This poster is typical of posters displayed by steam packet companies of the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. It advertises the passage and freight available on a local coastal trader. The steamships operated between the major ports along the western coast of Victoria between Melbourne and Portland. The traveller was not guaranteed the passage times due to possible weather changes. Discounts were offered for return trips within a month of the ticket's issue. The price of freight included 'lighterage', which was the service of a smaller vessel called a 'lighter' expressly designed to transport goods between ship and shore. This particular poster has been recreated; it advertises the services of the screw steamer SS Edina. The information on the poster applies to the years between 1871 and 1873. During that period the Master of the Edina was Captain John Thompson, the Edina was owned by the Warrnambool Steam Navigation Company and the secretary of the firm was Thos. Mackay. The passenger fares are in line with fares from that period, as seen in a display advertisement published in the Hamilton Spectator on January 17th, 1872. The 1853 Glasgow-built Screw Ship Edina had a long life. The ship served in both the Crimean War and the American Civil War. The Edina also traded in UK and European waters. The Henty family of Portland, Victoria, purchased Edina in 1863 for use as a coastal trader. The Edina had several owners and spent many years of service along the South West Coast of Victoria between Melbourne and Portland. The vessel transported passengers and freight in Port Phillip Bay, between Melbourne and Geelong, between 1880 and 1938. After 84 years of service, the Edina was renamed ‘Dinah’ and was stripped down for use as a lighter. The vessel was broken up in 1957 at Footscray, Melbourne. The remains of Edina’s hull can be found in the Maribyrnong River, Port Phillip Bay. The poster was owned by the donor's grandfather, Bruce Duff (1922-2003) who was an avid sailor and a lover of nautical history. He and his wife Mona (1924-2014) were buried in Portarlington Cemetery, Victoria. Duff would have been about 13 years old when the Edina was finally retired from service in 1938. His interest in the Edina could have come from a trip on the vessel or from watching it in operation in the ports along the coast. Duff has collected this poster as a memento of the Edina and is likely to have preserved it at a much later date when the lamination process was readily available. [Flagstaff Hill's collection includes a photograph of the Edina at the Moorabool Street Wharf, Geelong, which was in Duff's locality. The References for this poster include a link to Museum Victoria's photograph of two boys watching the Edina from a jetty.] Flagstaff Hill's Village has its own 'Examiner' Office where volunteers demonstrate the historic printing press in that building. They use original letter-type to create posters, print labels onto lolly bags and designs on fabrics. One of the volunteer printers has produced a poster closely resembling the donated poster. His replication includes a woodcut of the ship, which he skilfully crafted himself.This poster advertises the sailing of the steamer SS Edina and the information has local and State significance for its association with the trading ports of the Edina, and the associated names on the poster; Warrnambool Steam Navigation Company, Captain John Thompson and Thos. Mackay. This poster's message has a strong connection to the history of the businesses and community of Warrnambool and the people of Port Phillip Bay, where it was a passenger ferry for many years. The poster is an example of advertising used by shipping agents in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. Its information includes the accurate costs to passengers and freighters and the type of timetable the vessels were likely to follow. The poster's connection with the Screw Steamship Edina is historically significant, as the vessel was the longest serving screw steamer in the world. The ship spent its first nine years overseas then arrived in Melbourne. The vessel's work included running the essential service of transporting cargo and passengers between Melbourne and the western Victoria ports of Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland. The Edina is listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR S199. Poster, A3 size, brown text on cream paper, laminated. Re-created poster of the Warrnambool Steam Navigation Company (Limited) advertising passage and freight on its Screw Steamship, SS Edina. It states days, times and fees for passage and freight from Warrnambool to Melbourne, and return. It names the ship's Master, Captain John Thompson and the Company's Secretary, Tho. Mackay. It displays a line drawing of a 3-masted ship with full sails.Printed image [side profile of a 3 masted vessel, bow facing left] Printed text includes "The Warrnambool Steam Navigation Company (Limited). The Company's Steam Ship "EDINA", Captain John Thompson, Will leave Melbourne for Warrnambool on Tuesdays, returning from Warrnambool every Thursday, At Five o'clock p.m. (weather permitting). FARES: Saloon £2 0 0 Steerage £1 0 0 Saloon return £3 0 0 Saloon return £1 10 00 - Children under 13 years half fares - Refreshments supplied onboard at a moderate scale of charge. Freight, including lighterage, - From Melbourne to Warrnambool - 12s per ton; from Warrnambool to Melbourne, 15s per ton. Passengers are requested to obtain their tickets at the offers, and shippers to make early application for space. Return tickets available for one month from date of issue. - THO. MACKAY, secretary. "warrnambool, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, fair maid of judea, steam navigation, pleasure steamer, ss edina a, trade 19th century, travel 19th century, warrnambool to melbourne, warrnambool to geelong, warrnambool to port fairy, warrnambool to portland, screw steamer, coastal trader, crimean war, american civil war, gold export, h r h duke of edinburgh, warrnambool steam packet company, stephen henty, captain john thompson, chief engineer john davies, lady bay, lighter edina, port phillip bay steamers, vhr s199, dinah, warrnambool steam navigation company, advertising poster, shipping agent, flier, maritime village, flagstaff hill maritime museum & village, great ocean road, block printing, woodblock printing, relief printing, moorabool st wharf, western steam navigation company, tho. mackay, re-created poster

