Thomas J. Nevin | Tasmanian Photographer

Thomas Nevin's portraits of his wife Elizabeth Rachel Day (1847-1914)

Early and later portraits of Elizabeth Rachel DAY by Thomas J. NEVIN
Hand-tinted cartes-de-visite 1860s
Overpainted photographs 1900s

Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914), wife of Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923), was born in London on 26 March 1847, and christened one month later at St Mary's, known as the Mayflower Church, Rotherhithe, London, on 28th April 1847. Her father, master mariner Captain James Day (1806-1882), was born on 10th June 1806, in York, UK and died in Hobart, Tasmania on 21st November 1882. Her mother Rachel Day nee Pocock (b. London ca. 1812-1857) died of consumption in Hobart, Tasmania in 1857. Her younger sister Mary Sophia Day (1853-1942) was born in Hobart in 1853 and died in Melbourne in 1942.

Elizabeth Rachel Day's parents Captain James Day and Rachael Pocock were married at St David's Church, Hobart Tasmanian on 6th January 1841, witnessed by her uncle Captain Edward Goldsmith ((Chalk, Kent 1804 - Higham, Kent, 1869). Elizabeth Rachel Day was named after her father's sister, Elizabeth Day (Yorkshire, 1802 - London, 1875), who married Captain Edward Goldsmith in 1829 at Liverpool, UK.

Elizabeth Rachel Day married professional photographer Thomas James Nevin on 12th July, 1871 at the Wesleyan Chapel, Kangaroo Valley, Hobart Tasmania. Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin had seven children between 1872 and 1888, six surviving to adulthood.

Elizabeth Rachel Day (b. Rotherhithe 26 March 1847 - d. Hobart Tasmania 29 June 1914)
Father: Captain James Day; mother Rachael Pocock
Spouse: Thomas James Nevin

Mary Sophia Day (b. Hobart 9th March 1853 - d. Melbourne Victoria 18 June 1942)
Father: Captain James Day; mother Rachael Pocock
Spouse: Hector Charles James Horatio Axup

Birth and christening: Elizabeth Rachael [sic - she dropped the "a" on marriage] Day, christened on 28th April 1847 at St Mary's Church Rotherhithe, London UK. Source: familysearch.org

This image of just the face of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914) magnified from a piece cut from the larger original.
Photograph taken by her husband Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1900.
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collections 2009 ARR

This is an old black and white enlargement of a detail of a portrait of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914) in her later years, taken ca. 1900 by her husband. Just her face was magnified to an unusually large size, measuring approx. 8x10 inches. It has the impact of a modern cinematic close-up. The magnified final image was pasted to grey cardboard.

The entire original photograph is yet to surface; it may have been a carte-de-visite head and upper body pose in semi profile, or a cabinet-sized seated pose . It may have been magnified for a specific purpose or event such as the publication in a newspaper, or placement on her headstone (she died in 1914 and was buried at the Cornelian Bay cemetery on 21 June, Church of England, site no. 258).

The remarkable aspect of the image is the evidence of hand-painted strokes around the hair line and eyes. The original photograph may have been hand-coloured, though not as heavily as the fashion of painting over photographic portraits which became popular in the 1890s. Many of her husband's early extant portraits of his wife, of himself, his private clients, and even a handful of extant mugshots of Tasmanian convicts taken during his commission to provide the colonial government with prisoner identification portraits in the 1870s, show evidence of hand-tinting. Some were expertly and finely done done by Nevin and his studio assistants, others were ineptly daubed with blobs by clients or collectors after purchase. Elizabeth Rachel Day may have assisted her husband in his studio as his colourist from the beginning of her marriage, and may have even touched up this photographic portrait of herself taken thirty years later.

Given the existence of another item from the same family source of a fully-painted picture of Albert Nevin, Elizabeth's youngest son , posing with his horse ca 1917 which was copied almost exactly from a photograph, or was even painted over the original image, this image of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day may have been the preliminary study for a fully painted portrait.

Earlier portraits by Thomas Nevin of Elizabeth Rachel Day:

Vignette of Elizabeth Rachel Day ca 1867
Studio stamp on verso "Nevin & Smith, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town".
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collections 2005-2009 ARR

Photographed by Thomas Nevin in the late 1860s a few years before their marriage, these two portraits (above) of a very young Elizabeth Rachel Day were taken by Thomas J. Nevin while operating with partner Robert Smith as the firm "Nevin & Smith, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town" .The partnership was dissolved by Thomas Nevin's mentor, the Hon. W. R. Giblin in February 1868.

