Ziebell's Farmhouse Museum and Garden in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Home & garden website

Ziebell's Farmhouse Museum and Garden

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Address: 100 Gardenia Road, Thomastown 3074 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.westgarthtown.org.au

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21.01.2022 The cottage garden features roses, with the first planted in the 1850's.

21.01.2022 The Lost Doll A Children’s Activity. This small white china doll was found at Ziebell’s Farmhouse (circa 1850's) but there is no further information available. Who owned it, why is it damaged and where could it have come from? Children are welcome to write a story about how it came to be lost and found again. It might link to their own toys. Feel free to explore our other school/children's activities. http://westgarthtown.org.au/schools/index.html Take care

20.01.2022 Sorry everyone but I need to let you know, that as a precautionary response to COVID-19, we are closing Ziebell's Farmhouse Museum until at least April 8. Of course this means there will be more posts re the Pribislaw! Take care

19.01.2022 This is the middle of Thomastown/Lalor in suburban Melbourne. It is the reserve next to Ziebell’s Farmhouse Museum, photographed on a recent morning as the fog was lifting. We are not open at the moment but our website has great information regarding Westgarthtown. We’ll be back soon. Take care.

17.01.2022 Frogs! This looks really interesting. Webinar - Friday 21 August, 2-3pm Celebrate National Science Week by joining this froggy adventure from your home or class room! Tune in to the Frogs of Whittlesea webinar with Merri Creek Management Committee and Darebin Creek Management Committee to learn about the frogs living in your local nature reserves and find out what you can do to protect them.... Did you know there are around eight different species of frogs found in the City of Whittlesea, including Eastern Froglets, Marsh Frogs and Banjo Frogs? Learn to recognise their calls using the Melbourne Water frog census app. We will show you where you can go in the City of Whittlesea to listen for frogs and how to collect data to help protect and manage frog habitat. All welcome, but best suited for adults and children six years and above Bookings essential at www.mcmc.org.au This free event is proudly funded by the City of Whittlesea.

14.01.2022 The last post finished with Jane Hubbard’s comment that the Pribislaw journey would test the physical and mental limits of the German and Wendish emigrants. Sadly, there were poor provisions and the deaths of adults and children. The passengers forced the ship to dock in Rio De Janiero where the woeful provisions were inspected. This included finding maggots in the butter! With new provisions secured they sailed on to Hobson’s Bay in Melbourne. The Pribislaw sailed off, but... it too would be tested to its limits. Yes, I know that is another cliff hanger! This history is obviously far more nuanced than can be outlined here. Thomas Darragh and Robert Wuchatsch (our Westgarthtown historian) wrote the book From Hamburg to Hobson’s Bay. It is excellent and well worth reading. You’ll easily find it with a web search. Cheers Gordon

14.01.2022 All my friends are killing all my relatives. It is believed Fredrich Ewert, who arrived in Westgarthtown in 1858, said this in despair when told that two of his grandchildren died on the same day, in the same battle, in WW1. They had enlisted with the AIF. We have an excellent 16min doco on our website that also looks at the treatment of citizens of German descent in Melbourne during WW1. http://westgarthtown.org.au/ww1/ Not suitable for children. At least 74 soldiers... with Westgarthtown ancestry - those born at Westgarthtown or with parents, grandparents or great grandparents who were born, lived or worshipped there enlisted in either the AIF or New Zealand Expeditionary Forces during World War 1. This is a little-known story. Take care Gordon

13.01.2022 For this instalment of the Pribislaw story, I’ve gone to the beginning. Named after a 12th Century Wendish chieftain who became the first Duke of Mecklenburg, the Pribislaw was a wooden barque built in Ribbnitz, Germany in 1847. Of 354 tonnes, its hull was soon copper sheathed for long tropical voyages. Its owner Ernst Brockelmann and captain P. W. Niemann planned from the outset to enter it in the increasingly lucrative emigration trade. Only two years later, over half of... the original emigrants to Westgarthtown (modern day Thomastown and Lalor) travelled from Hamburg to Melbourne on this ship. This included Sophia and Christian Ziebell. In her book The House that Christian Built, Janet Hubbard said; If a test had been devised to explore to the limits, the physical, mental and spiritual stamina of prospective immigrants, it would seem that a trip to Australia on the Pribislaw might have been that test. I’ll explain why in the next post. (Sorry, I like a cliff hanger.) If you can’t cope with the cliff hanger, we are open Sunday 11.30am to 3pm. Come along and we will tell you the next bit! Thanks to our historian Robert Wuchatsch for the above background. Cheers Gordon

12.01.2022 How would you keep cows away from Ziebell's Farmhouse? Plant an agave! Ziebell’s Farmhouse, now our museum, was the largest farmhouse in Westgarthtown and this has to be the most practical use of a plant. Although it looks like it is about to pounce on a cow. Now there's an idea for a science fiction film or maybe flora (horror) fiction. Photos were taken as the morning fog was lifting. ... Cheers!

11.01.2022 Our new education program is now on the website. If you are a teacher or you know one, it could be of interest as considerable effort and expertise have gone into developing it. Based on the Victorian Curriculum, our program focuses on history, geography plus civics and citizenship for years one to six with free pre and post visit resources. We are having an information session on 27 February at 4pm. Registration details are on the website. If you are not a teacher you still might find the website resources interesting. The image shows one of our exhibition spaces. Thanks Gordon

08.01.2022 Sorry we are not open Sunday June 28 due to unforeseen circumstances.

08.01.2022 Where is Dame Edna when you need her? One of the underpinnings of our heritage garden is that there should always be flowers. It never disappoints. We’ll be open soon and you can come see for yourself. Take care

07.01.2022 This week, 170 years ago, the Pribislaw sailed into Hobson’s Bay and docked at Williamstown. It carried over half the German and Wendish immigrants that settled at Westgarthtown (modern day Thomastown and Lalor in Melbourne). Sadly on a later voyage, the Pribislaw was blown off course, hit rocks and eventually became a storage hulk in the Shetland Islands. This photo is courtesy of the Shetland Museum and shows the ship and the doors cut into the bow to allow easy access. In later posts we will explain how Westgarthtown historian, Robert Wuchatsch, visited its last resting place and how a growing international interest in this historic ship has developed. The dramatic Pribislaw story, with wood from the actual ship, feature in one of the exhibitions at Ziebell’s Farmhouse Museum. Cheers

04.01.2022 Advocate for Edgars Creek! Edgars Creek runs through Thomastown and Lalor which is where Westgarthtown was. Melbourne Water are looking for input for waterway improvement projects. Please go to their website https://yoursay.melbournewater.com.au and list some actions. It really only takes a few minutes. Thanks

01.01.2022 A daffodil will always make you smile when you know Spring is on the way. Our daffodils are out and our gates will be open in the near future and you will be welcome! In the meantime smile and maybe sway like a daffodil in the breeze. Perhaps do that on your own. Could look odd in public but maybe not!