Thomas J. Nevin | Tasmanian Photographer: About women

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By his own hand: Morton Allport's trade in Aboriginal remains

Morton Allport's Letters
Letterbooks of Morton Allport (ALL19)
Source: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/ALL19

ALERT: please note ...
The resources in this article contain offensive language and negative stereotypes. Such primary historical documents should be seen in the context of the period and as a reflection of attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of this weblog.

The many references to photographs in Morton Allport's early letters written before 1868 relate to fish, fauna, landscapes and family portraits. Only later, from 1871 does it become clear he is trading in Aboriginal skulls and skeletons with anatomists and collectors in the UK for recognition, rewards and membership of the most prestigious scientific organisations in England and Europe.

The Book: Cassandra Pybus on Morton Allport (2024)

In her latest book A Very Secret Trade, Professor Cassandra Pybus explores the sensitive and troubling history of the removal and trade of Tasmanian Aboriginal remains.
She estimates 168 skulls and full skeletons of Tasmanian Aboriginal people were stolen and distributed to private and public collections around the world.
Pybus believes the figure is a "massive" underestimation of the true number of Indigenous remains that were traded in 19th century Van Diemen's Land.
A Very Secret Trade is the third in a trilogy exploring the author's own family history alongside - and in collision with - Tasmanian Aboriginal lives.
She said she was not prepared for what her research would uncover.
Pybus said she is very anxious about how the book will be received, but believes it is a story that must be told.
"We are regarded as the luckiest people in the world, we regard ourselves that way," Professor Pybus said. "How did we get to do that, at whose cost was that?"

ABC Radio Hobart interview with Lucy Cutting 5 May 2024
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-sundays/cassandra-pybus-new-book-a-very-secret-trade/103806698

The book: A Very Secret Trade: The dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania
The video: Lecture delivered to the AGM, Royal Society of Tasmania
The podcast: Uncovering Tasmania's gruesome past with Richard Fidler, ABC RN.

Pybus, Cassandra (2024) A Very Secret Trade: The dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania
Allen & Unwin, 30 Apr 2024 - History - 336 pages

The Video: March 11, 2024

AGM 2024 Lecture. Morton Allport: the resurrection man of the Royal Society of Tasmania
https://www.youtube.com/@theroyalsocietyoftasmania3505
https://youtu.be/TOZueVJohag?feature=shared

Cassandra Pybus "Morton Allport: the resurrection man of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1862-1876". “Resurrection man” is the 19th century term for a person who secretly exhumes bodies from the grave to trade or sell for personal gain. In the 1860s and 1870s, stealing remains from graves from Oyster Cove and Flinders Island was an important sideline business for the prominent Hobart lawyer Morton Allport. This illegal activity has not been publicly known in Tasmania despite having been well-documented in his business letterbooks and accessible to researchers for many decades in the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts established in 1972.

The Podcast: May 26, 2024
Cassandra Pybus: Uncovering Tasmania's gruesome past | ABC Conversations Podcast
YouTube: https://youtu.be/I9AZ8EyWcPA?feature=shared

By his own hand ....
Central to Cassandra Pybus's case are these two letters dated 23 January and 8 August 1873 from Morton Allport (Tasmania) to Dr Joseph Barnard Davis (UK) which explicitly refer to the skulls of Augustus and Caroline, and dissection of Aboriginal woman Patty's unburied "perfect" skeleton. The skeleton sent to Brussels is the focus of Pybus's ongoing research.

1873, January 23:
Where Allport talks about ABORIGINAL SKULLS and SKELETONS

TRANSCRIPT Book 4
Page 107-108

Hobart Town
23rd Jany 1873

Dear Sir,
Many thanks for your letter of 15th Septr. last and the pamphlet on the [Aino?] skeleton & skulls which arrived by the same post and which I at once perused with great interest.
In a case forwarded per “Ethel” to “G.W. Wheatley & Co. 156 Leadenhall St. London there is a parcel for you containing two casts of skulls of Tasmanian aborigines known as “Augustus” and “Caroline”. Two stone implements of our aborigines and four sets of photographs from skulls in the possession of the Royal Society of Tasmanian. Please arrange for obtaining the parcel on the arrival of the “Ethel”.
The stone implements as you will see are of the roughest possible description but I have plenty of proof that they were found in the shell mounds left by the natives and far from where the rock occurs in situ. These stones were chiefly used for skinning animals but sometimes for cutting notches in the bark of the gum trees when ascending them.
The photographs may or may not be interesting, if not burn them.
Since the parcel was despatched I have secured a treasure for you in the shape of an adult male skeleton of Tasmanian native all but absolutely perfect. Skull perfect except as to the styloid processes which always seem very fragile – every tooth in position. All the vertebrae to the very end of the sacrum are present (in the specimens at the Anthropological Institute & College of Surgeons the [os coccyse?] is I think missing) all the ribs perfect – sternum perfect all the main bones of the limbs perfect and out of the 106 bones of the hands & feet only some two or three of the final phalanges are gone. It is altogether a most noble specimen & will I am sure be highly valued. It shall be sent your address by the next ship leaving this probably the “Wagoola” and when shipped I will write you again.
Please accept this as a present and expend anything you would have been willing to give for it in the articulating and figuring it our only bargain being that I am to have 3 copies of any publications in reference to it one for myself, one for our Royal Society’s library and one of for our public Library.

I remain
Yours sincerely
Morton Allport [sender]

Dr. J. Barnard Davis [addressee]
Shelton Haules
Staffordshire

Source: Series Letterbooks of Morton Allport (ALL19)
Start Date 03 Nov 1871 End Date 10 Jan 1874
Links: Book 4. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/ALL19-1-4

1873, 8 August:
Where Morton Allport talks about DISSECTION and DISEMINATION of Aboriginal bodies

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_13

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_14

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_15

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_16

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_17

Book 4: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-4/ALL19-1-4_18

TRANSCRIPT Book 4
Page 178

Hobart Town
8th August 1873

My dear Sir,
Your letters of April 13. May 4. May 23 and June 3. all reached me in due course and subsequently I received the beautiful book which I prize highly and shall read with great interest. You who have so many historical remains round you of various eras can scarcely imagine the utter want of such sources of interesting study which we in Australia suffer under and therefore nothing you could have sent me could have given me more pleasure than the “Crania Britannica.”
I must now do my best to answer your questions in the order in which I received them. The originals of the casts sent you were the “Augustus” and “Caroline” of Flinders Island but they both died at Oyster Cove after the station at Flinders was broken up. You are quite right in your conjecture that our Aborigines used two sorts of rock for their implements the best were made of a rock containing a large percentage of Silex due probably to the action of hot springs. The others & most numerous were made of an indurated clay rock.
In the Museum of our Royal Society there is one recent skeleton (I mean one dissected out not having been buried) of a Tasmanian woman “Patty” or “Cooneana” and this specimen is perfect.
There is another nearly perfect male which was obtained from Flinders Island and which is in precisely the same condition as that sent to you. This is the skeleton of “[Malabackanissua?]” who was leading Chief of the tribe roaming over the Southern end of the Island, where Hobart Town now stands, when Tasmania was first colonized.
A third specimen consists of the greater part of the skeleton of the (so called) last male aborigine “William Lanney”. Of this specimen the head and two vertebrae were stolen from the general Hospital Hobart Town by one of the Medical officers and the skull is now believed to be in London in the possession of one of the students at Grey’s (a Mr Bingham Crowther) where you might very possibly see it if you carefully conceal the fact that you obtained this information from me. I have said the so called last male because there have been strong ground for suspecting that Lanney was a half cast and the form of the head, as seen in the photography, is utterly unlike the true Tasmanian.
If you get an opportunity of examining this skull I should much like to have your opinion as to its genuineness.
Of skulls, besides those of Caroline & Augustus, we have 9 specimens of undoubted authenticity two being remarkably sp shaped and coming from the tribe which inhabited the lake district on the high central plateau of the Island.
There are 7 other skulls said to be of Aborigines some of which are doubtful and some of which are unquestionably not Tasmanian. There are two good casts of faces taken after death one marked “Deviah Shert” and the other marked “Bethengie” of these copies could be sent you but we have no record of the originals.
We have also a good bust in plaster of “Woureddy” a Copy of which you probably have.
Your specimen was obtained at Flinders Island & was buried while the station was there but no record was kept of the person. Its good condition was due to the nature of the soil, dry sandy loam.
Shouldn’t I dearly like to see the result of your Articulator’s labours? But fear the probabilities are strongly against me as it is not easy to leave a Solicitor’s business to take care of itself and I should also find it difficult to leave my good parents who have been 40 years in this Colony.
Any other questions you send me I will do my best to answer and when you next write I should be glad to hear how you treat the bones before using the gelatine also what proportion of gelatine you use & how.
Any memorandum from you however short about the skeleton or any peculiarity in any part of it would be greatly valued by our Royal Society if it would not press too heavily upon your time.
One other skeleton from Flinders Island is on its way to Europe destined for the Museum at Brussels.
Again thanking you for the Book. I remain

Yours Faithfully
Morton Allport [sender]

Dr F. Barnard Davis [addressee]
[Shelton?]

