheers, provincial motors (bendigo) pty ltd, banjo paterson, will ogilvey, ben hall, joe gardiner, major bob ramsay mc, 53rd batt., major e v timms, ww1, 2nd a.i.f., f m carson, tooranie house, brian abe, p e dunstan, a lam sun, don murray, windermere hotel, bendigo disposals, frank a hill & co, fitzpatrick's, sandhurst dairies pty ltd, m williamson, george symon's dairy, w h oakley, sir horace robertson, british commonwealth occupation forces, australian light horse, state savings bank, royal military college, golden fleece service station, j w williams, tomlins simmie pty ltd, clark king & co pty ltd, mckenna's modern store, bryan mckenna, wicks knott publication, southdown press

The Boer War was fought in South Africa,A digital scan of a printed memorial to Ballarat soldiers killed in South Africa. It includes the Ballarat Baoer war Monument, and 14 Ballarat Soldiers.soldiers statue, boer war memorial, ballarat boer war soldiers, r.w. salmon, g.a. eddy, foster, j.s. molloy, s.r. coulter, a.g. gilpin, j. hurst, a.t. allen, c. vaughan, neil grant, a.r. burley, alfred johnson, south africa, h.a. plamer

The letter book related to outward letters from the Ballarat School of Mines.A bound leatherbound book with marble endpapers. The contents are copies of outward letters from the Ballarat School of Mines from July 1915 to May 1916. Page 807 relates to the Ballarat Eight Hours' Anniversary Committee (J. Kean) Page 906 - Letter from L. Austin (Ballarat School of Mines Registrar) concerning the appointment of Winifred Joy and Hestor Darby as assistants to Miss Abrams to the Ballarat School of Mines Senior Commercial Classes. ballarat school of mines, correspondence, murphy, vaughan, victor greenhalgh, irvine coulter, lancelot austin, l.s.g.p. austin, adcock, james bickett, bickett, tunbridge, tucker, desnoy, phillips, edgar mcconnon, revill tinworth, r.o. buchanan, john dulfer, stanley westcott, wolfram, assay, anzac medallion, beaufort house, ballarat eight hours' anniversary, last chance mine, evan walker, norman carmichael, doney, thomas doolan, harold wakeling, bowman, james early, garry eason, abrams, bennett, duthie, harry fern, hetherington, hutchinson, collyeer, colom, carew-smyth, ponsonby carew-smyth, donald clark, george swinburne, bev syliva, hestor darby, joy winifred, barry judd, c.c. campbell, cathcart centrel gold mining co, adcockbawden, benevolent asylum, ditchburn, doctor spring, doepel and chandler, eureka tile company, pitfield, edwads pyrites works, embling, fleay, c.e. fenner, mount rowan, gower, greenhalgh, c. hosking, murtoa, c.a. hoadley, harold herbert, jolly, kenny, kelsall, kerr, architect, a.m. lilburne, lemmon, andrew land, leipson, h.s. lawson, a. levy, scarsdale gold mines, w.k. moss, fred martell, e.j. mcconnen, read murphy, h. morris, leongatha, maurice claude, j. middleton, j.c. molley, e. merlin, e.f. pitman, p. pringle, rumble, dr robin, edgar richard, g. remfry, g. robertson, james rich, a. ross, d. l. stirling, s. stretch, c. skilbeck, r. strachan, w.k. thomson, grant taylor, j.h. tundbury, v.e. reeves, tin mining co. hobart, vernon, hilda wardle, daylesford, waller, whitloa, w. watson, b. whitington, j.b. robinson, k. hamilton, photography, j.m. sutherland, j.h. scullin, scholarship, w.h. wesley, gundagai, a.t. o'meara, associated smelters port pirrie, assayer, telegraphy, t. williams, d.l. stirling, edward finnis, norman tinworth, j.y. mcdonald, h.s. summers, geology, homeward bound bon accord gmc, e.t. vane, a.d. dunstan, maughan, cox, g.s. richards, westcott, w.l. carroll, turnbull, l. vernon, s. nightingale, cathcart central gold mining company cathcart, a.j. moffit, v.e. reevesr. mcmillan, w. nankervis, w.h. clutterbuck, j.m. wesley, e. dooley, olive mckillop, dana street primary school shelter shed, ballarat junior technical school, british nationality and aliens act, war relief fund, s. hylton bravo, queensland molasses co, ethel merlin, a.e. poulton, commercial, winifred joy, c. adcock, lancelot st.g.p. austin, herbert p. bennett, a. bray, fonald clark, walter collyer, o.f. colom, g.e. desnoy, f.w.r. doney, brian h. duthie, a. gordon, g.m. hetherington, kath hutchinson, baryr judd, j. kean, john y. mcdonald, j. murray, a.f. phillips, c.c. phillips, john mck. sutherland, bev sylvia, r.e. tunbridge, miachel vaughan, p. vawdey, h.j. vernon, harold g. wakeling, pharmacy board, pharmacy, r. cutter, ballarat technical art school building, dalgety & co., h.s.w. lawson, a.h. powell, australian institute of engineers, eight hours' anniversary committee, silberberg, beckman's thermometer, miss abrams business college

The School of Mines Ballaarat Annual Report 24 January 1882, Additional Examination Statute, Certificates Granted by Council, Copy of letter received from the Honble. Francis Ormond MLC, Extracts from Visitors' Book, Fees, Form of Bequest, Life Governors, Museum open to Visitors, Office Bearers, Paper of Particulars, Report of the Curator of the Museum and Library (with plans), Report of the Superintendent of Laboratories, Report of the Lecturer in Telegraphy, Report of the Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Statement of Receipts and Expenditure for the year 1881, Subjects and Lecturers, Subjects and Examiners, Subscriptions and Donations from 1 January to 31 December 1881, The Lignite Deposit at Skipton (with Section and Plan)Ballarat School of Mines Annual Report. Pale brown booklet of 64 pages. A plan of the Ballarat School of Mines shows the position of the Botanical Gardens, and the Ballarat School of Mines Museum. Geological Sketch Map of Country in the Neighbourhood of Skipton and Plan showing site of Coal Discovery. Skipton Coal Discovery - Section of Windlass Shaft. .2) is a leatherbound copyballarat school of mines, coal, plan, ballarat school of mines botanical gardens, ballarat school of mines museum, museum, annual report, james oddie, w. p. bechervaise, s. e. friggis, f. j. martell, w. h. nicholls,, e. i. rosenblum, h. r. caselli, thomas mann, theos. williams, f. m. krause, alf. mica smith, walter d. campbell, w. h. shaw, charles kent, andw. berry, robert adam, wm. lant carpenter, henry parkinson, h. b. de la poer wall, w. h. brockenshire, arthur parker, c. davies, simon richards, c. r. blackett, david jones, wilberforce dyke, kr. r. krauel, duncan love, william ralph heaton, edward dowling, octavius vaughan morgan, william denton, e. h. grimwade, james hunter, the honble. francis ormond, ferdinand krause, a.a. buley, j. cosmo newberry, w.c. kernot, john lewis, j.m. bickett, james bickett, fees, annie barnett, annette budden, isabel clinton, john dimsey, agnes pobjoy, charlotte shaw, bernard o'dowd, bernard patrick o'dowd, josiah wasley, ferdinand von mueller, william kernot, john lynch, william henderson, henry richards caselli, w.p. berchervaise, e.i. rosenblum, w.h. nicholls, lignate, samuel figgis, mary drury, w. longley, botanical reserve, botanical gardens, francis ormond, george russell, william foster stawell, w.j. clarke, rivett henry bland, john warrington rogers, j. lonie, s.e. figgis, r.f. hudson, w. robertson, e.l. rosenblum, theophilus williams, andrew berry, henry sutton, h. rosales, state school classes, calcutta international exhibition, examinations, h.b.m ship bounty, certicates, walter charles kernot, william tunbridge, mary skelton, cartherine moran, mary rose usher, margaret ellen brophy, william burbridge, andrea tuxen, elizabeth curnow, francis campigi, james s. morrison, arthur hogue

