Stereographs by Clifford & Nevin at 'Narryna'

An unmarked stereoscope and several stereographs are held at the Narryna Heritage Museum, Battery Point, Hobart. The stereographs depict an exterior view of Government House in Campbell Street, Hobart; the Queens Orphan School at New Town; and the Hobart Gaol viewed from Bathurst Street, Hobart. Some have the impress of Samuel Clifford's blind studio stamp; others bear no photographic studio marks.

All stereographs on display bear several types of inscriptions on verso, including the name "G. Turner" who was possibly the Rev. G. Lawrence Turner. The title of each photograph is written in a hand which appears identical to the handwriting on the verso of studio portraits taken by Thomas Nevin in the early 1870s and reprinted by Samuel Clifford after 1876 when Nevin ceased commercial photography to join the civil service at the Hobart Town Hall and Hobart Municipal Police Office. Samuel Clifford wrote "Clifford & Nevin, Hobart Town" on the versos of these reprints until Nevin resumed commercial photography in late 1880.

"Queens Orphan Asylum, New Town"
Verso of a stereograph held at Narryna Heritage Museum, Hobart
Photography © KLW NFC Imprint 2008 ARR

Inscribed in an identical hand: compare this inscription with the one below: the uppercase "N" and "T" are identical in both. The stereo lying flat (to the right) bears no photographic studio stamp. It shows the Hobart Gaol and Penitentiary Chapel, Campbell St. Hobart, where Thomas Nevin was contracted to take prisoners' identification photographs with his brother Constable John Nevin's assistance from the early 1870s to the early 1880s.

Verso of hand tinted carte of young man
Inscribed "Clifford & Nevin, Hobart Town"
Courtesy of the © Private Collection of John & Robyn McCullagh 2007

Stereoscope with stereographs by Clifford and Nevin at the Narryna Heritage Museum, Hobart
Photography © KLW NFC Imprint 2008 ARR

This is an interactive display at the Narryna Heritage Museum. The stereos are truly 3D. The visitor gains an immediate understanding of the Victorian fascination with this "advanced" photography. Three images can be seen, not just one: the central image appears in deep perspective, with the image split into halves on either side.

An 1830s Georgian town house, Narryna was built by seafarer Captain Andrew Haig
Link: https://www.narryna.com.au/
Photo copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014.

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