Tombstones copied, Terms: - Cheap!

During their brief partnership ca. 1866-1868, Tasmanian photographers Thomas J. Nevin and Robert Smith advertised a service on the back of their stereographs with the wording Views of Residences, Tombstones copied, Terms: - Cheap!. Commercial studios routinely supplied photographic prints of family head stones, grave sites and sepulchral monuments and some, in addition, provided a low cost copy from an impression of a faded and barely legible tombstone epitaph, thereby retaining the original typography.



Photo copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG REF: Q16826.9

How cheap was "cheap"? Three years previously, when Thomas Nevin was assistant in Alfred Bock's studio at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart before Bock's departure and Nevin &Smith acquiring the business, he would have taken exception to the word "cheap" directed at Alfred Bock's practice. The dispute about the ownership and copyright of the sennotype process between Henry Frith and Alfred Bock in 1864-1865 embittered both to the point of deciding to quit Tasmania. Frith's rates for carte-de-visite portraits were expensive, two for 10/-, and his disdain for "cheap trash palmed off on the public as cheap photography" was loudly proclaimed in this advertisement in the Mercury of 6th April 1864:



Henry Frith advertisement
Advertising. (1864, April 6). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8825487

One year later, Frith had ceased publishing his rates. The very public dispute had affected all photographic businesses in Hobart, with Alfred Bock and George Cherry forced to advertise great or extraordinary reductions in prices, both charging identical rates for cdv portraits: 1/- each for a carte-de-visite portrait, or 10s.6d. per dozen, vignettes a little more expensive at 7s.6d per half-dozen:



TRANSCRIPT

GREAT REDUCTION
IN THE PRICE OF    
ALBUM OR CARD PORTRAITS
AT  MR. CHERRY'S,            
Opposite Mr. Mather's, 94, Liverpool street;
Card Portraits, 10s. 6d. per' dozen ; 6s. the haft-dozen. Vignettes, 12s. 6d, per dozen  
7s. 6d the half-dozen. 31o     

EXTRAORDINARY REDUCTION
IN THE PRICE OF      
ALBUM OR CARD PORTRAITS,
AT    
BOCK'S,
140, ELIZABETH STREET, HOBART' TOWN.
Card Portraits, 10s. 6d. per dozen; 6s. the  half dozen.
Vignettes, 12s. 6d. per dozen ; 7s. 6d. the half dozen. tc 

Advertising. (1865, October 16). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8835500

Another photographer in the north of Tasmania advertised a similar service in tombstones in 1867. Peter Laurie Reid's terms, by contrast, were far from cheap: three carte-de-visite portraits for 7s 6d, compared with Alfred Bock and Thomas Nevin's sale of the same for six at 6s, and 7s 6d for vignettes at the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart.

LONDON PORTRAIT GALLERY. MESSRS. REID & CO., Portrait and Landscape Photographers, Having erected a splendid Gallery, are now prepared to supply card portraits equal to the best London or Melbourne photographs. One trial is solicited. Three card de visite portraits for 7s 6d, or £1 per dozen. Families taken for a moderate sum. Patronised by the Governor. Album portraits of His Excellency Col. Gore . Browne and Mrs. Gore Browne now ready. Portraits taken from locket to life size. Oil paintings anod large pictures of all kinds copied and reduced to card size. Old portraits of every description copied and improved. Messrs. R. and Co have on hand one of the largest and choicest collections of Tasmanian views in the colony, from all parts of the island (views of the Hon. R. Q. Kermode's new mansion-just added to their stock). Houses, monuments, tombstones, drawing rooms, &c. photographed. Visitors to Launceston are invited to call at the London Portrait Gallery, St. John street, nearly opposite the Theatre. Feb. 21. [UNDER the Patronage of His Excellency Colonel Gore Browne, C.B.