Seven members of the Ballarat College Cricket Team served during the 1914-1918 war. Milligan, Mitchell, Uthwatt, LA and H A, Vaughan returned servicemen; Elliot George and E S Holgate died. Sepia-toned photograph, produced on mid-card, oversizeHandwritten on verso: names of team membersmilligan, c, elliott, g, mitchell, l, owen, h, moore, a, uthwatt, l, vaughan, f, holgate, e, uthwatt, h (captain), tuthill, h, trewin, a c

Grey soft covered book with red tape spine. The 76 pages clay deposits, composition of Victorian clays, clay localities, granitic clays, Residual Clays, Clay-Shales, Jurassic clay shales.r a keble, senior field geologist, j c watson, chief chemist, d e watson, chief government geologist, g c moss, minister of mines, mallee plains, avoca valley, loddon valley, campaspe valley, goulburn valley, kiewa, mitta, glenelg valley, pitfield valley, otway area, moorabool valley, darley fireclay, campbellfield clay, latrobe river valley, hendley, ball clays, felspars, pegmatities, quartz, pakenham fireclay, bulla china clay, kaolin, terracotta, stoneware, ballan dyke-belt, egerton, gordon, ballan, llandeilo, colbrook, elaine, lal lal, maryborough, ballarat, ringwood, siliceous clay, stawell, dromana, ptways, bulla, pyalong china clay, linton china clay, wedderburn clays, lal lal china clays, ballan dyke belt, reginald callister, knight's koalin pottery, china clay, ferdinand krause, clarendon, bittern, frichot, hunt's dam, vaughan, rosenow, hickey, malone, claypits, ballarat dyke belt, stawell dyke belt, maryborough dyke belt, guildford, daylesford, ovens valley

Table of Contents: Editorial, A hydro-electric scheme for Tasmania, Ore crushing and re-grinding, Dust breathing, Cyanide practice, Mr James Oddie, Mining, The estimation of caustic lime, Some geographical features of Ballarat, Art school notes, Chemical notes and abstracts, Mica and mica compounds used in Dynamo Insulation, Rock drills, News and notes, Correspondence, Sports, Past students, Editorial notes, Procession and theatre party, Answers to correspondents. Images.Booklet of 26 Pages.hydro-electric scheme for tasmania, ore crushing and re-grinding, dust breathing, cyanide practice, james oddie, mining, estimation of caustic lime, geographical features of ballarat, art school notes, mica and mica compounds used in dynamo insulation, rock drills, alumni, j. andrew wauchope, wilfred b. avery, f. brinsden, b. h. bennets, e. bieske, j. r. booth, a. s. coyte, h. b. cooke, t. a. cooper, t. e. copeland, leslie coulter, j. dickinson, g. h. davenport, w. e. eyres, e. frazer, w. e. figgis, g. govett, j. a. grant, e. gregory, a. a. gibson, w. gelard, e. c. hurdsfield, o. e. jager, oliver jaeger, herbert a. krause, w. kingston, h. r. kofoed, f. a. marriot, h. s. martin, d. mcdougall, c. w. nash, j. a. reid, s. h. sheppard, j. sutherland, w. t. sayer, g. sides, e. trend, rupert m. vaughan, s. b. vial, c. h. bale, o. c. witherden, e. m. weston, l. a. westcott, j. watson, j. worthington, william baragwanath, c. c. corrie, r. g. walker, g. g. sams, r. a. j. roberts, r. blight, j. cornell, v. booth, l. johnson, f. retallack, r. tinworth, r. roberts, h. whittingham, frederick j. martell

Table of Contents: Editorial, Quick combination methods in smelter assays, Twelve health precepts, News and notes, Correspondence, A neglected path of duty, Past students, A friendly castigation, Scientific brotherhood, The material constituents of a student, Henry Sutton, Old companions, Rapid methods for proximate analyses, Football, Temperance, Gas in the mine, The steam shovel at Panama, Physical properties of iron in relation to its chemical composition, The smallest engine on record, The diesel engine, Bendigo's rich goldfields, Concrete and steel, Dredging in Brazil, Editorial notes.Green booklet of 24 pageseditorial, quick combination methods in smelter assays, twelve health precepts, news and notes, correspondence, a neglected path of duty, past students, a friendly castigation, scientific brotherhood, the material constituents of a student, henry sutton, old companions, rapid methods for proximate analyses, football, temperance, gas in the mine, the steam shovel at panama, physical properties of iron in relation to its chemical composition, the smallest engine on record, the diesel engine, bendigo's rich goldfields, concrete and steel, dredging in brazil, editorial notes., alumni, f. brindsren, b .h. bennets, e. bleske, j. r. booth, a. s. coyte, h. b. cooke, t. a. couper, t. e. copeland, l. j. coulter, j. dickinson, g. h. davenport, w. e. eyres, e. fraser, a. a. gibson, g. govet, j. a. grant, e. c. hurdsfield, h. a. krause, w. kingston, h. r. kofoed, f. a. marriot, h. s. martin, d. m'dougall, c. w. nash, j. a. reid, j. sutherland, g. sides, e. trend, r. m. vaughan, s. b. vial, c. h. vale, o. c. witherden, e. m. weston, l. a. westcott, j. watson, j. worthington, j. adam, wilfred avery, h. baxter, h. caulfield, a. cropper, e. b. crossley, w. currie, dave don, hilary dowling, chas. fraser, a. d. galloway, w. geldard, hubert hall, g. s. hart, w. b. hirt, h. e. hawksworth, carl janssen, w. t. lakeland, l. j. lambert, c. lund, k. bryon moore, f. a. moss, jack orr, d. a. bunting, l. seward, h. s. sheppard, c. e. sands, n. stuckey, r. vale, r. watts, reg. williamson, wm. blythe, l. w. g. buchner, thos. davis, w. e. figgis, e. o. gregory, jack grieves, a. s. leathes, dave lilley, wm. macartney, guy ramsay, carl. moore, vic. nicholls, garnet nightingale, g. m. roberts, r. r. robin, len. seal, h. valentine, r. g. walker, n. buley, a. campbell, h. cornell, a. guy, h. hull, o. e. jaeger, m. mitchell, r. i. moore, j. r. sides, h. j. whittingham, c. s. whykes, colin c. corrie, h. miles, vic. milington, r. a. j. roberts, john r. booth, w. l. allen, f. c. hall, v. m. booth, e. s. anderson, r. blight, b. serjeant, m. williamson, fred j. martell, editorial, quick combination methods in smelter assays, twelve health precepts, news and notes, correspondence, a neglected path of duty, past students, a friendly castigation, scientific brotherhood, the material constituents of a student, henry sutton, old companions, rapid methods for proximate analyses, football, temperance, gas in the mine, the steam shovel at panama, physical properties of iron in relation to its chemical composition

