Front: View of Portland before 1886. Back: Port of Portland Authority.port of portland archives, portland cliff, portland pier

Scrimshaw was a leisure activity for whalers and sailors. The egg is etched with two sailing ships. The markings in scrimshaw were made with the crude needles used for sail making and a black substance, possibly soot or tobacco juice was rubbed into the inscribed markings to bring the etched images into view. This egg belonged to Captain William Wilkinson. The immigrant ship Utopia sailed under a Captain Wilkinson arriving at Portland in 1854. Stacey Longstaff, Captain Wilkinson's great-great-grandson now living in Germany had inherited several items with associations to the Utopia. These included Captain Wilkinson’s sword; a decorative cut-paper memorial card acknowledging Captain Wilkinson’s death from cholera in Calcutta in 1855; an 1854 insurance certificate for Utopia; and a ship’s cabinet reputed to have housed the ship’s log. With no direct descendants to pass these items on to, Mr. Longstaff was looking for a suitable future home for them. Mr Longstaff found Glenelg Shire’s museum listings on the Culture Victoria website where he contacted Eleanor who in turn contacted us. Mr Longstaff decided that Portland was an appropriate home for the objects and negotiations commenced to transfer them to Portland and for their subsequent donation to Glenelg Shire Council’s Cultural Collection. The items were sent in two consignments - the sword, card and certificate initially, and once they had arrived in Portland, Mr Longstaff forwarded the cabinet. All items were sent at his own expense. During the time the parcels were in transit, emails were sent back and forth between Mr Longstaff and myself as we tracked the progress of the parcels from Rahden, Northern Germany to Portland. Utopia was one of the 37 ships that brought assisted immigrants to Portland in the 1850s. From 1851 to 1857, 11,395 immigrants first set foot on Australian soil at Portland. Arriving in Portland Bay on January 25, 1854, Captain Wilkinson was publicly praised by the passengers for the safe and speedy passage aboard the Utopia to Australia. Three testimonials written by the passengers appeared in the Portland Guardian on January 26. Also, making the Utopia’s arrival in Portland a memorable event, 13 of crew deserted ship and headed for the Victorian goldfields. Only two were captured by the local mounted police near Mount Clay, north of Portland. During the 83 day passage from Liverpool (UK) to Portland there were 5 births and 5 deaths aboard Utopia. The sword, certificate and memorial card will be exhibited at Portland’s History House in Cliff Street in a revamp of the display relating to assisted immigration into Portland in the 1850s. The ship’s cabinet will undergo conservation treatment before going on public display.Large egg with images of a ship carved into each side of the egg. There is red colouring over the flags on the ship. The ship is a sailing ship in full sail with water underneath. The egg has a crack and a hole in the top. It sits on a wooden rest.sailing, captain wilkinson, scrimshaw, egg, maritime, glenelg shire cultural collection, utopia

The Port of Portland opened in 1959. Straight after the Mission had the desire to establish a Mission at this location. A building was found in November 1961 on Cliff Road (AR 1961). After alterations and renovations, it was officially dedicated and opened the 30 June 1962. The Portland Mission was the fourth building to be opened in Victoria.small b & w photograph depicting outdoor empty chair setup for Mission to Seafarers outdoor service.stamp: K7020portland-victoria, 1962, dedication, opening

The Port of Portland opened in 1959. Straight after the Mission had the desire to establish a Mission at this location. A building was found in November 1961 on Cliff Road (AR 1961). After alterations and renovations, it was officially dedicated and opened the 30 June 1962. The Portland Mission was the fourth building to be opened in Victoriasmall b & w photograph depicting outdoor Mission to Seafarers church service, with attendees seated in chairs.stamp: "PORTLAND GUARDIAN" PHOTO / COPYRIGHTportland-victoria, 1962, victoria, opening, dedication

The Port of Portland opened in 1959. Straight after the Mission had the desire to establish a Mission at this location. A building was found in November 1961 on Cliff Road (AR 1961). After alterations and renovations, it was officially dedicated and opened the 30 June 1962. The Portland Mission was the fourth building to be opened in Victoria.Large rectangular (landscape orientation) monochrome photo, depicting 6+ clergymen gathered in a 'U' shape, conducting an outdoor servicePortland Guardian stampmission to seamen, portland, victoria, 1962, dedication, opening

The Portlanders. G.M. Henriksen. 1st ed. No imprint. 60 p.; illus. Soft cover.1. Signed by the author on the title page. 2. "To Ben, with best wishes, from Glad Henriksen." on title page. 3. Corrections and additional information on reverse of cover.portland; g.m. henriksen; anecdotes; crawford;

