This photograph and a matching earlier photograph are the images of a painting of the British steamship SS Warrnambool at Dover Strait in the English Channel. The photographs were donated by the painting’s owner, who acquired the 30” x 56” (76 x 142.5 cm) oil on canvas painting in 1998. Both photographs were accompanied by a letter, one written in 2001, and the other in 2003. The letters confirm that the artist of the painting was Charles Keith Miller, signed with the initials “CKM” and dated “1893”. The painting shown in the photographs was a gift to the Town Council of Warrnambool, presented to Warrnambool folks in Melbourne on December 1, 1892, by the Captain of William Lund’s ship SS Warrnambool. The painting was given by Lund in appreciation of the Ladies of Warrnambool who had presented the ship with a ‘house’ flag bearing the Blue Anchor Line’s symbol of a diagonal blue anchor on a white background; the ladies had made the decision to present the flag only a month earlier. A few days later, December 6th, the SS Warrnambool was on its homeward journey to Britain, sailing via Adelaide. It anchored for a short time off the Port of Warrnambool. A boat was launched from Lady Bay to take a group of friends to the ship with a delivery of gifts. After cheers were roused for both the ship and the Captain, the ship continued on its way. The photograph shows the gifted white flag with a diagonal blue anchor flying from the masthead. The same symbol is painted on the ship’s black funnel. The signal flags on the foremast display ‘M’ ‘R’ ‘V’ ‘B’. These letters are most likely the ship’s call number ‘MRVB’. Although the painting was given as a gift in December 1892, it is post-dated “1893”. Perhaps the painting was given earlier than anticipated; or the date added later, but whatever the reason, the provenance of the painting was confirmed at auctions of this painting and other works by the same artist. CHARLES KEITH MILLER 1836-1907:- Captain Charles Miller left his home in Scotland at the age of 15 years for a life at sea. He earned his Master’s Certificate ten years later. After being the captain of sailing ships he moved over to the steamships because they were faster. In 1866 he married and settled in Glasgow. Over the following eleven years he and his wife had five children, then sadly his wife passed away. Captain Miller returned to the sea for a while but in 1888 he gave up his sea life to spend his time as a marine artist. His understanding of seafaring life and vessels, combined with his artistic skills, gave him the ability to produce fine art and several galleries and museums have collections of his sought-after works. S.S. WARRNAMBOOL 1892-1925:- The steamship SS Warrnambool was built in 1892 by the Sunderland Ship Building Company for the Lund Line of London, founded by William Lund in 1869. It efficiently carried both passengers and cargo across the world to Australia, under the command of her master Captain Joshua Edward Iibery, who had many years of experience with the Blue Anchor Line. The company, referred to as the Blue Anchor Line or BAL, owned a fleet of both sail and steamships. The funnels of all of the steamships were painted black, with a white band around the top bearing a diagonal blue anchor and chain. The company’s house flag was also white with a diagonal blue anchor. The SS Warrnambool carried passengers and cargo in a ‘no frills’ service to and from Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, stopping at some ports in between. The ship was involved in bringing home returned solders in 1895. At one time it carried a doctor from Victoria, Australia, to assist at the war front in South Africa. The ship had a very good reputation for its cargo arriving ‘almost always in excellent condition.’ Exported goods from Australia included iron safes, flour, wool, apples, frozen rabbits, butter, cheese, pork, cattle, poultry and sheep. One remarkable delivery contained Ostriches for Queen Victoria and they survived the journey well. The SS Warrnambool was sold in 1900 to the British and South American Steam Navigation Co. Ltd of Liverpool and was renamed ‘Harmodius’. The company was managed by R.P. Houston & Company of London and its Houston Line funnels were red with a black top. The Harmodius was sold in 1919 to K.S.S. Co. Ltd, managed by Kaye Son & Co. Ltd. of Liverpool, and was renamed ‘Kut’. The line had black funnels with a white ‘K’ in a diamond or between white stripes. In 1926 it was purchased by T.W. Ward Ltd. and broken up. NOTE- other vessels named “Warrnambool” Two other vessels carried the name “Warrnambool” (1)- HMAS Warrnambool J202 (1941-1947), a Bathurst Class corvette vessel owned by the Royal Australian Navy, destroyed by a mine. The photograph is significant for its association with the painting "SS Warrnambool" by well-known early 20th century marine artist Charles Keith Miller, whose paintings are well valued. The painting and the photograph of it are namesakes of Warrnambool and are connected through the gifts exchanged between the ship company owner, the City of Warrnambool and the Ladies of Warrnambool; the House Flag and the painting by C K Miller. The image is a good likeness to original photographs of the late-19th to early-20th century steam and sale vessel. Coloured photograph of a painting, the steamship S.S. Warrnambool. The three-masted ship has lowered sails. It is in calm water, land on one side, and other vessels in the water. The ship has four raised signal flags, a house flag and a blue ensign. The funnel also bears the house flags symbol. Smoke emits from the funnel. Figures are visible onboard. There is a