This plate comes from the Registered Office of F. Morse Pty Ltd. The name ‘Morse’ has been associated with the local Warrnambool transport industry for more than 100 years from the horse-drawn era to the advent of motorized transport. Frederick Morse was the son of Henry Morse, a teacher at The Grange, Hamilton and at Grasmere in the early 1870s. In 1883 Frederick Morse started business in Fairy Street as a coach builder in a partnership known as Robinson and Morse and in 1891 he set up a business on his own, the Victoria Carriage Works in Lava Street with branches in Port Fairy and Koroit. By the 1890s he was employing 27 people and winning State awards for his Abbot buggies. By the 1920s the Morse business had moved to motorized transport, expanding over the years to car dealerships, caravans, panel works and reconditioning and truck building with the subsidiary businesses of Morsmilk and Morsbearings (both later sold).This plate is of strong significance as a memento of a business in Warrnambool that has been prominent in the local transport industry for 120 years. It is also a memento of the Morse family, notable 19th century settlers in the town and important in local community affairs since that time. This is a wooden frame with a glass front. The frame is painted a grey colour and has holes at the top and bottom for affixing the frame to a wall or door. Behind the glass the words ‘Registered Office F. Morse Pty Ltd’ are painted or incised on to a wooden slab. The words are in yellow and red paint. The frame is a little chipped and the inside of the glass is somewhat blotchy and stained. ‘Registered Office’ ‘F. Morse Pty Ltd’ frederick morse, robinson and morse, morse & co., history of warrnambool, coach building in warrnambool, automotive industry in warrnambool

This is a photocopy of a booklet produced in the early 1900s by the firm of A.Robinson & Co. of Warrnambool. Alexander Robinson, the son of James and Jane Robinson (farmers) was born in Warrnambool in 1862. He was an award-winning coach and carriage builder, firstly in partnership with Frederick Morse in Fairy Street and later with his own company A. Robinson and Co. By the early 20th century he was also selling and repairing motor cars. Alex Robinson was a Warrnambool City Councillor from 1904 to 1910 and from 1922 to 1927 and Mayor on two occasions. His business site was occupied by Callaghan Motors until 2017. In 2025 the site was for sale after plans to develop it did not proceed.Although this is only a photocopy it is of great interest as the photocopied photographs are clear and show us exactly what type of horse-drawn vehicles were in use in the Warrnambool area at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The firm of A. Robinson was a prominent one in Warrnambool and Alex Robinson was active in civic affairs in the town. This is a photocopy of a booklet produced by Alexander Robinson advertising his Steam Carriage Works in the early 1900s. The pages are bound together with a plastic clip and the back cover is a piece of stiff cardboard. The booklet contains black and white photographs of the factory building and of the buggies, wagons, jinkers and carts for sale. It also has a page detailing the prizes won by the firm at Agricultural Shows all over Victoria.robinson & morse, a.robinson & co., history of warrnambool, coach and carriage making in warrnambool, fairy street

This album contains a number of local coastal and seascapes including Thunder Point, views of local streets such as Liebig and Fairy streets, panorama views of the town from Manse Hill and Booval Hill and the Botanic Gardens. Buildings included are Cramond and Dickson, St Joseph’s Church, the saleyards. The book itself would have been used by patrons of the Western Hotel when J Fox was licensee, from 1880 until 1887. The hotel had been operating since 1870 when William O’Brien applied for a publican’s license for the house on the corner of Timor and Kepler Streets with five sitting rooms and eight bedrooms. The stone building was designed by Andrew Kerr and built by Williams & Co. The Western Hotel was also the booking office for Cobb and Co Coaches which operated until the railway came to town in 1890. This album has historical significance on different levels. Firstly the photographs provide a view of Warrnambool in the late 19th century. The photos are aesthetically and artistically significant. Many of the buildings in the streetscapes are still recognizable. Secondly the Western Hotel has occupied a prominent site within the CBD for nearly 150 years. It has links to Cobb & Co, an important part of early Australian transport. Large hard covered album. Dark green cover with title in red rectangle on front cover. Text in gold lettering. A variety of photographs mounted on card.Chuck Photo Ballarat on front cover. Small cutting pasted inside front cover, reads as follows,” Will and Estates. Joseph Fox, late of Grosvenor Street, Balaclava who died on 29th July by his will of 11th August 1915 left 3737pounds real estate and 2342 pounds personality to relatives. warrnambool, warrnambool history, warrnambool photographs of the past, western hotel photographs

