Burke and Wills Memorial at Bendigo Cemetery, 2018Erected by the people of Bendigo in honor of the Victorian Explorers, Burke, Wills, Gray and King who first crossed the continent of Australia. King alone surviving the privation and suffering under which his three brave ill-fated companions sank. A.D. 1862. Robert O'Hara Burke, leader of the Victorian Expedition, left Melbounre 24th August 1860. Reached Carpentaria 12th Feby 1861. Died on his return at Coopers Creek, 30th June 1861. Charles Gray, died also on his return at Polygorum Swamp. 17th April 1861. William John Wills, second in command, died also near Coopers Creek, 29th June 1861. bendigo cemetery, burke and wills, burke and wills memorial, william john wills, john o'hara burke, charles gray, polygonum swamp, coopers creek

Colour photographs of the Burke and Wills Fountain in Sturt Street Balllarat.Plaque "Robert O'hara Burke, Leader. Died 30th June, 1861. William John Wills, Second. Died 30th June, 1861. Ludwig Becker, Naturalist. Died 29th April, 1861. Charles Grey, Assistant. Sied 17th April, 1861."burke and wills, burke and wills memorial, sturt street, ballarat, explorers, john king, robert o'hara burke

This is the report prepared by the Royal Society of Victoria regarding the ill fated expedition of the explorers Robert Burke and William Wills in 1861. This volume appears to be Chief Justice Stawell's, the president of the Royal Society, personal copy.The report is rare, held by both the University of Melbourne and the State Library, as well as a few other libraries.Red leather bound report of the Exploration Committee (Burke & Wills Expedition). Gold lettering on front.Progress reports & Final Report of the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria 1872 on front cover in gold lettering. As well as Library stamp.

Robert O'Hara's last position before leaving on the expedition to reach the Gulf of Victoria was with the police force in Castlemaine. Four sided memorial for Robert O'Hara Burke and Wills in Castlemaine. robert o'hara burke, burk and wills, castlemaine, memorial

This book gives a comprehensive and scholarly account of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in Australia in 1860-1961. It is written by Peter Fitzsimons. The narrative includes the parts played in the expedition by two men who also had important connections to Warrnambool. One of these was Henry Foster who was Superintendent of Police in Swan Hill in the 1860s. In the early 1840s Henry Foster and Thomas Strong took up a run of 16.000 acres (St. Mary’s, Wangoom)). Their land was bounded on the south by the Southern Ocean, on the east by the Hopkins River, on the north by a fence from the Hopkins to the Merri Rivers and on the west by the Merri River and included the later surveyed site of the Warrnambool township. After Warrnambool was established Foster was able to retain 450 acres of the original run near Wangoom on the Hopkins River. He was active in Warrnambool’s early history, was a Justice of the Peace for the Belfast (Port Fairy) district in the late 1840s and his portrait is on the Warrnambool Pioneer Honour Board. The other local Warrnambool personality mentioned in the Burke and Wills book is Richard Bennett, in the 1860s, the manager of several large farming properties in N.S.W., including Canally Station on the Murrumbidgee where he came into contact with the expedition leaders. In the Warrnabool district Bennett was well-known from the 1870s to his death in 1904 as the proprietor of wool-scouring establishments on the Shaw River and at Dennington and as a public campaigner for local coal exploration, for artesian bore drilling and for numerous other projects, including the development of the local wool industry. His portrait is also on the Warrnambool Pioneer Honour Board. This book is retained as an account of an important event in Australia’s history and because it has several references to two men (Henry Foster and Richard Bennett) who also played a part in Warrnambool’s history. This is a hard cover book of 700 pages. The cover is black with gold printing on the spine and the dust cover has a cream background with light brown and black printing, black and white photographs and sepia-coloured sketches. The contents include a List of Maps, Dramatis Personae, Background and Acknowledgements, Prologue, 18 Chapters, Epilogue, Endnotes, Bibliography and Index. The pages contain maps, sketches and black and white and colour photographs. australian exploration, burke and wills expedition, richard bennett, warrnambool, henry foster, st. mary’s wangoom, history of warrnambool

Colour photograph showing a townscape of Castlemaine from the Burke and Wills Memorial.castlemaine, burke and wills memorial, townscape

Donated by Simon Gregg, 2013Hand coloured steel engraving on papergippsland, artwork, permanent collection

Copy of a map from 'A Short History of Australia' by Ernest Scott.map, explorers, exploration, burke and wills, sturt, stuart, gregory, melbourne, perth, sydney, mitchell river, a.c. gregory, darling river, lachlan river, mt stuart, murray river

Copy of a map from 'A Short History of Australia' by Ernest Scott.map, explorers, exploration, stuart, gregory, melbourne, perth, sydney, darling river, murray river, adelaide, albany, fitzroy river, flinders river, brisbane, great australian bight, gulf of carpentaria, mount grey, forrest

