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.
Back to search results
Whale oil as a cure for rheumatism, Twofold Bay, early 1900s

Image Whale oil as a cure for rheumatism, Twofold Bay, early 1900s

TLF ID R3583

This is a black-and-white photograph (12.0 cm x 16.4 cm) taken at Eden, New South Wales, showing the master whaler Charlie Davidson sitting in one of two 'try pots' in the foreground as another whaler, Roy Davidson, pours whale oil over him. Two other whalers, Jack Davidson and Alex ('Allie') Greig, are standing nearby, one of them watching the process. A large try pot with steam rising from it is visible in the background.

View resource


Educational details

Educational value
  • This asset depicts an aspect of the whaling industry at Eden when it was a whaling centre - Eden is located 480 kilometres south of Sydney, on Twofold Bay; the first shore-based whaling station on mainland Australia was established there in 1828.
  • It was probably taken at the Davidson Whaling Station, which operated from the 1860s to the late 1920s and was the longest-operating onshore whaling station in Australia - a pod of killer whales led by a whale nicknamed 'Old Tom' played an instrumental role in the longevity of the Station and the industry in that area; between May and November of each year the large pod herded migrating whales into Twofold Bay and joined whalers in attacking the prey; they were rewarded for their assistance with the lips and tongues of captured whales.
  • It depicts Charlie, Roy and Jack Davidson, members of one of the best known and longest-serving families in the whaling industry, who had a special relationship with the pod of killer whales - in 1926, Jack Davidson and two of his children were drowned in the Bay; Jack's body was missing for more than a week until the searchers realised that Old Tom had been continuously circling an area near where the boat had capsized; it was there that the body was found.
  • It shows try pots, which were used in the manufacture of whale oil - blubber was stripped off the whale's carcass and then boiled in the try pots to separate the oil from the flesh; the oil was then skimmed off and stored in large casks; whale oil was a valuable product, used in the making of candles, soap, lubricants and lamp fuel, and in industrial processes such as tanning and ropemaking.
  • It demonstrates one use of whale oil, as a cure for rheumatism - during the First World War, soldiers who stood in waterlogged trenches were given whale oil to apply to their legs and feet; the oil was also used to reduce infection and inflammation.
  • It provides an example of the photography of Charles Eden Wellings - between 1900 and 1922, Wellings photographed buildings in the township, sites of interest and aspects of the whaling industry at Eden; his collection was donated to the National Library of Australia.
Topics Periodic table Rheumatoid arthritis Whale hunting

Other details

Contributors
  • Author
  • Person: Charles Eden Wellings
  • Description: Author
  • Contributor
  • Name: National Library of Australia
  • Organization: National Library of Australia
  • Description: Content provider
  • URL: http://www.nla.gov.au
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Person: Charles Eden Wellings
  • Description: Author
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: National Library of Australia
  • Organization: National Library of Australia
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Colour independence
  • Device independence
  • Hearing independence
Learning Resource Type
  • Image
Rights
  • © Education Services Australia Ltd and National Library of Australia, 2013, except where indicated under Acknowledgements