Thursday, September 14, 2017

Portraits and landscapes from T. J. Nevin's cohort

This selection of late 1860s to mid 1870s Australian portraits and landscapes was acquired from eBay sellers on behalf of the KLW NFC Group for © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017. They were scanned on a CanoScan LiDE 220 on 13th September 2017. Works displayed here are attributed to the following photographers:

ALFRED BOCK (1835-1920) Tasmania
CHARLES NETTLETON (1825-1902) Victoria
CHARLES A. WOOLLEY (1834-1922) Tasmania
SAMUEL CLIFFORD (1827-1890) Tasmania

Portraits: full length cartes-de-visite
Studio portraits of women and children from this era usually survive in family albums until they can no longer be remembered or identified by subsequent generations of the family. The people in each of these portraits have yet to be named and the provenance prior to purchase on eBay of each item is unknown.

ALFRED BOCK (1835-1920) Tasmania



Four year old child in frock coat and frilly bloomers 1858-1863
Photographer's stamp verso: Alfred Bock, Hobart Town

Above: A full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait of a fair-haired four year old child, possibly a girl, wearing a frock coat and frilly bloomers, her gaze direct to camera. In her right hand she holds a card, her left hand rests on the arm of a low chair where a white hat is placed. The verso carries Alfred Bock's studio stamp with the kangaroo emblem sitting on top of a small leather belt encompassing the initials "A.B". The wording of the stamp is " Alfred Bock, City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". The stamp design dates from 1858 when Bock first moved to the studio at 140 Elizabeth St.  and predates his later stamp of 1865-1867 (see second cdv below) which Thomas J. Nevin modified on acquiring the business in 1867.
In poor condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above: Four year old child in frock coat and frilly bloomers 1858-1863
Photographer's stamp verso: Alfred Bock, Hobart Town
Full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait of a fair-haired four year old child, possibly a girl, wearing a frock coat and frilly bloomers, her gaze direct to camera. In her right hand she holds a card, her left hand rests on the arm of a low chair where a white hat is placed. The verso carries Alfred Bock's studio stamp with the kangaroo emblem sitting on top of a small leather belt encompassing the initials "A.B". The wording of the stamp is " Alfred Bock, City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". The stamp design dates from 1858 when Bock first moved to the studio at 140 Elizabeth St.  and predates his later stamp of 1865-1867 (see second cdv below) which Thomas J. Nevin modified on acquiring the business in 1867.
In poor condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Woman in taffeta dress, left hand on elaborate plinth with metal fruit stand 
Photographer's stamp verso: Alfred Bock, Hobart Town ca. 1865

Above: A full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait of a woman in her thirties wearing a taffeta dress with a white collar and buttoned bodice, her gaze directed to the viewer's right.  She is standing with her left hand resting on an elaborately decorated plinth on which sits a metal fruit stand. Behind her to the viewer's left is the heavy floral-patterned drape featured in many of Bock's later studio portraits taken in Hobart between 1865 and his departure from Tasmania in 1867.  The verso carries the stamp in blue ink with the kangaroo emblem sitting on top of a leather belt. Above the kangaroo inside a ribbon strip is the motto in Latin "Ad Altiora" - which translates as something like "to the heights" - and inside the circular belt design is his business name - "The City Photographic Establishment" - which in turn encompasses the studio address - 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town. Below this in italics is the promise that "Further Copies can be obtained at any time". Thomas J. Nevin retained this stamp design on acquiring Bock's stock, studio, glasshouse, and business name in 1867, adding his name and "Late A. Bock" inside the belt.
Torn with piece missing on right side and top left. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above of Woman in taffeta dress, left hand on elaborate plinth with metal fruit stand 
Photographer's stamp verso: Alfred Bock, Hobart Town ca. 1865
Full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait of a woman in her thirties wearing a taffeta dress with a white collar and buttoned bodice, her gaze directed to the viewer's right.  She is standing with her left hand resting on an elaborately decorated plinth on which sits a metal fruit stand. Behind her to the viewer's left is the heavy floral-patterned drape featured in many of Bock's later studio portraits taken in Hobart between 1865 and his departure from Tasmania in 1867.  The verso carries the stamp in blue ink with the kangaroo emblem sitting on top of a leather belt. Above the kangaroo inside a ribbon strip is the motto in Latin "Ad Altiora" - which translates as something like "to the heights" - and inside the circular belt design is his business name - "The City Photographic Establishment" - which in turn encompasses the studio address - 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town. Below this in italics is the promise that "Further Copies can be obtained at any time". Thomas J. Nevin retained this stamp design on acquiring Bock's stock, studio, glasshouse, and business name in 1867, adding his name and "Late A. Bock" inside the belt.
Torn with piece missing on right side and top left. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017