P.S. I am sorry to find that part of the sternum was wanting in your skeleton but would suggest that the missing bone might be copied from that in the Anthropological Institute or at the College of Surgeons. M.A.

Source: Series Letterbooks of Morton Allport (ALL19)
Start Date 03 Nov 1871 End Date 10 Jan 1874
Links: Book 4. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/ALL19-1-4

Focus on Truganini
Morton Allport shifts his attention to Truganini who was still alive in 1875 - she died 8th May 1876.

1875, 28 November:
Where he talks about PHOTOGRAPHS and BUST of TRUGANINI

TRANSCRIPT Book 5
Page 187-189

28th Novr. 5 [1875]

Dear Sir, Yours of August 15th duly reached me and I have posted Bleeker’s Fishes to your address as requested.
Many thanks for the additional memoir which I have handed to our Public Library.
I will endeavour to get you the Photograph of Truganina & post it by the mail following this. She is still living though she suffered severely from bronchitis during the past winter. I often have a chat with her about her old trips with Robinson.
The bust you speak of was by a man named Law who took casts from a number of the Aborigines years ago.
Pray give kind remembrances to Dr. [Milligan] from me when next you see him as we were fellow workers on the Council of our Royal Soc. many years ago though I never get a line from him now.
Iain from whom you obtained the skull was a General collector of all sorts of objects & his localities are to accepted with some caution as the most painstaking men who do not actually kill & preserve their specimens are sure to be constantly misled and from all I have heard he was no exception to the rule.
I have not gathered from your letters that you take much interest in minerals but if you do you will be much astonished at the discoveries of Tin & Iron on our Northern Coast.
The deposits of both are of great richness & the quantity seems unlimited – the export of Tin will probably reach 1000 tons during the next 12 months & that from a Country which produced none three years ago. One effect is a steady rise in the value of property which means an increase of business so that I really begin to hope I may some day visit England again.
Please add my name (if not too late) to the list of subscribers to the Supplement to Thesaurus Craniorum & believe me

Yours sincerely
Morton Allport [sender]

R. J. Barnard Davis [addressee]
Shelton Hauley
Staffordshire

Source: Series Letterbooks of Morton Allport (ALL19)
Start Date 07 Aug 1874 End Date 08 Jul 1876
Links: Book 5. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-5

National Library of Australia
Baily, H. H. (1866). [Portrait of Truganini]
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136734375

TRANSCRIPT Book 5
Page 213

26th Decr. 5 [1875]

Dear Sir,
Enclosed are two of the Photographs of Truganina by Baily which gives a very good idea of her actual appearance at the present time as she has quite recovered from her recent illness and may remain the last of her race many years.

Yours sincerely
Morton Allport [sender]

Dr. J. Barnard Davis [addressee]
Shelton Hanley
Staffordshire

Source: Series Letterbooks of Morton Allport (ALL19)
Start Date 07 Aug 1874 End Date 08 Jul 1876
Links: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/ALL19-1-5

Morton ALLPORT & the NEVIN family
Morton Allport took photographs of his wife Elizabeth (Ritchie) Allport (1835-1925) at all stages of their marriage until his death in 1878 but none quite so appealing has survived as this photograph taken of her by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1875 at his studio, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town:

Portrait of Elizabeth Allport nee Ritchie (1835-1925)
Photographer: T. J. Nevin Photographic Artist ca. 1876
Location: 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town
Details: full-length carte-de-visite, albumen print
Verso bears T. J. Nevin's government contractor stamp with Royal insignia
Scans are courtesy of © The Liam Peters Collection 2010. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Allport 1875 by T. J. Nevin verso

MacDonald, Helen (2004) 'The Bone Collectors', New Literatures Review, 42, October 2004, pp.45-56

Plomley, N. J. B., (1962) A list of Tasmanian Aboriginal material in collections in Europe (Launceston, Tas.: Museum Committee, Launceston City Council, 1962), 18 pp.

Turnbull, Paul (2007). Scientific theft of remains in colonial Australia - Australian Indigenous Law Review 7. https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/AUIndigLawRw/2007/7.html

Among the skeletons that Allport stole from the Flinders Island cemetery was the near complete skeleton of a Tasmanian man that he presented to the Anthropological Society of London in 1873. The skeleton is now among the remains at the Natural History Museum sought by the TAC.

Turnbull, Paul (2008)'The lure of Aboriginal bodies - the polygenists', in B. Douglas & C. Ballard (eds) Foreign Bodies. Oceania and the Science of Race 1750-1940. ANU Press. 2008.

AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Correspondence:
Request for repatriation of human remains to Tasmania, 2005-2006

Plaster busts:
This is the plaster bust of Woureddy by Benjamin Law which Morton Allport assumes his addressee Dr Barnard Davis has a copy in the letter dated 8 August 1873. This copy of the cast is housed in the British Museum, together with Benjamin Law's plaster bust of Truganini. Copies of both busts are also held in the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Companion busts of Tasmanian Aborigines by Benjamin Law ,Hobart, 1835, held in the British Museum
Left: plaster bust of Woureddy
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_2009-2025-2
Right: plaster bust of Truganini
Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?keyword=truganini

The British Museum also holds a photographic print of a skeleton of a male Tasmanian Aborigine which Morton Allport shipped to the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, in 1871:

Description
Photograph of a skeleton of a Tasmanian Aborigine, held upright by a metal mount, standing in a room with a curtain beside it.

Dimensions
Height: Height: 36 centimetres
Width: Width: 23.70 centimetres

Inscriptions
Inscription type: Inscription position: bottom right
Inscription content: Skeleton of Tasmanian man. No. 1761+
Inscription note: Handwritten in ink. Writing appears to be that of Joseph Barnard Davis.

Curator's comments
The inscription No. 1761+ refers to the work by J. Barnard Davis, Supplement to Thesaurus Craniorum London, 1875 which lists at p.63:

'15. 1761+ Tasmania...This perfect and truly grand specimen of a Tasmanian skeleton was presented by Mr Morton ALLPORT. The further measurements will be given in a Table at the end of the volume (Appendix B).

The skeletons of Tasmanian Aboriginal people were highly sought after in the nineteenth century and many acts of grave robbing were committed to acquire them. In 1871 Hobart solicitor Morton Allport shipped a complete skeleton of a Tasmanian Aborigine to London to the Royal Anthropological Institute. This was considered special as no European institution then possessed a complete Tasmanian skeleton. Plomley (1962:5) in his study of Tasmanian Aboriginal collections in Europe, published by the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery states that this skeleton was sold to the Natural History Museum in 1898. The RAI Council minute 14 June 1898 records it was sold to the NHM for £100 in 1898.

Plomley (1962:3) also states that Joseph Barnard Davis had a complete skeleton of a Tasmanian Aborigine and other material. The skeletal material was sold to the Royal College of Surgeons and this was largely destroyed in the war.

Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_2017-2004-5

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Mugshots of Women Prisoners, Tasmania 1897-1910

Elizabeth ORLANDO, murder charge and MUGSHOT
Booking shots of WOMEN in hats, 1890s-1910, HOBART GAOL
MARION camera, Hobart Gaol 1890s

Marion's Excelsior Camera, 22 & 23 Soho Sq., London WW1D 3QR
The firm operated from this address between c.1866 - 1913.
Held at Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site, Campbell St., site of the former Hobart Gaol and Supreme Court.
Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2015 ARR

This camera was used by the (as yet) unidentified photographer at the Hobart Gaol from the 1890s. Prior to the 1890s, prisoners were photographed by Constable John Nevin who was resident and salaried at H.M. Gaol until his death from typhoid fever in 1891, working with his brother, commercial photographer, government contractor and civil servant Thomas J. Nevin who attended the gaol and Supreme Court Oyer and Terminer sessions on a monthly and quarterly roster. One of two rooms used by the photographers at the Hobart Gaol was located above the women's laundry. Before it was demolished in 1915, government contractor John Watt Beattie salvaged the majority of photographs taken by Thomas J. Nevin in the 1870s from the laundry and the Sheriff's Office. He displayed them at his "Port Arthur Museum", located in Hobart, and toured them at intercolonial exhibitions from the Royal Hotel, Sydney, 1916 in conjunction with convictaria exhibited on the floating museum, the fake convict ship Success.

1897: Elizabeth Orlando aka Eliza Poole
In 1887 Elizabeth Orlando stabbed to death her husband Victor Orlando at the breakfast table in Mrs Parker's lodging house, Campbell St. Hobart, Tasmania. She was sentenced to life in prison. She was previously known to police as Eliza Poole, charged with minor offences.

1887: sentenced to life

TRANSCRIPT

THE INQUEST.
An inquest touching the death of Victor Orlander, or Orlando, was hold this afternoon before Mr. P. W. Mitchell, coroner, and a jury of seven, of whom Mr. G. F. Hiddlestone was foreman.

