The wool collection held by the Powerhouse Museum contains thousands of wool samples collected between 1804 and 2003. These samples provide a record of wool growing in Australia. The different fleeces reflect the breeding programs and environmental conditions under which the fleeces were grown and, as such, they provide a valuable history of the areas of Australia in which sheep were grazed.

Sheep were introduced into Australia in 1788 from Cape Town in South Africa. Since then sheep from other countries, including the Spanish Merino were imported into Australia and selectively crossbred. Careful crossbreeding, paying particular attention to the impact of the environment on both animal and fleece, led to the evolution of the Australian Merino. It is an excellent example of the engineering, through selective breeding, of a domestic animal. Wool went on to become the mainstay of the Australian Economy from 1807 to 1960.

This particular wool specimen came from a sheep bred at Haddon Rig station in Central Western New South Wales. The flock was established in 1875 by James Richmond and was built on a mix of Wanganella and Rambouillet bloodlines. Top quality rams were purchased from the famous Wanganella station and infused into the Haddon Rig flock. F.B.S Falkiner purchased the stud in 1916 and, with the help of talented sheep classer Jonathon Shaw, began selectively breeding for a large framed sheep, that produced soft wool yet was also able to withstand harsh and hostile environments. Through careful and selective breeding, the station made the transition from being a prominent Peppin daughter stud to one of Australia's great parent merino studs. Haddon Rig was sending sheep to New South Wales, Queensland, and had a significant impact in South Australia. It is believed to be the first Australian stud to influence Argentina, one of the world's important merino regions.

Many key studs were founded on Haddon Rigs bloodlines of the new Peppin-type sheep.

Reference:
Charles Massy. 'The Australian Merino', Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Victoria, 1990.
Suzanne Falkiner, Haddon Rig, the first hundred years, Australia, 1981
www.haddonrig.com.au


Written by Erika Dicker
Assistant Curator, February, 2008

The wool was produced in 1892 by James Richmond in Haddon Rig, New South Wales, Australia.

Originally donated by James Richmond, Haddon Rig, Warren, New South Wales, Australia, 1892.

This wool specimen is part of the Bill Montgomery Wool Collection which consists of approximately 7000 samples. In the older part of the collection there are 5000 samples from Australian sheep fleeces grown between 1856 and 1906. The samples were collected by the Museum at a time when scientific research was prominent in the Museum's activities. In 1979, when the Museum's focus changed, most of its wool collection was transferred to the teaching collection of Mr Bill Montgomery, a wool classing teacher at Newcastle Technical College. When Bill retired from the College, the collection was again in danger of being thrown away. He took the entire collection home and stored it in his garage for 15 years. His Collection also contains approximately 1500 wool samples grown between 1950 and 2000 and collected by Bill himself. It includes 147 examples of faults and stains occurring in Australian flocks, 20 pigmented wools and 33 rare and extinct breeds from around the world. The Museum purchased the entire collection in 2003. Bill Montgomery died on 7th July, 2007.

Wool specimen, stud ewe, pure Wanganella blood, bred by James Richmond, Haddon Rig, Warren, New South Wales, Australia, 1892

Sample of fleece. A green oval tag and a white card label are enclosed in the bag.

This sample of wool was tested in June 2007 by the Interactive Wool Group. They used the OFDA2000 instrument for fleece testing. The following are the results for this specimen:

Microns: 20.8 microns (4.2 Standard Deviation)
(average fibre diameter)

Staple length: 80 mm

Mean fibre curvature: 103.3 Dg/mm
(A measurement in degrees
per mm related to
crimp frequency)

Comfort Factor: 97.7 %
(The % of fibres equal
to or less than 30 microns)

Made: Richmond, James; Haddon Rig, New South Wales; 1892

VC number 36
Text on label reads MR F RICHMOND / "HADDON RIG" WARREN NSW / STUD EWE 4YRS 1892 / PURE WANGANELLA BLOOD'.
Text on green tag reads 'No 11 / Jas Richmond / Haddon Rig NSW' and on reverse 'F2351 / Stud Ewe / 4yrs old'.

F2351

1892

200 mm

50 mm