signature and a title on the lower edge of the photograph. (Artist of the painting in the photograph was Charles Keith Miller)House flag symbol, [diagonal blue anchor on white background] Text "CKM" and "1893" Text "S. S. WARRNAMBOOL."flagstaff hill, warrnambool, photograph, steam ship warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime village, shipwreck coast, ss warrnambool, captain, charles keith miller, ckm, 1893, william lund, warrnambool town council, blue anchor line, lund line, ladies of warrnambool, house flag, diagonal blue anchor, captain miller, sunderland ship building company, migrant ship, 1892 ship, home flag, bal, australian export, s.s.warrnambool, dover strait, english chanel, port of warrnambool, lady bay, mrvb, captain charles miller, captain joshua edward iibery, ostriches, queen victoria, british and south american steam navigation co., harmodius, r.p. houston & company, houston line, k.s.s. co. ltd, kaye son & co. ltd, kut, t.w. ward ltd

A shackle is a U shaped piece of iron closed with a pin across the jaws. It is used for securing anchors to their cables, joining lengths of chain cables and so on. This type of shackle is the same size and shape as an ordinary link of the cable and fits into the snugs of the cable holder when verring or weighing. This Kenter type, chain joining link or shackle would commonly be used with anchor chain in the marine industry for applications such as anchors, moorings and ballast. It is a versatile link that can be opened and closed by removing and re-inserting the taper pin and lead plug, allowing for easy joining and detaching lengths of chain, and for repairing damaged links in chain.This is an example of ship's maritime hardware used in Victoria in the 19500s.Half of a chain joining shackle or joining link, Kenter type , painted blue. Often used as a marine anchor chain link. A complete shackle would comprise an oval shaped loop of thick metal and central metal chock comprises three pieces; two half oval pieces with shaped ends. The pieces are joined by a taper pin diagonally through holes in each piece, then fixed firmly by a lead plug in a hole near the head of the pin. This object is missing its other half, plus the chock and the tapered locking pin.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shackle, joining link, chain joining shackle, anchor chain joining link, marine chain joining link, kenter type chain joining link, marine hardware, kenter chain joining shackle

This teal coloured bottle (blue-green, non-olive) has been handmade from about the 1840s-1870s. The bottle, possibly used to store soda or mineral water, was found in the coastal waters of Victoria about 100 years from when it was made. It is part of the John Chance Collection. The teal, or blue-green, colour of this bottle’s glass is reasonably rare. The colour is probably the result of a combination of cobalt (blue), iron (yellow-orange) and chromium (green) that may have been in the raw silica, or perhaps added to the glass sand before making the glass. Glassblowers made bottles like this one by blowing air through a long pipe into the molten glass blob at the end of the pipe. The glass was blown out to fit into the shape of the cylindrical dip mould. Once it hardened, the glass was removed from the mould and the glassblower would continue using the pipe to create the neck while carefully using a tool to hold the base. A ponty tool was used to complete the shape of the base. The bottle would be cracked off the end of the glassblower’s pipe and a blob of molten glass would be wrapped around the top of the neck and shaped to finish the lip of the bottle, sometimes using a tool to do this. The seal was usually a cork, often held in place with wax or wire with tape over it to seal the aerated drink inside. The gutter between the upper and lower lip was used to anchor the seal. This style of handmade bottles would often have horizontal bubbles in the applied finish, caused by twisting the glass, and vertical bubbles and diagonal lines in the neck and body from it being blown, and a mark in the base where the ponty tool had been attached. Although the bottle is not linked to a particular shipwreck, it is recognised as being historically significant as an example of handmade, mid-19th century bottles imported for use in Colonial Victoria in the mid-to-late 1800s. The bottle is significant for its rarity, as its teal, blue-green colour is unusual. It is a valuable addition to our collection of 1800s handmade bottles. The bottle is also significant as it was recovered by John Chance, a diver in Victoria’s coastal waters in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Items that come from several wrecks have since been donated to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village’s museum collection by his family, illustrating this item’s level of historical value. Bottle; unusual dark teal (blue-green, non-olive) opaque glass, medium size, cork-top style. Handmade with applied double-collar lip with straight side upper and a ring lower. The edge of the mouth is uneven. Neck is slightly bulbous. Body has shoulder seam, then tapers inwards to base, shallow base. Heel is uneven width. Base is shallow with glass of different density. Bubbles in the body and an elongated bubble at base of neck. Sediment inside bottle. Chip in lip. Scratched surface.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck artefact, john chance, glass bottle, antique bottle, handmade, mouth blown, blown bottle, 19th century bottle, collectable, bottle, green glass, blue-green glass, teal glass, non-olive green glass, dip mould, soda bottle