A delicate hand-tinted carte-de-visite vignette taken by Thomas J. Nevin just before their marriage in 1871.
Elizabeth Rachel Day, 23 years old.
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collections 2005-2009 ARR

This photograph of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (below) was taken in the late 1870s by her husband. It exists pasted into the scrapbook of her son George Ernest Nevin (1880-1957) together with stereographs of Kangaroo Valley (Hobart) and photographic portraits of his grandparents John and Mary Nevin, mostly taken by his father Thomas J. Nevin in the 1860s -1880s. The scrapbook is held in the private collection of the Shelverton family descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin's youngest daughter Minnie (May) Nevin (m. Drew). The background of this copy was photo-edited and submitted courtesy of the Shelverton family in 2008.

Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day ca. 1878
Photo taken by her husband Thomas J. Nevin late 1870s
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collection 2008 ARR.

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Prisoner James JONES alias Brocklehurst, known as Spider

Three duplicates or copies are extant in public collections from T. J. Nevin's original negative taken of prisoner James Jones alias James Brocklehurst at the Hobart Gaol in late February 1875 on Jones' discharge. This prisoner James Jones aka James Brocklehurst, known by the moniker "Spider" is not to be confused with the prisoner Elijah Elton, transported as Elisha Nelmes, who used the alias "John Jones" and was known by the moniker "Flash Jack", an error which has appeared on the National Library of Australia catalogue entry. Read more about Flash Jack here.

The National Library of Australia copy
This copy of the photograph of prisoner James Jones was donated to the NLA in the 1960s as part of the Gunson collection of estrays from a defunct government department. It bears the number "209" on the mount, a number inscribed by late 20th century archivists on accession, and used by curators for several exhibitions held at the NLA and NPG Australia.

Prisoner James or William Jones alias James Brocklehurst per Theresa
Photographed by Thomas J. Nevin, Hobart Gaol, March 1875
Verso and mount carry the number "209"
Ref: PIC P1029/27a LOC Album 935/
National Library of Australia

The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery copy
Possibly the first print to be mounted from Thomas Nevin's negative, the original sepia print from which this black and white copy was made was acquired by the QVMAG from the estate of convictarian John Watt Beattie on his death in 1930, where it remains. It bears the earlier number "146" on the mount, which was used by the QVMAG for their exhibition in 1978 of a selection of T. J. Nevin's prisoner mugshots.

Verso of cdv of prisoner William or James Jones.
The mount is numbered "146" and the verso "209" which indicates the single capture by Thomas Nevin in 1875 was reprinted to be included on further copies of the prisoner's rap sheets.

The verso of this print shows three different accession numbers: the first QVMAG 147-19 originated in the 1930s; the second QVMAG 1958.78.22 originated in the 1950s; and the third QVMAG QVM: 1985:P:81 indicates when the black and white copies were made. It was in the 1980s that a visitor to the QVMAG, Chris Long, created the b&w copies for reasons best known to himself, since they are significantly less attractive than the original sepia albumen carte-de-visite produced by Thomas Nevin from his negative in the 1870s.

The Archives Office of Tasmania copy
The AOT copy was made in 1977-78 from the QVMAG copy bearing the number "146" on mount.

A photocopy was made at the AOT in the 1970s of the copy held at the QVMAG.
AOT Ref: PH30/1/3205
Caption: "William Jones (alias James Jones and James Brocklehurst , convict per Theresa. Photograph taken at Port Arthur by Thomas Nevin." He was in fact photographed by Thomas Nevin, not at Port Arthur, but at the Hobart Gaol, in late February, early March 1875 on discharge.

POLICE RECORDS for James Jones

1872: Larceny

James Jones known as Spider, absconded, 26 June 1872

James Jones, alias Brocklehurst, 48 yrs old according to the police gazette notice, was arrested on 15 July 1872 by Sub-Inspector McVilley [sic. i.e. McVilly] of the Ross Police.

James Jones convicted during the week ending 7 September 1872 for larceny, and sentenced to 12 months.

1874: to the prison at Port Arthur

James Jones arrived at the Port Arthur prison on 17 January 1874, to serve 3 years.

1875: transferred to House of Corrections, Hobart.

James Jones alias Brocklehurst discharged at Hobart from a 3 yr sentence on 3 March 1875 for larceny and absconding, was transferred back to the House of Corrections, Hobart on 9 January 1875. He was photographed by T. J. Nevin on discharge, late February to early March 1875.

Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, (weekly police gazettes) J. Barnard, Gov't Printer.

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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 was built on the traditional lands, nipaluna/Hobart, 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 people of the Australian Capital Territory 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

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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