The jury viewed the body, after which the following evidence was elicited.
Dr. C. J. Parkinson deposed that the cause of deceased's death was loss of blood from a deep wound behind the left ear.
Mrs. Mary Parker deposed she was proprietress of Parker's lodging-house in Campbell-street, where she resided with her husband; deceased and his wife had been staying in witness's lodgings; last Monday week deceased went there alone and lodged, and the following Monday his wife went there also; and they boarded and lodged together until that morning; they sometimes quarrelled they would go out sober and return under the influence of drink, and then quarrelled. Mrs. Orlander used to aggravate deceased, who seemed a very quiet man; on Thursday night they quarrelled more than usual, and thinking they had better be separated, witness between 12 p.m. and 1 am. that morning separated them, taking Mrs. Orlander into her own room and leaving deceased down stairs; when witness arose at 8 that morning deceased and his wife had left the house; at 8.45 they returned deceased went into the kitchen and asked for breakfast; so did accused; the table was already laid, knives, forks etc., being upon it; Orlander and his wife were sitting at the table, the wife being on his left hand; upon Mrs. Orlander also asking for breakfast, deceased said three times -" No, she shall not have any;" witness said to Mrs. Orlander, "Take no notice, he is only joking;" she then served Mrs. Orlander's breakfast, and then turned her back to where they were sitting, in order to attend to the household work at another table; she next went to the door, and was going to an adjoining room, when, hearing a scuffle, she turned round, and saw Mrs. Orlander with a table knife in her hand, though still sitting down; she appeared to be prodding deceased in the neck; witness thought at first that Mrs. Orlander was doing this for a lark, but on the third thrust she noticed blood spurt, and exclaimed, "Oh my God, the man is stabbed ;" she could not say that at the first or second thrust the knife entered deceased's neck, but she saw the third thrust enter the flesh, and saw Mrs. Orlander pull the knife out from the wound; a man named Clark was in the room at the same time, sitting at another table; witness raised the alarm, and some lodgers came out of an adjoining room, and took deceased to the hospital; deceased said nothing; nor made any noise whatever; witness took the knife, which was stained for 4in. in blood and wiped it; she subsequently gave it to the police; after deceased was removed Mrs. Orlander was like a mad woman about the house, and in ten minutes time went up stairs where she remained until the police came; when deceased came in to breakfast they did not appear much under the influence of drink : they knew what they were doing; the wife appeared more sober than the husband, who was perhaps half drunk; she had never heard Mrs. Orlander use any threats or acts of violence against her husband beyond the fact that she would strike him, which she did with her closed hand.
To the Coroner - No time elapsed between the three thrusts; they being made immediately after each other.
John Edwards deposed he was a licensed victualler residing at Bothwell; he knew Mrs. Orlander for between four and five years, and deceased for about three or four years; deceased was a labourer; they lived together as man and wife at Bothwell, where they were married three years ago; they were absent from Bothwell for 11 months, but returned to Bothwell three months ago; they lived a very unhappy life ; witness attributed their unhappiness to drink on the part of the wife; he never knew any violence occur between them;; he saw them together in Bothwell about 16 days ago; Mrs. Orlander there received a sentence of 14 days imprisonment for abusive language towards another female, and was sent to the Hobart lock-up; deceased remained in Bothwell for two or three days, and then witness missed him; he next saw them together on Thursday morning, about 10 o'clock, in a hotel in the city; he saw them again that (Friday) morning; between 8 and 9 that morning deceased was walking up Campbell-street towards Parker's lodging-house; he appeared to be perfectly sober; witness also saw Mrs. Orlander sitting in the bar of Clay's Union hotel smoking a pipe, and she seemed to be quite stupid from drink; he had often seen her in liquor; when in that condition she seemed to become perfectly mad.
John Clark, a labourer, deposed he lodged and boarded in Parker's lodging house; he was in the same room as the Orlander's when they were having breakfast that morning, but he was not observing them; hearing Mrs. Parker scream, he looked round and saw Mrs .Orlander draw a knife away from the neck of deceased, from which blood was spurting.
Richard Webb, a cook lodging at Parker's lodging-house, deposed to that morning hearing cries of "she has stabbed him" repeated twice, coming from the direction of the kitchen ; he hurried to the spot, and saw deceased sitting at the table and blood issuing from a severe wound in the neck, and also from his mouth; he then, with the assistance of others, conveyed him to the hospital.
Mr . P. Pedder, superintendent of police, deposed to arresting Mrs. Orlander at Parker's house. She was in a half stupid state; there was a quantity of blood on her hands; with Constable Chomley he took her to the police-station ; she asked where her husband was; witness replied that her husband was dead, and he would charge her with the murder; she became distressed and said her husband had been kind to her.
This concluded the evidence, and the coroner summed up. The jury, after a few moments retirement, returned a verdict of " guilty of manslaughter." Mrs Orlander was present during the taking of the evidence but asked no questions . The inquiry commenced at 4.30 pm. and terminated at 8 pm.

PRESS REPORTS
THE INQUEST. (1887, February 26). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899) p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39527652
SHOCKING TRAGEDY. (1887, February 26). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39527649

1897: sentence commuted
Elizabeth Orlando aka Eliza Poole was tried and imprisoned for murder at the Supreme Court Hobart, sentenced to life on 29 March 1887. Her Hobart Gaol rap sheet shows she was photographed (in prison dress) on 22 December 1897 and discharged on 23 December 1897. The photo's registration number was "793" and dated "22 .12. 97". The annotation in red ink at the foot on this record, not quite legible, is - Dis ? charged to the Probation - ? Launceston - see "Ticket of Leave".

Elizabeth Orlando prisoner Tasmania 1897

Orlando, Elizabeth identical with Eliza Poole
Record Type: Prisoners
Year: 1895-1897
Record ID:NAME_INDEXES:1450014
Resource: GD128/1/2
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/NamesIndex/1450014

1890s: discharged but "Photo not taken"
In this Hobart Gaol series - Book No. 1 GD63/2/1 - the records of men and women prisoners showing their discharge dates in the 1890s are listed in the same volume. Many of the men's records include a full-frontal mugshot with arms folded across their chest.

The women's records have a pencilled note written in the Remarks column - "Photo not taken" - which may have been written years, even decades later, including this record for Elizabeth Orlando aka Eliza Poole dated 22 December 1897. Yet she was photographed on discharge, as the record above clearly shows. A number of women, and a few were violent offenders like Elizabeth Orlando, must have been photographed on admission and discharge from the Hobart Gaol in the 1870s-1890s, but their photographs are yet to surface. Elizabeth Orlando's photograph has survived probably because she was released on probation with a ticket-of-leave. The last contemporary note in the Remarks column on her record states: "To freedom by Ticket of leave: 22 December 1897."

Discharged: prisoner Elizabeth Orlando
Pencilled inscription: Remarks - "Photo not taken"
Murder conviction SC on 29 March 1887, sentenced to life, commutation
"To freedom by Ticket of leave: 22 December 1897"
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/GD63-2-1/GD63-2-1P146JPG

1906-8: women prisoners in hats
Mugshots taken of women imprisoned at the Hobart Gaol were commonplace by the early 1900s. They were routinely photographed even if their sentence was little more than a week, a fortnight or month, and for the most minor offences such as indecent language and riotous behaviour. The pose and dress of the prisoner in these series differ only slightly. Many wore their own hats, some wore the prison standard issue striped dress and straw boater. The dress code of the era proscribed a hat as a customary item of clothing, a social marker of personality and propriety, and retained as such to aid further identification in booking shots. Clearly, by this decade, the Bertillon method of posing the prisoner for two photographs, one in profile and one full-frontal facing the camera, was conventional procedure, augmented with a numerical classification of the prisoner's fingerprints.

SERIES (1904-5):
Archives Office of Tasmania POL708-1-1
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/POL708-1-1

Prisoner Susan Brooks, or Williams
Photo: Inscribed Susannah Brooks, 19-6-1912, i.e. dated 19 June 1912
Discharged from the Hobart Gaol 26 April 1913, record date 12 May 1913
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-3/POL708-1-3P08JPG

In this series for the years 1906-1908, the booking shot in many cases showed each woman still dressed in her own clothes and wearing her own hat in profile, but bare-headed for the full-frontal pose. Some showed the backs of their hands if tattooed. Mugshots taken two years earlier, in the years 1904 and 1905, showed women already wearing the striped prison dress, no hats, in both the full frontal and profile shots.