Advertising. (1867, March 5). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 1., from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36642307

Even thirty years later, John Watt Beatie charged significantly less, just 10/- per one dozen of small cdvs, half the cost advertised by P. L. Reid and Co., and for the entire album of The Governors of Tasmania (1895),  Beattie charged only £2/2/- which included this photograph of Colonel Gore Browne, C.B., possibly the one advertised and taken by Messrs Reid & Co. in 1867:



Colonel Gore Browne, C.B. (1807-1887)
Title: The governors of Tasmania : from 1804 to 1896 / photographed by J. W. Beattie, 52 Elizabeth Street, Hobart
Creator: Beattie, J. W. (John Watt), 1859-1930, photographer, publisher
Publication: Hobart : J.W. Beattie, [c1896]
Description: 1 album (17 hinged boards, 15 albumen photographs ) : card, gelatin silver photographic prints ; photographs 205 x 153 mm. in album 29 x 26 cm. + 1 loose sheet
Binding: Half bound in green leather, gold bands on spine, gold lettering, patterned endpapers
Format: Album, Photograph
ADRI: AUTAS001142927771
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts



The Nevin and Swan families
Thomas Nevin worked from his New Town studio in the early 1860s (and again after 1880). He photographed many local scenes and vistas from the St John's Church, the Cemetery and the Orphan schools grounds. His sister Mary Ann Nevin enjoyed the public support of amateur photographer and naturalist Morton Allport when she applied for permission to establish a school in nearby Kangaroo Valley in 1865. This stereograph was taken at the Swan family vault at the St Johns Cemetery, New Town and attributed to Morton Allport at the State Library,but it may have been taken or copied by Thomas Nevin, given his advertisement "Tombstones copied" etc.



Title: St John's Cemetery, New Town, Swan vault
Publisher: Hobart : M. Allport, [1860]
Description: 1 photographic print : stereograph : b&w ; 96 x 172 mm
Format: Photograph
ADRI: AUTAS001126252238
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts

The Swan family vault was substantial for two reasons: the patriarch John Swan snr was a wealthy retailer who established Swan’s Stores, Elizabeth Street, Hobart.  By the 1830s it was the premier store for clothing, millinery, fabrics, household furniture and upholstery. Premature deaths in the family was another. Mary Swan senior gave birth to fourteen children, including nine daughters. Two daughters, Harriet (1826–1853) and Julia (1834–1853) both died in 1853 of childbirth complications and scarlet fever respectively.



Mrs John Swan senior, Mary Anne (née Cameron 1800– 1869)
ADRI: AUTAS001125883785
Mr John Swan senior (1796–1858)
ADRI: AUTAS001125883801
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts



National Portrait Gallery of Australia
Left:Portrait of Harriet Swan, c 1840
by attributed to Thomas Bock and Unknown
watercolour on ivory (17.5 x 20.0 cm)
Right: Portrait of Julia Swan, c 1840
by attributed to Thomas Bock and Unknown
watercolour on ivory (16.4 x 20.0 cm)

Another daughter, Katherine, married Thomas Daniel Chapman (1815-1884), merchant and politician in 1843. And yet another daughter, Maria Nairn nee Swan, married William Edward Nairn (1812-1869) who had arrived at Hobart in February 1837 on board the Fairlie with Franklin's party. W. E. Nairn was assistant comptroller of the Convict Department in 1843. He had charge of the prisoners in Tasmania and Norfolk Island, was departmental registrar in 1855-56 and comptroller-general of convictsin 1859-68. He was also Sheriff of Hobart in 1857-68. One of the Swan family's sons, John Swan the younger, was Inspector of Police by 1875 when he endorsed Thomas Nevin's commission to photograph prisoners at the Hobart Gaol, and Sheriff of Hobart in the 1880s when he signed the death warrants for James Sutherland and Henry Stock (SLNSW Mitchell Library C203.). John Swan, Inspector of Police, signed off these discharges for prisoners from H. M Gaols in the week ending 17th February 1875, published in the police gazette, Tasmania Information for Police.Thomas Nevin's photograph of prisoner James McNally was taken on discharge from Hobart Town in the preceding fortnight.







Tasmanian prisoner James McNally
Photo by Thomas J. Nevin taken at Hobart, February 1875
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Collection
Ref: Q1985 P0168





1. John Swan Sheriff 1884: warrant for execution of prisoner Henry Stock. Mitchell Library SLNSW.
2. John Swan, Sheriff, Hobart, signed the death warrant for Henry Stock 1884
From Death Warrants V.D.L. Tasmania Supreme Court. Mitchell Library C203.
Photos copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2009

A rather spooky, over-edited photograph of a young John Swan the younger, Inspector of Police and Sheriff of Hobart, was reprinted in 1895 by John Watt Beatie in his album Members of the Parliaments of Tasmania. As with the majority of photographs in the Beattie album of parliamentarians, this one was touched up from an 1870s photograph, taken by an earlier (and unacknowledged) photographer.