The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built many ships that had wheels with the same decorative, starburst pattern on them as this particular wheel segment, including the Eric the Red. The wheel was manufactured by their local Bath foundry, Geo. Moulton & Co. and sold to the Sewall yard for $100, according to the construction accounts of the vessel. Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Segment of a ship's wheel, or helm, from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red. The wheel part is an arc shape from the outer rim of the wheel and is made up of three layers of timber. The centre layer is a dark, dense timber and is wider than the two outer layers, which are less dense and lighter in colour. The wheel segment has a vertically symmetrical, decorative copper plate inlaid on the front. The plate has a starburst pattern; six stars decorate it, each at a point where there is a metal fitting going through the three layers of timber to the rear side of the wheel. On the rear each of the six fittings has an individual copper star around it. The edges of the helm are rounded and bevelled, polished to a shine in a dark stain. Around each of the stars, front and back, the wood is a lighter colour, as though the metal in that area being polished frequently. The length of the segment suggests that it has probably come from a wheel or helm that had ten spokes. (Ref: F.H.M.M. 16th March 1994, 239.6.610.3.7. Artefact Reg No ER/1.)flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ship's-wheel, eric-the-red, helm, shei's wheel, ship's steering wheel

This wooden sword is said to “possibly be the only remaining part of the figurehead from the sailing ship Eric the Red.” It was previously part of the collection of the old Warrnambool Museum and the entry in its inventory says “Wooden sword, portion of the figurehead, held by “Eric the Red” at the bow.” A large part of the ship’s hull was found on the rocks and a figurehead may have been attached or washed up on the shore. The shipping records for E. & A. Sewall, the builders, owners and managers of Eric the Red, are now preserved in the Maine Maritime Museum. There is no photograph on record of Eric the Red but photographs of other ships built around that time by the same company show that these did not have figureheads, and there is no record found of a figurehead for Eric the Red being ordered or paid for. Further research is being carried out. The ship building company E. & A. Sewall, from Bath, Maine, USA, built Eric the Red, a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, and was the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows that Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) - about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. On 4th September 1880 the ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. Eric the Red approached Cape Otway in a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Cries were heard coming from out of the darkness. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts and bravery, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and a medal for bravery. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse. (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA)This carved wooden sword, recovered from the Eric the Red, is possibly the only portion of the figurehead recovered after the wreck. There are spirals carved from the base of the handle to the top of the sword. The hilt of the sword is a lion’s head holding its tail in its mouth, the tail forming the handle. The blade of the sword has engraved patterns on it. Tiny particles of gold leaf and dark blue paint fragments can be seen between the carving marks. There are remnants of yellowish-orange and crimson paint on the handle. At some time after the sword was salvaged the name of the ship was hand painted on the blade in black paint. The tip of the sword has broken or split and the remaining part is charcoal in appearance. On both the tip and the base of the handle are parts made where the sword could have been joined onto the figurehead There is a white coating over some areas of the sword, similar to white lead putty used in traditional shipbuilding. The words “ERIC the RED” have been hand painted on the blade of the sword in black paint sometime after it was salvaged.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, sword, wooden sword, eric the red, carved sword, figurehead, snake head on sword

The wooden door was salvaged from the wreck of the sailing ship Eric the Red, which was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. Eric the Red was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871, having had a 1,580 tons register. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric the Red, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - from America for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Z. Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were 2 saloon passengers also. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. On 4th September 1880 the Eric the Red approached Cape Otway with a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. Around 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. He ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. A heavy sea knocked the man away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The sea swamped the lifeboats. The mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. Captain Jones sent out two life boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Z. Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. The captain and crew of the Dawn were recognised by the United States Government in July 1881 for their humane efforts, being thanked and presented with substantial monetary rewards, medals and gifts. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod and samples of wood. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Door from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. The wooden singular rectangular door includes three insert panel sections. The top section is square shaped and is missing its panel or glass. The centre timber panel is about a third of the height of the top panel and the bottom timber panel is approximately equal in height to the total height of the two upper panels. The door fastenings include both a metal door latch and traditional door bolt. They are both attached to the front right hand side of the door. The bolt is just below the top panel, and the door latch is in approximately the centre of that side. The door latch has a round mark where a handle could have been attached. The wood of the door has scraping marks in a semi-circle around the door latch where the latch has swung around on its one remaining fastening and grazed the surface. There is a metal hinge at the top section of the door on the opposite side to the latch. The painted surface has been scraped back to expose the wood. The door is shorter than the average height of a person. On the reverse of the door there are lines on the panels, just inside their edges, is what appears to be pencil. The door is not aligned straight but is skew to centre.warrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, jaques allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition 1880, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, bass strait, eric-the-red, door

This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Triangular shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn

This piece of timber from the ship Eric the Red has been eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called sea worms or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in sea water and bacteria inside the worms digest the wood. Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by using coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch. In the 18th and 19th centuries the outside of their ships were sheathed in copper or a combination of copper and zinc (called Muntz metal) and would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing would remain effective. In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson , who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, south west of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its rigging, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, its sailing time different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey she was commanded by Captain Jones, and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore of the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats, and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and the able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia, passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship, nor its cargo, was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steam ship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated on to Point Franklin. Some of the vessels yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of floating wreckage about 10 miles off land, south east of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and fly catchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, several samples of wood and a medal for bravery, awarded to Nelson Johnson, a crew member of the S.S. Dawn by the U.S. President, for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and tea pots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that were awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and sheds around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7 foot long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at ship building in Apollo bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson, recipient of the medal for bravery, married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children. They lived in South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn".The wood (timber) sample is listed on the Collections Australia Database, Heritage Victoria, number 239 00010 A “The Eric the Red is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) Wood sample from the wreck of the ship Eric the Red. Oblong shaped, full of sea worm (Teredo worm) holes. The wood is dark in colour and is very light in weight. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwreck-artefact, eric-the-red, zaccheus-allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne-exhibition, cape-otway, otway-reef, wood-sample, s.s.-dawn

Photograph of 1935-36 C Team premiershipmurrumbeena, murrumbeena cricket club, cricket, cricket clubs, cricketers, peter robertson, pat brophy, wally grant, j tormey, alf wood, s vaughan, jim watson, charlie parker, v frankland, albert bristowe, t j riley, dr buntine, r kelly, percy love, jack corran, albert forscutt

