R. C. Poulter's tourist's album 1900s
The Weekly Courier Tasmania's Premier Pictorial (1900-1907)
Page on left from an Album of photographs of Tasmania compiled by R. C. Poulter ca. 1901-1907
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, State Library of Tasmania.
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/ILS/SD_ILS-1173205
On page at left, these five black and white reprints of original mugshots of Tasmanian prisoners (aka "convicts" in tourism discourse), taken by government contractor T. J. Nevin for police at the Hobart Gaol in the 1870s, are held in an album of photographs accessioned in the owner's name inscribed on verso of cover - "R. C. Poulter" - at the State Library of Tasmania.
Each of these items in Poulter's album is a cropped black & white copy of the full sepia photograph, some uncut but mostly set in a buff carte-de-visite mount, that were originally acquired by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston in the 1930s from collector John Watt Beattie's estate. Beattie had salvaged a bundle of the originals in the early 1900s from the Sheriff's Office and the old photographer's room at the Hobart Gaol, Campbell Street, Hobart. Together with another fifty or so similar cdvs of 1870s prisoners, these five cdvs were removed from the QVMAG for an exhibition at the Port Arthur Historic Site in 1983, at the conclusion of which they were not returned to the QVMAG, deposited instead at the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, where they remain today. Copies also held in Hobart were made at various points in the 20th century for book publications and exhibitions by the Tasmanian Archives Office.
Given that the owner and compiler of this album, R. C. Poulter, arrived in Tasmania ca. 1901 and died in 1908, he may have sourced these reprints from John Watt Beattie's "Port Arthur Museum" at 51 Murray Street, Hobart, in the first decade of the 20th century Hobart. Beattie's vast collection of convictaria which included two hundred and more of these 1870s police mugshots was acquired by the QVMAG on his death in 1930. The cdv's were numbered verso and inscribed with the name of the prisoner, the ship on which he arrived in Tasmania, and with the addition of the generic note -"Taken at Port Arthur, 1874" - in many cases, purely to attract intercolonial and interstate tourism to the ruins of the Port Arthur penitentiary on the Tasman Peninsula when neither the date - "1874" - nor location - "Port Arthur" - factually reflected the place, date and circumstances under which each prisoner was photographed. These prisoners were photographed by Thomas J. Nevin at the Hobart Gaol and Mayor's Court, Hobart Town Hall, on incarceration and discharge for use in court, police and prison administration.
Numbers: each of these mugshots was missing from the list held in the Beattie Collection at the QVMAG when it was complied ca. 1990 and received here at this weblog in 2005. The full list is posted in this article about prisoner Cornelius Gleeson.
THE MUGSHOTS
1. Top line on right: No. 43. Jas Smith per "John Calvin"
James Smith was an alias used by Thomas Archer. After his arrival in Van Diemen's Land in September 1846, and at the termination of his initial sentence of ten years, Thomas Archer as Smith was regularly incarcerated for periods of eight or ten years for burglary and larceny. Police gazette records document his trials and sentences between 1855 and 1884.
Prisoner: Thomas ARCHER alias Thomas SMITH or James SMITH
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin, July 1875
Location: Hobart House of Corrections (Hobart Gaol)
TMAG Ref: Q15583
The following information is from this record -
"Nominal Return of all Prisoners whether under Remand or Sentence, in the Gaol and House of Correction for Males at Hobart Town, on the 8th December 1874 (page 7) is from (No.49) 1875. TASMANIA. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. PENAL DISCIPLINE. REPORT OF COMMISSION. Laid upon the Table by the Attorney-General, and ordered by the House to be printed, August 10, 1875. List of offences of male prisoners, Hobart Gaol, December 1874: Superior Courts."
Age: 70
Offence for which imprisoned: Perjury
Date of Sentence: 1.12.74
Extent of sentence: 12 months
How employed on 8th December 1874: Awaiting Sheriff's instructions as to disposal
Remarks as to Character: Good
No. 43 is missing from the QVMAG list posted here in 2005: QVMAG ref: no number
Held at the TMAG scanned for this weblog in 2015, TMAG ref: Q15583
Reprint held at the State Library of Tasmania, TAHO ref: 30/3256
Read more about Thomas Archer as James Smith in this post here
2. Middle line on left: No. 60. Wm Ryan per "City of Hobart"
William Ryan had not long arrived in Tasmania when he was tried for uttering a forged cheque at Launceston on 29th December 1868 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Within months of discharge, he was arrested and sentenced at the Hobart Supreme Court to ten years' imprisonment for uttering forged cheques. The newspapers of the day took pleasure in reporting the ingenuity of the police in catching him, and the antics of the prisoner in the dock at the Police Court before His Worship the Mayor.
Prisoner William Ryan
Photographed by T. J. Nevin 1874
TMAG Collection Ref: Q15576
No. 60 is missing from QVMAG list posted here in 2005: QVMAG no reference
Held at the TMAG scanned for this weblog in 2015, TMAG Ref: Q15576
Reprint held at the State Library of Tasmania, TAHO Ref: PH30_1_3262
NB: This photograph held at the TMAG is inscribed verso with the photographer's name " NEVIN, T. J. 1874, the number "60" which also appears on recto, and "248" William Ryan per City of Hobart...."
