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'Sheep station on the plains, Challicum, 1843'

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows a sheep out-station on the plains at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. A slab hut is depicted in the foreground, while in the distance is a shepherd with his dog and flock. The shepherd's watchbox and the hurdles (portable fences) used to contain ...

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'Aquarius 1841'

This is a pen, ink and crayon drawing, measuring 18.8 cm x 26.8 cm, of a man driving a horse and cart, on the back of which is a full water barrel. Buildings and trees are sketched in the background and at the top right is a set of signalling flagpoles. A handwritten inscription at the bottom of the picture reads: 'Aquarius ...

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Funeral of Burke and Wills, Melbourne, 1863

This is a 17.3 cm x 24.3 cm black-and-white wood engraving of the 1863 state funeral of Burke and Wills in Melbourne, Victoria. Crowds line the street, and watch from balconies and rooftops, to see the procession that includes an ornate horse-drawn open carriage bearing the caskets of the two famous explorers, preceded ...

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'Attacking the mail, bushranging, NSW 1864'

This is a coloured print, measuring 19.8 cm x 25 cm, painted by the famous colonial artist Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80) and published in 'The Australian Sketchbook'. It shows three masked bushrangers holding up the Royal Mail coach with shotguns and muskets. Their horses are hidden in nearby shrubs. The Mail is shown crowded ...

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Gold nugget

This is a gold nugget (approximately 3.4 cm x 2.2 cm), which was probably found in about 1865 on a goldfield in Otago (in the southern South Island of New Zealand).

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Pacific Islanders harvesting cane on Bingera Plantation, 1884

This sepia photograph shows around ten Pacific Islander labourers in a sugar-cane field at Bingera Plantation near Bundaberg in Queensland as the cane is being harvested. A well-dressed European man and two young children pose in the cleared foreground, while in the mid-ground stands a fully laden horsedrawn wagon with ...

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Bethany in the Barossa Hills, 1847

This is a hand-coloured lithographic print showing Bethany, a village established by German immigrants, at the foot of the Barossa Hills in South Australia in the 1840s. The lithograph was listed as Plate 60 in the book 'South Australia illustrated', published in 1847. It measures 29.7 cm x 34 cm.

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Third hut at Challicum, 1845

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that depicts the third hut built at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. It shows a weatherboard hut or cottage with an established garden surrounded by a palisade (paling fence). A wooden bridge, which spans a creek, joins a pathway that leads to the front ...

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'Vaccination Day in Port Mackay!', 1877

This black-and-white pen-and-ink sketch depicts vaccinations against smallpox in Mackay, Queensland, in 1877. In the sketch the local public health officer, who appears to be shouting, wields a large knife and is about to vaccinate a fearful child on his lap. The child's mother holds the child's arm while it screams. A ...

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A shepherd and sheep, c1850

This is a watercolour of an early morning scene on a sheep property or 'run' painted by Samuel Thomas Gill. It depicts a shepherd and his dog at the rear of a flock of sheep disappearing over a small hill. A slab hut is shown on the slope of the hill and a small hurdle or temporary fence is in the foreground. The painting ...

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Students digging trenches at Ascot State School, Brisbane, 1942

This black-and-white photograph shows schoolchildren digging air-raid trenches in the grounds of Ascot State School in Brisbane, Queensland, on 24 January 1942. Working in the slit trenches, knee deep or deeper, the male students use picks and shovels to dig and remove the earth. A man digging with them on the right is ...

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Sunshine stripper harvester, 1884

This is a Sunshine stripper harvester, the design of which was developed by Hugh Victor McKay on his father's property at Drummartin, Victoria, in 1884. The harvester has three wheels, one at the front and two at the back. It is designed to strip, thresh and clean wheat grain. It is painted in brown and yellow, and features ...

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City railway terminus, Melbourne, 1854

This is a black-and-white lithograph measuring 12.5 cm x 20 cm, depicting the city terminus of the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in Melbourne in 1854. An early type of steam locomotive is shown approaching a platform where passengers and freight are waiting. The drawing was made by Samuel Thomas Gill and his ...

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Simpson with his donkey at Gallipoli, 1915 - asset 2

This is a 1915 black-and-white photograph measuring 10.3 cm x 7.3 cm, of John Simpson Kirkpatrick (1892-1915) and his donkey, taken at Gallipoli. The man and the donkey are standing on the sand in front of a pile of packing cases containing supplies for the troops.

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Visit of Australian cricketers to the USA, 1913

This is the front page of a program printed in rust-red-and-black letters on a beige background, with the words 'OFFICIAL PROGRAMME COMMEMORATING THE VISIT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKETERS TO AMERICA 1913'. The text is set within decoration in the Art Nouveau style.

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'Cradling, Forrest Creek', 1853

This is an 1853 hand-coloured lithographic print, entitled 'Cradling. Forrest Creek'. It was made by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80) from a sketch done on the spot as he watched gold miners cradle for gold at Forest Creek (as it was more commonly spelled), in Victoria. One miner scoops water into the cradle, while the other ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. IV', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 15.9 cm x 24.3 cm showing yellowed pasture backed by gum trees. A herd of cows with calves is grazing both in the foreground fields and the background timber. A small hill, part of the Challicum Hills, rises from the trees on the right. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as ...

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'Hobson's Bay Railway Pier, Melbourne', 1878

This is a 37.2 cm x 52.5 cm sepia-toned photograph of Station Pier at Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), Victoria. About 60 people stand in the foreground looking up at what must be the photographer, Charles Nettleton, exposing his photographic plate. Various ships, some of which are steam powered, can be seen lining both ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. VI', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 17.2 cm x 26.2 cm showing the twin peaks of Mount Langi Ghiran rising behind the smaller tip of Conical Hill. Two distant mountains on the right are Ben Nevis and Mount Buangor. A camp of Indigenous Djapwurrong people, consisting of two bark and wood dwellings, is situated on the edge of ...

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Women stapling ration books, 1943

This is a sepia-toned photograph, taken in April 1943, of young women at the South Australian Government Printing Office using large machines to staple ration books.