Read more about Alfred Bock and Thomas J. Nevin on this site:-

CHARLES NETTLETON (1825-1902) Victoria



Seated woman with male child in trouser suit leaning against her knee
Photographer's stamp verso: C. Nettleton, North Melbourne ca. 1869

Above: a full-length studio portrait of a woman seated in a voluminous dress with white collar and cuffs, a long thin chain reaching from around her neck to her lap. Her hair is parted centre and coiled at the back. She is holding a five year old boy who is leaning against her knee, her gaze direct to camera. The boy wears a trouser suit and holds a toy - a stick on wheels or possible cotton reels - in his right hand, his gaze directed across to the photographer's right. The studio decor features a floor to ceiling window with a backdrop painted with a patio scene. The verso is printed in lavender ink and very elaborately decorated with birds, branches and flowers. Included at the top is a stamp encircled in a wreath with the wording "1862 Londini Honoris Causa"  and below that at centre is the Royal Arms insignia and the wording "C. Nettleton Photographer by Special Appointment to H. R. H. The Duke of Edinburgh" flanked on either side with Nettleton's many medals won at London (1862) and Melbourne (1867) exhibitions. When this portrait was taken, his business address was No. 1, Madeline St. North Melbourne where he remained from 1863 until the late 1880s, although he had three other studios in Melbourne, including an office in the Victoria Arcade, Bourke St (Kerr 1992: 568). This portrait probably dates from the visit by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1868 up to the early 1870s. Charles Nettleton, like Thomas J. Nevin in Tasmania, provided the Victorian police and prison administration with prisoner mugshots for more than two decades.
Fair condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above: Seated woman with male child in trouser suit leaning against her knee
Photographer's stamp verso: C. Nettleton, North Melbourne ca. 1869
 A full-length studio portrait of a woman seated in a voluminous dress with white collar and cuffs, a long thin chain reaching from around her neck to her lap. Her hair is parted centre and coiled at the back. She is holding a five year old boy who is leaning against her knee, her gaze direct to camera. The boy wears a trouser suit and holds a toy - a stick on wheels or possible cotton reels - in his right hand, his gaze directed across to the photographer's right. The studio decor features a floor to ceiling window with a backdrop painted with a patio scene. The verso is printed in lavender ink and very elaborately decorated with birds, branches and flowers. Included at the top is a stamp encircled in a wreath with the wording "1862 Londini Honoris Causa"  and below that at centre is the Royal Arms insignia and the wording "C. Nettleton Photographer by Special Appointment to H. R. H. The Duke of Edinburgh" flanked on either side with Nettleton's many medals won at London (1862) and Melbourne (1867) exhibitions. When this portrait was taken, his business address was No. 1, Madeline St. North Melbourne where he remained from 1863 until the late 1880s, although he had three other studios in Melbourne, including an office in the Victoria Arcade, Bourke St (Kerr 1992: 568). This portrait probably dates from the visit by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1868 up to the early 1870s. Charles Nettleton, like Thomas J. Nevin in Tasmania, provided the Victorian police and prison administration with prisoner mugshots for more than two decades.
Fair condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017

Read more about Charles Nettleton and Thomas J. Nevin on this site:-



Above: Entry on Charles Nettleton pp 566-567 and entry on Thomas J. Nevin, pp 568-9
The Dictionary of Australian artists : painters, sketchers, photographers and engravers to 1870, edited by Joan Kerr.
Publisher: Melbourne : Oxford University Press, 1992.
Description: xxii, 889 p. : ill., facsims., ports. ; 27 cm.