Many fine ships were lost along Victoria's western coastline and evidence suggests a number of unidentified wrecks went down many years earlier.Wrecks along the Great Ocean Road. Shipwrecks of the west coast from Point Lonsdale to Portland. J.K. Loney. 4th ed. Dimboola (Vic); J.K. Loney; 1974. iii, 137 p.; illus, maps. Soft cover. ISBN 0 9599853 8 7shipwrecks; great ocean road; j.k. loney; west coast; strandings;portland; port fairy; warrnambool; point lonsdale;

Two pages with the history of George Baulch and family in the Otway Ranges.A story about George Baulch and his family settling in the Otway Ranges in the late 1890s and early 1900s.Typed on paper with advertisments on the reverse side.george baulch; carrie hobson; portland; princetown; otway ranges;

The rope was part of the distress rocket used during the time that the sailing ship Fiji was in distress, before it became a wreck. The three-masted iron barque Fiji had been built in Belfast, Ireland, in 1875 by Harland and Wolfe for a Liverpool based shipping company. The ship departed Hamburg on 22nd May 1891 bound for Melbourne, under the command of Captain William Vickers with a crew of 25. The ship’s manifest shows that she was loaded with a cargo of 260 cases of dynamite, pig iron, steel goods, spirits (whisky, schnapps, gin, brandy), sailcloth, tobacco, coiled fencing wire, concrete, 400 German pianos (Sweet Hapsburg), concertinas and other musical instruments, artists supplies including brushes, porcelain, furniture, china, and general cargo including candles. There were also toys in anticipation for Christmas, including wooden rocking horses, miniature ships, dolls with china limbs and rubber balls. On September 5th, one hundred days out from Hamburg in squally and boisterous south west winds the Cape Otway light was sighted on a bearing differing from Captain Vickers’ calculation of his position. At about 2:30am, Sunday 6th September 1891 land was reported 4-5 miles off the port bow. The captain tried to put the ship on the other tack, but she would not respond. He then tried to turn her the other way but just as the manoeuvre was being completed the Fiji struck rock only 300 yards (274 metres) from shore. The place is known as Wreck Bay, Moonlight Head. Blue lights were burned and distress rockets fired whilst an effort was made to lower boats but all capsized or swamped and smashed to pieces. Two of the younger crewmen volunteered to swim for the shore, taking a line. One, a Russian named Daniel Cartland, drowned after he was swept away when the line broke. The other, 17 year old able seaman Julius Gebauhr, a German, reached shore safely on his second attempt but without the line, which he had cut lose with his sheath-knife when it become tangled in kelp. He rested on the beach a while then climbed the steep cliffs in search of help. At about 10am on the Sunday morning a party of land selectors - including F. J. Stansmore, Leslie Dickson (or Dixon) and Mott - found Gebauhr. They were near Ryan's Den, on their travels on horseback from Princetown towards Moonlight Head, and about 5km from the wreck. Gebauhr was lying in the scrub in a poor state, bleeding and dressed only in singlet, socks and a belt with his sheath-knife, ready for all emergencies. At first they were concerned about his wild and shaggy looking state and what seemed to be gibberish speech, taking him to be an escaped lunatic. They were reassured after he threw his knife away and realised that he was speaking half-English, half-German. They gave him food and brandy and some clothing and were then able to gain information about the wreck. Some of the men took him to River nook, a nearby guest house owned by John Evans, where he was cared for. Stansmore and Dickson rode off to try and summon help. Others went down to the site of the wreck. Messages for rescuing the rest of the crew were sent both to Port Campbell for the rocket rescue crew and to Warrnambool for the lifeboat. The S.S. Casino sailed from Portland towards the scene. After travelling the 25 miles to the scene, half of the Port Campbell rocket crew and equipment arrived and set up the rocket tripod on the beach below the cliffs. By this time the crew of the Fiji had been clinging to the jib-boom for almost 15 hours, calling frantically for help. Mr Tregear from the Rocket Crew fired the line. The light line broke and the rocket was carried away. A second line was successfully fired across the ship and made fast. The anxious sailors then attempted to come ashore along the line but, with as many as five at a time, the line sagged considerably and some were washed off. Others, nearly exhausted, had to then make their way through masses of seaweed and were often smothered by waves. Only 14 of the 24 who had remained on the ship made it to shore. Many onlookers on the beach took it in turns to go into the surf and drag half-drowned seamen to safety. These rescuers included Bill (William James) Robe, Edwin Vinge, Hugh Cameron, Fenelon Mott, Arthur Wilkinson and Peter Carmody. (Peter Carmody was also involved in the