Title: John Swan [the yr = younger]
In: In: Members of the Parliaments of Tasmania No. 114
Publisher: Hobart : J. W. Beattie, [19--]
ADRI: AUTAS001136191392
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts

Maria Nairn
On the death of her husband in 1869, John Swan's sister Maria Nairn nee Swan leased an acre of land to Thomas Nevin's father, John Nevin, adjacent to Lady Franklin's Museum at Kangaroo Valley where he had built a cottage on land held by the Wesleyan Trustees. He taught evening class to adult males at the school house, shown as his occupancy in the Hobart Gazette notices. The Wesleyan Chapel was used for family weddings and funerals etc. John Nevin used the land leased from Maria Nairn to cultivate orchards and make fruit jams which he exported to the Victorian colony.



Property values, Hobart Town Gazette 26 November 1872.

• John Nevin, school house and dwelling, Kangaroo Valley, garden leased from Maria Nairn
• Maria Nairn, Cottage ornee and garden, Stephen St New Town
• Maria Nairn occupier, Executors of the late Mrs. Swan [snr], J.C and A. Swan, paddock, part of Beaulieu, New Town

This stereograph taken by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1866 (verso has his usual New Town stamp) may be a view from the Swan family property, Beaulieu, looking across to the former Methodist church on New Town Road (at the junction of Pedder St). However, given the height at which it was taken, Nevin may have captured the scene from the tower of the large (pink-coloured) building now the Divisional Headquarters of the Salvation Army at 4 Bay Road New Town, called Brightside, which was the residence of another key figure in Thomas Nevin's life, Police Superintendent Richard Propsting of the Municipal Police Office, Hobart Town Hall.



Vista of New Town, Hobart, Tasmania looking east
Stereograph by Thomas J. Nevin, New Town ca. 1866 
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Collection Ref: Q1994.56.28



Title: In the church yard at New Town [St John's Cemetery]
Publisher: Hobart : M. Allport, [1860]
ADRI: AUTAS001126252253
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts

This stereograph (below) of the tombstone of Stuart Jackson Dandridge who died of "low fever" aged 31 yrs, on 16 June, 1861, is unattributed and dated to ca. 1870. Dandridge  was a member of the Second Rifles, Southern Tasmanian Volunteers. In the distance on the right is the three storey house which was the residence in Davey St. until 1855 of Thomas Nevin's wife's uncle, Captain Edward Goldsmith.



Title:[St. David's Cemetery]
Publisher:[ca. 1870] [unattributed]
Description:1 stereoscopic pair of photographs : sepia toned ; 9 x 18 cm. (mount)
ADRI: AUTAS001125299511
Source: W.L. Crowther Library

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• A remarkable New Town studio stamp: Thomas Nevin+s
• Miss Nevin and Morton Allport
• One of the last portraits by Alfred Bock in Hobart 1865
• With Alfred Bock at The City Photographic Establishment
• Blame it on Beattie: the Parliamentarians photographs
• From Thomas Bock to Thomas Nevin: Supreme Court prisoner portraits
• Nevin's photos of prisoners Sutherland and Stock with death warrant
• Captain Goldsmith in Davey Street Hobart 1854
• John Nevin snr and the Genge family

Our Nineteenth Anniversary 2005-2024

Nineteen years ago (and earlier, actually) we started blogging about nineteenth century 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.



Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914)
Original by her husband Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1874
Photo copyright © KLW NFC Group KLW NFC Imprint ARR

The Generations
Below is a brief summary of generational levels of the immediate families of photographer Thomas J. Nevin and his wife Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day.

(a) GENERATION ONE: Dickson, Nevin, Pocock, Day and Goldsmith

Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson (1810-1875) and John Nevin snr (1808-1887) had four children, all born near Belfast, Ireland between 1842 and 1852, prior to arrival as free settlers at Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in July 1852. Mary Ann Dickson was the sister of rose grower Alexander Dickson, established at Newtonards, Ireland. John Nevin snr was a former soldier ( Royal Scots First Regiment), a journalist, poet and gardener.