CHARLES A. WOOLLEY (1834-1922) Tasmania



Young girl, nine years old in dark dress with lacy bloomers and spats
Photographer's stamp verso: Chas A. Woolley, Hobart ca. late 1860s

Above: a full-length carte-de-visite studio portrait of a young girl, possibly nine years old wearing a dark dress with a white collar and braiding along the sleeve, showing the lace of her bloomers at the hem against her bare legs. Spats cover her shoes. Her hair hangs loose in ringlets, and her gaze is slightly dropped and held steady to the viewer's left. The studio decor includes an occasional table on wheels to the viewer's right of frame on which sits a book, and a dining chair on the left on which the child rests her right arm. In her left hand she holds a thickly folded card. Charles Woolley's signature technique was to produce prints in rich dark tones which made his portraits especially appealing. The verso bears Woolley's "Advance Tasmania" studio stamp with emu and kangaroo animal iconography flanking the Tasmanian colonial insignia. His studio address for more than two decades was 42 Macquarie St. Hobart where he also ran a furniture business with his father. He must have supplied furniture, carpets and wall-hangings to all the Hobart photographic studios during the 1860s, and even sold items from his own studio when he ceased professional practice in the 1870s, because the same items appear in different photographers' studio portraits.
Good condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above: Young girl, nine years old in dark dress with lacy bloomers and spats
Photographer's stamp verso: Chas A. Woolley, Hobart ca. late 1860s. 
Full-length carte-de-visite studio portrait of a young girl, possibly nine years old wearing a dark dress with a white collar and braiding along the sleeve, showing the lace of her bloomers at the hem against her bare legs. Spats cover her shoes. Her hair hangs loose in ringlets, and her gaze is slightly dropped and held steady to the viewer's left. The studio decor includes an occasional table on wheels to the viewer's right of frame on which sits a book, and a dining chair on the left on which the child rests her right arm. In her left hand she holds a thickly folded card. Charles A. Woolley's signature technique was to produce prints in rich dark sepia  tones which made his portraits especially appealing. The verso bears Woolley's "Advance Tasmania" studio stamp with emu and kangaroo animal iconography flanking the Tasmanian colonial insignia. His studio address for more than two decades was 42 Macquarie St. Hobart where he also ran a furniture business with his father. He must have supplied furniture, carpets and wall-hangings to all the Hobart photographic studios during the 1860s, and even sold items from his own studio when he ceased professional practice in the 1870s, because the same items appear in different photographers' studio portraits. 
Good condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017


Read more about Charles A. Woolley and Thomas J. Nevin on this site:-

Stereographs: views along the River Derwent
With the departure of Thomas Nevin's senior partner Alfred Bock to Sale, Victoria in 1867, and then the departure of Robert Smith to Goulburn, NSW in 1868 after his brief partnership with Nevin while operating as the firm Nevin & Smith at the former premises of Alfred  Bock, the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobart, Thomas Nevin's closest relationship as both a business partner and personal friend was with the prolific stereographer Samuel Clifford. Many of Clifford's and Nevin's stereographs - and they produced thousands between them from the late 1860s to the early 1870s - are identical.

SAMUEL CLIFFORD (1827-1890) Tasmania

"The New Wharf" ca. 1867



Views in Tasmania. The New Wharf, Hobart ca. 1868
Photographer's label and stamp verso: S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town

