Blacksmith’s Village

On Sunday, September 10, 1978, a memorial was unveiled to two of Birchip’s pioneers, Mr and Mrs James Phelps. The memorial was planned and donated by their grandson, Mr Vic Phelps, of Mt. Waverly. Mr Kevin Hogan, of Birchip, designed the memorial which was erected by shire staff.

In 1883 Mr Phelps was among the first to design the stump-jump plough and made many of these implements for farmers. Mr Phelps was born in 1859 at Ducks Pond, South Australia and moved to Birchip where he commenced business in Birchip in 1890 and did not retire until he was 90 years old, in August 1949. His wife, Mrs Bertha Phelps, was renowned as a bush nurse in the area.

The memorial unveiled outside the Blacksmith’s Village comprises of the anvil used by the late Mr Phelps, his striker’s hammer and other tools, a plough share and horseshoe. The memorial also features two plaques: the top one featuring the poem, “The Village Blacksmith”, with illustrations, and the plaque at the base featuring in brief, the story of Mr Phelps and the plough he designed, and at the right a tribute to Mrs Phelps – “Pioneer Bush Nurse with the proud record of nursing 1,000 mothers without the loss of a mother or child.”

The unveiling of the plaque took place on 10th September 1978. Read about the event reported in The Donald Birchip Times article.