Close message Scootle has stopped supporting resources that use the Adobe Flash plug-in from 18 Dec 2020. Learning paths that include these resources will have alerts to notify teachers and students that one or more of the resources will be unavailable. Click here for more info.

Search results

Image

'Woolshed, Challicum, 1845'

This is a watercolour measuring 15 cm x 24.4 cm showing the south-eastern sides of a slab and bark woolshed (shearing shed) in 1845. Two men are standing either side of a gate counting out shorn sheep from wooden yards. A large wooden lever and windlass are clearly detailed on the side of the woolshed. A rutted wagon track ...

Image

'Quail shooting, Jones' Hill, Challicum', c1850

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows quail shooting at Jones' Hill at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. It depicts two men with shotguns and two hunting dogs, which may be pointers, crossing a low plateau. The man in front has taken aim and appears to have just discharged his rifle. ...

Image

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.

Image

Penny-farthing bicycle, c1888

This is a penny-farthing, or high-wheel bicycle, built in Melbourne by H Bassett and Co in the late 1880s. Called 'The Victory', it has a 142-cm diameter front wheel and a smaller rear wheel, both with solid rubber tyres. The pedals are fixed directly to the axle of the front wheel. The leather seat sits on a 'cradle spring' ...

Image

Wolter and Echberg washing machine, late 1800s

This is a late-19th-century compressed-air washing machine, made by Victorian manufacturers Wolter and Echberg. The machine is made of galvanised steel and has a distinctive rocket-like appearance, with a central drum, in which the clothes are washed, consisting of two cone shapes on either end of a cylinder. On the drum ...

Image

The 'Southern Cross' reaches Sydney, 1928

This is a black-and-white photograph of the 'Southern Cross' biplane arriving in Sydney and being greeted by reporters and photographers and a large contingent of police after the record-breaking flight of Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew across the Pacific. Signed portraits of the crew are superimposed upon the photograph, ...

Image

The 'Dig' tree in 1878

This is a watercolour by Arthur Esam (1850-1938), created in 1878 and measuring a modest 32.5 cm x 26.7 cm. It shows a coolibah tree with two sections of bark missing - the famous 'Dig' tree of the Burke and Wills Expedition of 1861. A man (perhaps Esam himself) is standing holding the reins of a horse, and appears to be ...

Image

'Southern Cross' above Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1931

This is a 1931 gelatin silver-toned composite photograph measuring 32 cm x 25.5 cm, produced by Hall and Co. It shows Charles Kingsford Smith's monoplane, the 'Southern Cross', flying over the partially constructed Sydney Harbour Bridge, escorted by a biplane. The view is from the north-west, probably McMahons Point, and ...

Image

Washing clothes in an iron tub, c1890s

This is a black-and-white photograph made from a glass negative. It shows a woman washing clothes by hand in a galvanised iron tub outdoors, beside a high fence made from sheets of galvanised iron. A cane laundry basket and washed clothes hanging on a clothes line can be seen.

Image

'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 ...

Image

'Panorama of Challicum, No. IX', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 15.7 cm x 24.3 cm showing the vast yellow-and-green Challicum plains. In the distance a flock of sheep, watched by a shepherd and dog, is moving into temporary wooden yards. Among gum trees, to the right of the yard, is the homestead. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as the ...

Image

'Poultry house, Challicum', 1851

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that depicts the poultry house at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. Two of the Djapwurrong people (the Indigenous inhabitants of this region) are shown sitting by a smoking fire next to a temporary bark shelter. Various chickens are also shown pecking in ...

Image

'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 ...

Image

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 ...

Image

Metters 'Moffat' electric stove, late 1930s

This is a cast-iron stove called the 'Moffat', produced in Melbourne by Australian manufacturer Metters KFB in the late 1930s. The stove is set on four iron legs and consists of an oven, cooktop and griller. It is finished with green enamel and three cream enamel panels inset on the knob interface, griller door and oven ...

Video

Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion, c1942 - item 1 of 2

This clip from a silent black-and-white home movie shows Torres Strait Islander servicemen undertaking army training drills on Thursday Island (Weiban) during the Second World War. It opens with a long shot of barefoot uniformed men marching in formation, and passing behind a squad of stationary men. It then cuts to shots ...

Image

'Sheep station in the forest, Challicum, 1843'

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows a sheep out-station in the forest at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. It depicts a slab hut set among red gums ('Eucalyptus camaldulensis'). A watchman is standing in front of the hut, and on the left of the painting is a sheepfold (enclosure) ...

Image

Second hut at Challicum, summer view, 1845

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that shows the second hut built at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria established by Cooper and George and Harry Thomson. In the foreground is a man on horseback, who may be Harry Thomson, followed by two dogs, crossing a grassy plain. Almost directly behind ...

Image

'The new rush', 1865

This is a coloured print, measuring 19.4 cm x 25.2 cm, by the famous colonial artist Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80), published in 'The Australian Sketchbook' in 1865. It shows a gold rush scene, probably in Victoria, with a stream of prospectors travelling along a dirt road. Several are walking beside their horses and heavily ...

Image

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 ...