Read more about Wm Ryan here
3. Middle line on right: No. 27. Cornelius Hester per "Equestrian"
PRESS Report Cornwall Chronicle- 29 Oct 1870:
Cornelius Hester, who pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing goods in a dwelling house at Longford, called on Dr Lewis to speak for him.
Dr. Lewis said that Hester had been suffering from disease of the heart when at Port Arthur.
His Honor reviewed the past career of the prisoner and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment.
Prisoner HESTER, Cornelius
Photographed on discharge at Hobart (not Port Arthur) October 1874
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin, government contractor, Hobart, Tasmania
TMAG Ref: Q15581
Summary of trials after arrival in Tasmania:
Trial Id 582695
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE HOUSEBREAKING 1876-01-06 S. C. LAUNCESTON 10 YRS.
Trial Id 598135
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE LARCENY 1888-01-03 DELORAINE 1 MTH
Trial Id 601137
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE HOUSEBREAKING 1876-01-06 S. C. LAUNCESTON 10 YRS.
Trial Id 605875
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE LARCENY 1888-01-07 DELORAINE 1 MONTH
Trial Id 618722
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE ABSCONDING 1865-11-01 HOBART 5 YEARS
Trial Id 620427
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE LARCENY IN A DWELLING 1870-10-20 S. C. LAUNCESTON 5 YEARS
Trial Id 99704
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE LARCENY 1857-04-15 GUILTY 2 YEARS
Trial Id 112331
CORNELIUS HESTER MALE LARCENY IN A DWELLING HOUSE 1870-09-29 GUILTY 5 YEARS
Source: The Prosecution Project Search Results (griffith.edu.au)
No. 27 is missing from QVMAG list posted here in 2005: QVMAG no reference
Held at the TMAG scanned for this weblog in 2015, TMAG Ref: Q15581
Reprint held at the State Library of Tasmania, TAHO Ref: ?
Read more about Cornelius Hester in this post here
4. Bottom line on left: No. 183. James Martin per "Ld. Ptre"
James Martin was convicted at the Barbados Court Martial, transported for 14 years, departing on the Lord Petre on 3 July 1843, arriving at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, on 15th October 1843 in the company of 237 other convicts. A Catholic deserter from the army, he re-offended in every decade following, dying in 1892 while still under sentence at the Hobart Gaol.
Prisoner James MARTIN
Photographed on 24th October 1874 at the H.M. Goal, Hobart
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin
Numbered "183" on recto in 1983
Numbered "224" on verso in 1915
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery:
TMAG Ref: Q15614
The following information is from this record -
"Nominal Return of all Prisoners whether under Remand or Sentence, in the Gaol and House of Correction for Males at Hobart Town, on the 8th December 1874 (page 7) is from (No.49) 1875. TASMANIA. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. PENAL DISCIPLINE. REPORT OF COMMISSION. Laid upon the Table by the Attorney-General, and ordered by the House to be printed, August 10, 1875. List of offences of male prisoners, Hobart Gaol, December 1874: Superior Courts."
Age: 56
Offence for which imprisoned: breaking and entering
Date of Sentence: 24.10.6
Extent of sentence: 10 years
How employed on 8th December 1874: Whitewashing
Remarks as to Character: Very good
No. 183 is missing from QVMAG list posted here in 2005: QVMAG no reference
Held at the TMAG scanned for this weblog in 2015, TMAG Ref: Q15614
Reprint held at the State Library of Tasmania, TAHO Ref:PH30/1/2023
Read more about James Martin in this post here
5. Bottom line on right: No. 6. Wm Sewell per "Siam"
PRESS REPORT Mercury - 19 Sept 1867:
CHARGE OF BURGLARY AGAINST TWO SOLDIERS AND THREE YOUNG GIRLS.-William Sewell and Ralph Neill, private soldiers of H.M. 2-14th Regiment, and three young native girls, Emma Farrell, Margaret Graham, and Jane Manning, were placed in the dock on a charge of burglary at the licensed house of Sarah Harris, Watchorn-street, at two o'clock this morning, and stealing therein seven bottles of champagne cider, value 1s. a bottle, and two print dresses.William Sewell and Ralph Neill were both sentenced to 10 years at the Criminal Court, Hobart, in November 1867 for the burglary of seven bottles of champagne cider and two print dresses from Sarah Harris, licensee of the Royal Oak Inn, Watchorn St. Hobart.
The female prisoners in this case also made light of their position; the soldiers are the same men who were charged at a recent session of the Supreme Court, and acquitted, on a charge of burglary at the Mr. Mattheson's public house, Old Wharf.
The Stipendiary Magistrate told the girls there was nothing to laugh at; they ought to be ashamed of themselves to be in such a position, and probably they would, some day, be made to laugh the other side of their mouths. At the instance of the detective the prisoners were remanded until Friday.
