This item is from the ‘Pattison Collection’, a collection of books and records that was originally owned by the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute, which was founded in Warrnambool in 1853. By 1886 the Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute (WMI) had grown to have a Library, Museum and Fine Arts Gallery, with a collection of “… choice productions of art, and valuable specimens in almost every branch and many wonderful national curiosities are now to be seen there, including historic relics of the town and district.” It later included a School of Design. Although it was very well patronised, the lack of financial support led the WMI in 1911 to ask the City Council to take it over. In 1935 Ralph Pattison was appointed as City Librarian to establish and organise the Warrnambool Library as it was then called. When the WMI building was pulled down in 1963 a new civic building was erected on the site and the new Warrnambool Library, on behalf of the City Council, took over all the holdings of the WMI. At this time some of the items were separated and identified as the ‘Pattison Collection’, named after Ralph Pattison. Eventually the components of the WMI were distributed from the Warrnambool Library to various places, including the Art Gallery, Historical Society and Flagstaff Hill. Later some were even distributed to other regional branches of Corangamite Regional Library and passed to and fro. It is difficult now to trace just where all of the items have ended up. The books at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village generally display stamps and markings from Pattison as well as a variety of other institutions including the Mechanics’ Institute itself. RALPH ERIC PATTISON Ralph Eric Pattison was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1891. He married Maude Swan from Warrnambool in 1920 and they set up home in Warrnambool. In 1935 Pattison accepted a position as City Librarian for the Warrnambool City Council. His huge challenge was to make a functional library within two rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute. He tirelessly cleaned, cleared and sorted a disarrayed collection of old books, jars of preserved specimens and other items reserved for exhibition in the city’s museum. He developed and updated the library with a wide variety of books for all tastes, including reference books for students; a difficult task to fulfil during the years following the Depression. He converted all of the lower area of the building into a library, reference room and reading room for members and the public. The books were sorted and stored using a cataloguing and card index system that he had developed himself. He also prepared the upper floor of the building and established the Art Gallery and later the Museum, a place to exhibit the many old relics that had been stored for years for this purpose. One of the treasures he found was a beautiful ancient clock, which he repaired, restored and enjoyed using in his office during the years of his service there. Ralph Pattison was described as “a meticulous gentleman whose punctuality, floorless courtesy and distinctive neat dress were hallmarks of his character, and ‘his’ clock controlled his daily routine, and his opening and closing of the library’s large heavy doors to the minute.” Pattison took leave during 1942 to 1942 to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, Volunteer Reserve as Lieutenant. A few years later he converted one of the Museum’s rooms into a Children’s Library, stocking it with suitable books for the younger generation. This was an instant success. In the 1950’s he had the honour of being appointed to the Victorian Library Board and received more inspiration from the monthly conferences in Melbourne. He was sadly retired in 1959 after over 23 years of service, due to the fact that he had gone over the working age of council officers. However he continued to take a very keen interest in the continual development of the Library until his death in 1969. The Pattison Collection, along with other items at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, was originally part of the Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s collection. The Warrnambool Mechanics’ Institute Collection is primarily significant in its totality, rather than for the individual objects it contains. Its contents are highly representative of the development of Mechanics' Institute libraries across Australia, particularly Victoria. A diversity of publications and themes has been amassed, and these provide clues to our understanding of the nature of and changes in the reading habits of Victorians from the 1850s to the middle of the 20th century. The collection also highlights the Warrnambool community’s commitment to the Mechanics’ Institute, reading, literacy and learning in the regions, and proves that access to knowledge was not impeded by distance. These items help to provide a more complete picture of our community’s ideals and aspirations. The Warrnambool Mechanics Institute book collection has historical and social significance for its strong association with the Mechanics Institute movement and the important role it played in the intellectual, cultural and social development of people throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The collection of books is a rare example of an early lending library and its significance is enhanced by the survival of an original collection of many volumes. The Warrnambool Mechanics' Institute’s publication collection is of both local and state significance. Modern Cottage Architecture Selected and Discribed by Maurice B Adams Publisher: BT Batsford Date: 1914Label on spine with typed text PAT F 721 ADA Pastedown end page has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library Front loose endpaper has a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Servicewarrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, pattison collection, warrnambool library, ralph eric pattison, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, modern cottage architecture, maurice b adams