Prisoner May Evans, sentenced to 7 days for indecent language, Hobart Police Office
Date when photo was taken: 28 April 1908, stamped 26 May 1908
Link:https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P19J2K

MORE EXAMPLES:
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P35J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P76J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P89J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P107J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P136J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P147J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P149J2K

Prisoner Lily Lavelle, prostitution, riotous behaviour
Photo dated 28 August 1905, discharge stamped 1 Feb 1907
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P150J2K

MORE EXAMPLES
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P154J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P161J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P208J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P226J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P237J2K 1905 no hat prison dress
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P258J2K ditto

Prisoner Margaret Steele, sentences from 1902 to 1905
Photo dated 1st April 1905, wearing prison dress
Record: POL708-1-1P278J2K

MORE EXAMPLES
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P278J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P279J2K ditto
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P286J2K
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/POL708-1-1/POL708-1-1P304J2K 1904 no hat prison dress

ANOTHER SERIES
Series: GD63 PRISONERS RECORD BOOKS.
Item Number: GD63/1/1 (Book No. 2).
Further Description: Start Date: 01 Jan 1892. End Date: 31 Dec 1894
Link:https://stors.tas.gov.au/GD63-1-1

Prisoner Ellen Wilson alias Jones, sentences between 1893 and November 1919
Photo dated 10 January 1910
Record: GD63-1-1P747

Prisoner Isabella Keating, sentences from 1894 to 1914
Photo dated 1911 wearing prison dress and hat
Record: GD63-1-1P427

Prisoner Harriet Hardwicke or Cooper, sentences from 1994 to 1906
Photo dated 15 October 1906
Record: GD63-1-1P432

Prisoner Margaret Smith, sentences from 1892 to 1907
Photo dated 11 February 1907
Record: GD63-1-1P011

Prisoner Ann Kegan, sentences 1990 and 1993
The photo has been removed.
Record: GD63-1-1P248

"YOU MUST PROVE US PROSTITUTES"
Michael Lennen wrote this letter to the Superintendent of Police in May 1876 about two "little prostitutes" soliciting "boys" in Goulburn Street, Hobart Town. He claimed the girls were known - not only to him because one lived next door and the other opposite - they were also "well-known to all the men in the force" . Since, as he claimed, one of the girls called Lilias lived in a brothel, that brothel was either next to his house or opposite in the same street. His intention might have been to suggest to the Superintendent of Police that he was witness to policemen frequenting the brothel at their personal pleasure. Possibly, or simply that he wanted the two girls arrested, the brothel shut down, and peace restored to his street. All he needed, quoting the girls themselves - "you must prove us prostitutes" - was proof. If not proven, they could be charged with "riotous behaviour" and "indecent language", or being "idle and disorderly", sentenced to 7 days, a fortnight or a month in prison. The weekly police gazettes - Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police - do record a handful of female teenagers with these offences who faced court in Hobart from May to November 1876.

TRANSCRIPT (punctuation not the writer's strongpoint)

1876
Michael Lennen

Hobart Town
Monday 15 May 1876

Sir
I have to report for your information that I was in Goulburn street on Monday the 8th May I saw two females misconducting themselves I cautioned them I said you little prostitutes get away from this and let the boys go about their business they answered you must prove us prostitutes I said I could easily do that I have had to speak to yous on many occasions they then went away I know the girl Lilias to live in a brothel and they are both bad characters

TRANSCRIPT cont ...

well known to all the men in the force I make this statement as truth as one lives next door to me and the other opposite

Yours most Respectfully
Michael Lennen

The superintendant
of Police
Hobart Town

Source: Draft Minutes of the Police Committee
MCC16/63/1/1
9 Nov 1867-17 Feb 1879
Accessed 31 March 2014
Archives Office of Tasmania
Photos copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014

Women detained under the Licensing Act, UK 1902.
Whether in Tasmania or London or Birmingham, women prisoners were uniformly photographed wearing their own hats in the first decade of the 20th century. These women were processed under the Metropolitan Police District Habitual Drunkards Licensing Act 1902.

Sources: Library of Birmingham and National Archives UK
Link:https://www.search.birminghamimages.org.uk/details.aspx?ResourceID=11596

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Nevin family telegram 1942 on the passing of Mary Sophia Axup

Mary Sophia AXUP nee DAY (1853-1942)
Emily M. (DAVIS) and Albert E. NEVIN
Grandchildren of Elizabeth Rachel (DAY) and Thomas J. NEVIN

Grand-daughters of photographer Thomas J. Nevin and Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin, sister of Mary Sophia (Day) Axup
Left: Husband and wife Bert Morris and Eva (Nevin) Morris with Eva's sister Hilda Nevin (extreme right), Sydney 1940s
Right: Sisters Hilda Nevin and Eva (Nevin) Morris with Eva's husband Bert (Albert) Morris, Sydney 1940s

Verso: Mark Foy's Ltd PolyFoto Studio, Sydney NSW
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2024

The Telegram, 19 June 1942
This telegram signed "Mother" was sent from the North Hobart Post Office (Tasmania) by Emily Maud (Davis) Nevin (1891-1971), wife of Albert E. Nevin (1888-1955), who was the youngest son born to Elizabeth R. (Day) Nevin (1847-1914) and photographer Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923).

The intended recipient at Camperdown, Sydney was Emily and Albert Nevin's second eldest daughter Hilda Maud Nevin who was born in Hobart Tasmania (1919-2007) but moved to Sydney NSW in the 1930s to join their eldest married daughter Eva Elizabeth (Nevin) Morris (b. Hobart, 1917- d. Melb. 2008) and husband Albert Frederick (Bert) Morris (b. Birmingham UK 1917-d. Melb. 1997).

"Mother" - Emily Maud (Davis) Nevin with son-in-law Bert Morris and Christmas pudding
Family photographer, unattributed, 1940s, Hobart, Tasmania
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2024

The message simply stated that their aunt, Mary Sophia (Day) Axup, sister of Hilda and Eva's grand-mother Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin, had died. Known as "Aunty Axup", Mary Sophia Day was in fact the great-aunt of Hilda, Eva and their siblings, not their aunt. She was called Aunt Axup and Aunty Axup by all members of the Nevin family, regardless of generational level mainly because she lived a very long life (died in 1942, 90 yrs old, born in 1853.) Referred to by her surname "Axup" rather than "Aunt Mary" was to avoid confusion with their father's two sisters called Mary: their aunt Mary Ann known as Minnie, the youngest and their aunt Mary Florence known as May, the eldest. Mary Sophia (Day) Axup was Thomas J. Nevin's sister-in-law, a close family member among many he photographed in the 1860s-1870s, yet no early photograph identifiably taken by him of Mary Sophia Day, his wife's only sister, has surfaced in all the memorabilia held by descent. Photographs taken of her in her senior years are held in the private collections of Axup, Davis and Nevin families' descendants.

From left to right:
Minnie Drew (nee Mary Ann Nevin) Thomas & Elizabeth Nevin's youngest daughter
Mary Sophia Axup nee Day, sister of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day and aunt of Minnie and May
Eva Baldwin nee Axup, Mary Sophia Axup's eldest daughter
and May (Mary Florence Elizabeth) Nevin, Thomas and Elizabeth's Nevin's eldest daughter
Taken ca. 1939. Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collections 2009 and 2020 ARR.

TELEGRAM COVER with ADVERTISEMENT

TRANSCRIPT

TIME - BY TELEPHONE!

__________________

You can ascertain the correct time readily by telephone.

From Automatic Telephones - Dial the service code for "Time

of day" shown in the front pages of the Telephone Directory.

From Manual Telephones - Call the local exchange.

A unit call fee only is charged.

_______________________________________________________________________

NOTE. - The standard time for the Eastern States of Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania

is half an hour in advance of the standard time for South Australia and two hours in advance of the standard time for Western Australia
_______________________________________________________________________

TELEGRAM RECEIVED, 12.55 pm NSW

TRANSCRIPT

RECEIVED TELEGRAM CAMPERDOWN N.S.W. 19 JE 42

The first line of this telegram contains the following

particulars in the order named.

Office of Origin Words Time Lodged

11. HOBART NORTH TAS 15 12.55p

__________________________________________________________________________

Remarks. | To

This message has been received [etc] MISS H NEVIN

52 DENISON ST CAMPERDOWN NSW

__________________________________________________________________________

AUNTY A X U P PASSED AWAY LAST NIGHT

MOTHER

4 16RS

__________________________________________________________________________

Telegram 19 June 1942
"To - Miss H Nevin, 52 Denison St Camperdown NSW"
"Aunty Axup passed away last night , Mother"
Courtesy the Estate of Hilda (Nevin) Warren
Copyright © KLW NFC Group 2011

Axup obituaries

Mary Sophia Axup (nee Day) outside the Bank of NSW (Sydney?) ca. 1939
Photograph strip cut from the original, now lost.
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collections 2020.

Axup, Mary Sophia: Mercury (Hobart, Tas.) Tuesday 30 June 1942, page 4
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25886744

Axup, Mary Sophia: Examiner (Launceston, Tas.) Thursday 25 June 1942, page 5
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91523621

Axup, Hector Horatio Charles: Examiner (Launceston, Tas.) Wednesday 30 November 1927, page 6
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51451333

Mrs. M. S. Axup (1942, June 30). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas) p. 4.
Link:https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25886744

TRANSCRIPT

Mrs M. S. AXUP
An old Hobart resident, Mrs. M. S. Axup, died in Northcote, Victoria, recently while on a visit to her son. She was in her 90th year, having been born at Lenah Valley in 1853. A daughter of the late Capt. James Day who sailed his own vessel, trading between Hobart and the Mainland before the advent of steam, she married a seafaring man, Capt. H. C. Axup, well known in shipping circles and the Launceston pilot until his death some years ago.
The deceased was interested in church and charity organisations until a few months ago. She left two sons and two daughters, and a great number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A feature of the funeral service was that the coffin was carried by four of her grandsons, all in uniform, representing the three services. The services at the church and graveside were conducted by her son-in-law, the Rev. P.W Baldwin. Toc H padre.