Above: two images which differ slightly - i.e. the image on the right includes a little more of the landscape on its left border than the image on the left. Captured with a stereoscopic camera perhaps, or with a single camera moved slightly for the second capture, and mounted for viewing through a stereographic viewer in a double-arched frame on yellow card. The subject shows mercantile success: five merchant traders - probably three-masted barques - lined up port side along New Wharf (now Salamanca Place) Hobart. Crates and and timber (deal) are visible on the wharf. Two horse and cart carriers wait in the street pointing towards the town. The verso carries Samuel Clifford's printed label "Views in Tasmania, S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town" and the hand-written title of this item - "The New Wharf". The stamp on the verso carries a circle  enclosing a cartoon of Romans receiving  an award, framed by a Latin motto [?] beneath which is the wording "Medal Awarded to S. Clifford Intercolonial Exhib. Victoria 1866" and inside the ribbon above the stamp is printed "And Honourable Mention" . Below all this are the awards: New Zealand, 1865, Melbourne 1866, For Architectural & Landscape Photograph, Samuel Clifford, Liverpool Street, Hobart Town Tasmania"
The stereograph therefore was taken or produced sometime after the last-mentioned award won at Melbourne in 1866.
Faded. Fair condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above: Views in Tasmania. The New Wharf, Hobart ca. 1868
Photographer's label and stamp verso: S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town
Two images which differ slightly - i.e. the image on the right includes a little more of the landscape on its left border than the image on the left. Captured with a stereoscopic camera perhaps, or with a single camera moved slightly for the second capture, and mounted for viewing through a stereographic viewer in a double-arched frame on yellow card. The subject shows mercantile success: five merchant traders - probably three-masted barques - lined up port side along New Wharf (now Salamanca Place) Hobart. Crates and and timber (deal) are visible on the wharf. Two horse and cart carriers wait in the street pointing towards the town. The verso carries Samuel Clifford's printed label "Views in Tasmania, S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town" and the hand-written title of this item - "The New Wharf". The stamp on the verso carries a circle  enclosing a cartoon of Romans receiving an award, framed by a Latin motto [?] beneath which is the wording "Medal Awarded to S. Clifford Intercolonial Exhib. Victoria 1866" and inside the ribbon above the stamp is printed "And Honourable Mention" . Below all this are the awards:New Zealand, 1865, Melbourne 1866, For Architectural & Landscape Photograph, Samuel Clifford, Liverpool Street, Hobart Town Tasmania"
The stereograph therefore was taken or produced sometime after the last-mentioned award won at Melbourne in 1866.
Faded. Fair condition. Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017

"The Government Slaughter Yard &" ca. 1870



Views in Tasmania. Hobart Town. From Queen's Domain
The Government Slaughter Yard & ca. 1870s
S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town 

Above: Unlike the stereograph of New Wharf above, this is not a true stereograph because the two images are exactly the same. One single capture has been printed twice and overlaid one on the other at the centre where the wide opaque vertical line shows the overlay. The consumer of this item would have had a less than authentic stereographic viewing experience. Given the clarity of the print and its well-defined dark tones, it would have been printed from the single negative a decade or more after the original capture, and for the tourist trade, whereas the original photograph was taken for the Lands and Survey Department and the Hobart City Council who owned the slaughter yards, specifically for documentation of government assets. This view which Samuel Clifford's studio titled "The Government Slaughter Yard &" appears in many collections: it was not only mounted on different coloured cards with square or arched frames, it was printed in deep black, white and grey tones, as well as with dark sepia and deep lilac fixer. Some of these extant examples were either labelled by Clifford or left blank. Some are attributed to Thomas Nevin, for example, the heavily coloured one held at the TMAG. Some were given new titles such as "Cattle Jetty Abbatoirs" or "Sandy Bay from the Domain" though not quite apposite, and yet others were included in what are known as the Clifford Albums at the State Library of Tasmania despite versions by other photographers and variations in the scene.
Good condition. Possible reprint from Nevin's original negative.
Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017



