STEREOGRAPHS by Thomas J. NEVIN and SAMUEL CLIFFORD
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS BUSINESS SIGNS
Stereograph on arched buff mount of the Abbatoir, Queen's Domain, Hobart
Photographer; Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870 for the HCC, Lands and Survey Dept
Unstamped, and hand-coloured possibly by family members of a commercial client.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection
TMAG Ref: Q1994.56.25
Verso:Stereograph on arched buff mount of the Abbatoir, Queen's Domain, Hobart
Photographer; Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870 for the HCC, Lands and Survey Dept
Unstamped, and hand-coloured possibly by family members of a commercial client.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection
TMAG Ref: Q1994.56.25
The stereograph (coloured) of the cattle yards produced by Thomas J. Nevin for the Hobart Municipal Council was taken at the same time he photographed these two men who were most likely the Inspector of Stock, G. Propsting and assistant to the Inspector of stock, Joseph Turner.
Inspector of Stock G. Prospsting and his assistant Joseph Turner
At the Municipal Cattle yards, Queens Domain, Hobart
Photographer Thomas J. Nevin, 1870
Archives Office of Tasmania Ref: PH30-1-117
Office-keeper, Thomas Nevin
The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) Tue 1 Jan 1878 Page 1 MUNICIPALITY OF HOBART TOWN.
TRANSCRIPT
MUNICIPALITY OF HOBART TOWN.
Mayor, W. P. Green. Aldermen: W. H. Burgess, jun., F. J. Pike, E. Maher, E. Espie, J. Harcourt, John Watchorn. J. E. Addison, M. F. Daly. Auditors, A. T. Stuart and W. F. Brownell. Town Clerk and Treasurer, H. Wilkinson. Accountant, W. H. Smith. Municipal Clerk,W. T. Birch. City Surveyor, J. Rait. Director of Water Works,W. C. Christopherson. Health Officer, E. S. Hall Collectors, F. H. Piesse and W. Brundle. City Inspector and Inspector of Weights and Measures, W. Mason. Lessee of Old Market, J. G. Turner ; New Market, T. H. Turner. Inspector of Stock, G. Propsting ; assistant to Inspector of Stock, Joseph Turner. Office-keeper, Thomas Nevin ; messenger, L. Marks.
Police.-Superintendent, Richard Propsting ; clerk, S. W. Rheuben. Sub-Inspectors, W. M'Connell, C. Pitman ; Detectives, W. Simpson, J. Connors. Summoning Officer. John Dorsett.
This stereograph of the same location was printed in a square mount. Titled simply "The Domain", it bears Samuel Clifford's label (blue) on verso. Sourced from eBay March 2016
Cattle slaughtered at the Domain abbatoir found their way to the shipping butchery in Morrison Street, behind the Hobart Wharves, where government contractor J. Callaghan proudly displayed the Royal Arms insignia as his business credentials above his shop entrance.
Photograph - J Callaghan's Butcher's shop, Morrison Street, Hobart
Description: 1 photographic print
ADRI: NS1013-1-1075
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
[Above]: Just as the butcher J. Callaghan displayed his government contract credentials above his shop entrance, Thomas J. Nevin would have displayed a similar sign at his studio in Elizabeth Street. This is one of many extant examples of T. J. Nevin's government contractor stamp with the Royal Arms insignia which he was required to display on the versos of at least one photograph per batch supplied on commission to the Lands and Survey Department and the Municipal Police Office, Hobart City Council, between 1865 and 1876.
The twin cattle jetties were first built on the Domain shortly after Thomas Nevin's uncle-in-law, Captain Edward Goldsmith, began the erection of a patent slip in 1854. The McGregor brothers acquired the government lease in 1856, and the jetties were constructed next to the slipyards soon after for unloading cattle into the abattoirs and stock yard on site.
"A vessel with cattle on board lies alongside both (jetty) Ts, and discharges cattle into the water between the jetties, and they swim ashore and walk along a railed enclosure straight into the slaughter yards. This arrangement is made so that if a beast suffering from any disease it is in practically quarantine..."The Marine Board assumed responsibility for the jetties in 1886,
"resulting in the jetties being restored with stone approaches and were about 120 feet with T ends, measuring 40 feet by 12 feet".Source: Hudspeth A.and Scripps L (2000). Capital Ports, A History of the Marine Board of Hobart 1858-1997. Hobart Ports Corporation.
State Library of Tasmania Collections
Cattle Jetty Abbatoirs [i.e. Abattoirs] c1872
Publication Information: [Hobart : s.n., c1872].
Physical description: 1 photographic print mounted on card : b&w ; 104 x 181 mm. ; on mount 115 x 190 mm.
The black and white print (above) from another negative taken ca. 1872 of the same location from the same viewpoint with a telegraph pole (?) now evident in the centre of the image is correctly identified as the abbatoirs at Cattle Jetty, Queens Domain, owned and managed by the Hobart City Council. Thomas Nevin would have taken the original photograph a few years earlier under commission as government contractor for the Lands and Survey Dept. of the HCC, and supplied the Council with prints in various formats including a stereograph and unmounted cdv, with at least one photograph printed verso with the Royal Arms insignia of his official government contract stamp. The hand-coloured stereograph to survive bears no stamp verso, which suggests it was randomly saved from the HCC archives, or even studio rejects, and subsequently coloured by family members of a commercial client. The same image mounted with squared corners was sold as a commercial item by Samuel Clifford's when reprinted from Nevin's original sometime before Clifford's retirement in 1878.
A print from the same negative is held at the State Library of Tasmania which ostensibly bears verso Samuel Clifford's label, and the generic title "Sandy Bay ... from the Domain". Without an online digital image of the verso, key information about the label and accession date cannot be verified. Samuel Clifford and Thomas J. Nevin collaborated on the production and reproduction of stereographs and studio portraits from the mid 1860s until Clifford retired, but whether this negative and stereograph format was produced as early as 1865, is open to question, as is the poor reproduction by the State Library of Tasmania, which leads the viewer to assume that lilac fixer was the dominant or preferred print tone of the photographer's studio.
State Library of Tasmania Collections
Sandy Bay ... from the Domain
Publication Information: ca. 1865.
Physical description: 1 stereoscopic pair of photographs : sepia toned ; 8 x 7 cm. each, on mount 9 x 18 cm.
Series: Views in Tasmania
Format: photograph image (online)
Notes: On verso: title printed on centre of label ; printed above title: Views in Tasmania ; printed below title: S. Clifford, photographer, Hobart Town.
Date and accession number in pencil upper right corner of verso.
Exact size 76 x 62 mm. each, on mount 83 x 175 mm.
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