Obituary, Mrs M.S. Axup, Mercury 30 June 1942
Courtesy the Estate of Hilda (Nevin) Warren
Copyright © KLW NFC Group 2011

OBITUARY MRS H. C. AXUP
An old Tasmanian native, Mrs Axup. widow of the late Captain H. C. Axup, died last week while on a visit to her son in Northcote. Victoria. She was in her 90th year. She was born in Hobart. and was the daughter of Captain James Day. who sailed his own ship between Hobart and mainland long before the days of steam. Her husband was well known in Tasmanian shipping circles, having been for years in the pilot service. He was a frequent contributor to "The Examiner" under the name of "Old Salt." Up to the day of her death Mrs. Axup was an active worker for church and social welfare organisations. and had a wide circle of friends. She leaves two sons, two daughters, 14 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

OBITUARY (1942, June 25). Examiner (Launceston, Tas.), p. 5 (LATE NEWS EDITION).
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91523621

Hector Charles James Horatio Axup (1843-1927)
Undated and unattributed, ca. 1880s.
Photo courtesy and copyright © Suzy Baldwin.

LATE CAPTAIN H. C. AXUP
The funeral of Captain H. C. Axup, who died at the Public Hospital on Sunday evening in his 85th year, took place yesterday afternoon, when a large cortege followed the hearse to Carr Villa Cemetery. Included were Messrs. N. Clements and W. D. Thompson, the two surviving members of the pilot station, who were associated with Captain Axup in that work. Many wreaths were received, including tributes from the Northern Totalisator Staffs Association, "The Examiner" and "The WeekIy Courier" office staffs, the R.A.N. Sports Club, St. John's Guild, and Mrs. Royal Holyman. The chief mourners were Messrs. S. V. Axup, of Melbourne, and Harold E. Axup, of Launceston (sons), and Messrs. T. and A. Nevin, of Hobart (nephews). The service at the graveside was conducted by Rev. F. L. Wyman. Mr. T. J. Johnston, 20 Hampden-street, writes:—Many were the expressions of sadness when it became known over the week-end that Mr. Axup had gone to his reward. I say "his reward," because I believe if it could be said of anyone in sure and certain hope it could be said of him. He lived a long and a useful life, and if there was one thing more conspicuous in use-fulness than another it was the many contributions of his pen to the columns of your widely read paper. As the Divine recorder has it, "Truly his pen was the pen of a ready writer; and whilst he wrote on any subject, on none did he wield his pen more trenchantly than in defence of Holy Writ, as he was often pleased to term it. He felt as many feel, that if ever there was a time when many should "he set for the defence of the Gospel" it is now, when the Scriptures are being attacked openly as they have been recently from every side. It never could be said of him, as it is said of many, that he lacked courage in these matters. He will be better known to your many readers by the pen name of "Old Salt."

LATE CAPTAIN H. C. AXUP (1927, November 30). Examiner (Launceston, Tas), p. 6 (DAILY).
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51451333

Addenda: Telegraphy

Tasmania 1866
In late April, 1866, photographer Alfred Bock was at the Port Arthur prison site on the Tasman Peninsula, 60 kms south of Hobart at the request of its Commandant, James Boyd. Alfred Bock's studio - The City Photographic Establishment - at 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobart, was manned by his junior colleague Thomas J. Nevin and his apprentice, younger brother William Bock, in his absence. Alfred Bock's mission at Port Arthur was to provide a series of landscapes and portraits of officials. However, it was photographer Samuel Clifford, Nevin's friend and collaborator of Liverpool Street, Hobart, who was the source and supplier of photographic materials to the Port Arthur prison administration, in this instance for Alfred Bock in April 1866, and again in August 1873, when Clifford himself visited the prison site.

Alfred Bock sent Samuel Clifford an urgent telegram from Port Arthur on 27th April 1866 requesting 24 dry plates - panoramic. The details of the telegram were recorded as -

March -May 1866 Account of Private Telegrams
Date 27th April, No. 269, Alfred Bock to Mr Clifford Liverpool St. H. Town,
"Send down 24 dry Plates Panoramic. by the Shannon, at once. - Reply."

Mr. James Boyd, 1866
Creator(s): Bock, Alfred, 1835-1920
Location: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Library/SD_ILS-609489

Read more in this post here.

Prohibition during war-time, December 1942
West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Wednesday 16 December 1942, page 2
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47358286

GREETING TELEGRAMS.
Period of Prohibition.
To obviate congestion of the telegraph system, which is already occupied to capacity with traffic vital to the conduct of the war, it has been necessary, under National Security Regulations, to prohibit acceptance between December 19 and January 1 of telegrams containing Christmas and New Year greetings. The only exception will be those addressed to or lodged by members of the forces. Telegraphic greetings to and from members of the'. forces should be lodged before Saturday next December 19, to ensure delivery before Christmas. In making this announcement, the Postmaster-General (Senator Ashley) points out that if the normal volume of telegraphic traffic were handled during the forthcoming Christmas season there would be danger of seriously jeopardising the efficient functioning of the telegraph service. He asks the public to assist his department in avoiding congestion of the telegraphic channels between now and Christmas by sending telegrams, other than greeting messages, only when unavoidable, and then by making lodgements as early as possible before Christmas Day.

Telegraphy 1901-1993
Source: History of telegraphy in Australia
Extract from Wikipedia page [footnotes etc omitted]
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_telegraphy_in_Australia

Federation: peak and decline
Following the federation of Australia in 1901, the Postmaster-General's Department was established to take over from the states all postal and telegraphic services and administer them on a national basis. The PMG Department progressively improved telegraphic equipment. In 1905, the use of Wheatstone equipment on the Adelaide and Perth routes improved speed to 220 words per minute. By 1922, the Murray Multiplex System allowed one line to be used for eight transmissions at the speed of 50 words per transmission per minute.

As World War II threatened the Northern Territory in 1942, and Japanese forces moved through Java and Timor, the Allies were afraid that Japan would use the telegraph service to eavesdrop on communications with the rest of the world, so the submarine connection from Darwin to Java was cut.

Telegram usage continued to climb within Australia, peaking at 35 million messages per annum in 1945. Thereafter, the telephone continuously eroded the use of telegrams, both because of the relative price of the two services and network service improvements. Additionally, from 1954, teleprinters handled more and more traffic. In 1959, an automated switching system (TRESS) further enhanced the utility of teleprinters by allowing messages that were centrally directed to be automatically retransmitted to their final destination without the need for a human operator. The last telegraph message sent exclusively by land line was sent in mid-1963, and the final message using a land line for any section of its passage was sent in 1964.

By 1975 telegram usage had halved from its 1945 level. The last morse code message on the eastern seaboard was sent in early 1963. In 1993, Australia Post discontinued its letter-gram service, which consisted of postage delivery "telegrams"; that is, messages typed as a genuine telegram, and delivered in the same manner (although never transmitted over telegraph lines)

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Thomas Nevin's studio decor: the lady's slipper chair

Studio portraits with slipper chairs - Hobart, Tasmania 1860s-1870s
Photographers George CHERRY, Thomas J. NEVIN, Alfred BOCK, Charles A. WOOLLEY, H. H. BAILY

History of the slipper chair

A slipper chair is simply an armless upholstered chair that has short legs so that it sits closer to the ground. When it first made its appearance in the early 18th century, this low-slung chair was used in women's bedrooms as seating, and it was often used when maids helped them put on their shoes, or slippers, as they were then often called. Hence the name. These smallish upholstered chairs stayed discreetly in the bedroom until the 1950s, when American designer Billy Baldwin brought them into the living room and added the option of box pleats at the bottom to hide the legs.

Source online: https://www.thespruce.com/slipper-chair-1391618

"Vintage Orange Vinyl Slipper Chair" early 1950s
Source: https://circaberkshires.com/product/vintage-orange-vinyl-slipper-chair/

The lady's slipper chair in Tasmanian studios 1870s - why so shiny? Were they slipper-y!

Thomas J. Nevin's slipper chairs
In many studio portraits taken at the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town by Thomas Nevin into the mid 1870s, the shiny slipper chair is an eye-grabber. With every year passing, the leather - what else could it be? - acquired a higher and higher sheen. In one photograph below, of a young man posing with Nevin's big tabletop stereoscopic viewer, the partially uncovered seat of the slipper chair might indicate the chair was of different fabric to the leather cover, and that a change of cover was underway for cleaning. Lemon, vinegar, alcohol or other acidic preparations were used to cleanse and disinfect leather chair covers. The animal or plant used in making the cover, and the method of rendering such a high sheen was achieved with oil-based soaps and polishes derived from plants such as olives, though these would have stained women's dresses, so too would wax derived from candles.

