Unlocking Australia’s Maritime Past: Digital access to the Owen Stanley album

The Royal Society of Tasmania is delighted to announce that it has received a grant of $3,360 through the Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS) to expand public access to one of the most significant maritime treasures in its art collection: the Owen Stanley Album (Volume 2).

Created during the Britomart surveying voyage of 1837–1843, the album provides a rare and fascinating visual record of early maritime exploration and coastal surveying during a formative period in Australian history. Its sketches and watercolours offer unique insights into the landscapes, coastlines and communities encountered during this important voyage.

This project is being delivered in stages. Stage 1, completed in 2025–early 2026, involved professional conservation by expert paper conservator Alison Titchen followed by archival photography of every album page, ensuring the long-term preservation of this fragile historical resource. We are grateful to Simon Olding from Full Gamut in Hobart for his professional work in capturing high-quality images of every page.

Stage 2 will transform these images into a high-quality interactive digital flipbook, making the album freely accessible to researchers, historians, maritime enthusiasts, museums, students and community groups across Australia and beyond. We thank John Anderson of Forte Web Design for his professional guidance with this stage of the project.

By bringing this remarkable album online, the project will open new opportunities for education, research and community engagement while reducing the need to handle the original work. Most importantly, it will ensure that this nationally significant record of Australia’s maritime heritage can be explored and enjoyed by future generations.

The Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts.

The Royal Society of Tasmania is sincerely grateful to MMAPSS for its financial support and to the many community and maritime organisations across Australia whose encouragement and assistance have helped make this project possible.

Photos supplied by Simon Olding from Full Gamut in Hobart showing capture of high-quality images of the album pages.