This medal for bravery, for rescue of the crew from the shipwreck “Eric the Red” on 4th September 1880, was awarded to one of the crew of the steamer S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States in July 1881. The medal is engraved with the name “Nelson Johnson” (the anglicised version of his Swedish name Neils Frederick Yohnson). It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in 2013 by Nelson’s granddaughter. Nelson had migrated from Sweden to Sydney in 1879. The next year in 1880, aged 24, he was a seaman on the steamship Dawn and involved in the rescue of the survivors of the Eric the Red. Nelson Johnson was a crew member of the S.S. Dawn and was one of the rescue team in the dinghy in the early morning of September 4th 1880. Medals were awarded to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn by the President of the United States, through the Consul-general (Mr Oliver M. Spencer), in July 1881 “ … in recognition of their humane efforts in rescuing the 23 survivors of the American built wooden sailing ship, the Eric the Red, on 4th September 1880.” The men were also presented with substantial monetary rewards and gifts. The city of Warrnambool’s care of the survivors was also mentioned by the President at the presentation, saying that “the city hosted and supported the crew ‘most graciously’. Previously, a week after the shipwreck, the Australian Government had also conveyed its thanks to the Captain and crew of the S.S. Dawn “Captain Griffith Jones, S.S. Dawn, The Hon. Mr Clark desires that the thanks of the Government should be conveyed to you for the prompt, persevering and seamanlike qualities displayed by you, your officers and crew in saving the number of lives you did on the occasion referred to. The hon. The Commissioner has also been pleased to award you a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion, and a sum of 65 pounds to be awarded to your officers and crew according to annexed scale. I am, &c, W Collins Rees, for and in the absence of the Chief Harbour Master.” The Awards are as follows: - Crew of DAWN'S lifeboat-Chief Officer, Mr G. Peat, 15 pounds; boat's crew-G. Sterge, A.B., 5 pounds; T. Hammond, A.B., 5 pounds; J. Black, A.B., 5 pounds; H. Edwards, A.B., 5 pounds. Dinghy's Crew-Second Officer, Mr Christie, 10 pounds; boat's crew -F. Lafer, A.B., 5 pounds; W. Johnstone, A.B., 5 pounds; Mr Lear, provedore, 5 pounds; Mr Dove, purser, 5 pounds. Captain Jones receives a piece of plate. (from “Wreck of the ship Eric the Red” by Jack Loney) The medal’s history, according to the Editor of ‘E-Sylum’ (the newsletter of The Numismatic Bibliomania Society “… appears to be an example of an 1880 State Department medal, catalogued as LS-3 (page 322 of R. W. Julian's book, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century 1792-1892). The reverse is mostly blank for engraving, surrounded by a thin wreath. It was designed by George Morgan, chief engraver for the Philadelphia Mint, and struck in gold, silver and bronze. The one pictured here (in The Standard newspaper, 2nd July 2013) appears to be silver.” The following is an account of the events which led to the awarding of this medal. The American ship Eric the Red was a wooden, three-masted clipper ship. She had 1,580 tons register and was the largest full-rigged ship built at Bath, Maine, USA in 1871. She was built and registered by Arthur Sewall, later to become the partnership E. & A. Sewall, the 51st ship built by this company. The annually-published List of Merchant Vessels of the U.S. shows Bath was still the home port of Eric the Red in 1880. The vessel was named after the Viking discoverer, Eric ‘the Red-haired’ Thorvaldsson, who was the first European to reach the shores of North America (in 980AD). The ship Eric the Red at first traded in coal between America and Britain, and later traded in guano nitrates from South America. In 1879 she was re-metalled and was in first-class condition. On 10th June 1880 (some records say 12th June) Eric the Red departed New York for Melbourne and then Sydney. She had been commissioned by American trade representatives to carry a special cargo of 500 exhibits (1400 tons) – about a quarter to a third of America’s total exhibits - for the U.S.A. pavilion at Melbourne’s first International Exhibition. The exhibits included furniture, ironmongery, wines, chemicals, dental and surgical instruments, paper, cages, bronze lamp trimmings, axles, stamped ware, astronomical and time globes, samples of corn and the choicest of leaf tobacco. Other general cargo included merchandise such as cases of kerosene and turpentine, brooms, Bristol's Sarsaparilla, Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Wheeler’s thresher machine, axe handles and tools, cases of silver plate, toys, pianos and organs, carriages and Yankee notions. The Eric the Red left New York under the command of Captain Zaccheus Allen (or some records say Captain Jacques Allen) and 24 other crew including the owner’s son third mate Ned Sewall. There were also 2 saloon passengers on board. The ship had been sailing for an uneventful 85 days and the voyage was almost at its end. As Eric the Red approached Cape Otway there was a moderate north-west wind and a hazy and overcast atmosphere. On 4th September 1880 at about 1:30 am Captain Allen sighted the Cape Otway light and was keeping the ship 5-6 miles offshore to stay clear of the hazardous Otway Reef. However, he had badly misjudged his position. The ship hit the Otway Reef about 2 miles out to sea, southwest of the Cape Otway light station. Captain Allen ordered the wheel to be put ‘hard up’ thinking that she might float off the reef. The sea knocked the helmsman away from the wheel, broke the wheel ropes and carried away the rudder. The lifeboats were swamped, the mizzenmast fell, with all of its riggings, then the mainmast also fell and the ship broke in two. Some said that the passenger Vaughan, who was travelling for his health and not very strong, was washed overboard and never seen again. The ship started breaking up. The forward house came adrift with three of the crew on it as well as a longboat, which the men succeeded in launching and keeping afloat by continually bailing with their sea boots. The captain, the third mate (the owner’s son) and others clung to the mizzenmast in the sea. Then the owner’s son was washed away off the mast. Within 10 minutes the rest of the ship was in pieces, completely wrecked, with cargo and wreckage floating in the sea. The captain encouraged the second mate to swim with him to the deckhouse where there were other crew but the second mate wouldn’t go with him. Eventually, the Captain made it to the deckhouse and the men pulled him up. At about 4:30 am the group of men on the deckhouse saw the lights of a steamer and called for help. At the same time, they noticed the second mate and the other man had drifted nearby, still on the spur, and pulled them both onto the wreck. The coastal steamer SS Dawn was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne, and its sailing time was different to its usual schedule. She was built in 1876 and bought by the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co. in 1877. At the time of this journey, she was commanded by Captain Jones and was sailing between Melbourne and Portland via Warrnambool. The provedore the Dawn, Benjamin Lear, heard cries of distress coming through the portholes of the saloon. He gave the alarm and the engines were stopped. Cries could be heard clearly, coming from the land. Captain Jones sent out crew in two boats and fired off rockets and blue lights to illuminate the area. They picked up the three survivors who were in the long boat from Eric the Red. Two men were picked up out of the water, one being the owner’s son who was clinging to floating kerosene boxes. At daylight, the Dawn then rescued the 18 men from the floating portion of the deckhouse, which had drifted about 4 miles from where they’d struck the reef. Shortly after the rescue the deckhouse drifted onto breakers and was thrown onto rocks at Point Franklin, about 2 miles east of Cape Otway. Captain Jones had signalled to Cape Otway lighthouse the number of the Eric the Red and later signalled that there was a wreck at Otway Reef but there was no response from the lighthouse. The captain and crew of the Dawn spent several more hours searching unsuccessfully for more survivors, even going back as far as Apollo Bay. On board the Dawn the exhausted men received care and attention to their needs and wants, including much-needed clothing. Captain Allen was amongst the 23 battered and injured men who were rescued and later taken to Warrnambool for care. Warrnambool’s mayor and town clerk offered them all hospitality, the three badly injured men going to the hospital for care and others to the Olive Branch Hotel, then on to Melbourne. Captain Allen’s leg injury prevented him from going ashore so he and three other men travelled on the Dawn to Portland. They were met by the mayor who also treated them all with great kindness. Captain Allen took the train back to Melbourne then returned to America. Those saved were Captain Zaccheus Allen (or Jacques Allen), J. Darcy chief mate, James F. Lawrence second mate, Ned Sewall third mate and owner’s son, John French the cook, C. Nelson sail maker, Clarence W. New passenger, and able seamen Dickenson, J. Black, Denis White, C. Herbert, C. Thompson, A. Brooks, D. Wilson, J. Ellis, Q. Thompson, C. Newman, W. Paul, J. Davis, M. Horenleng, J. Ogduff, T. W. Drew, R. Richardson. Four men had lost their lives; three of them were crew (Gus Dahlgreen ship’s carpenter, H. Ackman steward, who drowned in his cabin, and George Silver seaman) and one a passenger (J. B. Vaughan). The body of one of them had been found washed up at Cape Otway and was later buried in the lighthouse cemetery; another body was seen on an inaccessible ledge. Twelve months later the second mate James F. Lawrence, from Nova Scotia passed away in the Warrnambool district; an obituary was displayed in the local paper. Neither the ship nor its cargo was insured. The ship was worth about £15,000 and the cargo was reportedly worth £40,000; only about £2,000 worth had been recovered. Cargo and wreckage washed up at Apollo Bay, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Western Port and according to some reports, even as far away as the beaches of New Zealand. The day after the wreck the government steamship Pharos was sent from Queenscliff to clear the shipping lanes of debris that could be a danger to ships. The large midship deckhouse of the ship was found floating in a calm sea near Henty Reef. Items such as an American chair, a ladder and a nest of boxes were all on top of the deckhouse. As it was so large and could cause danger to passing ships, Captain Payne had the deckhouse towed towards the shore just beyond Apollo Bay. Between Apollo Bay and Blanket Bay, the captain and crew of Pharos collected Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, nests of boxes, bottles of Bristol’s sarsaparilla, pieces of common American chairs, axe handles, a Wheelers’ Patent thresher and a sailor’s trunk with the words “A. James” on the front. A ship’s flag-board bearing the words “Eric the Red” was found on the deckhouse; finally, those on board the Pharos had the name of the wrecked vessel. During this operation, Pharos came across the government steamer Victoria and also a steamer S.S. Otway, both of which were picking up flotsam and wreckage. A whole side of the hull and three large pieces of the other side of the hull, with some of the copper sheathing stripped off, had floated onto Point Franklin. Some of the vessels' yards and portions of her masts were on shore. The pieces of canvas attached to the yards and masts confirmed that the vessel had been under sail. The beach there was piled with debris several feet high. There were many cases of Diamond Oil kerosene, labelled R. W. Cameron and Company, New York. There were also many large planks of red pine, portions of a small white boat and a large, well-used oar. Other items found ashore included sewing machines (some consigned to ‘Long and Co.”) and notions, axe and scythe handles, hay forks, wooden pegs, rolls of wire (some branded “T.S” and Co, Melbourne”), kegs of nails branded “A.T. and Co.” from the factory of A. Field and Son, Taunton, Massachusetts, croquet balls and mallets, buggy fittings, rat traps, perfumery, cutlery and Douay Bibles, clocks, bicycles, chairs, a fly wheel, a cooking stove, timber, boxes, pianos, organs and a ladder. (Wooden clothes pegs drifted in for many years). There seemed to be no personal luggage or clothing. The Pharos encountered a long line, about one and a half miles, of f locating wreckage about 10 miles off land, southeast of Cape Otway, and in some places about 40 feet wide. It seemed that more than half of it was from Eric the Red. The ship’s crew rescued 3 cases that were for the Melbourne Exhibition and other items from amongst the debris. There were also chairs, doors, musical instruments, washing boards, nests of trunks and flycatchers floating in the sea. Most of the goods were saturated and smelt of kerosene. A section of the hull lies buried in the sand at Parker River Beach. An anchor with a chain is embedded in the rocks east of Point Franklin and a second anchor, thought to be from Eric the Red, is on display at the Cape Otway light station. (There is a photograph of a life belt on the verandah of Rivernook Guest House in Princetown with the words “ERIC THE RED / BOSTON”. This is rather a mystery as the ship was registered in Bath, Maine, USA.) Parts of the ship are on display at Bimbi Park Caravan Park and at Apollo Bay Museum. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has part of the helm (steering wheel), a carved wooden sword (said to be the only remaining portion of the ship’s figurehead; further research is currently being carried out), a door, a metal rod, samples of wood and this medal awarded for the rescue of the crew. Much of the wreckage was recovered by the local residents before police and other authorities arrived at the scene. Looters went to great effort to salvage goods, being lowered down the high cliff faces to areas with little or no beach to collect items from the wreckage, their mates above watching out for dangerous waves. A Tasmanian newspaper reports on a court case in Stawell, Victoria, noting a man who was caught 2 months later selling tobacco from the wreckage of Eric the Red. Some of the silverware is still treasured by descendants of Mr Mackenzie who was given these items by officials for his help in securing the cargo. The gifts included silver coffee and teapots, half a dozen silver serviette rings and two sewing machines. A Mr G.W. Black has in his possession a medal and a purse that was awarded to his father, another Dawn crew member who was part of the rescue team. The medal is similarly inscribed and named “To John Black ….” (from “Shipwrecks” by Margaret E. Mackenzie, 3rd edition, published 1964). The wreck and cargo were sold to a Melbourne man who salvaged a quantity of high-quality tobacco and dental and surgical instruments. Timbers from the ship were salvaged and used in the construction of houses and shed around Apollo Bay, including a guest house, Milford House (since burnt down in bushfires), which had furniture, fittings and timber on the dining room floor from the ship. A 39.7-foot-long trading ketch, the Apollo, was also built from its timbers by Mr Burgess in 1883 and subsequently used in Tasmanian waters. It was the first attempt at shipbuilding in Apollo Bay. In 1881 a red light was installed about 300 feet above sea level at the base of the Cape Otway lighthouse to warn ships when they were too close to shore; It would not be visible unless a ship came within 3 miles from it. This has proved to be an effective warning. Nelson Johnson married Elizabeth Howard in 1881 and they had 10 children, the father of the medal’s donor being the youngest. They lived in 13 Tichbourne Place, South Melbourne, Victoria. Nelson died in 1922 in Fitzroy Victoria, age 66. In 1895 the owners of the S.S. Dawn, the Portland and Belfast Steam Navigation Co., wound up and sold out to the Belfast Company who took over the Dawn for one year before selling her to Howard Smith. She was condemned and sunk in Suva in 1928. The State Library of Victoria has a lithograph in its collection depicting the steamer Dawn and the shipwrecked men, titled. "Wreck of the ship Eric the Red, Cape Otway: rescue of the crew by the Dawn". The medal for bravery is associated with the ship the “The Eric the Red which is historically significant as one of Victoria's major 19th century shipwrecks. (Heritage Victoria Eric the Red; HV ID 239) The wreck led to the provision of an additional warning light placed below the Cape Otway lighthouse to alert mariners to the location of Otway Reef. The site is archaeologically significant for its remains of a large and varied cargo and ship's fittings being scattered over a wide area. The site is recreationally and aesthetically significant as it is one of the few sites along this coast where tourists can visit identifiable remains of a large wooden shipwreck, and for its location set against the background of Cape Otway, Bass Strait, and the Cape Otway lighthouse.“ (Victorian Heritage Database Registration Number S239, Official Number 8745 USA) This medal was awarded to Nelson Johnson by the U.S. President for bravery in the rescue of the Eric the Red crew. The obverse of the round, solid silver medal has an inscription around the rim. In the centre of the medal is the head of Liberty to the left, hair in a bun, with a sprig of leaves in the top left of a band around her head. There is a 6-pointed star below the portrait, between the start and end of the inscription. There are two raised areas on the rim, horizontally opposite each other, from the edge to just below the lettering and coinciding with the holes drilled in the edge. Slightly right of the top is a round indentation in the rim. The reverse has a wreath of leaves as a border, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bow. In the centre of the medal is an inscription, decorated with 3-pronged design and dots. The edge is plain with 2 small, rough and uneven holes horizontally opposite to each other, as though they had been used for mounting the medal at some stage. The medal has a matte finish on both sides and is slightly pitted and scratched.“PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” around the perimeter of the obverse of the medal. “TO / Nelson Johnson, / seaman of the British, / str “Dawn”, for bravery, / at risk of life, / in / rescuing the crew of / the American Ship / “Eric the Red.” “M” on obverse, truncation of the portraitwarrnambool, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, eric the red, zaccheus allen, sewall, 1880, melbourne exhibition, cape otway, otway reef, victorian shipwreck, medal, nelson johnson, neils frederick yohnson, s.s. dawn, george morgan, hero

Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Society. President: Hon. R H S Abbot, M.L.C., F.R.S.A. Eleventh Exhibition, in the Bendigo Art Gallery, View Street. October 10th to 31st, 1926. Hon. Treas.: C E Bulley. Catalogue Price 6d. The President, Officers, and Committee of the Bendigo Art Society express their pleasure in presenting the representative collection embodied in this Exhibition. Mr John Shirlow, the noted etcher has been good enough to get together a fine showing of works from eminent artists, who have kindly exhibited with a disire to help the Society and to encourage the local artists. The patronage and help of our citizens is earnestly solicited. Fee, for exhibiting or ordinary membership, only 5/- per annum. Should you care to join, the executive officers will only be too pleased to give any information and to receive subscriptions. Joint Hon. Secs.: J Hudspeth, V E Greenhalgh. Fine Art Section. Arists names: Elma Roach, Ida F Knox, H J Honeybone, Edith H Moore, M A Hope, Lady Barrett, G E Parker, D Hinchcliffe, Aileen R Dent, J Hudspeth, J Florence MacGregor, Madge Freeman, C E Bulley, Merle Bulley, Ethel f Crook, L M Sheridan, C G Dunlop, Ena Smith, William H oliver, E Phillips Fox, Ethel Carrick, H Septimus Power, David Davies, Norman Davies, Norman W Penrose, Margaret McCloud, Josephine Van Damme, M E Coverdale, Marion Jones,R W Bugg, L Rowe, Lucy C Newell, Claire Colgan, Charles G Stewart, Alice Newell, V E Greenhalgh, Violet Hambly. Display of Hand-Painted China: H W Tilley, M Jacobs, W McKie, A E Collier, Hilda Veale, Elma Curnow, Jean Cahill, Frank Vaughan. Collection of Australian Art: W D Knox, Esther Paterson, Dora L Wilson, A M E Bale, E F Hooton, John Rowell, Horah Gurdon, Louis McCubbin. Section A (Outdoor Study, any subject, any medium.) Members only: C G Duinlop, J Florence MacGregor, Merle Bulley, William H Oliver, Norman W Penrose. Section B Student's Section. Drawing or Design. Pupils of Schools: Stanley R Millott, Joyce Ranson, Ronald William Forbes, Dorothy Clemens, Lilian J White, Ruby A I Welch, Nancy R Hudspeth, J Honey Church, J G Graham, Ivo Steel. Section C Student's Section. Applied Art. Pupols of Art Schools: Florrie Spencer, Joyce Ranson, Ronald W Forbes, Dorothy Clemens, Lilian J White, Ruby A I Welch, Nancy R Hudspeth, Jean Honeychurch, Annie I Paterson, Isabel Blake, Beatrice Lee, Garnet Capper, Gwen Osborne, Dorothy Olds, Marjorie Crossman, Doris Shaw, Phyllis Paul, Amy Bolton. Section D Plant Form From Nature (Pulils of Schools in Bedigo Inspectorate), North Bendigo: Alan Styles, Ronald Wright, Agnes R Styles, Jean Woodman. Creek View S.S. Beryl Butcher, Grace Gerguson, Ruth Cheatley, Elmore S.S.: George Read, Hazel Farnsworth, Lorna Washington, Keith Gow, Jean Oliver, Robbie Dick. Wanalta S.S. Mary Brown, Dorothy Nelson, Isobel Roberts, Kenneth McKenzie, Frank Brown. Barnedown S.S.: Elsie Read, George Cahill, Maud Nicholas, Leonard Robbins, Benjamin Robbins. Gravel Hill S.S.: Gladys Bamford, Jean Wright, Jean Hosking, Nancy Honeychurch, Norman McLean, Norman Guy, Agnes Stilwell. Violet St S.S.: Alma Worth, G McConville, Harry Elliot. Various Schools: Wm. Hyslop, Ruby Robertson, Hilda Parkinson, Maud O'Connor, Archie L Walker, Hedley Leggo, Jan O Hoy, Edith Cheatley, John Tatchell, Jean Barell, Keith Ashcroft, John Mueller, J Howe, Eric Cohen, Alice Glover, Ivy Morphett, Allen V Horne, Yin On, R W Moon. 2 Copies of catalogue. Black print, 12 pages made up of 3 sheets of paper with 2 staples in centre.Boltons Print, Bendigoevent, exhibition, bendigo art society, bendigo art gallery, bendigo art society. president: hon. r h s abbot, m.l.c., f.r.s.a. eleventh exhibition, in the bendigo art gallery, view street. october 10th to 31st, 1926. hon. treas.: c e bulley. catalogue price 6d. the president, officers, and committee of the bendigo art society express their pleasure in presenting the representative collection embodied in this exhibition. mr john shirlow, the noted etcher has been good enough to ger together a fine showing of works from eminent artists, who have kindly exhibited with a disire to help the society and to encourage the local artists. the patronage and help of our citizens is earnestly solicited. fee, for exhibiting or ordinary membership, only 5/- per annum. should you care to join, the executive officers will only be too pleased to give any information and to receive subscriptions. joint hon. secs.: j hudspeth, v e greenhalgh. fine art section. arists names: elma roach, ida f knox, h j honeybone, edith h moore, m a hope, lady barrett, g e parker, d hinchcliffe, aileen r dent, j hudspeth, j florence macgregor, madge freeman, c e bulley, merle bulley, ethel f crook, l m sheridan, c g dunlop, ena smith, william h oliver, e phillips fox, ethel carrick, h septimus power, david davies, norman davies, norman w penrose, margaret mccloud, josephine van damme, m e coverdale, marion jones, r w bugg, l rowe, lucy c newell, claire colgan, charles g stewart, alice newell, v e greenhalgh, violet hambly. display of hand-painted china: h w tilley, m jacobs, w mckie, a e collier, hilda veale, elma curnow, jean cahill, frank vaughan. collection of australian art: w d knox, esther paterson, dora l wilson, a m e bale, e f hooton, john rowell, horah gurdon, louis mccubbin. section a (outdoor study, any subject, any medium.) members only: c g duinlop, j florence macgregor, merle bulley, william h oliver, norman w penrose. section b student's section. drawing or design. pupils of schools: stanley r millott, joyce ranson, ronald william forbes, dorothy clemens, lilian j white, ruby a i welch, nancy r hudspeth, j honey church, j g graham, ivo steel. section c student's section. applied art. pupols of art schools: florrie spencer, joyce ranson, ronald w forbes, dorothy clemens, lilian j white, ruby a i welch, nancy r hudspeth, jean honeychurch, annie i paterson, isabel blake, beatrice lee, garnet capper, gwen osborne, dorothy olds, marjorie crossman, doris shaw, phyllis paul, amy bolton. section d plant form from nature (pulils of schools in bedigo inspectorate), north bendigo: alan styles, ronald wright, agnes r styles, jean woodman. creek view s.s. beryl butcher, grace gerguson, ruth cheatley, elmore s.s.: george read, hazel farnsworth, lorna washington, keith gow, jean oliver, robbie dick. wanalta s.s. mary brown, dorothy nelson, isobel roberts, kenneth mckenzie, frank brown. barnedown s.s.: elsie read, george cahill, maud nicholas, leonard robbins, benjamin robbins. gravel hill s.s.: gladys bamford, jean wright, jean hosking, nancy honeychurch, norman mclean, norman guy, agnes stilwell. violet st s.s.: alma worth, g mcconville, harry elliot. various schools: wm. hyslop, ruby robertson, hilda parkinson, maud o'connor, archie l walker, hedley leggo, jan o hoy, edith cheatley, john tatchell, jean barell, keith ashcroft, john mueller, j howe, eric cohen, alice glover, ivy morphett, allen v horne, yin on, r w moon. 2 copies of catalogue. black print, 12 pages made up of 3 sheets of paper with 2 staples in centre.

