Joseph Wilder, a professional photographer, came to Warrnambool in 1860 and took a series of photographs, two of which survive today. One was of the local Volunteer Corps and the other was a series of photographs taken from Cannon Hill showing Merri Street and the town and buildings beyond. It seems that copies of these last-mentioned photographs were framed to produce a large panoramic view of 1860 Warrnambool and one of these was given to the old Warrnambool Museum in the 1880s by James Astley Bromfield. He had established a chemist’s shop in Warrnambool in 1854 and showed his interest in the history of the young town by producing a map in 1856 showing the first landowners, a seminal resource today for historians. He again demonstrated this interest when he included the names of the people and places in the 1860 photograph he gave to the museum in the 1880s. The frame fragment was found amongst the collection of items from the old Museum at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and brought to the Historical Society to accompany the original series of photographs. Bromfield went to live in Melbourne in the 1880s. It is presumed that the plastic cover has been placed on the frame fragment at a much later date than the 1880s.This frame fragment is interesting and very important for several reasons:- 1. It is one demonstration of the interest that James Astley Bromfield had in local history 2. It came from the old Warrnambool Museum and shows how that institution kept items of historical interest 3. It gives us the names of the people and places in the Joseph Wilder photographs of 1860 that placed together form a panorama that reveals what a major section of Warrnambool looked like only 13 years after its foundation. The list enables us to correctly identify the early places and people and so is invaluable for research purposes 4. It links a Museum exhibit of the 1880s with the original 1860 photographs which are held by the Historical Society This is a piece of wood broken from a frame containing a photograph. It has jagged edges. It contains the list of people and places depicted in the Joseph Wilder panorama photograph of Warrnambool in 1860. The list is handwritten in ink on paper which has been attached to the frame with a piece of plastic. Warrnambool in 1860 Photographed by Wilder. Showing children of the late Andrew Semple etc In red pencil – ‘Keep’, in ink, ‘Keep’ On separate piece of paper - Presented to Warrnambool Mechanics’ Muzeum by James Astley Bromfield, August 3rd 1886 joseph wilder 1860, panorama of warrnambool

Typed notes titled ' Bendigo Memories, 1860 - 80'. Mentioned the Meudell family, some successful mine owners, the statue of the shepherd and the wild beast in the Conservatory Gardens, an argument over a rooster between two Chinese neighbours, Laying the Foundation Stone of the Sandhurst Masonic-Hall, a ring presented to Mr Lysaght by the Chinese, and 'It Slowly Fades Away' which is about a house near a tennis court which has an old brewery under the back garden.document, bendigo memories 1860 - 80, g d meudell, 'the pleasant career of a spendthrift', william meudell, bank of victoria (bendigo), hon henry miller, george lansell, bank of new south wales, oriental bank, union bank, adventure and advance mine, g ballerstedt, 180 mine, garden gully united co, john boyd watson, carlisle mine, kentish mine, barnett lazarus, william hunter, joseph hunter, robert hunter, burnewang park, william moffat, bendigo advertiser 1930, mr r buck, statue in conservatory gardens, bendigo advertiser 26/2/1949, mr wells, abraham harkness, alex h stone, bendigo advertiser 16/6/1868, sing toe, ming foy, mr flegg, mr mclachlan, mr w perry, laying the foundation stone of the sandhurst masonic-hall, messrs vahland and getzschmann, mr w c vahland, brother j m'intyre w m, brother buckley, brother connelly, golden and corinthian grand united lodge, the rev j c m'cullagh, brother g p joseph, the australasian sketcher 9/8/1873, chinese testimonial, mr lysaght, bendigo advertiser 27/11/1856, ben eagle, 'it slowly fades away', michelson home, joch, mr michelson