Summary

Melbourne Orphanage bell. The bell used to hang under the verandah at the back of the kitchen at the Melbourne Orphanage at Brighton, and the cook used to ring the bell when the meal was ready to be served. The bell may have been moved from the Orphanage's earlier site at Emerald Hill, South Melbourne. The bell was also rung each morning when it was time to get out of bed.

Material gathered by staff members of the Orphanage in 1987 indicate that the children would arrive at the kitchen to collect the food on types of wooden stretchers (one for each cottage); they stood one each end between the shafts, and the casseroles, pots, etc. would be loaded on and carted back to the cottages to be served in the dining rooms. This practice was discontinued 1950s.

Established in 1851 and located in Emerald Hill (South Melbourne), the Melbourne Orphan Asylum moved to Brighton around 1878, and around 1926 was renamed the Melbourne Orphanage. The name 'Melbourne Orphan Asylum' was still in use (at least colloquially in newspapers) until at the early 1950s.

Physical Description

A metal bell, with a metal ringer: for striking the bell. Emb ossed on the bell is a coat of arms, and the bell is green. The ringer, for sou ding the bell, has a hook at the top; a stem, which gets thicker towards the bot tom; and a thick circular nob at the bottom [the part of the ringer to hit the bell with], with the stem finishing just underneath it. Bolted to the bell is a metal shaft, which has two areas on both ends of it to hang the ringer on, and a further metal rod bolted to it. This metal rod is in an elongated 'S' shape, it has a hole in it, and a metal ring is placed through this hole. The metal ring also has another ring like metal piece linked to it. This metal rod coming from the main shaft was probably a fixture for attachment to a structure, such as, a wall or a roof etc. to hang the bell from.

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