Paper co-written and delivered at the Watermarks, Water's Heritage Australia ICOMOS and National Trusts of Australia Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 28 October 2011.

1. Exploring the Merri Creek
archival sources for interpreting
an inner urban waterway
Abigail Belfrage
Project Manager, PROV Crowdsourcing Pilot
Kasia Zygmuntowicz
Coordinator, Online Research
1

2. Today’s session
Kasia
Role of PROV
Merri Creek case study
Abi
Further water-related records held at PROV
2

3. Public Record Office Victoria
State’s archival authority
Take custody of permanent public records
Determine which records must be kept and
which can be destroyed
Set standards for government
Make records accessible to government and the
people of Victoria
3

4. Merri Creek at Northcote and Coburg
This is the Merri creek at Northcote near the St Georges Road bridge (left and
right) and Coburg Lakes(middle)
Explore the Merri Creek trail through the collection of Public Record Office
Victoria, the Victorian State Government Archives
Maps and plans
Photographs, lantern slides, negatives, films, audio
Working drawings, specifications, contract books, building files
Correspondence registers and files
Digitisation Project
Despatch e-newsletter
One Place Many Stories
PROVwiki
4

5. VPRS 8168/P2 Historic Plan Collection, MD1
My favourite series at PROV, and one of the best to explore Victoria on paper, is
the Historic Plan Collection.
Abi will describe this further, but I would like to show you a plan from this
series: the Geological Survey of Victoria MD 1, 1863
Geological Survey of Victoria , Selwyn 1863
A0-08168-P0002-003334 along Merri Creek.jpg
Showing not only the geology but quite a bit of topography...
Follow Merri from confluence of Yarra upstream
5

6. 6

7. VPRS 16171/P1 Regional Land Office Parish and Township Plans Digital
Reference Set, Plans H-K, Parish of Jika Jika J-2796
Parish Plans are available online
VPRS 16171/P1 Regional Land Office Parish and Township Plans Digital
Reference Set, Plans H-K, Parish of Jika Jika J-2796
7

8. Notations all over the margins, the Merri spilling over the edge of the plan and
down into the Yarra
8

9. Zooming right in to some of the details – not just subdivisions, lot numbers, acres
roods and perches but...
Ceres; Old Inebriate Retreat; Township of Pentridge; notations references to Gov
Gazette; other plans, details in the margin; Country Roads Board; municipal
boundaries, rail lines and stations; drains
9

10. Looking into the Archives
VPRS11/P0 unit 10 item 658-
Letter from Assistant
Protector of Aborigines
William Thomas relative to a
grant for Merri Creek
Aboriginal school and
enclosing a note from the
teacher of the Aboriginal
School
Date 12/03/1847
VPRS 11 is digitised and available online
10

11. Detail from
VPRS 11/P0 unit 10 item 658
Showing the location of the
Aboriginal School (marked as
‘Mission’) between the Merri
Creek and the River Yarra.
Note also the ford, Dights Mill
and other buildings nearby.
11

12. Looking into the Archives
VPRS 242/P0 Crown Reserves
Correspondence
unit 101, item C54228
Application from the East
Melbourne Cricket Club to
remove 100 loads of soil from
the Merri Creek.
Application approved May
1892
VPRS242-101-C54228EastMelbCricketClub1892
Excellent and famous material for the ol’ cricket pitch at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground and many others, applications were sought for removal of soil, also
gravel, rock...
12

13. VA 1007 Melbourne Water Corporation (formerly MMBW)
VPRS 8604/P2 unit1Plan 95 scale160ft:1inch
13

14. One Place Many Stories
DEECD FUSE project developed by PROV, HCV and Spatial Vision
http://oneplace.net.au/fuse/
This screenshot shows the introductory page on the PROVwiki
History Council of Victoria and PROV partnership, with Spatial Vision.
14

15. One Place Many Stories
Mash up of MMBW 160ft:1inch detail plan over a Google map of the same area –
Northcote, East Brunswick and North Fitzroy
Describe the theory behind One Place and the ability to locate digitised maps
from any online collection over google maps and satellite view
15

16. VA 1007 Melbourne Water Corporation (formerly MMBW)
VPRS 8601/P1 unit 39 Plan 1941 scale 40ft:1inch
School 08601-P0001-000039-01941
16