Verso of above: Views in Tasmania. Hobart Town. From Queen's Domain
The Government Slaughter Yard & ca. 1870s
S. Clifford, Photographer, Hobart Town 
Unlike the stereograph of New Wharf above, this is not a true stereograph because the two images are exactly the same. One single capture has been printed twice and overlaid one on the other at the centre where the wide opaque vertical line shows the overlay. The consumer of this item would have had a less than authentic stereographic viewing experience. Given the clarity of the print and its well-defined dark tones, it would have been printed from the single negative a decade or more after the original capture, and for the tourist trade, whereas the original photograph was taken for the Lands and Survey Department and the Hobart City Council who owned the slaughter yards, specifically for documentation of government assets. This view which Samuel Clifford's studio titled "The Government Slaughter Yard &" appears in many collections: it was not only mounted on different coloured cards with square or arched frames, it was printed in deep black, white and grey tones, as well as with dark sepia and deep lilac fixer. Some of these extant examples were either labelled by Clifford or left blank. Some are attributed to Thomas Nevin, for example, the heavily coloured one held at the TMAG. Some were given new titles such as "Cattle Jetty Abbatoirs" or "Sandy Bay from the Domain" though not quite apposite, and yet others were included in what are known as the Clifford Albums at the State Library of Tasmania despite versions by other photographers and variations in the scene.
Good condition. Possible reprint from Nevin's original negative.
Provenance - eBay
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2017

Thomas Nevin's print of the cattle yards, and the others



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 of above: 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




This stereograph of the same location was printed in black and grey tones and mounted in a pair of square frames, again with the opaque vertical line at centre showing the overlay of the single print mounted twice to appear like a stereograph. Titled simply "The Domain", it bears Samuel Clifford's label (blue) on verso. It dates from before 1878. 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 which was taken from the same viewpoint of the same location, is identified at TAHO as the abbatoirs at Cattle Jetty, Queens Domain, but the date 1872 is incorrect. Because of the telegraph pole (?) now evident in the centre of the image, it was probably taken ca. 1880.  Thomas Nevin would have taken the original photograph a decade 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 in 1878, 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.

Read more about Samuel Clifford and Thomas J. Nevin on this site:-

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Amy Bock's bid for marriage equality in 1909 in New Zealand

Amy Bock and Agnes Ottaway married on 21 April 1909 in Dunedin, NZ. Four days later Amy Bock was arrested at the Ottaways' boarding house. She was convicted in the Dunedin Supreme Court on 27 May on two counts of false pretences and one of forgery, and was finally declared an habitual offender. The marriage was annulled on 17 June 1909. Was it a bid for "marriage equality" or not?



NZ police mugshot of Amy Bock [n.d. but probably 1890]
New Zealand Police Museum online exhibition. March 2010.

Amy Maud Bock (1859–1943) was born on 18th May 1859 at her father's photographic studio, The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart, Tasmania, to Alfred Bock and Mary Ann Parkinson, second daughter of Robert Parkinson of Hobart. They had married on 24th July, 1858.


BIRTHS
On May 18th, at her residence, 140 Elizabeth-street, the wife of Alfred Bock of a Daughter.
Birth of Amy Bock at the City Photographic Establishment 18 May 1859
Source: The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Thu 19 May 1859 Page 2 Family Notices

Thomas J. Nevin was seventeen years old when Amy Bock was born. By 1863, now 21 yrs old, he would have been a friendly face to the four-year old toddler Amy while assisting her father Alfred Bock with studio portraiture in the glass house constructed at the back of the studio premises. It was located at the end of the laneway  at 138½ Elizabeth-street. Thomas Nevin had established himself as a professional photographer within the Hobart cohort of photographers, especially with Samuel Clifford as well as Alfred Bock by 1864, and was operating principally from his studio at New Town, but on Alfred Bock's insolvency in 1865 and departure from Tasmania in 1867 he acquired Bock's negative stock, furnishings, studio lease, and glass house at auction and continued with the business under the same name, the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobart until 1876.



A view of the City Photographic Establishment studio
Thomas Nevin's studio, formerly Alfred Bock's. third door down on right side of Elizabeth St. Hobart
Stereograph by T. J. Nevin ca. 1867
TMAG Ref: Q1994-56-33



Photographic studio where Amy Bock was born
The City Photographic Establishment
140 Elizabeth St Hobart
Stereograph by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1868
TMAG Ref: Q1994-56-12

Alfred Bock's (half) brother William Rose Bock was a teenager when he served more than two and half years as Alfred's apprentice in the studio at the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth-street, Hobart Town from 1863-1865. Alfred Bock was born on 19 April 1837 to Mary Ann Cameron nee Spencer and Alexander Cameron. William Bock was born on 5 January 1847 to Mary Ann Cameron nee Spencer and Thomas Bock. William Bock left Tasmania in 1868, returned in 1874 to marry his fiance Rebecca Finlay, and settled back in Wellington New Zealand where he thrived as an engraver, lithographic printer, medallist, stamp designer, and illuminator. He died in 1932.

