In 1885, at the instigation of James Oddie, the Government reserved three acres (about 1.2 hectares) for an observatory in Cobden Street, Mount Pleasant, originally known as the Ballarat School of Mines Observatory. In March 1886 a committee was appointed for the care, protection and management of the reserve. Captain Baker, a retired sea captain, was invited to become the first Superintendent of the Ballarat Observatory. Six colour photographs of the stained glass windows in the Ballarat Observatory. The first stained glass window was installed from around 1915-16, and were probably associated with John Brittain. By 1929 sixteen stained glass windows had been installed. most the work of Ballarat craftsman William James Robson stained glass windows, sebastopol cambrian society, welsh, ballarat city council, ballarat teachers' college, ballarat local preachers methodist centenary, independent order of ordfellows ballarat, ballarat freemasons, freemasons, masonic, architecture, mount pleasant, john brittain, william james robson