Used by men, women and children according to their height, the slipper chair - also known as the "low chair" and "nursing chair" - in 19th century studio sittings provided a handy means of support for the standing subject while waiting for exposure of the image on the glass negative. For the sitting subject, especially women of shorter stature, their preference to relax and rest their weary feet on the floor was convenable to the photographer's need to see them steadied and ready than have them standing rigidly posed for minutes on end.

Provenance of Thomas Nevin's slipper chair
All these portraits taken by commercial photographer Thomas J. Nevin and his contemporaries working in Hobart studios (see Addenda below) during the 1860s-1870s featured a lady's slipper chair, and in two portraits shown here, possibly the same chair or one of an identical pair. George Cherry's photograph of his slipper chair accommodating Jane (Gosling) James (see Addenda below) appears to be the same chair - and carpet - in two photographs taken by Thomas J. Nevin, the first of his brother Jack (William John) Nevin ca. 1865, and second, of an unidentified man (Unidentified Man No. 2, Lucy Batchelor Album). Both of these photographs may have been taken by Thomas J. Nevin, perhaps at Cherry's studio on the eve of Cherry's auction of Friday 5th August 1864. On offer were Cherry's "Photographic Plant, Household Furniture, Paintings, Pictures, and various Effects" for sale. Thomas J. Nevin may have acquired Cherry's "photographic plant" and studio furniture in 1864 which he then complemented with stock from Alfred Bock's assets sold at auction in 1867, including the glasshouse and lease of the studio from builder A. Biggs (resident by then in Victoria) at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart (Tasmania). Or perhaps they were acquired first by Alfred Bock who then sold them at auction on departing Tasmania. By the 1870s, a different slipper chair and different carpets featured in Nevin's studio decor.

YOUNG, CASUAL and GEORGEOUS, brother Jack Nevin, 1865
This slipper chair does look like George Cherry's, likewise the carpet, but the fact that the subject is Thomas Nevin's younger brother Jack Nevin, aged 13 years here, would strongly suggest that the photographer was indeed older brother Thomas Nevin, taken ca. 1865. Read more about this photograph and Jack Nevin here.

Subject: William John Nevin (1852-1891), known as Jack to the family
and known as Constable John Nevin from 1870 to his death in 1891.
Photographer: older brother Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)
Location: City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town, Tasmania.
Date: ca. 1865, Jack Nevin here is barely a teenager, 13 years old.
Details: full-length carte-de-visite, albumen print, sepia toned. Verso is blank.
Studio decor features the carpet and shiny leather slipper chair from George Cherry's studio.
Source: Sydney Rare Books Auctions 2019
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2020 Private Collection. Watermarked.

JOHN NEVIN snr the POET and father, 1870
In Thomas Nevin's studio, the position and pose of his adult clients in relation to his slipper chair were largely decided by gender: women sat on the chair, men stood beside it mainly because it was too low for those of even average height with long legs. There was one exception. Thomas photographed his father John Nevin snr seated on the slipper chair, writing in an open notebook propped up on the table with the griffin-shaped legs. Behind the table, at right, the drape reveals just a suggestion of the painted wall-hanging with Italianate patio tiles and vista. Partial view of the chair's legs shows the front two were wood-turned and on casters, the back two were curved slightly outward. Read more about this photograph and John Nevin here.

Thomas Nevin's photograph of his father, John Nevin, ca. 1874.
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint (Shelverton Private Collection.)

THE SIDE ARMS 1870
This client (below) was a young man of comfortable means. His jacket was thoughtfully complimented with a white handkerchief in the breast pocket, his shirt was collared, his vest showed off fob chains, and his trousers were not yet worn at the knee. His hat was held modestly to his side in his right hand, his left hand resting on the top of the shiny slipper chair. All attire, clean and nearly new, was topped off with a clean shaven face and hair shortened to above the ears. Relaxed, this client openly gazed at the camera, perhaps listening to Thomas Nevin give directions or relate an anecdote. The shiny chair, turned away from the client, reveals its side arm structure to the viewer but is not of primary significance in attracting the viewer's attention.

[Above] Man (Unidentified Man No. 1, Lucy Batchelor Album) posing with slipper chair turned sideways
Full-length portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870-73
Scans courtesy of Robyn and Peter Bishop
Photograph ZZ, copyright © The Lucy Batchelor Collection 2009

This carte-de-visite by Thomas J. Nevin ca 1870-73 was submitted here courtesy of Robyn and Peter Bishop (2009) from their Lucy Batchelor Album (1892). It was scanned still in its original housing, inserted behind the cut-out frame of the album leaf, which accounts for its overall good condition.

Verso: Man (Unidentified Man No. 2, Lucy Batchelor Album) posing with slipper chair turned sideways
Full-length portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870-73
Scans courtesy of Robyn and Peter Bishop
Photograph ZZ, copyright © The Lucy Batchelor Collection 2009

Also from Lucy Batchelor's Album, late 1860s
This full-length cdv of an unidentified man with a chin-strap beard, wearing a bowtie and everyday street clothing, features the same slipper chair and carpet in George Cherry's studio portrait of his mother-in-law Jane (Gosling) James. But this photograph, collected into an album by Lucy Batchelor in 1892, held in the private collection of Robyn and Peter Bishop, bears no studio stamp or name to identify the photographer or indeed the man whose inclusion in a family album must have seemed important. The subject, in his 30s perhaps, was posed standing with his left arm over the curve of the slipper chair, and right hand pointing to it for reasons which are unclear, since both hands appear empty.

[Above] Man (Unidentified Man No. 2, Lucy Batchelor Album) posed standing with shiny slipper chair
Full-length portrait by George Cherry or Thomas J. Nevin
Photograph S.jpg. Scans courtesy of Robyn and Peter Bishop
Copyright © The Lucy Batchelor Collection 2009

FULL FRONTAL 1870

[Above] Man (unidentified) posing with slipper chair, both facing camera
Full-length portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2012

Pictured here is one of at least four different decor arrangements for studio portraiture by Thomas J. Nevin dating from the early 1870s. This session featured the shiny slipper chair, the lozenge-patterned carpet, and a very long damask drape dropped and spread across the tapis. When the drape was located on the viewer's right side of the frame, it was used to reveal a section of a back sheet painted with an Italianate patio and vista of a cart path next to a stream meandering into a distant horizon of low mountains. This particular client, a man in his thirties who wore crumpled trousers, white shirt and buttoned jacket with bulging pockets, had trimmed his chinstrap beard and flattened his hair to his head. He did his best. Thomas Nevin posed him standing, with right hand resting on the top of the chair, and left bent on his hip.

There's nothing especially noteworthy about this client, except that he may have been tall, certainly taller compared with Unidentified Man No. 1 (above), nor is there anything remarkable about the capture, but just look at that chair! So shiny! This cdv sold for $5 in 2012 at a second-hand bookshop in Battery Point, Hobart. Cheap, obviously because of its poor condition, it nevertheless affords a very clear full frontal view of the slipper chair. Its high sheen stands in stark contrast to the client's drab clothing. It is so shiny, in fact, it has a personality all its own. Turned to face the camera, it outshone the client with his frank stare, insistent pose, and grubby outfit.

Verso: Man (unidentified) posing with slipper chair, both facing camera
Full-length portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2012

SEAT COVER LOOSENED, ca. 1872-1876
This full- length portrait of young man received the full treatment: first in terms of four key pieces of studio equipment - the box stereoscopic viewer, the table with the griffin-shaped legs, the drape to the viewer's right, the lozenge patterned light floor covering (tapis) and the shiny slipper chair; and second, in terms of the colouring - a dab of blue or violet on the bowtie, and crimson on the drape - which may have cost extra if applied in the studio, if not applied later by the client himself.

The partially uncovered seat of the slipper chair might indicate a change of cover was underway, or a cleaning of the seat. Since this photograph carries verso Thomas J. Nevin's government contractor stamp incorporating his Royal Colonial warrant, his client here was most likely an employee of the Hobart City Council, the Lands and Survey Dept, or the Municipal Police Office, Hobart Town Hall. Officials and their family members all made use of Thomas J. Nevin's commissioned status to provide them with stereographic views and carte-de-visite portraits.

A relative lack of creases at the elbows and knees would suggest this young man's suit was almost new. A dark spot on his right lapel might indicate the colourist's attempt to show a blue velvet revere collar, while on his left lapel there appears to be a badge of sorts. Attached to his vest is a small watch on a fob chain. This cdv too is in poor condition. Its value lies less in what it reveals about men's fashions than the information it can convey about the history of colouring in the new media and the instrumental means by which to best view it. In this era, the most affordable visual entertainment was stereoscopy.