rescue of men from the Newfield.) Arthur Wilkinson, a 29 year old land selector, swam out to the aid of one of the ship’s crewmen, a carpenter named John Plunken. Plunken was attempting to swim from the Fiji to the shore. Two or three times both men almost reached the shore but were washed back to the wreck. A line was thrown to them and they were both hauled aboard. It was thought that Wilkinson struck his head on the anchor before s they were brought up. He remained unconscious. The carpenter survived this ordeal but Wilkinson later died and his body was washed up the next day. It was 26 year old Bill Robe who hauled out the last man, the captain, who had become tangled in the kelp. The wreck of the Fiji was smashed apart within 20 minutes of the last man being brought ashore, and it settled in about 6m of water. Of the 26 men on the Fiji, 11 in total lost their lives. The remains of 7 bodies were washed onto the beach and their coffins were made from timbers from the wrecked Fiji. They were buried on the cliff top above the wreck. The survivors were warmed by fires on the beach then taken to River nook and cared for over the next few days. Funds were raised by local communities soon after the wreck in aid of the sufferers of the Fiji disaster. Captain Vickers was severely reprimanded for his mishandling of the ship. His Masters Certificate was suspended for 12 months. At the time there was also a great deal of public criticism at the slow and disorganised rescue attempt to save those on board. The important canvas ‘breech buoy’ or ‘bucket chair’ and the heavy line from the Rocket Rescue was in the half of the rocket outfit that didn’t make it in time for the rescue: they had been delayed at the Gellibrand River ferry. Communications to Warrnambool were down so the call for help didn’t get through on time and the two or three boats that had been notified of the wreck failed to reach it in time. Much looting occurred of the cargo that washed up on the shore, with nearly every visitor leaving the beach with bulky pockets. One looter was caught with a small load of red and white rubber balls, which were duly confiscated and he was ‘detained’ for 14 days. Essence of peppermint mysteriously turned up in many settlers homes. Sailcloth was salvaged and used for horse rugs and tent flies. Soon after the wreck “Fiji tobacco” was being advertised around Victoria. A Customs officer, trying to prevent some of the looting, was assaulted by looters and thrown over a steep cliff. He managed to cling to a bush lower down until rescued. In 1894 some coiled fencing wire was salvaged from the wreck. Hundreds of coils are still strewn over the site of the wreck, encrusted and solidified. The hull is broken but the vessel’s iron ribs can be seen along with some of the cargo of concrete and pig iron. Captain Vickers presented Bill Robe with his silver-cased pocket watch, the only possession that he still had, as a token for having saved his life and the lives of some of the crew. (The pocket watch came with 2 winding keys, one to wind it and one to change the hands.) Years later Bill passed the watch to his brother-in-law Gib (Gilbert) Hulands as payment of a debt and it has been passed down the family to Gilbert Hulands’ grandson, John Hulands. Seaman Julius Gebauhr later gave his knife, in its hand crafted leather sheath, to F. J. Stansmore for caring for him when he came ashore. The knife handle had a personal inscription on it. A marble headstone on the 200m high cliffs overlooking Wreck Beach, west of Moonlight Head, paying tribute to the men who lost their lives when Fiji ran aground. The scene of the wreck is marked by the anchor from the Fiji, erected by Warrnambool skin divers in 1967.This rope is part of the collection of artefacts from the wreck of the Fiji. Flagstaff Hill’s Fiji collection is of historical significance at a State level because of its association with the wreck Fiji, which is on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S259. The Fiji is archaeologically significant as the wreck of a typical 19th century international sailing ship with cargo. It is educationally and recreationally significant as one of Victoria's most spectacular historic shipwreck dive sites with structural features and remains of the cargo evident. It also represents aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes).Rope, plaited, brown in colour, cut straight at one end, and the other end is separated into 3 pieces, from distress rockets used during the wreck of the sailing ship Fiji. Rope was in envelope printed with an address, and a description, and there was a display card with further details on it. Printed on the envelope: "Shire of Hampden / PO Box 84, Camperdown 3260" Hand written "rope of wreck of Fiji / 7cm / Mr Wm "Boyce" Display card with rope includes words "Piece of Rope from the Fiji distress rockets and was donated to Flagstaff Hill by a private donor in 1989"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, rope, the fiji, william boyce, distress signal, rocket rescue, life saving equipment