This board was created to honour the work undertaken to administrate the Foundation by it's board and voluntary members. It is inscribed as follows: "The Queensland Foundation for Blind People Inc, (formerly the Queensland Placement & Training Centre for the Blind Inc) est. 1956. The Dickinson Honour Board. Foundation Director - H.C. Dickinson M.B.E. Presidents: H.W. Thiele, T.M.Bryce, K.W. Hooper MLA, B.T. Turnley OBE, D.M. Cameron MP. Vice-Presidents: K.W. Hooper MLA, A. Hartshorn AM, K.M. Dickinson AM, T.M. Bryce, S. Cliffe, M. Dickinson AM. Secretaries: M.M. Bird, J. Maclean, J. Cummins, L. Smith, M. Orr, I. Bauman, W. Hooper, L. Eadie, C. Guthrie, R. Pearl, R. Stevens, D. Donaldson, P. Caulley, J. Mitchell. Treasurers: G.E. Ross, M.N. Solomon, J. MItchell. Meritorious Service: C. Alroe, J, Ball, E. Bebb, T. Blackford, C. Boyle, T. Boyle, E. Brown, B. Coleman, S & L Cowen, T. Davidson, D. Drake, V. England, F. Feint, S. Granata. G. Hannam, S. Hanarahan, E. Heap, A. Henderson, D. Henderson, A. Horn, C. Hudson, H. Jahoda, J. Johns, E. Laws, M. Loxton, P. Ludlow, E. Morgan, T. Mulroney, T. McLearie, R. Newitt, N. Noad, D. Pauls, B & E Perry, E. Person, M. Persse, M. Porteous, N. Price, R. Prineas, P. Robinson, S. Russ, K. Scells, E. Searle, N. Shannon, E. Squires, I. Stewart, J. Thomas, E. Turnball, J. Vaughan, M. Wilde, J. Warren, J. Shaw, A. Brown, P. Ruhle, R. Mulholland, N. Crossman, E. Power, A. Power, S. Boucat, K. Fitzgerald, A. Hartshorn, D. Cameron. Trustees: M.M. Bird, F.R. Taylor, B.T. Tunley OBE, K.W. Stone OBE, S. Jones BEM, H.C. Dickinson MBE, K.E. Scells, R. Stevens Life Members: M.M. Bird, J. Light, A.J Lobb, A. Hartshorn, M. Dickinson AM, E. Searle, D. Henderson OAM, M. Solomon, D, Cameron Board with rows of etched platesroyal blind foundation of queensland, nameplates

