This ceramic soap dish was recovered from the wreck of the 1882-1883 George Roper between the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. It is one of the shipwreck artefacts in the John Chance Collection. Soap dishes were often part of a wash set that also included a water jug and wash bowl. The holes in the dish allowed water to drain out of the dish, keeping the soap dry for next use. The GEORGE ROPER 1882 - 1883 - The George Roper was a 4-masted iron sailing ship built in Liverpool, England, in 1882 for fast international trade with Australia. The large vessel was launched in February 1883. The ship was on its first trip, departing Liverpool for Melbourne, captained by John Ward and a crew of 31. She had almost reached her destination on July 4 1883, approaching Port Phillip Bay and being towed by the steam tug William. The weather changed to rough with fog and both the George Roper and the William hit the dangerous Lonsdale Reef at Port Phillip Heads. The Captain and crew were eventually rescued and taken to Queenscliff. Salvage syndicates were able to recover a lot of the cargo before the George Roper broke up and sank. Amongst the cargo was soft goods, draperies, household items, spirits of malt and distilled liquors, chemicals, dynamite, and 1,400 tons of steel rails for the Victorian Government. Also in the hold were Russell Stourbridge bricks, as paying ballast. This 1880s soap dish is an example of personal hygiene accessories and may have been part of a set comprising jug, bowl and dish.. The soap dish is also significant as it was recovered by John Chance, a diver from the wreck of the George Roper in the 1960s-70s. Items that come from several wrecks along Victoria's coast have since been donated to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village’s museum collection by his family, illustrating this item’s level of historical value. The soap dish is significant for its association with the barque George Roper, which is considered historically and archaeologically significant and as such, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Database, VHR S286. The George Roper is an example of a vessel built specifically for fast travel to and from Australia with a large shipment of cargo. Its cargo of steel rails adds to the historical significance of international trade to the growing colony of Australia and Victoria in particular, with rail transportation soon to become a faster and safer form of transportation between colonial towns. Divers can still access parts of the scattered wreck and other artefacts recovered in the 1970s and 1980s can be viewed in both public and private collections. Soap dish; glazed white porcelain. Round shallow bowl with blue patterned border, resembling butterflies. Two raised, concentric rings are moulded into the base. Six pierced holes are evenly spaced between the rings, five holes are in the centre of the dish.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, john chance, west coast trader, george roper, captain john ward, russell stourbridge bricks, port phillip heads, lonsdale reef, dive wreck, vhr s286, coastal trader, ceramic, vintage, personal hygiene, bathroom accessory, soap dish

This shaving set was used, mostly by men, to lather the face prior to shaving. Ornamental mugs such as this one were often given as presents. Today most men use electric shavers. This shaving set has no known local provenance and is kept for display purposes.This is a shaving set with a white china mug in the shape of a fish with a mouth where the excess water and lather are ejected and it has a handle in the shape of a fish’s tail. The top open section that contains room for the lather and water has white ornamentation around the outer section and has three holes inside for drainage. There is evidence of some gilt decoration around the mouth and eye of the fish and the open top section but this is now mostly rubbed away. The brush has a wooden handle with cotton braiding and hair (probably horsehair). The brush is a little worn. bathroom accessories, history of warrnambool

This is a bathroom jug and could have been part of a set for bathroom use. It would have held mainly water, hot or cold. In the days before there were sinks with hot and cold running water in bathrooms, a jug such as this was an essential item and would have been in common use up to the first three decades of the 20th century. Today this item is more likely to be used as a vaseThis jug has no known local provenance and is kept as a memento of a household item in use 100 years ago. This is a large white china jug. The body of the jug is spherical or bulbous shaped, tapering to a smaller neck and a large lip. There is gold trim around the handle, the rim of the top opening, around the base and around the top part of the jug. The handle has a straight edge. The jug is stained inside and there is a small piece of china missing on the base. bathroom accessories, history of warrnambool