17. MMBW Detailed Base Plans
VPRS 8601/P1 unit 39 Plan No. 1941
Detail – References to Field and Level Books
VPRS 8600/P1 Survey Field Books
VPRS 8599/P1 Survey Level Books
School 08601-P0001-000039-01941
17

18. MMBW Detailed Base Plans 40 ft:1 inch VPRS 8601/P2 unit 5 item 1939
18

19. MMBW Detailed Base Plans 40 ft:1 inch VPRS 8601/P2 unit 5 item 1939
19

20. MMBW Detailed Base Plans 40 ft:1 inch VPRS 8601/P2 unit 5 item 1939
20

21. VPRS 8662/P1 Photographic Images (Positives – prints) unit 8 image 13
First replanting of the Merri Creek in the 1980s
Thank you, now I’ll hand you over to Abi who’ll look at some other records held
at PROV that can be used for research into water-related landscapes.
21

22. 8168-P2-391, Historic Plan Collection, Venus Bay and Andersen Inlet
Many, many water-related records
I’ll focus on coastal areas, inland waterways, infrastructure and water authorities
Some pointers for using the online catalogue
speccy records only….
Speaking of spectacular records, lets start with a map of a coastal area from one
of our most treasured series, the Historic Plan Collection, which I’ll tell you more
about soon.
This is a map of a portion of Victorian coastline from Cape Paterson to Venus
Bay in West Gippsland.
22

23. Google Earth image of Cape Patterson, Venus Bay and Andersen Inlet, 2010
A screen shot of that same area from Google Earth.
23

24. Click to edit Master title style
And, here’s the plan again in all its survey data glory.
An incredible amount of detail in this map – lets look at some.
24

25. Looking closely at the title details we can see that the map was drawn up as
part of a survey of the Victorian coastline undertaken between 1840 – 1870.
[read notes below]
In this close up we can see
year
royal navy
soundings in fathoms
CS Coastal Surveys (1802 - 1923)
These surveys were intended to define the configuration of the coastline, describe
the structure of coastal vegetation and identify any land occupations. They were
an integral part of the early topographic survey of Victoria. The few plans which
pre-date 1840 are copies of important surveys completed before the Melbourne
Survey Office was established (1837).
MCS Miscellaneous Coastal Surveys (1802 - 1908)
An adjunct to one coastal survey sub-collection, but containing more diverse
material. It includes tracings of coastal survey plans, published shipping charts of
Victorian, Australian and overseas ports and drawings of harbour developments.
25

26. This close up of the map of Venus Bay and Anderson Inlet shows a range of data
recorded about the landscape:
Features, such as points and hills, and names given to features
Exposed sand banks
Vegetation types
depth measurements taken “soundings” – I think the fractions are particularly
cute.
Other navigation and/or survey marks
26

27. Coastal Areas
• VPRS 8168 Historic Plan Collection (1802 – 1984)
• 10,398 drawings or prints
• 50 sub series eg. CS Coastal Surveys (1802 - 1923)
Click to edit Master title style
• Other coast-related records
• Records created by local government bodies, Crown Lands
Department (parish plans, correspondence), planning
records, Chief Secretary’s correspondence.
This series created by the Crown Lands Department (and its predecessors &
successor agencies). There are 10,398 drawings or prints in the Historic Plan
Collection. They include:
•preliminary maps for surveys which enabled the three tier cadastral system to be
developed (the three tier cadastral system comprises parish, township and county
plans)
•plans produced to complement the cadastral system and other systems
The kinds of historical information often found on these "historical" plans
include:
early descriptions of soils and native vegetation
location of huts, fences, gardens and other capital improvements made by
squatters
location of other buildings
tracks used by original settlers
reserves set aside for public use
early place names
location of pastoral runs
ship wrecks
the general progress of European settlement at various times
progress of cadastral, geodetic and physiographic surveys at particular times
27

28. Ports & Harbours
• Records created about
• infrastructure development and maintenance
• usage; shipping, immigration
•
Click to edit Master title style
Record types
• Plans, photographs, immigration lists, statistics, meeting
agendas and minutes, correspondence.
28

29. Ports & Harbours
8357-p3-3-photo103
Photographic
Collection,
Melbourne
Harbor Trust
Commissioners
Images of the Melbourne Harbour Trust’s works along the Yarra River and the
Port Of Melbourne. This one taken in 1866
29