The context in which the hat was made and worn assists in establishing its potential historic significance. 'Bailliere's Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide containing the most recent and accurate information as to every place in the Colony' (1870), describes the village of Vaughan as being located on the road from Daylesford to Castlemaine. In 1870 the Vaughan was deemed to be entirely a gold mining area, gold having been discovered in the district in 1853. Intriguingly the entry in the Gazetteer claims that the electoral division of Vaughan began at the junction of the Middleton Creek and the Loddon River, so perhaps the cap might have belonged to a member of a significant local family. In 1870, Vaughan had a population of about 1000 persons and included almost 300 dwellings. Articles from newspapers, published on Trove refer frequently to a Mr Middleton as a litigant in court cases before the Vaughan Court in the 1860s. By the 1870s, the Mt Alexander Mail, in an article on ‘Mining: The Pioneer Wheel’ describes the success of Mr Middleton and his Middleton’s Reef Gold Quartz Mining Company, which had built the largest water wheel in the Colony. The wheel was 20’ in diameter and 2’ wide. Quartz mining as practiced by companies such as Middleton’s had become necessary after the exhaustion of alluvial quartz mining deposits in the 1860s. So we can probably establish a link between the cap and a significant mining identity in the period in which the article was made. The historical significance of the cap is only one part of the story. Caps such as the Middleton example can also be items of aesthetic significance as they were typically, examples of women’s work, using published patterns in magazines such as the Ladies Home Magazine. While women might follow or adapt a published pattern, their choice of materials reflected what was available locally. The fine hand stitching on this example is evidence of high quality domestic needlework. The maker crafted the cap from five triangular pieces of cotton cloth, each piece lined with a faded yellow net. The net provides some stiffening for the cap and has a functional purpose in that it anchors the hand-stitched, looped design of yellow silk ribbon that decorates the surface of the cap. Gentleman’s smoking (lounging) cap believed to have been made in c.1860-69. The conical hat is made of a dark green cotton fabric embroidered with narrow ribbon of a paler green silk. The unlined rimless hat is made of four pieces of fabric. There is no evidence of the hat at one stage featuring a tassle. The original donation record noted that the cap had been made for, and was worn by, a Mr Middleton, of Vaughan in Central Victoria. Nilhats, smokers hats, men's clothing

The photograph was donated by Rosemary Vaughan-Smith, a member of the Society. It is believed to be a photograph of the donor's mother.Oval studio photograph, artfully mounted on a rectangular board, of a woman in a bridal gown, surrounded by flowers. The bride is dressed in a layered tulle gown with an white overjacket. c. 1910.wedding photographs, rosemary vaughan-smith

Louisa Thomas married Henry Gipps (1837-91)in 1863. They had six sons and two daughters. While Louisa and Henry Gipps were to die in Sussex, two of their sons, Frederick George De Visme Gipps (1867-1953) and Richard Brook Woodthorpe Gipps (c.1872-1946) migrated to Queensland, possibly bringing with them their mother’s sketchbook.The collection of artworks that are included in the sketchbook are often of outstanding aesthetic and artistic significance. In the variety of subject matter and the geographical places represented, it is historically significant as a document recording the postings of Colonel Henry Gipps, 9th Norfolk Regiment, and his wife Louisa to locations in the Mediterranean and West Asia. The large bound sketchbook has a marbled cover with blue binding. The name Louisa Goulburn Thomas and the date 1862 are faintly inscribed in pencil on the front page. However the book contains pen and ink and pencil drawings, watercolours, and photographs, which both predate and postdate 1862. The approximately 75 works are loose-leafed items and [currently] do not form a chronological, geographical or thematic sequence. Creators identified on some drawings and watercolours include Mary Julia Wilder Thomas, JFV Wright, ELG (Edward Louis de Bondell Gipps?), L Nicholson, Bertha Isadore Thomas, and HG (Henry Gipps?). Many of the works are signed and dated, and include rural landscapes and seascapes, archaeological sites, animal studies, and portraits. While most of the works were created in the British Isles, others are scenes of Venice, the Ionian Islands, Cape Town, Hong Kong and Japan. [A number of the ‘oriental’ paintings on silk were probably purchased from local artists.] The art works in the book are at various stages of completion and represent a diverse range of artistic skills. What may be the earliest work in the sketchbook is a drawing of three uniformed soldiers. An annotation on the reverse records that the drawing is of a Group of Soldiers after [Philipp Jakob] de Southerbourg 1830. The birth of Louisa Thomas' oldest son, William Henry Houston Meyrick Gipps (1864-1903) in Corfu perhaps explains why a number of scenes and items in the album are of the Ionian Islands. Louisa is probably the creator of a number of still life and botanical studies in the album. These range from floral studies to a bird’s nest. The painting of objects was to remain a socially ‘approved’ specialty of amateur and professional women artists into the 20th century. The complete contents of the album will be uploaded to accompany this record. Some items may be published separately on Victorian Collections, but will acknowledge their origins in the sketchbook."Louisa Goulburn Thomas / 1862"victorian sketchbooks, manuscripts - kew historical society, 9th norfolk regiment, rosemary (gipps) vaughan smith, vaughan-smith collection