The Hughes’ Family Scale No. 48 is a spring balance scale. It uses the Imperial measurements of ounces and pounds. There are 16 ounces (OZ) in one pound (LB), and each pound equals approximately 454 grams in Metric measurements. Scales have been used to measure and compare items for value for centuries. A weight was placed on one side of a balance and the object was placed on the other. Adjustments were made to either the weight or the object until the balance was horizontal, which meant that each side was the same weight. The Salter family business began in 1760 with spring makers, Richard and William Salter. In the late 18th century, Richard Salter invented the spring scale, where the weight of an object on the tray of the scale causes pressure on a spring in the scale. The pressure caused by gravity was then measured to calculate the weight of an object. Spring scales are still used today along with the more recent and accurate digital scales. The company began manufacturing in West Bromwich, England, in 1770. The firm was taken over by William’s sons, John and George. In 1824, after the death of John, the firm became George Salter & Co. The company produced a wide variety of products, including Britain’s first bathroom scale and the first English typewriter. In 1884 the Salter Trademark of a Staffordshire knot pierced by an arrow was registered. After over 100 years of manufacturing, the company was bought out by Staveley Industries, which was bought by Weigh-Tronix, and then that company was bought by HoMedics Company in 2004.This scale was made by Salter, the company that invented the balance scale, the first British bathroom scale and the first English typewriter. The scale represents the domestic equipment used for measuring in food preparation over 100 years ago. Modern kitchen scales are still using the same principal, along with scales used in business and industry.Scale; a domestic spring balance scale for measuring weight from 0 to 20 pounds. The scale’s grey metal case has a round white dial on the front with black markings, an arrow indicator and a round shallow metal bowl on a pedestal at the top. The scale is raised on a rectangular metal base with outward-sloping sides. An adjustable screw is on the dome top. The scale is marked from 0 to 20 pounds, with each pound marked in 1-ounce increments. The scale is named the Hughes Family Scale No. 48 and was made in Britain by Salter.“HUGHES’ / FAMILY SCALE / No. 48” “BRITISH MADE” “TO WEIGH 20 LBS BY 1 OZ” “SALTER” above logo [knotted rope with an arrow through loops]flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, hughes, salter, british made, family scale, no. 48, spring balance, scale, weighing instrument, weights and measures, weighing machine, kitchen utensil, baking accessory, domestic equipment, cookware, bakeware, kitchen scale, kitchen accessory, food preparation, recipes, cooking, measuring

The Royal Doulton company began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones, and John Watt was an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of English pottery. The business was specialised in making salt-glazed stoneware articles, including utilitarian or decorative bottles, jugs and jars, much of it intended for inns and pubs. The backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares, mostly stonewares, including storage jars, tankards and the like, and later extending to pipes for drains, lavatories and other bathroom ceramics. From 1853 to 1902 its wares were marked Doulton & Co., then from 1902, when a royal warrant was given, Royal Doulton. The company always made some more decorative items, initially still mostly stoneware, and from the 1860s the firm made considerable efforts to get a reputation for design, in which it was largely successful, as one of the first British makers of art pottery. Initially, this was done through artistic stoneware's made in Lambeth, but in 1882 the firm bought a Burslem factory, which was mainly intended for making bone China table wares and decorative items. An early utilitarian stoneware item made by a well-known company that specialised in making salt-glazed items that later earned a reputation for making stoneware art objects. This ink well is historically significant as it represents the method of hand written communication that was still common up until the mid-20th century, before fountain pens and ballpoint pens took over in popularity and convenience.Ceramic, salt-glazed, mid-brown ink bottle. It has a small round mouth, rounded lip that extends past neck, wide shoulders, straight sides, flat base. Handmade. The surface is matt. there are flecks of dark brown in the clay. The bottle has marks on the side.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, writing equipment, writing accessory, office equipment, stationery, domestic, stoneware, clay, ceramic, pottery, inkwell, penny ink well, nib pen, dip pen, ink, hand writing, record keeping, household, business, vintage, blotting paper, ink bottle, dwarf ink, salt glazed