Plum Cottage is covered by Heritage Overelay HO256 in the Nillumbuk Planning Scheme This two-lot land holding was created as a subdivision and sold to Charles Stuart McNeil by May 1955. Sometime in the period 1955-1960, the builder-designer, John Harcourt had created a pise house on the site, straddling the two subdivision lots. The designer, John M. Harcourt was a pioneer builder in pise-de-terre and mudbrick in the Eltham Shire, Eltham being synonymous with alternative lifestyles and building practises until the onset of suburbia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This hipped-roof house is set high above Main Road on a V-shape plan characteristic of the Arts & Crafts style, with rammed earth or pise walls, timber joinery and a cement tiled roof. The V shape plan was used by important English and Eltham Arts & Crafts designers. The use of natural materials such as stone and timber construction is an essential part of the Arts & Crafts style and Harcourt’s work. So too is the application of the style on both the exterior and interior of the house as a holistic concept. The house adjoins the Lim Joon adobe house built and designed by Alistair Knox in the same era (HO119), thus forming a distinctive pair, both using an uncommon plan form. This house was identified in the Shire of Shire of Eltham Heritage 1992 as contributory to the Eltham Gateway Conservation Area, then proposed as an urban conservation area (now Heritage Overlay Area). Land Ownership Emily Jane Smith of 12 Woodside Street Fitzroy owned Crown Allotments 1 & 2 Sections 14, 27 by August 1918, selling to William Henry Smith of 12 Woodside Street, Nth Fitzroy May 1921. (John) James Isherwood of Main Road, Eltham owned the property by 1928 (the year of his death) with the beneficiary of his estate and next owner of this site being his widow, Minnie Maria Isherwood of Cemetery Road, Eltham. His holding in Main Road included parts of what was described in rate records as allotments1 & 2 Section E6. In the late 1930s, early 1940s her son Alfred John Isherwood was also rated for the land around this site, with the rated nett annual value varying between £2 and £5. Alfred Isherwood also lived at Main Road, Eltham with his wife Ellen: her early death at the age of 24 was reported in the Argus of 1923. Part of the Isherwood land was divided off and sold to Charles Stuart McNeil by May1955. Sometime in the period 1955-1960, the builder-designer, John Harcourt had created a pise house on the site, straddling the two subdivision lots. The house is visible on an aerial photograph from 1960s. Reputedly the house was called Plum Cottage and erected for Harcourt’s mother-in-law. A garage was added in 1959. Charles McNeil died in1971 aged 87: he was the son of Don McNeil and Margaret Arkell. Available rate records from the construction era start in the of the 1970s (1972-3) and list Mr H.C. & M/S A.V. Charity at 616 Main Road Eltham of this property with a nett annual value of $740. More recent valuer's data describes the property as lots 1 & 2 LP25668, located in the Central Riding of Eltham Shire, owned by Ann Valerie Charity and later, in 1990, by the Chincarini family. Building Description This hipped roof 11 .5 square house is set high above Main Road on a characteristic-shape plan and has rammed earth or pise walls, timber joinery and a cement tiled roof. The V-shape plan was used by Important designers such as C.F.A. Voysey (UK) who interpreted medieval domestic architecture as part of the Arts & Crafts style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The pise walls are covered with a textured render while the cement roofing tiles are also seen in the Harcourt Hill examples. Reputedly the ceiling joists are of a deep section and span long lengths with no need for hanging beams in the roof space. The ceilings are low and panelled in main rooms with apparently Caneite soft board infill panels between the exposed ceiling beams. These are painted white but may have been stained at one time. The focus of the house is the large living area with its vast random stone fireplace. Significance Plum Cottage is significant to the locality of Eltham because: Historically: • Plum Cottage is closely associated with the important historical theme of earth construction evident in Eltham and elsewhere in the Shire since theear1y Arts & Crafts inspired creations at Penleigh Boyd's The Robins (1912, HO101) and those at Montsalvat (1934-, HO82) but more prominent from the Second War period when earth building in Eltham was promoted in national periodicals as an alternative building method that avoided the building materials shortages of that era; • The choice of the earth building technique also expresses the theme of refuge or alternative living, synonymous with Eltham in the early to mid 20th century; • as a good example of domestic architecture from John Harcourt who was the first major post Second War figure in an important phase of Eltham’s earth building development, using his characteristic Old English or Arts& Crafts style that relies in this case on the pise wall construction, pitched roof forms, exposed ceiling joists, half timbering, random stonework, and panelled internal wall finishes. Architecturally: • Plum Cottage's pise wall construction is uncommon among the early earth-walled structures in the Shire, that are mainly of adobe or mud brick, and as a building material is uncommon among the Shire’s suburban dwellings generally which are clad typically with either fired clay bricks or timber boarding. Aesthetically: • Plum Cottage is a good and well preserved example of a modern Old English or Arts & Crafts style earth-walled building in the Shire • For the proximity of the significant Lim Joon adobe house designed by Alistair Knox adjoining to the north, providing a distinctive earth wall house pair, with uncommon plan forms. Reference Heritage Assessment of Plum Cottage, 616 Main Road, Eltham; Graeme Butler & Associates 2010main road, eltham, property, houses, (john) james isherwood, alfred john isherwood, ann valerie charity, arts and crafts style, charles stuart mcneil, chincarini family, eltham gateway zone, emily jane smith, h.c. charity, heritage assessment, john harcourt, john m. harcourt, lim joon house, main road eltham, minnie maria isherwood, pise construction, plum cottage