Children of Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson and John Nevin snr

1. Thomas James (Thos) Nevin (1842-1923) m. Elizabeth Rachel Day (1847-1914)
2. Mary Ann Nevin (1844-1878) m. John Carr
3. Rebecca Jane Nevin (1847-1865)
4. William John (Jack) Nevin (1852-1891)

Children of Rachel Day nee Pocock (ca. 1812-1857) and Captain James Day (1806-1882). Rachel Day nee Pocock died of “consumption” at Hobart in 1857, and Captain James Day died in 1882 at the home of his younger daughter Mary Sophia Axup, Battery Point, Hobart. Photographer Thomas James Nevin married Elizabeth Rachel Day on 11th July, 1871 at Kangaroo Valley, Hobart.

1.Elizabeth Rachel (Lizza) Day (1847-1914) m. Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)
2. Mary Sophia Day (1853-1942) m. Hector Charles James Horatio Axup (1843-1927)

Children of Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day (1802-1875), sister of Captain James Day, and Captain Edward Goldsmith (1804-1869). These were the Goldsmith cousins of the Day sisters, Elizabeth Rachel Day and Mary Sophia Day. Richard died in Hobart, 24 yrs old, in 1854 and Edward jnr died in Rochester (UK) in 1883.

1. Richard Sydney Goldsmith (1830-1854)
2. Edward Goldsmith jnr (1836-1883) m. Sarah Jane Rivers (1835-1926)

(a.1) GENERATION ONE extended: John Nevin’s second marriage: Genge and Chandler families

Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson (1810-1875), first wife of John Nevin snr (1808-1887) died in 1875. He married his second wife, widow Martha Genge (1833-1925) (formerly Salter), in 1879. There were no children born to Martha Genge and John Nevin, although they acted as step-grandparents to Minnie Carr (1878-1898) daughter of John Nevin’s daughter Mary Ann Carr nee Nevin (1844-1878) who died in Victoria within weeks of giving birth.

Mary Chandler nee Genge (1835-1923), sister of Martha Nevin nee Genge was the second wife of shoe maker William Chandler. Of the three children born in this marriage, the youngest, James Chandler (1877-1945), who would become a professional photographer, was Thomas J. Nevin’s successor to the vocation of photography within the extended family network.

(b) GENERATION TWO: Day, Nevin, and Axup

Mary Sophia Axup nee Day (1853-1942) and Hector Charles James Horatio Axup (1843-1927) had five children between 1878 and 1891.

Children of Mary Sophia Axup nee Day and Hector C. Axup
NB: These dates may not be totally accurate.

1. Rachel Frances Eva Axup (1878-1978) m. P. Baldwin
2. Sidney James Vernon Axup (1882-1975) m. Emily Tyson
3. Edward Harold Leslie Axup (1885-1964) m.
4. Patience Ella Mary Axup (1889-1913)
5. Olive Lilian Ethel Axup (1891- ? ) m. Charles Wilshire, 10 May 1920

Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914) and Thomas James Nevin (1842-1923) had seven children, six surviving to adulthood. Three sons – Sydney, William and George – were born at the Hobart Town Hall during their father’s residency as Office and Hall Keeper. Sydney died four months after birth.

Children of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day and Thomas J. Nevin:

1. Mary Florence Elizabeth (May) Nevin (1872-1955)
2. Thomas James (Sonny) Nevin (1874-1948) m. Gertrude Tennyson Bates (1883-1958)
3. Sydney John Nevin (1876-1877)
4. William John Nevin (1878-1927)
5. George Ernest Nevin (1880-1957)
6. Mary Ann (Minnie) Nevin (1884-1974) m. James Henry Alfred Drew (1878-1963)
7. Albert Edward Nevin (1888-1955) m. Emily Maud Davis (1891-1971)


Posts about Women in 19th century Tasmania, Australia

This thumbnail gallery and list (below) were generated from the TOC Table of Contents complete archive's category label "About Women" April 2024 (117 posts):


POSTS about women by URL descending:

