These bricks are a sample of “5000 house bricks from London” carried by the CHILDREN as ballast, and intended for the Portland Bay settlement of her owners, Henty Bros. Flagstaff Hill divers recovered the bricks from Childers Cove in February 1974 and noted, “These bricks are the major feature of the wreck site. Subsequent notes indicate “The hull structure has broken up, leaving few visible remains, except for piles of house bricks intended for the Hentys of Portland”. According to Lloyds Shipping Register 1837-1839, the CHILDREN was built in 1825 at Liverpool and operated by owners Gordon & Co, of London, London registered number 123/1837; James Henty then bought her in 1837 as a three-masted barque of 254 tons, with a hull of “part pitch pine, felt sheathed” and “coppered 1837”. Launceston registered number 6/1837. In 1838, the CHILDREN, under her master Captain H. Browne, completed a successful round trip from Launceston to London carrying wool and whale oil loaded in Portland, returning in late November of that year carrying general cargo, including house bricks. On the 11th of January 1839, the CHILDREN sailed from Launceston for Adelaide, with 24 passengers, 14 crew, and an awkward mixed cargo, including 1500 sheep, 8 bullocks, 7 horses, farming implements, and six whaleboats with associated whaling gear. One account states that when the CHILDREN “put out from port, it was light and badly ballasted”. The vessel immediately encountered four days of hurricane-force storms, eventually clearing on the early morning of the 14th to “west force 10”, but too late to take accurate measurements of the sun or stars to establish their position relative to the coast. The CHILDREN collided with a limestone stack at the entrance of Childers Cove, and the seas smashed her into pieces within half an hour. All the cargo and 16 lives were lost (including 9 children). The Hentys contributed £150 towards a fund for the 22 survivors at a memorial service held in Launceston later that year. It was a major financial setback for the Hentys, but one from which they recovered. In a submission to the Governor of New South Wales dated 24 March 1840, the Hentys summarised their work over the previous six years of settlement: “Six stations have been occupied, one at Portland Bay…three at the open country about 60 miles inland called ‘Merino Downs’…They have erected two houses at Portland Bay and two others at Merino Downs”.These bricks are significant as a sample of 5000 house bricks carried from London as ballast by the Children and were intended for the Portland Bay settlement of her owners, James Henty & Co. The 1839 wreck and recovered artefacts are examples of the construction methods and materials used in that era and can be used to study the evolution of shipbuilding methods and principles. The wreck of the Children is of state significance as one of colonial Victoria’s earliest and most significant maritime disasters, and one of the first vessels lost in the Western District. This is recognised by its inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register, VHR No. S116. Little is left on the seabed to mark the tragedy, apart from some of the house bricks intended for the Henty settlement. Five ‘house bricks from London’, some with white marine encrustation, recovered from the wreck of the ship CHILDREN. The bricks are oblong shaped and constructed of a blue-coloured and coarse-grained conglomerate. One brick is higher, shorter and narrower, than the other four bricks.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, shipwreck artefact, children, barque, three-masted, liverpool, childer’s cove, port campbell, 1839 shipwreck, 1939 wreck, james henty and co, henty brothers, captain h. browne, first mate t. gay, second mate w. wentworth, portland, portland bay, 1939, bricks, london house bricks, clay bricks

In an article dated 26 March 1963, the Warrnambool Standard reported: “A cannon which has lain on the ocean floor since the barque, Children, was wrecked at Childer’s Cove on January 15, 1839, was raised by three Warrnambool skindivers at the weekend … The cannon, weighing about 750 lb. and 4-ft. 6-in. in length … is in excellent order considering the length of time it has remained underwater”. No conservation measures were taken at that time, other than chipping off the marine growth with hammers and cold chisels. The minutes for the 4 February 1974 meeting of the Flagstaff Hill Planning Board recorded that “a cannon recovered some time ago was lying in the garden of [one of the three original divers] and that it could be picked up at any time”. Peter Ronald, past Manager and Diver for Flagstaff Hill, notes that the CHILDREN cannon would have been recovered by the other divers around 1964. When the cannon came into care of Flagstaff Hill, it was given basic conservation relevant to the time. (At the same meeting, the Board was advised of the recovery of an anchor from the wreck of the CHILDREN by Flagstaff Hill divers (Peter Ronald, Colin Goodall and Gary Hayden, and Hank Howey and Andrew Coffee), and its interim relocation in the sea at the end of the Warrnambool Breakwater while awaiting conservation). About the ship