William Miles berths at Albert museum

As soon as he was old enough to wield a penknife, Colin Childs, of Port Albert,7 was making model boats.

He has presented the Albertland and Districts Museum with a replica of the three-masted barque, the William Miles, one of the first ships to bring immigrants to the district in the 1860s. It joins three others made by Colin over the last 10 years.

The fully-rigged model took Colin months to create. His wife, Janis, made the calico sails.

Working from a lithograph of the original 137ft vessel, which was used in the sugar trade, Colin, 74, drew up plans for the scale model from information provided on the William’s dimensions and tonnage, using his long experience of yacht design and his background in carpentry.

He started work on the first model ship, the Matilda Wattenbach, not long after moving to Port Albert, when a walk down to the harbour’s edge to view the plaque commemorating the arrival of the early settlers inspired him to “do something to remind us of their efforts”.

It took two years to glean information to build the Matilda, and many months to complete the project. Next, he started pursuing the Greenwich Museum Library for plans of the Tyburnia. Third in the series was the Hanover.

All four ships are on display in the museum and will outlive Colin by many years, thanks to his painstaking work.

“They are guaranteed to last 500 years and are each worth several thousand dollars.”
Museum secretary Lyn Johnston says the latest model is beautiful and “a worthy addition to our other ships.”

The museum hopes to have postcards of the models available soon.

PHOTO: Colin Childs with his model of the William Miles.