Alfred Bock moved his family from Tasmania to Sale, Victoria, in 1867 and to Melbourne in 1874. His first wife Mary Ann Parkinson died in Melbourne on 14th January 1875. The first five of their six children were born in Hobart. Alfred Bock married again to Eleanor Rachel Blackburn on 25th March 1882 in Melbourne. She was the granddaughter of architect James Blackburn. They moved to Auckland, New Zealand in 1882 where the three eldest sons of their seven children were born. But by 1887, Alfred Bock and family were back in Melbourne where they stayed until ca. 1906. Alfred Bock retired from business and moved to Wynyard, Tasmania where he died on 19th February 1920, survived by his wife and several of their children.

Alfred Bock's eldest daughter Amy Bock found employment as a teacher in Gippsland, Victoria but in 1885 she was summoned for acquiring goods on false credit. Her father suggested she move to Auckland, New Zealand, where he was living with his second wife Eleanor Rachel Bock nee Blackburn.

Amy Bock's Criminal Career
The first notice of Amy Bock's series of offences appeared in the New Zealand Herald on 14th May 1885. Read these excerpts at this link: Papers Past New Zealand, search term: "Amy Bock". The following extract is from the biography written by Fiona Farrell, first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol 2, 1993:
Amy Bock's first officially recorded appearance before the New Zealand authorities was in April 1886 in the Resident Magistrate's Court in Wellington, where she was charged with buying goods on credit in Christchurch and then disappearing. Remanded to Christchurch, she was sentenced to one month's hard labour at Addington gaol. On her release she lived in Wellington, but by July 1887 she was back in court on fraud charges. She was sentenced to six months' detention at Caversham Industrial School, Dunedin, where she so impressed the superintendent with her intelligence and 'ladylike deportment' that he offered her employment as a teacher. The position came to an abrupt end when she was discovered attempting to engineer her escape by forging letters from an affectionate but alas fictitious aunt. In January 1888 she left the school and advertised as a music teacher, but by April she was in court charged with obtaining goods on false credit and was sentenced to two months' imprisonment. After her release she remained in Dunedin, later moving to Hill Top near Akaroa where she worked as a governess, before receiving concurrent six-month sentences for larceny and false pretences in April 1889. At the end of the year she returned to Dunedin where she found a job as a housekeeper until mid 1890, when she pawned her employer's furniture. This time she received the maximum penalty: three years' imprisonment with hard labour.

In October 1892 Amy Bock emerged from prison with £1 9s. in her pocket, some of which she spent on a ticket to Timaru where she fraudulently obtained £1. Discharged from prison in November, she joined the Salvation Army and lived with Army members in Timaru, but by Easter 1893 she was in trouble for selling her landlady's watch. After serving her six-month sentence she moved to Oamaru, where she procured various trifling amounts of money, attempted to defraud a furniture vendor of a larger sum and was in prison again by January the following year.

In 1895, after serving another three-month sentence for leaving a house owing board and lodging, Bock disappeared from official notice for several years. Some of this time she spent at the Magdalen Asylum for 'fallen' women, near Christchurch. In 1902 she appeared in Christchurch as Molly (or Mary) Shannon, and through an elaborate deception which took her to Wellington and Auckland borrowed substantial amounts of money to finance the purchase of a poultry farm. This escapade earned her two years' imprisonment in March 1903. Late the following year, after remission for good behaviour, she found work at Rakaia, now using the name Amy Chanel, but in February 1905 she was charged with altering a cheque and given a three-year sentence.