CHILDREN 1825-1839: The sailing ship Children was a wooden, three-masted barque constructed of pitch pine in 1825 at Liverpool. It was felt sheathed and was coppered during an upgrade in 1837. The ship was only 29 metres long and 254 tons in weight; it had two decks and a square stern. The James Henty & Co., a pioneering family from Portland, Victoria, purchased the Children in 1837 for use as a coastal trader. The Children, under the command of Captain H. Browne, was on a voyage from Launceston to Adelaide when it foundered in rough conditions at Childers Cove, west of Peterborough, on 14 January 1839. On board were 14 crew members and 24 passengers, including 9 children. The ship’s cargo was awkwardly balanced: it carried 1500 sheep, 8 bullocks, 7 horses, 5000 London house bricks, 6 whaling boats with associated gear, and general trade goods including beef, pork, tobacco, tipe, butter, lime juice, horse hair, curtains, lead shot, beer and spirits. The hurricane-force winds drove the Children into the limestone stack at the entrance to the cove. The seas smashed it into pieces within twenty minutes. The bodies of sixteen of those who had lost their lives were spread across the shore, along with wreckage from the ship and the cargo of animals. Those who survived suffered injuries; they were rescued and taken by horse and cart to Campbell’s farm, near the whaling station at Port Fairy. They arrived at Portland eleven days after the wreck. The wrecking of the Children is one of colonial Victoria’s earliest and most significant maritime disasters. Little is left to mark the tragedy, apart from some house bricks intended for the Henty family’s Portland Bay settlement. Artefacts recovered in the 1960s to early 1970s include this signal cannon, an anchor, the bottom half of her ship’s bell, and two portions of a ship’s fitting, at one time thought to be a brass porthole frame, London housing bricks and timber flooring. Despite its poor condition, the CHILDREN’s signal cannon remains an important and interpretable record of its demise. From 2015, the CHILDREN cannon has been undergoing the first stages of further conservation.The signal cannon recovered from the Children's wreck is significant as part of the original fittings of the early 19th-century barque. It is an example of maritime defence in the early to mid-19th century. The 1839 wreck and recovered artefacts are examples of the construction methods and materials used in that era and can be used to study the evolution of shipbuilding methods and principles. The wreck of the Children is of state significance as one of colonial Victoria’s earliest and most significant maritime disasters, and one of the first vessels lost in the Western District. This is recognised by its inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register, VHR No. S116. Little is left on the seabed to mark the tragedy, apart from some of the house bricks intended for the Henty settlement. Signal cannon: a 1.3 metre iron 6pdr cannon recovered from the wreck of the CHILDREN. The shape of the cannon tapers from a thick round breech to a flared muzzle, with an 8-centimetre bore, and two side trunnions for pivoting on a wooden gun carriage. It was recovered from the shipwreck site of the CHILDREN by local divers in 1963. This small muzzle-loading signal cannon is in poor and unrestored condition. The cannon’s upper profile of smooth grey metal casing has corroded off, leaving an extensively oxidised rough red surface of crumbling iron. The bottom half of the cannon remains intact, although the outer smooth casing also appears to be separating from the iron core of the barrel. The original grey casting is also missing from the breech and muzzle ends of the cannon. Corrosion and spalling of the upper surface layer of the cannon have removed the maker’s marks and specificationsflagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, shipwreck artefact, children, barque, three-masted, liverpool, childer’s cove, port campbell, 1839 shipwreck, 1939 wreck, james henty and co, henty brothers, captain h. browne, first mate t. gay, second mate w. wentworth, portland, portland bay, 1939, ship’s cannon, signal cannon, conservation of marine artefacts, 6pdr small bore cannon, defence

The anchor is from the wooden sailing ship CHILDREN, which was wrecked at Childers Cove east of Warrnambool on the 14th of January 1839 with the loss of 16 lives. The Children anchor was raised from the wreck site by Flagstaff Hill Divers: Peter Ronald, Garry Hayden (Terang, still), Tim Goodall (now Warrnambool), and Colin Goodall (now Warrnambool), on Sunday, 3rd January 1974. A week or so later, it was dragged up the cliffs and taken to Warrnambool. It is now on display near the entrance to the Maritime Museum and Village. It appears to be a Pering’s Improved Anchor, developed at Portsmouth after 1813. The addition of broad curvature to the anchor arms provided a stronger purchase than the pre-existing Admiralty Old Pattern Long Shanked Anchor with straight arms. However, the evidence of hammer-welding of the separate pieces of the arms and palms to the central shank, peaked crown and flat palms, suggests the manufacture is before