Prisoner William SEWELL photographed in October 1873 at the Hobart Gaol
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin
TMAG Ref: Q15573
The following information is from this record -
"1870 Tasmania. Convicts. Paupers and Lunatics at Port Arthur. Return to an Order of the House dated 8th September 1870 (Mr. C. Meredith)Laid upon the Table by the Colonial Treasurer, and ordered by the House to be printed October 13, 1870."
Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1870/HA1870pp128.pdf
CONVICTS - (Colonial Funds)
Name: Sewell, William
Ship: Siam
Age to 1870: 29
Sentence: 10 yrs. impt.
No. 6 is missing from QVMAG list posted here in 2005: QVMAG no reference?
Held at the TMAG scanned for this weblog in 2015, TMAG Ref: Q15573
Reprint held at the State Library of Tasmania, TAHO Ref: no reference?
Read more about William Sewell in this post here
Other photographs by T. J. Nevin in Poulter's album, ca. 1901- 1908
The photographs in this album certainly belonged to Reginald Clifford Poulter by the time he compiled the album in the early 1900s, but none were taken by him, none are personal portraits of him or his family, and none are attributed to the original photographers, with the exception of one featuring the government photographer John Watt Beattie.
Although several date from the early 1860s, very few are "real" photographs originating from the era in which they were produced. The majority are reprints which Poulter sourced from tourist destinations such as John Watt Beattie's shop, photographic studio and convictaria museum in Murray Street, Hobart (and not at Port Arthur). Poulter's other source was the Hobart Weekly Courier which published a Pictorial edition on Saturdays featuring beautifully reproduced photographs of contemporary events by living photographers. To save space, the Weekly Courier cropped each photograph to fit as many as possible on each page, only crediting their contracted studios, called their "Representatives" such as Beattie's, or Spurling's & Son, or Harvey and Sutcliffe's, at the bottom of each page.
Those photographs which Poulter cut from the Weekly Courier and pasted into his album were clearly already cropped of their cdv frame and mount and any accompanying photographer attribution. Instead, on each page of Poulter's album there are pencilled inscriptions next to each item giving information about the content or subject of each photograph and no more, written by an anonymous hand.
Shortly before Poulter's death in England in 1908, perhaps even after his death, the album somehow arrived at the newspaper offices of the Examiner, publisher of the Weekly Courier (1901-1935) in Launceston, Tasmania. The album may well contain photographs collected on Poulter's travels but he was not the photographer. Nor, it would seem, did the Weekly Courier publish his photographs in this album after his death, or at all, which is inferred by the SLTAS catalogue note (see below) since the Weekly Courier had already published them. Poulter - or indeed his wife Evangeline Watson whom he married at Longford in Tasmania in February 1901 - had cut and pasted many of these photographs during the first decade of the 1900s from Weekly Courier Pictorial issues while visitingTasmania.
Apart from the paper reprints pasted in this album of T. J. Nevin's prisoner mugshots taken for official police records in the 1870s, Poulter included several reprints of Thomas Nevin's commercially produced landscapes in stereograph and cdv format, all invariably without their original mounts which otherwise would show at the edges if printed from the originals, and all without a photographer attribution. Of interest on these pages in the album are photographs taken of St. Mary's Cathedral before and after the tower was removed, (above) as well as reprints of Nevin's (and Clifford's) 1870s photographs taken from Lime Kiln Hill of panoramic views of Hobart from south to north (above and below).
Title: Album of photographs of Tasmania / [compiled by] R. C. Poulter.
Production: [Tasmania?] : R.C. Poulter, [between 1860 and 1920]
Physical description: Approximately 200 photographic prints in 1 album, with 68 unnumbered pages : black and white, chiefly silver albumen ; in album 375 x 290 mm, boards 364 x 263 mm.
Binding: Full leather binding, covers in brown, corners and spine in red, with gold stripe detail.
Medium: paper; silver albumen; positive
Format: album photograph image (online)
Source note: Title devised by cataloguer based on contents; 'R.C Poulter' inscribed inside front cover.
Accession number: FA1304
Notes: Title assigned by cataloguer.
History note: Reginald Clifford Poulter was born in Bath, Somerset, England, in 1847. By 1901, Poulter had found his way to Tasmania and married Evangeline Watson. The couple travelled to Melbourne on the Coogee on 25 March and departed Sydney for Honolulu on the Souoma via Auckland on 9 May 1901. They returned to Melbourne on 18 December 1905 per Grosser Kurfurst. Poulter sent photos of his travels to the Weekly Courier between 1904-1907, and his death at his home in Dorking, Surry (England) was reported in the Examiner on 2/9/1908.--Acquisition notes.
Link:https://stors.tas.gov.au/ILS/SD_ILS-1173205
RELATED POSTS main weblog
- Prisoner Cornelius GLEESON 1873 and 1916
- PrisonerJohn FITZPATRICK and/or John FITZGERALD 1867-1885
- Rogues Gallery: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection
- Rogues Gallery: the QVMAG prisoner photographs collection
- Archives Office of Tasmania convict photographs by T. J. Nevin
- Thomas Nevin's stereo view of St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, ca. 1874
- Hobart Town from Lime Kiln Hill
- John Watt Beattie's Museum ca 1916