This small shoe (or boot) was found at Rosebrook, a small settlement between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, after the 1946 Western District floods. These floods are regarded as the worst in the history of European settlement in the Western District. At least five lives were lost, many small settlements and towns were isolated resulting in food shortages, onion and potato crops were ruined, 20 bridges were destroyed or damaged, roads were swept away, hundreds of farm animals perished and road and rail services were disrupted. The floods were the result of a very high rainfall in five successive days (658 points of rain in one 24 hours) and there was more flooding a week after the first major impact of the rains. A link to a major weather event in the South west.This is a small child’s brown shoe made of leather with a lace-up upper part (no laces) and a leather sole. The sides of the upper part of the shoe have broken away at the edges. As the shoe has been water-logged (it was found after the 1946 Western District floods) it has become hard and brittle. warrnambool, rosebrook western district floods, 1946, 1940's shoe