the 1831 Rodger’s Anchor design, which cast both arms and their flukes as one piece that was then attached to the shank by a bolt through the crown. This identification seems consistent with the date of the CHILDREN’s construction in 1824. The CHILDREN was a three-masted barque with a wooden hull built at Liverpool in England. The vessel was bought by the Henty family of Portland (Australia Felix) in 1837 for regular coastal trading between Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania), the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and South Australia. Only 255 tons burden (92 feet in length, with a beam of 25 feet and depth of 17 feet), it sailed from Launceston bound for Adelaide in late December 1838, on its first Australian voyage and under the English master who had brought the barque out, Captain H. Browne. On board the CHILDREN were 24 passengers, including 9 children, the captain and 14 crew; livestock of 1500 sheep, 8 bullocks and 7 horses; general cargo of beef, pork, tobacco, tripe, butter, limejuice, horse hair, currants, lead shot, beer and spirits; 5,000 house bricks from London; and six whaling boats with associated whaling gear. The vessel was battered by gale-force north-westerly winds shortly after setting out from Launceston on 11 January 1839, and adverse sailing conditions persisted for the next four days. At 11 pm on the 14th of January 1839, and many miles north and east of the captain’s navigated position, the CHILDREN struck the Pinnacle, a limestone stack off what is now called Childers Cove. Within half an hour, the ship was destroyed. As well as the loss of livestock and cargo, 16 passengers and crew perished, including the captain, six men, one woman and nine children. In 1931, shifting sands at Childers Cove uncovered the skeleton of an adult male. In 1951, another two skeletons were exposed by storms, an adult male and a child. In 1963, some district scuba divers retrieved a small signal cannon from the site. And in 1974, Flagstaff Hill recovered the anchor and some house bricks. The anchor recovered from the Children's wreck is significant as part of the equipment of the early 19th-century barque. The 1839 wreck and recovered artefacts are examples of the construction methods and materials used in that era and can be used to study the evolution of shipbuilding methods and principles. The wreck of the Children is of state significance as one of colonial Victoria’s earliest and most significant maritime disasters, and one of the first vessels lost in the Western District. This is recognised by its inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register, VHR No. S116. Little is left on the seabed to mark the tragedy, apart from some of the house bricks intended for the Henty settlement. A large forged, wrought iron anchor from the wreck of the CHILDREN. Flat hammer-welded flukes on opposing curved arms and a peaked crown. It has a metal, elbowed stock or cross-bar and a heavy-duty pinned, flat-ring shackle for the anchor chain. It is in fair condition but extensively corroded after 135 years on the seabed. flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, shipwreck artefact, children, barque, three-masted, liverpool, childer’s cove, port campbell, 1839 shipwreck, 1939 wreck, james henty and co, henty brothers, captain h. browne, first mate t. gay, second mate w. wentworth, portland, portland bay, anchor, ship’s anchor, peter ronald, garry hayden, tim goodall, colin goodall, pering’s improved anchor

According to Lloyds Shipping Register 1837-1839, the CHILDREN was built in 1825 at Liverpool and operated by owners Gordon & Co, of London. London registered number 123/1837. James Henty then bought the vessel in 1837 as a three-masted barque of 254 tons, with a hull of “part pitch pine, felt sheathed” and “coppered 1837”. Launceston registered number 6/1837. In 1838, the CHILDREN, under her master Captain H. Browne, completed a successful round trip from Launceston to London carrying wool and whale oil loaded in Portland, returning in late November of that year carrying a general cargo including the house bricks. On the 11th January 1839, the CHILDREN sailed from Launceston for Adelaide, with 24 passengers, 14 crew, and an awkward mixed cargo, including 1500 sheep, 8 bullocks, 7 horses, farming implements, and six whaleboats with associated whaling gear, and house bricks for the Hentys' settlement in Portland. One account states that when the CHILDREN “put out from port, it was light and badly ballasted”. The vessel immediately encountered four days of hurricane force storms, eventually clearing on the early morning of the 14th to “west force 10”, but too late to take accurate measurements of the sun or stars to establish their position relative to the coast. The CHILDREN collided with a limestone stack at the entrance of what is now called Childers Cove, and the seas smashed it into pieces within half an hour. All the cargo and 16 lives were lost, including 9 children. The Hentys contributed £150 towards a fund for the 22 survivors at a memorial service held in Launceston later that year. It was a major financial setback for the Henrys, but one from which they