"Victoria the Golden" documents life in Victoria between 1850 and 1862 as viewed by artist William Strutt. Momentous events in the Colony’s history such as Separation Day (1 July 1851), the sitting of the first Legislative Council (13 November 1851), the death of Burke (June 1861) and the Black Thursday bushfires (6 February 1851) are depicted. In 1907 the Premier of Victoria Thomas Bent purchased "Victoria the Golden" from Strutt for £120 and presented it to the Library. The album depicts events in chronological order with what Strutt considered “fidelity to nature and accuracy”, so that present day Victorians may view the sketches “as records of what we may now look upon as the dim past in the rapidly progressive history of Victoria”. Victoria the Golden is celebrated as one of the Parliament’s great treasures. It is a testament to William Strutt’s skill as a draughtsman and contains over 100 assorted images which were executed between the years of 1850-1862. Strutt’s particular talent was to be able to step back and record each event with particular care to detail. Many of the pieces contained within this album are littered with notes, such as the correct resting position of a corporal’s sword or details about the cloth and cut of a subject’s jacket. Strutt also notes in one of his many sketches of the new Legislative Council chamber at Spring Street that the President, Sir James Palmer, is seated ‘a little too high’ (page 30). Throughout the album, Strutt’s illustrations bring to life the diverse nature and peoples of the new colony. His range of subjects is comprehensive and includes parliamentarians, lawyers, wives and daughters, merchants, labourers, police and military officers, indigenous communities, farmers, miners, prisoners and explorers. The everyday and the extraordinary are depicted with each turn of the page. 44 leaves heavy card, approximately 1mm thick. Sketches, watercolours and prints of varying sizes and papers are glued onto the pages. Full leather binding in blue leather with title and decorative border in gold. There are four raised bands on the spine, with gold decoration on the bands and at the head and tail of the spine. Marbled end papers and flyleaves. Gold on the edges of the book block. Card pages have a sheet of mottled blue paper on recto. Album leaf connection is a guarded system with stiff stubs and cloth hinges. Each page has a sheet of glassine paper attached at the binding edge to protect the images. Many pages stamped with "Parliament of Victoria" verso. Printed in gold, recto: "VICTORIA THE GOLDEN/ SCENES,/ SKETCHES,/ AND JOTTINGS FROM NATURE./ BY/ Wm. STRUTT/ MELBOURNE, VICTORIA./ 1850-1862" First pages include handwritten 'introductory remarks' and index of plates.parliament of victoria, colony of victoria, separation day, victorian legislative council, burke and wills expedition, wills, william john, 1834-1861, burke, robert o'hara, 1821-1861, strutt, william, 1825-1915, bent, thomas sir, 1838-1909, native police corps, fawkner, john pascoe, 1792-1869, black thursday bushfires, gold rush, princes bridge, melbourne

Reproductions of various transactions and reports dealing with Aboriginal people in Port Phillip in the period 1835-39, beginning with some of the earliest reports and tracing the evolution of government interaction and policy towards Aborigines in the 19th century. Covers mission work, government reports, the native police, conflicts with squatters, with numerous illustrations and original reports. Contents: Part I, Evolution of British policy Ch. 1. Proposals to appoint protectors of aborigines Ch. 2. Racial conflict in the year of official settlement at Port Phillip Ch. 3. House of Commons Select Committee on Aborigines Part II, The Wesleyan Mission at Buntingdale Ch. 4. Establishment and early operations of the Wesleyan mission Part III, The Government acts Ch. 5. Establishing the first government mission 1835-7 Ch. 6. Food and clothing for the Aborigines Ch. 7. Punishment of Aborigines found drunk, 1836-8 Ch. 8. Operations of the government mission, November 1837 to March 1839 Ch. 9. First attempt to form a native police corps Part IV, Growing conflict with squatters, 1837-8 Ch. 10. The disappearance of Gellibrand and Hesse Ch. 11. Attacks in the Western District Ch. 12. Attacks on the overland routes to Port Phillip Ch. 13. Evolution of policy in Sydney, 1838.b&w illustrations, b&w photographs, tables, document reproductionsvictorian history, colonisation, justice system

This item is a copy of an article on Henry Dana and the Native Police of the 1840s and 50s in Victoria. Henry Dana’s police corps is regarded as the forerunner of today’s Victorian Police Force. The article was written by Stan Baulch when he was a member of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society, probably in the 1970s. The paternal grandparents of Stanley Samuel Baulch (1897-1980) were Francis and Ann Baulch, pioneer settlers in the Kirkstall area in the 1840s. Stan’s father, Samuel Baulch, established a property in the Macarthur/Hawkesdale area in the 1870s (Rose Park) and in 1893 bought the nearby property of Dunmore which had been established in the 1840s by Charles Hamilton MacKnight and partners. (It was when Stan Baulch was reading the 19th century diary of Charles MacKnight that he first came across the story of Henry Dana and the native police). Stan Baulch inherited part of the Dunmore estate on his father’s death and this he named Rose Park, using his father’s property’s name. Stan Baulch had a great interest in local history and as well as the article on Henry Dana he also produced a booklet on early bullocking and bullock-drivers in the Western District. This article is a copy so does not have any strong historical significance but another copy of it will be a useful file item in the collection of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society.This is an article of 8 foolscap pages, with the material in it being a typed copy. The first page has two photocopied illustrations. stanley baulch, rose park, western district,, victoria, history of warrnambool