Victoria’s Military History and Heritage – Colonel David Collins
When you next walk down the Collins Street reflect on the man after whom the street was named…
Black Men in the Victorian Naval Forces
The Victorian Navy came into being in 1855 when Her Majesty’s Colonial Ship (HMCS) Victoria was manned for the delivery voyage to Australia. This article just scratches the surface of a fascinating aspect of Victoria’s naval defences.
The early muzzle-loaders in the Victorian Volunteer Forces
There was a proliferation of various types of rifles used by both the Volunteer Forces from 1860. We can eliminate a few of these from this review, namely the short-barrelled percussion muzzle-loading carbines due to their lack of accuracy beyond 300 yards, as in those early days, all short range competition was carried out either […]
Octavius Skinner Burton (1823-1895): Cavalry Staff Officer and Police Inspector
Quintessential cavalryman and Victorian Police Inspector Octavius Skinner Burton was born in Wales in 1823, the eighth (hence Octavius) of ten children. Burton was a descendent of well connected and established families with Irish antecedents; his father had served as a Captain in the Royal Staffordshire Militia. Little is known of Octavius Burton’s formative years.
Black Beasts of War: The Russian Cannon at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne
Sitting unobtrusively astride the front entrance stand two black beasts of war. There was time when they were prized weapons in chaotic massed infantry and cavalry battles of the 19th Century. They spewed out cannonballs that decimated the ranks advancing towards them. But these two guns were captured at great cost and now rest as […]