recovered. In a submission to the Governor of New South Wales dated 24 March 1840, the Henty’s summarised their work over the previous six years of settlement: “Six stations have been occupied, one at Portland Bay…three at the open country about 60 miles inland called ‘Merino Downs’…They have erected two houses at Portland Bay and two others at Merino Downs”. The London house bricks recovered from the Children's wreck are significant as part of the cargo of the early 19th-century barque. The bricks were intended for the owner of the Children, the Henty family, for their Portland settlement. The 1839 wreck and recovered artefacts are examples of the construction methods and materials used in that era and can be used to study the evolution of shipbuilding methods and principles. The wreck of the Children is of state significance as one of colonial Victoria’s earliest and most significant maritime disasters, and one of the first vessels lost in the Western District. This is recognised by its inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register, VHR No. S116. Little is left on the seabed to mark the tragedy, apart from some of the house bricks intended for the Henty settlement. Clay brick: house brick from London, with some with white marine encrustation, recovered from the wreck of the ship CHILDREN. The brick is an oblong shape and is constructed of a coarse-grained conglomerate. flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, shipwreck artefact, children, barque, three-masted, liverpool, childer’s cove, port campbell, 1839 shipwreck, 1939 wreck, james henty and co, henty brothers, captain h. browne, first mate t. gay, second mate w. wentworth, portland, portland bay, 1939, bricks, london house bricks, clay bricks

This remnant of a ship's bell was recovered from the wreck site of the CHILDREN by Flagstaff Hill Divers on 1 October 1973. The artefact had lain in the ocean off Childers Cove since the vessel’s disastrous sinking there on 14 January 1839. Other similarly high-value metallic objects raised from the site, and now in the Flagstaff Hill collection, are the ship’s signal cannon (1963) and the ship’s anchor (1974). A ship’s bell was normally struck by the lookout at the forward part of a vessel, following orders “Strike the bell” from the officer of the watch at the helm, or as a warning signal of danger ahead. Its main function was to keep the crew aware of time. Each 24 hours was divided into 4 hour work-shifts, or watches, and each of these was divided into 8 half hours, or glasses, each half hour being determined by the time it took between each turn of the ship’s hourglass. The six watches were the first watch from 8 pm to midnight, the second or middle watch from midnight to 4 am, the third or morning watch from 4 to 8 am, the fourth or forenoon watch from 8 am to midday, the fifth or noon watch from midday to 4 pm, and the sixth or dog watch from 4 to 8 pm. Within each watch, the first half hour would end with one bell, the second with two bells, the third with three bells, and so on until their work shift ended with the ringing of eight bells. The CHILDREN left Launceston on 11 January 1839 and immediately struck heavy weather. By the evening of 14 January, Captain Browne had been continuously on duty for four days and needed sleep. His First Mate T. Gay was incapacitated with seasickness, and the task of command was given to the Second Mate W. Wentworth. At two bells into the first watch, or 9 o’clock that night, the captain went below. Two hours later, at six bells into the first watch, or 11 o’clock that night, the lookout cried “Breakers close ahead”. Within a minute, the ship struck the rocks at the entrance of Childers Cove. Within twenty minutes, the huge seas had taken her stern, three masts and much of her weatherside, leaving survivors clinging to the forecastle. Within two hours, the wreck had completely disappeared. If anyone could have rung the bell by then, it would have been to strike two bells into the middle-watch, or one o’clock on the morning of 15 January. An 1859 Victorian Register of Wrecks from 1835 to 1858 remarks the CHILDREN “Ran ashore through an error in the reckoning and a bad lookout [and] Became a total wreck”. 22 passengers and crew survived the tragedy, but 16 lives were lost, including the captain and second mate, and 9 children. The shipwreck of the CHILDREN is of State significance ― Victorian Heritage Register S116A part of a brass ship’s bell, recovered from the wreck of the CHILDREN. The upper part, or dome of the bell, has corroded away, leaving the lower portion, or mouth of the bell, largely intact. However, this lower surviving portion has been severed vertically with a clear cut similar to a saw cut, leaving a regular 1cm gap down one side of the bell. It is an evocative relic, attractively aged on the seafloor, bearing layers of aqua-marine verdigris and white limestone accretion on a dull bronze surface. There is no visible ship’s name on the bell. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the children, bell, ships bell, childers cove, henty brothers, james henty & co, sea-watches, nautical time, james henty & co, bell from the children