Elwick House and Elwick Bay

WILKINSON FAMILY
ALRED BOCK, THOMAS NEVIN, ALFRED WINTER
GLENORCHY ART and SCULPTURE PARK

Photo copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2015
Formerly tribal country of the mou.he.neen.ner people, developed by John Wilkinson from the 1840s, now part of GASP, the Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park, Hobart, Tasmania.

The photograph below is a long view of Elwick house, ca. 1867 taken by Thomas Nevin around the time of his acquisition of Bock's studio and stock. The land today is part of the GASP project, the Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park, once the tribal country of the mou.he.neen.ner people.

Title: Photograph "Elwick"-Glenorchy-home of John Wilkinson (panorama)
ADRI:NS1543-1-5 [T. Nevin after A. Bock?]
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania

Sarah Ann Wilkinson [?] ca. 1860
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
ADRI: NS1543-1-11
Series: Miscellaneous Papers and Photographs of the Wilkinson Family, 1840 - 1942 (NS1543)

Possibly the work of Alfred Bock, this unattributed daguerreotype (or ambrotype) of Sarah Wilkinson was retouched in gold on her ring, belt buckle, buttons and necklace. Papers of the Wilkinson family held at the Archives Office of Tasmania include her travel writings:

NS1543/1/1
S.A. Wilkinson-Short Account of our Travels, by Sarah Ann Wilkinson, daughter of John Wilkinson, born 14 January 1834; journey from Melbourne to Liverpool - detailed description available from paper copy of lists Start Date:14 Mar 1862 End Date:07 Mar 1863.

NG1543
JOHN WILKINSON AND FAMILY
Start Date:01 Jan 1831
John Wilkinson established Wilkinson's Dispensing, Manufacturing and Pharmaceutical Chemists in 1831 at 90 Elizabeth Street, Hobart. He was granted land at O'Briens Bridge, ( now Glenorchy) and called his farm Elwick - now the site of the Elwick Racecourse

Alfred Bock used a rarely seen blind stamp impress on this stereograph of two women and three children, members of the Wilkinson family, ca. 1860, standing outside Elwick House, Glenorchy, Tasmania. The Elwick Race Track was established on land owned by pharmacist John Wilkinson in 1875.

Title: Photograph "Elwick"-Glenorchy close view of side elevation ca. 1860
ADRI:NS1543-1-6
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania

The impress on the left panel incorporates his name and the name of the studio, The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth Street Hobart, which Thomas J. Nevin acquired on Bock's departure from Tasmania in 1867. Nevin devised seven different studio stamps, one closely modelled on Bock's later verso stamp, but his blind stamp was one similar to Alfred Winter's plain capital lettering.

Alfred Winter's blindstamp centre inside frame
Glenorchy - Elwick Race Course 1878?
ADRI:PH5-1-12
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Series: Album of Photographs, 1870 (PH5)

View of Otago from GASP, the Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park, Hobart, Tasmania.
Photo copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2015

This stereograph by Thomas J. Nevin of a man wearing a top hat, looking towards the photographer and with the curve of Elwick Bay behind him, was taken from a spot close to where the MONA Museum now stands.

Man in top hat with view of Elwick Bay behind
Photo by T. J. Nevin ca. 1870
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Ref: Q16826.12. Verso below.

This is a long distance view across to the bar at Elwick Bay and to the property of John Wilkinson, Glenorchy before the Elwick Racecourse and grandstand were constructed. The view was taken from the Hull property at Tolosa, Glenorchy. One of John Wilkinson's daughters Mary Jane married Henry Hull in December 1861.

Photo by T. J. Nevin ca. 1870
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Ref: Q1994.56.27. Verso below.

View across to the bar at Elwick Bay to the property of John Wilkinson, Glenorchy
Photo by T. J. Nevin ca. 1870
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Ref: Q1994.56.27

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

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