The Post Office building is located on the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Street North. This sketch comes from Album of View by Niven & Co.building, public, monuments, post office, burke & wills, ballarat, views of ballarat

centenary, buildings, mounuments, national mutual, burke & wills, ballarat, sturt street, lydiard street north

Framed, handcoloured print of Sturt Street Ballarat. The building with a tower and flag is the Ballarat Town Hall, and in front of that is the Burke and Wills Fountain.Handwritten verso: "Donated by College intake on '66, '68 (ITC, TPTC) after 21st reunion held here in August '86."ballarat, sturt street, sturt street gardens, ballarat town hall, burke and wills memorial, carriage, horse, ballarat teachers' college, reunion

Colour photograph of a photograph of Burke and Wills tree, part of display at Ness house Kangaroo Ground 1987r.b ness, historical displays, burke and wills, view hill

Colour cigerette card depicting the discovery of King, a member of the Burke and Wills Exploration team.king, burke and wills, explorers

WARRNAMBOOL MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE Warrnambool's Mechanics' Institute (or Institution as it was sometimes called) was one of the earliest in Victoria. On 17th October 1853 a meeting was held where it was resolved to request the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony to grant land for the erection of a Mechanics' Institutes building. A committee was formed at the meeting and Richard Osburne chaired the first meeting of this committee. The land on the North West corner of Banyan and Merri Streets was granted but there were no funds to erect the building. The Formal Rights of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute's encompassed its aims and these were officially adopted in1859; "This Institution has for its object the diffusion of literary, scientific, and other useful knowledge amongst its members, excluding all controversial subjects, religious or political. These objects are sought to be obtained by means of a circulating library, a reading room, the establishment of classes, debates, and the occasional delivery of lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural history, literature, and the useful and ornamental arts, particularly those which have a more immediate reference to the colony." The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute opened its first reading room in November1884 in the National School building at the corner of Banyan and Timor Streets. The Institute was funded by member subscription, payable on a quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis. Samuel Hannaford, the Manager of the Warrnambool Bank of Australasia, was the first Honorary Secretary of the Mechanics' Institutes, and an early President and Vice-President. He also gave several of the early lectures in the Reading Room. Another early Secretary, Librarian and lecturer was Marmaduke Fisher, the teacher at the National School. Lecture topics included The Poets and Poetry of Ireland', 'The Birth and Development of the Earth', 'The Vertebrae - with Remarks on the pleasures resulting from the study of Natural History' and 'Architecture'. In 1856 the Reading Room was moved to James Hider's shop in Timor Street, and by 1864 it was located in the bookshop of Davies and Read. In the 1860's the Mechanics' Institute struggled as membership waned but in 1866, after a series of fund raising efforts, the committee was able to purchase land in Liebig Street, on a site then called Market Square, between the weighbridge and the fire station. A Mechanics' Institute building was opened at this site in August 1871. The following year four more rooms were added to the main Reading Room and in 1873 the Artisan School of Design was incorporated into the Institute. The same year Joseph Archibald established a Museum; however it deteriorated when he was transferred to Bendigo in 1877. In 1880, with Archibald's return to Warrnambool, the Museum was re-established, and in 1885 a new building was built at the back of the Institute to accommodate the re-created School of Design, the Art Gallery and the Museum. In 1887 the Museum section was moved to the former court house in Timor Street (for some time the walls of the building formed part of the TAFE cafeteria but all is now demolished)). In 1911 the Museum was transferred back to the original building and the management of the Mechanics' Institute was handed over to the Warrnambool City Council. The Museum and Art Gallery became one and housed many fine works of art, and the Library continued to grow. The building was well patronised, with records showing that at the beginning of the 20th century there were between 500 and 800 visitors. During World War One the monthly figures were in the thousands, with 3,400 people visiting in January 1915. The Museum was a much loved Institution in Warrnambool until the contents of the Museum and Art Gallery were removed to make room for the Warrnambool City Council Engineers' Department. The contents were stored but many of the items were scattered or lost. When the original building was demolished the site became occupied by the Civic Centre, which included the new City Library. (The library was temporarily located in the old Palais building in Koroit Street.) In the process of reorganisation the Collection was distributed amongst the community groups: -The new City Library took some of the historic books and some important documents, historic photographs and newspapers. -The Art Gallery kept the 19th Century art collection and some of the artefacts from the museum. -The Historic Society has some items -The State Museum has some items -Some items were destroyed -Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has old newspapers, Government Gazettes, most of the Mechanics' Institute Library, ledgers and documents connected to the Mechanics' Institute Library, some framed and unframed art works and some photographs. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute Library book collection is deemed to be of great importance because it is one of the few collections in an almost intact state, and many of the books are now very rare and of great value. Journal of Landsboroughs Expedition From Carpentaria in search of Burke and Wills (maps missing) Publisher: Wilson & Mackinnon Date: 1862Label on spine cover with typed text RA 919.4 LAN Pastedown front endpaper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Librarywarrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, great ocean road, book, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, warrnambool public library, journal of landsboroughs expedition, carpentaria, wilson & mackinnon