Young man (unidentified) with table box stereograph viewer and shiny chair with loose cover
Full-length portrait, tinted violet and crimson
Photographer: Thomas Nevin ca. 1873
Verso printed with Nevin's Royal Arms government contractor stamp
Scans © The Private Collection of John and Robyn McCullagh 2006.

Verso: Young man (unidentified) with table box stereograph viewer and shiny chair
Full-length portrait, tinted violet and crimson
Photographer: Thomas Nevin ca. 1873,
Verso printed with Nevin's Royal Arms government contractor stamp
Scans © The Private Collection of John and Robyn McCullagh 2006

HIGH GLOSS GREEN for NEEDLEWOMAN, 1872

This full length and highly-coloured cdv on plain mount of a mature woman, unidentified but possibly Emmely Jean Giblin née Perkins, wife of Thomas Nevin's mentor and family solicitor, the Hon. W. R. Giblin, Attorney-General, was taken ca. 1872. This sitter on Nevin's shiny slipper chair wore a white floral head covering with ribbons, a plain dress with white bow and white cuffs. She posed with her sewing on her knee, at his table with the griffin-shaped legs where a portable pin cushion, books, and vase with flowers were placed. All key features - the chair, the carpet, the drape, the flowers, her lips, hat ribbons and cheeks - received intense colouring. Only the backdrop of an Italianate patio and vista of a cart path or river meandering into a low horizon was left untouched. This carte-de-visite ca. 1872 taken by T. Nevin late A. Bock, 140 Elizabeth St., Hobart Town may have been coloured by the purchaser, whether the client, or the client's descendants. Similar inept or heavy-handed colouring is evident on a private collection of Nevin's studios portraits originating from a family in northern Tasmania, and on another held at the QVMAG, Launceston. This item is held at the Archives Office of Tasmania, Hobart, included in a box with Thomas Nevin's carte-de-visite of Attorney-General W. R. Giblin, ca. 1872-74.

Studio portrait by Thomas Nevin ca, 1870 -1875
Verso with studio stamp: "Ad Altiora" above Kangaroo emblem, T. Nevin late A. Bock encircled by belt printed with "City Photographic Establishment" and address below, "140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". In italics below: "Further Copies can be obtained at any time".
TAHO Ref: PH31/439 [not digitised]
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2012 ARR

DIGNIFIED, CALM, PROFESSIONAL, 1876
This photograph taken by Thomas J. Nevin at his studio, the City Photographic Establishment of Elizabeth Allport (1835-1925) is arguably the finest portrait taken of her in her mature years. There is no other photograph - and there were many taken throughout her life - which reveals her sublime grace and character to this extent, a quality due in no small measure to the professional expertise of Thomas J. Nevin.

Elizabeth Allport was the elder daughter of Lieutenant Thomas Ritchie, wife of Morton Allport (1830–1878), mother of Curzona (Lily), Minnie, Cecil, Evett and Henry Allport, and a friend to the family of Thomas J. Nevin, his wife Elizabeth Rachel Day and his sister Mary Anne Nevin.

Subject: Elizabeth Allport nee Ritchie (1835-1925)
Photographer: T. J. Nevin Photographic Artist ca. 1876
Location: 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town
Details: full-length carte-de-visite, albumen print
Verso bears T. J. Nevin's government contractor stamp with Royal insignia
Scans are courtesy of © The Liam Peters Collection 2010. All rights reserved.

Verso of portrait of Elizabeth Allport nee Ritchie (1835-1925)
Photographer: T. J. Nevin Photographic Artist ca. 1876
Location: 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town
Details: full-length carte-de-visite, albumen print
Verso bears T. J. Nevin's government contractor stamp with Royal insignia
Scans are courtesy of © The Liam Peters Collection 2010. All rights reserved.

Some time near the end of 1875, Thomas J. Nevin produced this full length cdv on a plain buff mount of Elizabeth Allport at his Elizabeth Street studio. For this sitting she wore a strikingly handsome dark dress with white stripes and a frilled full bustle. Nevin positioned her on his polished leather slipper chair, turned slightly to his left, and invited her to gaze directly at him and his camera. She let her left hand rest on her dress, her right hand placed next to a vase in the shape of a hand holding a cornucopia on the small table with griffin-shaped legs which, like the slipper chair, were key items of Nevin's studio decor over the decade 1867-1876.

The verso of this cdv bears the Royal Arms colonial warrant insignia used by all government contractors of the period. Thomas Nevin's design for this stamp as distinct from his New Town stamp and impress, was more formal: his initials alone were used with his surname plus the designation "Photographic Artist" above the Royal Insignia signified that he was engaged in contractual work for the government while still operating as a commercial photographer from his Elizabeth St. studio. His contractor's stamp on the verso of Elizabeth Allport's portrait certifies this photograph as a sitting commissioned by her husband Morton Allport who represented the colonial government in many endeavours to do with fisheries, zoology, education, and photography at international and intercolonial exhibitions. Read more about Elizabeth (Ritchie) Allport here

SHINY, ON EDGE and ABOUT to LEAVE, mid 1870s
For this full length cdv on plain mount this sitter [unidentified woman] wore a short thick jacket with six metallic buttons over a dark dress buttoned up from the hem, a flat hat decorated with a large floral arrangement, and a brooch on a dark ribbon at her throat. She decided to keep her outdoor possessions in view for the capture, her closed umbrella and handbag held tight in gloved hands. She sat on Nevin's low slipper chair covered with a shiny material, her left arm resting on the table with the griffin-shaped legs. No flowers or books were placed on the table, perhaps not to obscure the painted wall hanging behind with Italianate patio tiling giving onto a path or river scene which is very clear in this photograph. The drape is on the viewer's left, whereas in others, the drape is on the right in front of the wall hanging. This sitter ponders the experience by directing her frontal gaze slightly to the left of the camera, her lips pressed together and cheeks puffed out as though holding her breath

Full length cdv on plain mount of an unidentified older woman sitting with umbrella and purse
Studio portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870-75, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart
Scans courtesy © The Private Collection of Marcel Safier 2005 ARR.
NOTES Courtesy of owner Marcel Safier: "Subject not known. It came in an album I bought from a Tasmanian dealer at a Sydney collector's fair in 2001. The pencil numbering on the rear is my own cataloguing system. The mount is 64mm x 102mm ... It very closely resembles the mounts used by Bock previously."

Verso: full length cdv on plain mount of an unidentified older woman sitting with umbrella and purse
Studio portrait by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1870-75, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart
Scans courtesy © The Private Collection of Marcel Safier 2005 ARR.
NOTES Courtesy of owner Marcel Safier:
"Subject not known. It came in an album I bought from a Tasmanian dealer at a Sydney collector's fair in 2001. The pencil numbering on the rear is my own cataloguing system. The mount is 64mm x 102mm ... It very closely resembles the mounts used by Bock previously."

SMILING CHAIR, SCOWLING CLIENT, early to mid 1870s
This selection of studio portraits taken by Thomas J. Nevin in the early 1870s of otherwise unidentified older women includes just one whose name is inscribed verso: Mrs Morrison. Who might she have been? A servant, a farmer, a post-mistress, some relation to Askin Morrison, ship owner, of Morrison Street, opposite Franklin Wharf, Hobart? Or Mrs Morrison, teacher of Kangaroo Point whose health had forced her to retire (Mercury, 6 December 1872). Perhaps she was Mrs Ellen Morrison, licensee of the Launceston Hotel, Brisbane St. on a visit south to Hobart. Whoever this sitter was, she appears to have worked hard all her life, no fuss or frills about it.

Full length cdv on plain mount, studio portrait by Thomas Nevin ca. 1870-1875.
Verso inscribed "Mrs Morrison" in black ink with studio stamp: "Ad Altiora" above Kangaroo emblem, T. Nevin late A. Bock encircled by belt printed with "City Photographic Establishment" and address below, "140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". In italics below: "Further Copies can be obtained at any time".
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Ref: Q14529

Mrs Morrison (name inscribed verso) wore a three-quarter length, light-coloured, thick check-weave shawl pinned at the neck with a brooch over a white scarf for this important occasion. Her dark dress shows braiding in rows on the bodice and cuffs. She had pinned a thin plait over her head at the back. Her scowling stare straight at the camera under thunderous eyebrows might suggest excitement at having her likeness taken, a rare event perhaps and possibly an expensive one, or fascination with process, or simply impatience with the ever affable, rather humorous, and good-looking thirty-ish Mr. Nevin.

STUDIO DECOR: Mrs Morrison sat on Nevin's low slipper chair covered with shiny material, her left arm resting on his table with the griffin-shaped legs. Noticeably absent from the table is any decoration, such as a vase or book, which just might indicate that Nevin charged a little extra for flowers which his assistant would then hand-tint, but the client in this case might have declined the offer. Behind the table hangs the backdrop sheet painted with the usual vista of an Italianate tiled patio and a path or river meandering through a valley into a low horizon, the distance, partially obscured by the drape. The pattern of lozenges and chain links of the light floor covering (tapis) features in some but not all of these full-length portraits.