Returned soldiers 1945: from the Nevin and Moran family albums 2024-04-25 About women, Descendant families, Family portraits, Group Portraits, Soldiers

Confusion for the press, 1879: was she/he/they a female or a male "impersonator"? 2024-03-01 About women, Clothing, Exhibitions and Publications

Christmas from our Archives 2023-12-25 19th century prison photography, About women, Biotica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Family portraits, Hobart Town Hall, Hotels, microphotography, Private Collections

First Mate James DAY on the "Panama" to California 1850-1852 2023-11-12 19th century photographers, About women, Biographica, Newspapers, Ships and Captains

Prisoner Charles J. GARFORTH said he would make Superintendent Adolarious H. BOYD pay dearly, 1875 2023-10-20 19th century prison photography, About women, Police Records, The Port Arthur Convicts Commission

"HOPE": John Nevin's poem on slavery 1863 and the U.S. Proclamation of Emancipation 2023-05-31 About women, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, Newspapers, Private Collections, Ships and Captains, Soldiers

Mrs Elizabeth Goldsmith and the saltmarsh known as Lady's Tippett, 1870 2023-05-04 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendant families, Legal fraternity, Videos

Preview of new research 2023 2023-01-17 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendant families, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections, Ships and Captains

Indigenous elder Truganini and poet Ann Kearney, 1875 2022-07-11 Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Archives Office Tasmania, Exhibitions and Publications, Legal fraternity, Stereographs

Lost originals: the Nevin, Genge and Chandler family photographs 2021-11-28 About women, Biographica, Descendant families, Family portraits, Negative prints, Private Collections

NEVIN & SMITH, 1868: the client with white fingernails 2021-10-21 19th century photographers, About women, Diseases, Private Collections, Trademarks and stamps

Captains, emigrants and convicts: the summer of 1842-1843 in Hobart, VDL 2021-10-10 19th century photographers, About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Private Collections, Ships and Captains, Soldiers

Best of friends: Emma PITT and Liz O'MEAGHER 1866 2021-09-24 19th century photographers, About women, Group Portraits, Land grants, National Library of New Zealand

Lost and found: one day in 1866 and the scientific racism which followed 2021-08-30 19th century photographers, Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Descendant families, Exhibitions and Publications, Group Portraits, Private Collections

Captain Goldsmith's "private friend" Edward Macdowell 1840s 2021-06-14 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Ships and Captains, Supreme Court Convictions

George and Matilda Cherry at Thomas Nevin's studio ca. 1872 2021-04-06 19th century photographers, About women, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections, Ships and Captains

Reproductions of Charles A. Woolley's portrait of Tasmanian Aborigines 1860s-1915 2021-03-21 19th century photographers, Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Mitchell Library SLNSW, Private Collections

Captain Hector Axup and the French lady of Green Island, 1888 2021-03-04 Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Biotica, Captain Hector Axup, Exhibitions and Publications, Ships and Captains

The case against Henry Stock (var. Stocks) 1884 for the murder of his wife and her child 2021-02-20 19th century prison photography, About women, Clothing, Hobart Gaol, Newspapers, Supreme Court Convictions

Clients posing with Thomas J. Nevin's big box stereoscopic viewer 2021-02-17 About women, Clothing, Stereographs, Trademarks and stamps, Videos

Prisoner Joseph WALMSLEY: a "queer-looking man" 1842-1891 2021-02-09 19th century prison photography, About women, Attribution Issues, Hobart Gaol, Supreme Court Convictions, TMAG

Thomas J. Nevin at his finest: Camille Del Sarte and family 1860s-1870s 2020-12-21 About women, Biographica, Clothing, Exhibitions and Publications, Music, Private Collections

John Nevin at inquest for James Thornton 1889 2020-10-10 About women, Biographica, Hobart Gaol, Hotels, Supreme Court Convictions, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Alfred Bock and the Bayles sisters 2020-09-30 19th century photographers, About women, Clothing, Private Collections

Elizabeth Allport nee Ritchie at Thomas J. Nevin's studio 1876 2020-09-08 About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections, Stereo graphs

Alfred Hope and his landau with Albert Nevin on horseback early 1900s 2020-08-24 About women, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Newspapers

