Category: Gold Rush

They say a person is defined by their chamber pot. Well probably not, but it is easy to imagine that this would be just the style that Mayor Smith or his wife Ellen would have fancied for themselves. Athena in her chariot fueling the Smiths sense of themselves and their position in newly forming Melbourne society. Object 16 Gold Rush: 20 Objects, 20 Stories Object courtesy Museum Victoria.   <Previous Object   |   Next Object> John Thomas Smith, 1863. Creator: Samuel Calvert; Source:  State Library of Victoria. The chamber pot was discarded by the Smiths in a disused cesspit at their Georgian manor on Queen Street, Melbourne. At a time when toilets were outdoors, people kept a chamber pot in their bedroom to tend to their overnight toileting needs. For those lucky enough to have a servant, the job of emptying it could be outsourced.   A Rapid Rise John Thomas Smith had made the dazzling rise to Mayor of Melbourne in 1851, the very year that gold was found by...