Prisoner John MERCHANT 1873

The NLA copy
John Merchant was photographed by T. J. Nevin between 28th August and 1st September 1873 on Merchant's discharge from the Hobart Gaol.

NLA Catalogue (incorrect information)
John Merchant, per Neptune 1, taken at Port Arthur, 1874 [picture]
1 photograph on carte-de-visite mount : albumen ; 9.4 x 5.6 cm. on mount 10.5 x 6.3 cm.
Call Number PIC Album 935 #P1029/33
Part of collection: Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874.
Gunson Collection file 203/7/54.
Title from inscription on reverse.
Inscription: title and "10"--In ink on reverse.
Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142918119

John Merchant was discharged to freedom on 28 August 1873
Departure date: 7 Oct 1837
Departure port: London
Ship: Neptune (1)
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON37-1-9/CON37-1-9P156

The QVMAG copies
Print from the glass negative

Prisoner John Merchant
Print from Thomas J. Nevin's glass negative 1873
One of forty prints of 1870s Tasmania prisoners in three panels
Original capture by T. J. Nevin 1870s
Offered for sale by J. W. Beattie ca. 1916
QVMAG Collection: Ref : 1983_p_0163-0176

Same as glass plate print above, printed 1985
B & W print of T. J. Nevin's negative, 1873
Reproduced at the QVMAG 1985

The carte-de-visite on an oval mount

Black and white copy online at the QVMAG
Carte de visite of John Merchant
Recto number "35"written at the QVMAG in 1983
Verso inscription "10 John Merchant per Neptune 1 Jany 1838 Taken at Port Arthur 1874"
QVMAG Ref: 1985_P_72

Archives Office of Tasmania paper photocopy

John Merchant per Neptune
Photograph taken at Port Arthur by Thomas Nevin
Paper copy of QVMAG cdv "35" on recto
Webshot: AOT ref: PH30.1.3198

Police Gazette Record: John Merchant

Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police J. Barnard Govt Printer

John Merchant, per Neptune 1, 62 years old, native place Essex, 5ft 7in tall, dark grey hair, was tried at the Quarter Session Launceston on 29 December 1862 for sheep stealing, sentenced to 16 years. He was released from the Hobart Gaol free in servitude (FS), residue of sentence remitted in the week ending 3 September 1873.

RELATED POSTS main weblog

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.

Click here for KEY DATES 1842-1923

Try thumbnail SEARCHING here and

here BIOGRAPHICA thumbnail index

NB: this site is live and under constant revision, so please remember to refresh your browser at every visit.

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

Click on image for full list tagged "About women"

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