The ink bottle was made by the Royal Doulton company which began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones, and John Wattis an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer founded in 1815. Operating initially in Vauxhall, London, it later moved to Lambeth, In1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke on Trent, in the centre of English pottery. The business specialised in making salt-glazed stoneware articles, including utilitarian or decorative bottles, jugs and jars, much of it intended for inns and pubs. The backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares, mostly stoneware's, including storage jars, tankards and the like, and later extending to pipes for drains, lavatories and other bathroom ceramics. From 1853 to 1902 its wares were marked Doulton & Co., then from 1902, when a royal warrant was given, wares were marked Royal Doulton. The company always made some more decorative items, initially still mostly stoneware, and from the 1860s the firm made considerable efforts to get a reputation for design, in which it was largely successful, as one of the first British makers of art pottery. Initially, this was done through artistic stoneware made in Lambeth, but in 1882 the firm bought a Burslem factory, which was mainly intended for making bone china table wares and decorative items. History of the Loch Ard: The Loch Ard got its name from ”Loch Ard” a loch that lies to the west of Aberfoyle, and the east of Loch Lomond. It means "high lake" in Scottish Gaelic. The vessel belonged to the famous Loch Line which sailed many vessels from England to Australia. The Loch Ard was built in Glasgow by Barclay, Curdle and Co. in 1873, the vessel was a three-masted square-rigged iron sailing ship that measured 79.87 meters in length, 11.58 m in width, and 7 m in depth with a gross tonnage of 1693 tons with a mainmast that measured a massive 45.7 m in height. Loch Ard made three trips to Australia and one trip to Calcutta before its fateful voyage. Loch Ard left England on March 2, 1878, under the command of 29-year-old Captain Gibbs, who was newly married. The ship was bound for Melbourne with a crew of 37, plus 17 passengers. The general cargo reflected the affluence of Melbourne at the time. Onboard were straw hats, umbrellas, perfumes, clay pipes, pianos, clocks, confectionery, linen and candles, as well as a heavier load of railway irons, cement, lead and copper. There were other items included that were intended for display in the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880. The voyage to Port Phillip was long but uneventful. Then at 3 am on June 1, 1878, Captain Gibbs was expecting to see land. But the Loch Ard was running into a fog which greatly reduced visibility. Captain Gibbs was becoming anxious as there was no sign of land or the Cape Otway lighthouse. At 4 am the fog lifted and a lookout aloft announced that he could see breakers. The sheer cliffs of Victoria's west coast came into view, and Captain Gibbs realised that the ship was much closer to them than expected. He ordered as much sail to be set as time would permit and then attempted to steer the vessel out to sea. On coming head-on into the wind, the ship lost momentum, the sails fell limp and Loch Ard's bow swung back towards land. Gibbs then ordered the anchors to be released in an attempt to hold their position. The anchors sank some 50 fathoms - but did not hold. By this time the ship was among the breakers and the tall cliffs of Mutton Bird Island rose behind. Just half a mile from the coast, the ship's bow was suddenly pulled around by the anchor. The captain tried to tack out to sea, but the ship struck a reef at the base of Mutton Bird Island, near Port Campbell. Waves subsequently broke over the ship and the top deck became loosened from the hull. The masts and rigging came crashing down knocking passengers and crew overboard. When a lifeboat was finally launched, it crashed into the side of Loch Ard and capsized. Tom Pearce, who had launched the boat, managed to cling to its overturned hull and shelter beneath it. He drifted out to sea and then on the flood tide came into what is now known as Lochard Gorge. He swam to shore, bruised and dazed, and found a cave in which to shelter. Some of the crew stayed below deck to shelter from the falling rigging but drowned when the ship slipped off the reef into deeper water. Eva Carmichael a passenger had raced onto the deck to find out what was happening only to be confronted by towering cliffs looming above the stricken ship. In all the chaos, Captain Gibbs grabbed Eva and said, "If you are saved Eva, let my dear wife know that I died like a sailor". That was the last Eva Carmichael saw of the captain. She was swept off the ship by a huge wave. Eva saw Tom Pearce on a small rocky beach and yelled to attract his attention. He dived in and swam to the exhausted woman and dragged her to shore. He took her to the cave and broke the open case of brandy which had washed up on the beach. He opened a bottle to revive the unconscious woman. A few hours later Tom scaled a cliff in search of help. He followed hoof prints and came by chance upon two men from nearby Glenample Station three and a half miles away. In a complete state of exhaustion, he told the men of the tragedy. Tom then returned to the gorge while the two men rode back to the station to get help. By the time they reached Loch Ard Gorge, it was cold and dark. The two shipwreck survivors were taken to Glenample Station to recover. Eva stayed at the station for six weeks before returning to Ireland by steamship. In Melbourne, Tom Pearce received a hero's welcome. He was presented with the first gold medal of the Royal Humane Society of Victoria and a £1000 cheque from the Victorian Government. Concerts were performed to honour the young man's bravery and to raise money for those who lost family in the disaster. Of the 54 crew members and passengers on board, only two survived: the apprentice, Tom Pearce and the young woman passenger, Eva Carmichael, who lost her family in the tragedy. Ten days after the Lochard tragedy, salvage rights to the wreck were sold at auction for £2,120. Cargo valued at £3,000 was salvaged and placed on the beach, but most washed back into the sea when another storm developed. The wreck of Lochard still lies at the base of Mutton Bird Island. Much of the cargo has now been salvaged and some items were washed up into Lochard Gorge. Cargo and artefacts have also been illegally salvaged over many years before protective legislation was introduced in March 1982. One of the most unlikely pieces of cargo to have survived the shipwreck was a Minton majolica peacock- one of only nine in the world. The peacock was destined for the Melbourne 1880 International Exhibition. It had been well packed, which gave it adequate protection during the violent storm. Today the Minton peacock can be seen at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool. From Australia's most dramatic shipwreck, it has now become Australia's most valuable shipwreck artifact and is one of very few 'objects' on the Victorian State Heritage Register.An early utilitarian stoneware item made by a well-known company that specialised in making salt-glazed items that later earned a reputation for making stoneware art objects. Of additional significance is that it was recovered from the wreck of the Loch Ard. A shipwreck that is of additional significance as it is registered on the Victorian Heritage Register ( S 417). Flagstaff Hill has a varied collection of artefacts from Loch Ard and its collection is significant for being one of the largest accumulations of artefacts from this notable Victorian shipwreck of which the subject items are a small part. The collections objects give us a snapshot of how we can interpret the story of this tragic event. The collection is also archaeologically significant as it represents aspects of Victoria's shipping history that allows us to interpret Victoria's social and historical themes of the time. Through is associated with the worst and best-known shipwreck in Victoria's history. Salt glazed stoneware ink bottle, large capacity, tapered lip and body, two-tone brown with some encrustation on surface, still sealed with cork. Inscription in clay. Recovered from the wreck of the LOCH ARD.Stamped into clay "DOULTON LAMBETH"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, loch line, loch ard, captain gibbs, eva carmichael, tom pearce, glenample station, mutton bird island, loch ard gorge, ink bottle, bulk ink bottle, writing accessory, stationery, stoneware, doulton lambeth, royal doulton, writing equipment