In June 1907 she was released from prison and for a year lived quietly in Christchurch. In 1908 she returned to Dunedin where, as Agnes Vallance, she pawned her employer's furniture and went to ground after delaying pursuit by creating a complex scenario through letters from Miss Vallance's concerned 'friend', Charlotte Skevington. It was at this point that she found the perfect disguise, posing as the wealthy sheepfarmer Percival Leonard Carol Redwood. Percy holidayed at Port Molyneux on the South Otago coast, staying at the Albion House boarding establishment, where he paid court to the landlady's daughter, Agnes Ottaway, and within a few weeks the couple were engaged. Bock managed to maintain the appearance of wealth by a succession of deceptions involving letters to lawyers, postal orders and small personal loans. These were not detected until after the elaborate wedding, which took place at the bride's home on 21 April 1909. Four days later Bock was arrested at the Ottaways' boarding house. She was convicted in the Dunedin Supreme Court on 27 May on two counts of false pretences and one of forgery, and was finally declared a habitual criminal. (The marriage was annulled on 17 June 1909.)
Source: Te Ara the Encyclopeadia of New Zealand
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2b30/bock-amy-maud



NZ police mugshot of Amy Bock [n.d. but probably 1890]
Source: Nichols, Chelsea. "Suspicious Looking: 19th Century Mug Shots in the Collection of the New Zealand Police Museum." New Zealand Police Museum online exhibition. March 2010.
Link: New Zealand Police Museum

The New Zealand press "went wild" with this story, as related by Sorrel Hoskin
In 1909 Amy invented the persona of Percival Redwood, a pipe smoking, well dressed man of small stature and high voice. Percy was a man of independent means – he owned shares in a North Island sheep farm – and was generous with his money, spending it lavishly on others – despite the fact that Bock was almost penniless. He made many friends in the small community of Port Molyneux in South Otago, including Agnes Ottaway, the landlady's daughter. Agnes and Percy got engaged and it's here that Percy's world began to unravel. His funds ran out and he had to devise other ways to keep up appearances and his generous disposition. Agnes's parents were a little suspicious of the new man in her life – but their worries were eased when letters began arriving from Percy's mother reassuring them of her son's financial position. Percy made up stories and borrowed money from friends and unsuspecting lawyers, bought an engagement ring on false credit and built lie upon lie to convince everyone of his status as a well–off man.

There were rumours in the build–up to the marriage, Percy was a source of interest in the community – his small wizened face, and sharp perky bearing raised curiosity everywhere. Jack Muir the barber later said Percy was a ‘curious lookin' little cuss', but at the same time thought he was ‘merely a very peculiar specimen of his kind.’
Percy had to do some fast talking when the debtors came to call, and again when his ‘mother’ wrote to say the family wouldn't be attending his wedding. Although suspicious, no–one said anything.

The society wedding went ahead on 21 April 1909. At the altar Percy murmured his vows and kissed the bride before a large group of guests, including the local MP and the press. Afterwards they gathered in a large decorated marquee, the tables were laden with food and presents, there was speeches and dancing. The newly married couple were travelling to Melbourne for their honeymoon.

But beneath the surface was a murmuring of discontent. The bride was subdued and kept her distance from her new husband, rumours were floating among the guests: the question on everybody's lips was – where would Percy sleep that night?

Percy didn't get to sleep with his bride. The Ottaway family were suspicious about his claimed riches. He was told to bunk in the same room as the groomsman who was intrigued when the newly married man leapt into bed with his pyjamas on over his wedding clothes.

The next day Percy claimed his mother was on her way down South and all debts would be repaid. The newly married man was given a week's grace – but would not be sleeping with his bride before then.

The wedding had taken place on a Wednesday – by Sunday the police were at the front door confronting Redwood with the words: ‘The game's up, Amy!’ The giveaway had been a basket of women's clothes found in a room at a Dunedin boarding house used by Redwood. Amy admitted all and was arrested for male impersonation and fraud.

The national media went wild. Bock's scam quickly became the object of jokes around the country. Postcards and a booklet The Adventures of Amy Bock were produced to capitalise on the interest in the case.

The Ottaway's were understandably shocked. Poor Agnes, horrified at the part she played in ‘New Zealand's most notorious’ wedding quickly had the marriage annulled. She later married a ‘real’ man.