Elizabeth Rachel Day's album opener 1860s 2020-08-10 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Sarah Crouch at Thomas J. Nevin's studio ca. 1872 2020-07-31 19th century photographers, About women, Biographica

James McEvoy's fine fabrics ex Captain Goldsmith's "Parrock Hall" Sydney 1845 2020-07-23 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Clothing, KLW NFC photography, Ships and Captains

T. J. Nevin's 1870s mugshots the inspiration for 21st century artworks 2020-05-12 19th century prison photography, About women, Attribution Issues, Exhibitions and Publications, National Library of Australia, Private Collections

Youngest daughter Minnie Nevin m. James Drew (1884-1974) 2020-01-03 About women, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections

Rosanna Domeney nee Tilley at Thomas Nevin's studio 1870s 2019-11-07 About women, Biographica, Hotels, Land grants, Ships and Captains

Thomas Nevin and Alfred Barrett Biggs 1872-1876 2019-09-11 About women, Biographica, Clothing, Exhibitions and Publications, Group Portraits, Hotels, Stereographs

Exhibition 2019: T. J. NEVIN's mugshot of prisoner James BLANCHFIELD 1875 2019-07-29 19th century prison photography, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Hobart Gaol, Misattribution, Police Records, Soldiers, Supreme Court Convictions

Prisoner John NOWLAN alias DOWLING 1870 - 1876 2019-06-26 19th century prison photography, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Misattribution, Police Records, Supreme Court Convictions

Prisoner William SAYER or SAWYER 1875 2019-06-21 19th century prison photography, About women, Supreme Court Convictions

Thomas Nevin, Sam Clifford and the Flying Squadron at Hobart, January 1870 2019-06-20 19th century photographers, Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Ships and Captains, Soldiers, Stereographs, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Joseph Somes, Captain Edward Goldsmith and the "Angelina" 1844-46 2019-04-24 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, National Archives UK, National Library of New Zealand, Ships and Captains

A distinguished forelock: Henry Dresser Atkinson on board the "City of Hobart" 1872 2019-03-11 Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Biotica, Group Portraits, Private Collections, Stereographs

Captain Edward Goldsmith and wife Elizabeth's land deals in VDL 2018-12-09 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Land grants, Ships and Captains

Bleak Expectations: Captain Goldsmith's will in Chancery 1871-1922 2018-06-21 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendants and In-Laws, Hotels, National Archives UK

John Nevin snr and family 1851-1854: shipping documents 2018-04-30 About women, Biographica, National Archives UK, Ships and Captains, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Captain Edward Goldsmith and the conundrums of the Ethiopian Serenaders 1851 2018-02-12 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Exhibitions and Publications, Library of Congress

The Will of Richard Goldsmith snr (1769-1839) 2018-01-31 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Hotels, National Archives UK, Ships and Captains

Treasures passed down from Captain Edward Goldsmith and Captain James Day 2017-11-14 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendants and In-Laws, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections

Portraits and landscapes from T. J. Nevin's cohort 2017-09-14 19th century photographers, About women, Private Collections, Stereographs, Trademarks and stamps

Amy Bock's bid for marriage equality in 1909 in New Zealand 2017-09-06 19th century photographers, About women, Clothing, Hotels, National Library of New Zealand, Newspapers, Police Records

One session, two poses at the City Photographic Establishment 2017-08-15 19th century photographers, About women, Private Collections, TMAG

Marriage breakdown: Elizabeth Amos v Alfred Threlkeld Mayson 1879-1882 2017-03-10 19th century photographers, About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Stereographs, Trademarks and stamps

Tom Nevin and father-in-law bandmaster Walter Tennyson Bates 2017-02-15 About women, Biographica, Clothing, Descendants and In-Laws, Newspapers, Private Collections, Ships and Captains, Soldiers

Captain Goldsmith & death at sea of Antarctic circumnavigator Captain John Biscoe 1843 2016-05-27 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Ships and Captains, Videos

The desecration of Minnie Carr's grave 1898 2016-05-20 About women, Biographica, National Gallery of Victoria, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Woman with pink ribbons by Thomas Nevin 1870s 2016-05-20 About women, Clothing, National Gallery of Victoria, Negative prints, TMAG, Trademarks and stamps