The Royal Doulton company began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones, and John Wattis an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of English pottery. The business was specialised in making salt-glazed stoneware articles, including utilitarian or decorative bottles, jugs and jars, much of it intended for inns and pubs. The backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares, mostly stone wares, including storage jars, tankards and the like, and later extending to pipes for drains, lavatories and other bathroom ceramics. From 1853 to 1902 its wares were marked Doulton & Co., then from 1902, when a royal warrant was given, Royal Doulton. The company always made some more decorative items, initially still mostly stoneware, and from the 1860s the firm made considerable efforts to get a reputation for design, in which it was largely successful, as one of the first British makers of art pottery. Initially, this was done through artistic stoneware's made in Lambeth, but in 1882 the firm bought a Burslem factory, which was mainly intended for making bone china table wares and decorative items. An early utilitarian stoneware item made by a well-known company that specialised in making salt-glazed items that later earned a reputation for making stoneware art objects.Ink bottle, brown salt glazed stoneware with narrow mouth tamped Doulton Lambeth cork missing. Stamp impressed into clay on edge "(2)32 / Doulton / Lambeth" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, stoneware, stoneware jar, doulton lambeth, kitchen ware, salt glazed

Two red covered auction catalogues for an auction on account of the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission on the 22nd to 25th November, 1954 (inclusive) held at the Big Eildon Project, Eildon, Victoria. Lots sold include Machinery, plant, stores and equipment, Saw Milling Plant, corr. Iron and timber buildings, 5 timber residences, 73 partly completed weatherboard 4 roomed flats, extensive collection of plumbers equipment, building materials, mess equipment, sawn timber, scrap, tools, kitchen and bathroom fittings, electrical equipment and costly spares and accessories. Catalogue has a Locality Plan of Eildon, photo, locality and description of the Eildon Sawmill. Photos of completed houses, incomplete flats and plan showing layout of flat unit, photo of flat block (Completed). Also Building Kits - Designs and Component Lists.business, auctioneers, j h curnow & son pty ltd, ian dyett collection - auction catalogue - big eildon project, state rivers & water supply commission, j h curnow & son pty ltd, eildon sawmill, prahran telegraph printing co

Vanity mirrors have been used for centuries as a common bathroom item. They can be large framed mirrors with ornately decorated frames or small pocket sized ones to assist in personal grooming on the go. Magnification of the mirror on one side enabled easier application of makeup. Mirrors such as this one became popular in the 1970s. This item is representative of women's accessories in the early years of the Twentieth century.A two-sided vanity mirror on a swivel stand. One side is a magnifying mirror. The mirrors are mounted in a silver alloy frame and a porcelain base. The base includes to recesses for storing small items featuring a floral design and silver edging.vanity mirror, women's accessories