Amy, who told the court she was 46, was charged with false pretences and forgery. She was declared a habitual criminal and sentenced to two years in the New Plymouth Prison.



Photographs of Amy Bock were taken by Guy [?] above, and Pattilo, below.





Tasmanian readers of the Weekly Courier, 20 May 1909 were provided with the Pattilo photo, Amy Bock as Percy Carol Redwood, and another earlier photo of Amy Bock, Photos 1 and 2 top left on page 22.

The "divorce":
AMY BOCK DIVORCED.
END OF A SENSATIONAL INCIDENT. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] DUNEDIN, This Day. At the Divorce Court to-day, Agnes Ottoway's marriage with Amy Bock was annulled by Mr Judge Williams
Source: GREYMOUTH EVENING STAR, 18 JUNE 1909



AMY BOCK SKETCHED IN THE DOCK IN THE DUNEDIN CITY POLICE COURT.
OTAGO WITNESS, ISSUE 2878, 12 MAY 1909
Source: Papers Past New Zealand Newspapers 



Sourced from Wikipedia - Amy Bock, confidence trickster of the early 20th century. Photo from 1908/1909, taken from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography published by New Zealand's Ministry of Culture and Heritage

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EXTERNAL LINKS



Mad Or Bad?: The Exploits of Amy Bock, 1859-1943
Jenny Coleman, Otago University Press, 2010
Catalogue Note at Google Books:
In New Zealand, Amy Bock's life has been the inspiration for plays, books, a television program, a photographic exhibition, a musical composition, and more. Mad or Bad? is the first full-length biography of Amy Bock, New Zealand's most notorious female criminal con artist. Born in 1859 in Hobart, Tasmania, Amy had a convict heritage on both sides of her family. She gained notoriety in 1909 for her impersonation of a man - Percy Redwood - and married an unsuspecting woman. Author Jenny Coleman shows how Amy's whole life was one of fraud and misrepresentation. After teaching for six years in Victorian schools until she was asked to resign, Amy migrated to New Zealand in 1884. Assuming a variety of personae and remaining conveniently itinerant, she pursued a consistent course of petty crime for the next 25 years. In presenting her colorful and checkered life, this well researched biography leaves the reader to judge whether Amy Bock was essentially mad or just bad.
Notice here that the author of this synopsis mentions the Tasmanian convict heritage "on both sides of her family" of Amy Bock as if it would have contributed sui generis to her criminal behaviour. Note also that the woman whom Amy Bock married is characterised as "unsuspecting" in this synopsis. Neither claim, surely, can pass as reasonable to readers in 2010, the year the book was published.

Another famous case and much more serious was that of convicted murderer Eugenia Falleni, who was born in Italy, migrated as a child with her family to New Zealand by some accounts, and in 1898 travelled to Sydney, NSW where she became Harry Leo Crawford (sometimes known as Jack Crawford). Harry worked in low paid jobs around hotels and in February 1913 married the widow Annie Birkett. They opened a confectionery shop in Balmain but Annie disappeared after going on a picnic with Harry on 28 September 1917:
When Annie's body was identified, suspicion fell on her husband, Harry Crawford. He was arrested by the Chatswood Police on 22 July 1920 and taken to the Central Police Station for questioning and to take part in identification parades. Harry had just married another woman and was still wearing men's clothes, had short dark hair and looked very masculine. He only revealed his true identity as a woman when he was threatened with going to a mens' gaol. From NRS 10958 Police Gazette NSW, 1920 [1/3252, p.474]
Source: NSW State Archives and Records.
Read more here about Falleni from 1917 to her death in 1938



Photo sourced at Historic Houses Trusts NSW
Title: Eugenia Falleni, alias Harry Crawford, special photograph number 234, Central Police Station Sydney, 1920.
Creator: New South Wales. Police Dept.
Date: 1920
Format: [Picture] Glass plate negative:
Inscription: Emulsion side:
Place: Central Police Station (Sydney, N.S.W.)



On board the "City of Hobart" 31st January 1872