Alexander Robinson was born on the 19th March 1862 and lived on the family farm, Woody Park at Aitkins Gully Warrnambool. At 18 he moved into Warrnambool and began his coach building and automotive career with Fred Morse who was one of Warrnambool's earliest coachbuilders. The business which was situated in Fairy Street was later taken over by Callaghan Motors who operated from the same site until 2017. He married Miss Lydia Humm and they had five children. He was active in community affairs and was Mayor of Warrnambool from 1907-1909. He died in September 1932. This album has photographs dating from 1907 up to 1913 and show a variety of early motor vehicles, workers and machinery. Individual photos have names of owners some of which include John j Winter, June 1912,Dr J H Henderson August 1911, D Ronaldson Ballarat 1912, Edward Owen 1913 martin Brennan 1914. The sections inside the workshop show the engineering department, Body Making, painting and smith's shop. There are also a number of Vulcan cars for which they were agents. This album is a valuable source of early motor industry history in Warrnambool. There are many local scenes as backdrops to the vehicles . Unfortunately there are no names of people in the photos.Rectangular dark green cloth covered album which has black tape down the spine. It contains a number of photographs relating to Robinson's Motors as well as newspaper cutting. There are a number of pages which are blank.Inside front cover: handwritten " Robinson's Motor Propty Limited Warrnambool.robinson motors, warrnambool, alexander robinson, robinson coachbuilders warrnambool

This book contains information on the building of suspension bridges and dates from the 1890s. It belonged to John William Crawley Junior, an engineer, surveyor and architect in private practice in Warrnambool and also the engineer for the Shire of Warrnambool from 1895 to 1935. The information in the book comes in the form of lectures on suspension bridge making and these were sent to John Crawley by his tutor or coach, Arnold Lilley (Lilly). Arnold Lilley was an Oxford mathematician working in Victoria and it is said that he coached or trained 95% of the municipal surveyors in Victoria in the 1890s. John Crawley has obviously had this material bound into a book and it was passed on to his son, Rolf, who was the engineer for the Shire of Warrnambool from 1935 to 1968. It then came into the possession of Michael Hand who took over the private surveying business of Rolf Crawley in Warrnambool. The Warrnambool and District Historical Society acquired the book, along with several Crawley ledgers and letter books, from the estate of Michael Hand. This book is of interest as it contains lectures and other material on the building of suspension bridges and belonged to John William Crawley Junior, an engineer for the Shire of Warrnambool for 40 years. It also is a memento of the work of Arnold Lilley who produced the material on suspension bridges and coached John Crawley in his surveying studies.This is a hard cover book with a purple cover. The cover is slightly faded. The book contains handwritten material regarding the building of suspension bridges and includes sketches, lectures on suspension bridges and pages with postage stamps on them. There are three loose pages. ‘’Letters on Suspension Bridges Arnold Lilly Esq. Coach J Wm. Crawley Pupil’john william crawley junior, warrnambool, rolf crawley, warrnambool, shire of warrnambool, arnold lilley, teacher of surveying.

This plate was probably shortened to fit an office or factory door. Alexander Robinson (1862-1932) established a coachbuilding business in Fairy Street Warrnambool in 1880. In 1883 he joined with Fred Morse to set up the coachbuilding business of Robinson and Morse. This firm was noted for its production of fine Abbott buggies. Later Morse established his own business in Warrnambool and Robinson’s business continued at Fairy Street and converted to motor car building in the early 1900s. Alexander Robinson was Mayor of Warrnambool from 1907 to 1909. In the early 1930s Robinson’s Motors was replaced by Callaghan Motors. This business traded on the Fairy Street site until 2018 but now operates from Raglan Parade. The grandfather of one of the donors of this item, Tom Smith, worked at Robinsons Motor Pty Ltd in the early 20th century. This plate is of great interest as it came from the motor car business of Robinson’s Motor Pty Ltd. The Robinson businesses (coach building & motor car building) existed in Warrnambool for over 50 years. This is a brass business plate with three small holes at each corner. The lettering etched on the plate is gold and black but the black may have been put on to the lettering at a later stage as only some of the gold lettering is still visible. The plate has been cut off on one side and part of the lettering is missing.‘Reg. Office’ ‘Robinsons Motor Pro..’ robinson & morse, history of warrnambool, robinson’s motor pty ltd, alex robinson, warrnambool