Thomas J. Nevin | Tasmanian Photographer: Thomas James 'Sonny' Nevin (1874

Thomas James 'Sonny' Nevin (1874 - 1948)

THOMAS J. NEVIN jnr
GERTRUDE Bernice Tennyson NEVIN nee BATES
G. STILWELL Exhibitions

First-born son Thomas James 'Sonny' Nevin (1874 - 1948)
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2003. ARR. Watermarked

Thomas James Nevin jnr was born in 1874 at the residence attached to his father's photographic studio at 140 Elizabeth St, Hobart Town. He was the second child of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin and the first son - his elder sister May (Mary Florence) was born in 1872).

Known as "Sonny" to family descendants, he travelled to California to reside there for a time with his wife Gertrude Tennyson Bates and his wife's family who migrated there in the early 1900s. Both returned to Hobart and both died there, Thomas James in 1948, and Gertrude Bates in 1955.

A copy of the will of Gertrude Bernice Tennyson Nevin nee Bates can be viewed here; the original is held at the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office.

Will of Gertrude Bernice Tennyson Nevin
TAHO Ref: AE242-147 number 9935

The photograph above of Thomas J. Nevin jnr, known as Tom or Sonny, was taken ca. 1930 at 23 Newdegate St. North Hobart, by which time Sonny Nevin had joined the Salvation Army. He served as Sergeant until his death. He was listed in the electoral rolls for Denison in 1905 as a bootmaker.

Confusion with his father's name has arisen from documents such as this one:

This document comes from State Library of Tasmania Special Collections Librarian Geoffrey Stilwell's correspondence files on Thomas Nevin, written at the time he was researching the 1977 exhibition of Thomas Nevin's Port Arthur convict photographs at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. It shows the addition in his hand of a "J" as a middle initial in Thomas Nevin's name.

The "J" which has been inserted into Thomas Nevin's name on this letter makes its appearance here because it is included in Nevin's name - "T. J. Nevin" - on the studio stamp found on the verso of the Port Arthur convict photographs in the Mitchell Collection, State Library of NSW, and in the QVMAG Collection, Launceston.

Left: 1874 government contractor stamp (verso of prisoner mugshot, QVMAG)
Right 1871 commercial studio stamp (private collection)

The "J" also appears in the National Library of Australia catalogue entries for Thomas J. Nevin snr, and in book publications featuring Nevin's photographs of Tasmanian convicts taken in the 1870s. Most of Thomas Nevin snr's other portraits, stereographs and signatures on official documents carry the simpler "T. Nevin" or "Thos Nevin" imprint on mount or stamp on verso. The special printing of his stamp with full initials -"T. J. Nevin" - signifies Colonial Royal Warrant and official status as a photographer under government contract.

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Thomas & Elizabeth Nevin’s Children (born between 1872 and 1888)

IN HIS OWN WORDS...

"T. J. NEVIN
PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST,
Returns his sincere thanks to his friends and the public for past favours, and having made a considerable Reduction in his Prices to suit the times, he solicits a continuance of their patronage, and invites attention to his circulars, showing particulars of the small cost for a first-class faithful Likeness.
140 ELIZABETH-STREET"
Hobart Mercury, 1st February 1873

“I hope that you have not got it in your mind that I am implicated with the ghost“.
Hobart Mercury, 4 December 1880

"Defendant said that he was the father of a large number of children, and did not know which one was referred to. (Laughter.)"
Hobart Mercury, 11 August 1886

"Mr. Thos Nevin was under the impression that the police should be under stricter supervision."
Hobart Mercury, 19 July 1888.

BIOGRAPHY: professional photographer Thomas James Nevin snr (1842-1923) produced large numbers of stereographs and cartes-de-visite within his commercial practice, and prisoner identification photographs on government contract. His career spanned nearly three decades, from the early 1860s to the late 1880s. He was one of the first photographers to work with the police in Australia, along with Charles Nettleton (Victoria) and Frazer Crawford (South Australia). His Tasmanian prisoner mugshots are among the earliest to survive in public collections, viz. the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart; the Tasmanian Heritage and Archives Office, Hobart; the Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasman Peninsula; the National Library of Australia, Canberra; and the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, Sydney. Thomas J. Nevin's stereographs and portraits are held in public and private collections in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Switzerland.

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Important Notices

INDIGENOUS NOTICE:
lutruwita/Tasmania/Van Diemen's Land (loo-tru-wee-ta) always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

This weblog pays respect to the ancestors and elders past, present, and emerging of the first Australian peoples and acknowledges their continued connection to land, sea and culture as the traditional custodians of this country.

Irish-born Thomas J. Nevin would have been keenly aware that the residence and photographic studio he occupied at No's 138-140 Elizabeth St. Hobart in the 1870s were built on the traditional lands, nipaluna of the palawa people. It is no small irony that today, the very same property, which is renumbered as No. 198 Elizabeth St. Hobart and is occupied by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, has returned to its traditional owners.

Looking east from the corner of Patrick St., the Royal Standard Hotel, 142 Elizabeth St. then T. J. Nevin’s studio and residence, 140-138 Elizabeth St. Hobart, 1870s

We also acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the traditional custodians of the City of Sydney, and the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional custodians of the Kamberri/Canberra region on whose lands this site is maintained.

PLEASE NOTE: images on this weblog represent deceased people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Viewing such images may cause sadness and distress.

DISCLAIMER: We have not voluntarily contributed to any publication which supports the misattribution of T. J. Nevin's prisoner/convict photographs (300+ extant) to the non-photographer A. H. Boyd, nor do we condone any attempts by public institutions or private individuals to co-opt the work on these Thomas J. Nevin weblogs and associated sites to apply the misattribution.

Our 20th Anniversary 2005-2025

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TWENTY YEARS ago (before 2005 actually) we started blogging about Tasmanian photographer Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923). We look forward to another year or so as the project draws closer to completion. Contributions and donations are most welcome, and many thanks for your involvement.

SABBATICAL 2025: We are taking a short break from regular posting through 2025 but will be available to answer queries.

Anthony Trollope at Port Arthur

Thomas Nevin's VIP commission 1872

VISIT TO PORT ARTHUR.- Mr. Trollope and the Hon. Howard Spensly, Esq., Solicitor-General of Victoria, accompanied the Hon. the Premier, J.M. Wilson, Esq., and the Hon. the Attorney-General, W.R. Giblin, Esq., embarked in the Government schooner late last night, some time after Mr. Trollope had concluded his lecture on "Modern Fiction, as a recreation for young people," and left for Port Arthur. Their visit to the Peninsula will be a very hurried one, and will afford them only scant opportunity of inspecting the penal establishment, it being the intention of Messrs. Trollope and Spensly to leave Hobart Town for the North, en route for Victoria in a few days ...

Source: The Mercury 2 February 1872