Port Welshpool and District Maritime Museum

The Museum consists of a house and various out buildings located on two town blocks in Port Welshpool. The collection is spread over the whole area. The strong point is the early fishing industry in Corner Inlet, including a daily diary kept by the Smith family from 1887-1958. Housed in Welshpool's first residence (1881), the Museum contains a local history collection that includes natural history objects, fishing and maritime artefacts. Original display cases house a magnificent shell collection that dates from the 1800s.

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Background Information about the Museum

The Port Welshpool & District Museum is based around a collection of marine items, maritime relics, official documents, photographs and other pieces of historical value, collected by Mr. William Bruce McGuire Smith and his sons, Richie and Arnie, over an 80-year period of professional fishing in Bass Strait.

Mr. Smith senior was the first fisherman to base his activities at Port Welshpool, and the building that houses the collection was the first permanent home erected in the township. It was the home of the Smith family for the period of their fishing activities.

After it was built by Mr. J. Avery, of Port Albert, in 1881, the house was also an unofficial community centre for the people of the village. Mrs. Smith senior conducted a wine salon, and early dances were held in the front room, with music from a piano in the passage, and an accordion.

The first Church of England service was held in the house by Rev. Betts, of Port Albert, and the first wedding was held under the verandah when Mrs. Smith's servant, Jessie Hunter, married Jack Gregory. The home was also a depot for mail before the post office was opened.

In their work as fishermen, or charter boat operators to service lighthouses, or to carry supplies to early settlers around the coast line, Mr. Smith and his sons collected a veritable treasure chest of unusual items, sea shells and rare fish that were caught and stuffed. Eventually these items were put on display in glass cases for their preservation and safety, and became a private museum that a Weekly Times journalist in 1929 declared would be valued at over $2,000.

When Mr. Arnie Smith took over the house, and the family fishing boat Janet Iles in which they sailed Bass Strait for 60 years, he continued to add to the collection of marine items, photos and other relics.

Mr. Arnie Smith also kept diaries to improve his knowledge of the Bass Strait waters, and their fishing catches. These had sketches of the various fish taken, weather conditions and other data that could prove useful. These diaries, hard to decipher because of Mr. Smith's limited education, are part of the museum collection.

In 1975 Mr. Smith decided to retire, and handed the home and contents over to the Shire of South Gippsland to be preserved as a permanent tourist attraction for visitors.

With the aid of grants the dilapidated building was restored, and a Committee of Management formed to look after the museum and surrounds. The huge task was undertaken of cataloguing all the shells, using both common and biological names, and displaying them in cases so that the public can better appreciate their beauty. This magnificent shell display, together with rare fish and sea birds mounted for preservation, completely fill one room.

Among the fish on display are flying fish, sawtooth, deep water flathead, striped tuna, porcupine fish, and species of shark. The rarest of the fish is a strange Opah, a visitor from the Mediterranean, caught by Mr. Smith snr. in 1913.

The Committee also catalogued documents, photographs, and restored newspaper cuttings that told of the early history of the Port Welshpool township. Old items of furniture, and many home utensils were added, together with a display of bottles that would be the envy of many collectors.

With the help of the Lions Club of Toora, a large tin shed was provided with windows, a concrete floor and lighting, for the display of tools and machinery used in the early farm life and clearing of the timber. This includes many hand-made tools, an old treadle sewing machine, a hand separator, cream can, and more antique household items.

The committee has provided a flat for a caretaker to be on the premises all the time, and visitors are welcome any day of the week to view the collection, which is being added to all the time, with donations of relics from district residents.

An outside display area is also being built up, with the main feature being the Janet Iles, the fishing boat that worked in Bass Strait for 60 years. Farm machinery used in the early settlement of the district, and a barbeque area where visitors can enjoy a picnic lunch, make the museum an ideal stopping place for visitors to Port Welshpool.

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