The owner of the 'Autograph' book was Mary Alys (Gipps) Kirkland, the daughter of Richard Brook Woodthorpe Gipps (c.1872-1946). The family had migrated from Great Britain to Coorparoo, Brisbane, where most of the items in the album were created. In June 1925, The [Brisbane] Telegraph reported the wedding of Richard Gipps to Mary Alys Kirkland at Elvaston, The Righi, South Yarra. The bride, like the groom, was originally from Queensland, but at the time of her marriage lived with her parents at 21 The Righi. The album passed to their daughter Rosemary Alison (Gipps) Vaughan-Smith, and thence by donation to the collection of the Kew Historical Society. While the signatures are interesting, they are not rare. Rather it is the illustrations that dazzle with the surety of their design and execution. In the portraits, one can recognise the debt that Edwardian art and design owed to the Pre-Raphaelites whose serene and poised idealisations of women are exemplified in the drawings, albeit simplified for a new 20th century sensibility. Typical, is a very early portrait from 1906 of Mary Alys Kirkland by a 20-year-old Garnet Agnew (1886-1951). Agnew later became an illustrator for The Brisbane Courier and The Queenslander Illustrated Weekly, creating cover illustrations for these publications between 1926 and 1930. Another pen and ink portrait of Mary Alys Kirkland was created in 1910 by Augusta Frances Isabel Hobday (1884-1961). Augusta, with her brother and sister, Percy Stanhope Hobday and Gladys Hobday, were artists and teachers. Each was involved for many years in the Queensland Art Society. While the album has historic, aesthetic and social significance to Brisbane’s history, as a document, its preoccupations have a wider Australian relevance and importance. Compiled between 1905 and 1922, the 'Autograph' book has considerable aesthetic coherence, even though drawings and text are by different hands. Together, it provides a vivid depiction of social life and values in Brisbane in the period preceding the First World War. Like other autograph albums of the period, it is a compilation of pen and ink sketches, watercolours, quotations, poems, aphorisms and signatures. Most entries are from Queensland, particularly Coorparoo in Brisbane; friends and acquaintances from other Australian States also contributed items. The autograph album predictably contains numerous mementoes of the notable and the forgotten. It includes the signatures of the British contralto Dame Clara Butt (1872-1936) her husband, the baritone R. H. Kennerley Rumford (1870-1957), and that of the Australian actress and singer Nellie Stewart (1858-1931). autograph albums, manuscripts - kew historical society, rosemary vaughan-smith, vaughan-smith collection, dame clara butt, garnet andrew, augusta frances isabel hobday, coorparoo - brisbane, nellie stewart, mary alys kirkland, mary alys gipps (nee kirkland)

Kew achieved independence from the Boroondara Roads Board in 1860. As a new municipality, its first three leaders were designated as chairmen. On becoming a borough in 1863, its leaders were identified as mayors. The earliest photographs date from ca.1906, when the Town of Kew commissioned the noted local photographer Josiah E Barnes to produce standardised portraits of former mayors to be displayed in the Mayoral Chamber of the Town Hall. The collection also includes photographs by other well-known photographic studios such as Burlington Studios, Melba – Melbourne, Stuart Tompkins, Spencer Shier and Talma & Co. The majority of mounts identify the photographer. Eighty photographs are housed in their original frames.This portrait is one of a series of mounted and framed photographic portraits of Mayors and Town Clerks of the former Borough, Town and City of Kew, for the period 1863 to 1969. The portraits were transferred by the City of Kew to the Kew Historical Society in March 1989. A Significance Assessment in 2018, funded by the National Library of Australia confirmed the historic, and often artistic significance of the series. Framed portrait of Cr. W. D. Vaughan, Mayor of Kew 1937-1938 and 1947-1948. The mounting and framing of the photograph follows a typical layout or style in that each is framed in dark wood, glazed, and laid down on an inscribed board. The inscription identifies the name of the mayor and the year/s that he/she served.Cr. W.D. Vaughan / Mayor 1937-1938 and 1947-1948 C Stuart Tompkins / ARPS / Camberwellmayors of kew (vic), cr. w. d. vaughan, kew (vic.) — municipal collection

The orthodox version of the origins and history of the Kew Elder(ly) Citizens’ Association was established by Cr. W. D. Vaughan in his book Kew’s Civic Century (1960), when he wrote that: "When Mrs. C. H. Simpson was Mayoress in 1952 she set up the Elderly Citizens’ Association to care for the needs of ages persons in Kew. The idea was strongly supported and a start was made by providing social afternoons for elderly folk at Southesk. Visiting sick people in their homes, providing firewood where needed, and other activities were undertaken by the Association. The aid of Council was sought to further the work. It was decided that a social unit for elderly folk be established at Southesk." (p.126-7). In the following pages, he describes in detail Council’s role in formally establishing the Association. This ‘official’ version was reasserted in the later Thematic Environmental History of the City of Boroondara (2012). However the origins and gestation of community of organisations is rarely straightforward. In 1965, five years after Vaughan’s book was published, the author of East Kew Women’s Club : Twenty Years : 20-7-1945-30-7-1965, writing about the period July 1947 to July 1950, described the role the Club played in establishing the Kew Elder Citizens Association. The author wrote: "At a meeting of the Kew Community Aid, the plight of many elderly people in Kew who were dependent on pensions was raised and in order to ascertain their needs the practice was begun of serving morning tea at the Masonic Hall in Walpole Street, where pensions were then paid. From this beginning the Kew Elder Citizens Association was formed in Kew with wide support, and Club members gave willing support on the committee, in helping serve afternoon tea and in entertainment." (p.4) Photographic evidence also leads to questions about Vaughan’s version of events. A framed photograph in the Society’s Collection shows a Public Meeting to form the Kew Elder Citizens Association in a room at Southesk a year earlier in 1951. Whatever version of the origins of the Association is correct, a later framed photograph in the Society’s collection shows the opening of the completed Clubrooms of the Kew Elder Citizens at South Esk by the Hon. E.P. Cameron M.L.C, Minister of Health, on 12 November 1956. The Association is still active in Kew and is currently located at Hamer Court, opposite the Boroondara General (Kew) Cemetery in High Street, Kew.Framed and titled black and white photograph taken on the occasion of a visit by members of the Kew Elder Citizens Club to Lyons "Mountain Grand" Warburton, in February 1978.community groups -- kew (vic.), senior citizens clubs -- kew (vic), club tours