30. Ports & Harbours
8357-p1-photo5
Photographic
Collection,
Melbourne
Harbor Trust
Commissioners
Construction of Coode Channel, c. 1880
30

31. Ports & Harbours
8357-p3-3-photo103
8357-p3-3-photo1471, Photographic Collection, Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners
Dredging of Coode Canal, c. 1930
8357-p3-4-photo1471.jpg
This series is being digitised and eventually will be made available through the
online catalogue.
31

32. Ports & Harbours
An example of an Agency page showing:
Agency/department title, & agency number in the Archival Control System
We’re on the Records tab, and can see the series titles and date ranges
that there are 84 different series that were created or contributed to by this
Agency, the Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners.
Other research traps for young players….
Note spelling of harbour/harbor, qualifiers for date ranges and public access
status.
32

33. Ports & Harbours
An example of an Agency page showing:
Agency/department title, & agency number in the Archival Control System
Date range of the Agency –
Description of the establishment & the functions of the agency – there’s more
detail further down the page. Many agency pages include text about the agency’s
relationship with other agencies (eg. predecessors and successors). These can be
followed up on the catalogue manually. (We are working towards a navigation
system that enable people to view these relationships visually through a chart
rather than via text.)
33

34. Rural Water Authorities and
Inland Waterways
• Agencies such as
• State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (VA 723)
• Sinclair Knight Mertz (VA 3748)
• Plans, aerial photographs, correspondence, contracts, reports,
Click to edit Master title style
legal opinions, Royal Commissions, film & video, water rights
• VPRS 8168 Historic Plan Collection
• WS Water Supply (1858 - 1914). Plans of rural water supply
works, including reservoirs, channels and related buildings.
• FEAT Feature Plans (1838 – 1948)
• Various rivers eg. Loddon, Glenelg, Goulburn, Wimmera,
Gippsland Rivers (1837 – 1899). These are being digitised –
becoming available online.
34

35. 35

36. 8168-P2-1577 Lake
Condah Historic Plan
Collection, no date.
A portion of the Lake Condah landscape
36

37. Features
Creek names
Survey points
High range of trap rocks
37

38. Urban Water Authorities and
Infrastructure
• Melbourne Water Corporation (VA 1007), formerly Melbourne
Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW)
• Water retailers eg. Yarra Valley Water
Click to edit Master title style
• VPRS 8168 Historic Plan Collection,
MELB RL Melbourne Roll (1851 - 1910) landscape designs for
city parks, maps showing streets and buildings which were
drawn in preparation for the laying of sewerage and the
installation of reticulated water supply and plans of dock and
pier installations.
MELB. RL Melbourne Roll (1851 - 1910)
This series comprises plans of the Melbourne area which were originally stored
rolled up, rather than being laid flat in conventional horizontal plan presses.
Some of the items are exceptionally large and have been micro-filmed in many
sections.
Subject matter is varied, including landscape designs for city parks, maps
showing streets and buildings which were drawn in preparation for the laying of
sewerage and the installation of reticulated water supply and plans of dock and
pier installations.
Secondary sources: Yan Yean; A history of Early Melbourne’s Water Supply,
2003, Tony Dingle & Helen Doyle, Public Record Office Victoria, Melbourne
38

39. Click to edit Master title style
46 different series have been transferred to PROV.
•Survey level books and plans
•Survey field books and Plans (from the survey of melbourne properties
commencing in 1893)
•Photographs
•Property sewerage plans
•Record plans, showing properties and whole neighbourhoods
•Planning schemes
39

40. Collecting Institutions
• are digitising their
collections
• making them
findable,
Click to edit Master title style
downloadable,
reusable
• making online
spaces for
people to
interpret records
and share
information about
research – eg.
PROV wiki
40

41. And furthermore….
• Stay in touch and hear about exhibitions digitisation projects
and transfers via Twitter, or PROV’s e-newsletter ‘Despatch’
Click to edit Master title style
Stay in touch with collecting institutions via Twitter, RSS, email newsletters - PROV has its mighty e-
newsletter ‘Despatch’ - or hardcopy publications, and keep up with their latest transfers, acquisitions or
exhibitions, and availability of digitised collection items.
41