Robert Brough Smyth (1830-1889), civil servant and mining engineer, was born on 18 February 1830 near Wallsend, Northumberland, England, son of Edward Smith, mining engineer, and his wife Elizabeth, née Brough. On 14 November 1852 Smyth arrived in Melbourne and went to the gold diggings, where he worked as a carter on the construction of roads at Sawpit Gully. Back in Melbourne, on 7 November 1853 he became a draftsman under the surveyor-general, Andrew Clarke, and soon was acting chief draftsman. Smyth compiled numerous reports and wrote catalogues for exhibitions of minerals and fossils. In November 1869 he superintended the establishment of a museum of economic geology, mineralogy and mining and published in Melbourne The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria … Covertly involved in the controversy that led to the disbanding of the Geological Survey in 1869, he became its director on its reinstatement in 1871; he increased its part in the search for and proving of economic mineral and coal deposits. In 1875 he became chief inspector of mines and published the geological reports on John Forrest's Western Australian exploration. On 19 June 1860 Smyth had become honorary secretary to the Board for the Protection of Aborigines and in 1863 became a voting member. Zealous and determined, he assumed the role of chairman, which belonged ex officio to the chief secretary, and wielded great power, including the dubious dismissal of John Green, general inspector of Aborigines in 1861-75 with whom he had earlier collaborated. Smyth's compilation, The Aborigines of Victoria … (1878), arose from his efforts to gather information and artefacts of Victorian Aboriginal cultures at a time when their vestiges were fast disappearing. The work, still valuable though long since superseded, relied heavily upon others such as L. Fison, G. B. Halford, A. Howitt and J. Milligan. Press reports and a petition from officers in the Mining Department accused Smyth of 'tyrannical and overbearing conduct', and in February 1876 a board of inquiry was constituted and heard evidence until April. McCoy defended 'one of the best heads of department he had ever known' but the board found the charges of 'excessive severity … in the main substantiated', and reported that Smyth had been irritable, lacking self-control and over-fastidious, but acknowledged his 'unremitting energy and zealous labours in the public service'. On 4 May Smyth resigned all public offices except his membership of the Aborigines' board. Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smyth-robert-brough-4621Original map printed on paper on canvas; copy of map with original. Title: Sandhurst gold field [cartographic material] / surveyed and compiled under the direction of R. Brough Smyth and Thos. Couchman, Angus Mackay ; additions made to the survey under the same direction by Regd. A.F. Murray, April 1873. "Lithd. by R. Shepherd" Topographic map of Sandhurst gold field, with relief shown by hachures. Shows roads, railways and public buildings. "Note - blocks held under leasing regulations are outlined and numbered in red" Map is also available on State Library Victoria: https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=61SLV_INST:SLV&search_scope=slv_local&tab=searchProfile&context=L&docid=alma994975393607636 sandhurst, goldfield, lease holdings, gullies, brough smyth, state library of victoria

Balance Sheet dated ending 30th September 1862. Sheet contains the names of a number of the members of the Court. Signed by the Auditors John Rae and Joseph King Smith. Dated October 6th. Names are: William Fincher, George McMillan, Joseph Mason, William Mason, Henry Catlin, William Clifford, Thomas Wills, John Rae, John Glinnon, John Wotton, Joseph K Smith, Henry Shalders, Thomas Pile, John Eady, Thomas Connell, Carl Mueller, Charles Kelynack, John Martin, George Nicholson, O C Hillman, Charles Spier, Chas I Murray, Jas Bryant, William Hosking, Saml D Arthur, Richard Rowe, Joseph Herz, Carl Ulbrick, Fritz Abraham, Hugh Brown, W H Bridgman, Thos Wm Butt, George Cook, J W Chapple, John Fincher, James Fincher, H R Hyde, Mackay H, Wilton H, Holl I S, De Gruchy H, Brockley, Busst, Dr Story, Waller,societies, aof, correspondence, ancient order of foresters no. 3770 collection - correspondence, court king of the forest, william fincher, george mcmillan, joseph mason, william mason, henry catlin, william clifford, thomas wills, john rae, john glinnon, john wotton, joseph k smith, henry shalders, thomas pile, john eady, thomas connell, carl mueller, charles kelynack, john martin, george nicholson, o c hillman, charles spier, chas i murray, jas bryant, william hosking, saml d arthur, richard rowe, joseph herz, carl ulbrick, fritz abraham, hugh brown, w h bridgman, thos wm butt, george cook, j w chapple, john fincher, james fincher, h r hyde, bendigo united district, mackay h, wilton h, holl, i s, de gruchy h, brockley, busst, dr story, waller