Verso inscribed "Mrs Morrison" in black ink with studio stamp: "Ad Altiora" above Kangaroo emblem, T. Nevin late A. Bock encircled by belt printed with "City Photographic Establishment" and address below, "140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". In italics below: "Further Copies can be obtained at any time".
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Ref: Q14529

DARK and SAD for a MOURNER, early to mid 1870s
This full-length cdv of an older woman [unidentified] gives a clear view of Nevin's low slipper chair covered with shiny material. The sitter rested her left elbow on the studio table with the griffin-shaped legs where a book and a dark vase holding delicately tinted flowers in pink and yellow were arranged. The drape is to the viewer's left in this photograph. She wore a very long dark plain dress showing a fold near the hem, with braiding around the drop shoulders and a brooch on a ribbon at her throat, her hair plainly arranged at the nape. Perhaps she was newly widowed. Her eyes are sunken and her forlorn gaze averted, directed towards the foot of the camera stand rather than at the lens.

A shiny vase with flowers, sometimes tinted, was another favoured object in Nevin's portraiture.

Studio portrait by Thomas Nevin of woman in mourning ca, 1870 -1875
Verso with studio stamp: "Ad Altiora" above Kangaroo emblem, T. Nevin late A. Bock encircled by belt printed with "City Photographic Establishment" and address "140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town". In italics below: "Further Copies can be obtained at any time".
Scans courtesy of © The Private Collection of C. G. Harrisson 2006. ARR.

Verso: Full length cdv on plain mount of woman in mourning
Studio portrait by Thomas Nevin ca, 1870 -1875
Verso with studio stamp: "Ad Altiora" above Kangaroo emblem, T. Nevin late A. Bock encircled by belt printed with "City Photographic Establishment" and address "140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town".
In italics below: "Further Copies can be obtained at any time".
Scans courtesy of © The Private Collection of C. G. Harrison 2006.

Although unidentified, there is a slight chance this woman was a relative of George Chandler, in which case this photograph was most likely taken on the same day as Nevin's photograph of a young George Chandler posing with the same vase and tinted flowers. Her presence might therefore suggest she was George Chandler's step-mother Mary Chandler nee Genge (1835–1923). If so, she would have been 36 years old in 1871. The Chandler family were related by marriage to the Nevin family of Kangaroo Valley, Hobart. Read more about this photograph here.

Addenda 1. Charles A. Woolley's slipper chair
Charles A. Woolley's father supplied some of these local photographers' studios with furniture and floor coverings from his warehouse next to his son's studio at 42 Macquarie St. Hobart. The lady's slipper chair pictured here from Woolley's studio was high-end luxury, probably padded with wool and covered with a fine woollen fabric. The identity of this young woman has raised questions because of the inscription on reverse - was she Emma Pitt's addressee "you Liz O'Meagher", (b. Tas 1847- d. NZ 1906) or does it represent the sender Emma Pitt herself (b. Tas 1847-d. NZ 1899)? Read more about Emma Pitt and this cdv here.

Subject: Emma Pitt nee Bartlett (1847-1899) or Elizabeth Bell nee O'Meagher (1847-1906)?
Photographer: Charles A. Woolley
Location and date: 42 Macquarie St. Hobart, Tasmania 1866
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint & KLW NFC Group Private Collection 2021

Verso inscription:
"I say Captain Mackie is not show his face in Nelson without you Liz O'Meagher. Emma Pitt June 6th 1866"

Verso: cdv of Emma Pitt nee Bartlett (1847-1899) or Elizabeth Bell nee O'Meagher (1847-1906)?
Photographer: Charles A. Woolley
Location and date: 42 Macquarie St. Hobart, Tasmania 1866
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint & KLW NFC Group Private Collection 2021

These two similar cdv's of two unidentified young women posed standing with left hand resting on the top of the slipper chair, gaze directed 45 degrees towards the viewer's right were taken in the same setting and probably in the same session at Charles A. Woolley's studio, 42 Macquarie St. Hobart, between 1866 and 1870.

Unidentified sitters posing with slipper chair at Charles A Woolley's studios 1870s
Source: Facebook page, "Is this you? Lost and Found Unidentified Photos".

Addenda 2: Alfred Bock's slipper chair
This club chair's original upholstery was leather, and though not all that old, by 1867 the leather was showing signs of cracking along the arm where the girl is resting her right hand. Cracking may have been caused by constant handling, exposure to heat at the living room hearth, or by the use of lemon, vinegar, alcohol or other acidic preparations to cleanse and disinfect. If this was the chair Thomas Nevin acquired from Alfred Bock, he must have removed some of the stuffing in the arms, making them lower, then removed the old upholstery and overlain the entire chair with a shiny protective covering, replacing the studs at the front. He may have used a woollen underlay as well. Whether he modified Bock's club chair or rather, posed his clients with its companion, a smaller slipper chair, the animal or plant used in making the cover, and the method of rendering such a high sheen, remain a mystery.

[Above] Portrait of Caroline Easton, (?) Hobart 1867 [tinted]
Carte-de-visite
Portrait by Alfred Bock
City Photographic Establishment 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town
QVMAG Ref: QVM 1994: P.0705

Addenda 3: George Cherry's slipper chair
This highly appealing photograph of Jane (Gosling) James, wife of Captain Joseph James and mother-in-law of photographer George Cherry was taken in Cherry's studio in the mid 1860s. It was donated to National Library of Australia by her descendants in the early 2000s. The head of his slipper chair shows a distinctive curve and curl, the carpet shows large swirls of leaves bound in wreaths. Read more about Jane (Gosling) James here.

Creator Cherry, George, 1820-1878
Title Granny Jane James [picture] / G. Cherry, Hobart Town
Call Number PIC/8488/12 LOC Album 1038
Created/Published [1866 or 1867]
Extent 1 photograph on carte-de-visite mount : albumen ; 8.9 x 5.6 cm.
National Library of Australia
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148165428

George Cherry's photograph of his slipper chair accommodating Jane (Gosling) James is dated 1866 or 1867, although he may have photographed her earlier, on the eve of his auction, Friday 5th August 1864. On offer were his "Photographic Plant, Household Furniture, Paintings, Pictures, and various Effects" for sale. The same or nearly identical chair features in two cdv's above: Thomas Nevin's capture of his young brother Jack Nevin ca. 1865; and Unidentified Man No. 2, from the Lucy Batchelor Album, late 1860s.

Addenda 4: Henry Hall Baily's slipper chair
One way of looking at this photograph by H. H. Baily of Sarah Crouch is to see it as a piece of cardboard on which is printed an image. Perhaps it has commercial value only because of age, condition, and provenance. Another way is to step into the scene and participate as the photographer might while talking to his sitter. Still another way is to trace the journey of each element in the picture from any known context in which it has appeared up to the present, in which case the familiar object in this portrait of Sarah Crouch by H. H. Baily is the carpet with a pattern of large dark lozenges rimmed in white. It was formerly used by Alfred Bock as one of his studio carpets, then by Thomas Nevin for one of several set-ups for taking portraits in the same studio in 1868, and finally the same carpet was used in this portrait of Sarah Crouch by Henry Hall Baily, that is, if he photographed her before her death in 1876. On the other hand, is this just a piece of cardboard which was reprinted by Henry Hall Baily from an original capture taken by Alfred Bock before 1865; then reprinted by Thomas Nevin, operating as Nevin & Smith between 1865-1868; or, later, reprinted by Thomas Nevin again from 1868-1875 when both Bock's stock and Nevin's negatives were reprinted by Samuel Clifford to 1878; and lastly, reprinted by Henry Hall Baily ca. 1880? Reprints were mostly at the request of the client and family. All three photographers - Alfred Bock, Samuel Clifford, and Henry Hall Baily - were close friends and colleagues of Thomas J. Nevin from the early 1860s to his retirement in 1888. To complicate matters of copying further, from the early 1860s the source of their studio carpets, tables, drapes and backsheets was the family warehouse of Charles A. Woolley, the most senior photographer of their Hobart cohort. His studio furnishings and photographic paraphernalia were passed around among members of that cohort when times were hard, which was more often than not. The slipper chair in this photograph looks very similar in design to Woolley's slipper chair, just upholstered in a floral rather than plain fabric.

Photograph of Sarah Crouch, before 1876, reprint 1880?
University of Tasmania Library Special and Rare Materials Collection
Link: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/7214/

Photograph of Sarah Crouch, wife of Thomas James Crouch, under sheriff of Van Diemen's Land. The photographer was Henry Hall Baily who had studios in Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Hobart from 1865-1918.

Verso: Photograph of Sarah Crouch
University of Tasmania Library Special and Rare Materials Collection
Link: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/7214/

Woolley's Carpets and Upholstery Warehouse, Macquarie St.
Series: Photographs and Glass Plate Negatives collected by E R Pretyman (NS1013)
Archives Tasmania Ref: NS1013_1_1895

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.

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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 19th Anniversary 2005-2024

Click on image for full list tagged "About women"

NINETEEN 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 2023-24: We are taking a short break from regular posting through 2024 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