Captain Edward Goldsmith, the diarist Annie Baxter and a burial at sea 1848 2016-05-12 19th century photographers, About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Ships and Captains, Videos

Captain & Mrs Elizabeth Goldsmith: Rattler's maiden voyage 1846 2016-04-21 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Clothing, Exhibitions and Publications, National Library of New Zealand, Ships and Captains, Soldiers

Captain Goldsmith, the Parrock Hall and playwright David Burn, Sydney 1844 2016-04-08 About women, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Exhibitions and Publications, Mitchell Library SLNSW, Ships and Captains

Captain Edward Goldsmith's grave at Chalk Church, Kent UK 2016-04-05 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections, Ships and Captains

Thomas Nevin and Frederick Stops, right-hand man to the A-G 2015-09-26 19th century prison photography, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, QVMAG, TMAG

With Jean Porthouse GRAVES 1870s West Hobart 2015-09-03 Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Newspapers, Private Collections, Stereographs, TMAG

Elizabeth Bayley at Runnymede, New Town 1874-1875 2015-08-15 About women, Biographica, Ships and Captains, TMAG

Elwick House and Elwick Bay 2015-07-15 19th century photographers, About women, KLW NFC photography, Stereographs, TMAG, Trademarks and stamps

Calling the shots in colour 1864-1879 2015-04-20 19th century photographers, 19th century prison photography, Aboriginal Tasmania, About women, Attribution Issues, Exhibitions and Publications, Mitchell Library SLNSW, National Gallery of Australia

Portraits of older women by Thomas Nevin 1870s 2015-01-31 About women, Clothing, Private Collections, State Library Victoria, TMAG

Thomas Nevin's women clients and their dresses 1870s 2015-01-26 About women, Clothing, KLW NFC photography, Private Collections, TMAG

Our Fourteenth Anniversary 2005-2019 2015-01-17 About women, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

The firm of Nevin & Smith stamps and label 1867-1868 2015-01-11 19th century photographers, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Stereographs, TMAG, Trademarks and stamps

The concertina player 1860s 2014-12-28 About women, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Stereographs, TMAG, Videos

Thomas Nevin, informant for surveyor John Hurst 1868 2014-10-26 About women, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, Kangaroo Valley Hobart

A few drinks on Christmas Eve 1885 at New Town 2014-10-23 About women, Biographica, Hotels, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Police Records, Supreme Court men

Thomas J. Nevin at the New Town studio to 1888 2014-10-18 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, TMAG

Captain Goldsmith dines with the Franklins at Govt House 2014-08-11 About women, Biotica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, KLW NFC photography, Ships and Captains

Prisoner Henry SINGLETON aka Harry the Tinker who pinches books 2014-04-20 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, National Library of Australia, Newspapers, Police Records, QVMAG

Miss Nevin and Morton Allport 2014-04-16 About women, Biographica, Biotica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Carnal knowledge of children: convictions 1860s-1880s 2014-04-15 19th century prison photography, About women, Police Records, QVMAG, Supreme Court Convictions

"Lines on the much lamented death of Rebecca Jane Nevin" by John Nevin 1866 2013-07-18 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Soldiers, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, University of Melbourne

Cousins Edward and Elizabeth baptised at St Mary's Rotherhithe 2013-05-17 About women, Biographica, Biotica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections, Ships and Captains, Videos

Captain Edward Goldsmith and the wreck of the James 1830 2013-04-25 About women, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Descendants and In-Laws, Exhibitions and Publications, Ships and Captains

One of the last portraits by Alfred Bock in Hobart 1865 2013-04-19 About women, Biographica, Newspapers, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Mary Sophia Axup chair of the WPL 1913 2013-03-10 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections

Captain Edward Goldsmith and the McGregor family 2013-03-06 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, Biographica, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Newspapers, Ships and Captains, Stereographs

John Nevin snr and the Genge family 2012-10-19 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Mitchell Library SLNSW, Private Collections, Soldiers, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Thomas Nevin's stereos of sister Mary Ann at New Town rivulet 2012-06-08 About women, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Stereographs, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

A highly coloured portrait 2012-06-01 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

The Photographer's wife at the studio 2010-08-03 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Stereographs, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, TMAG

Husbands and Wives NPG Exhibition 2010 2010-05-12 About women, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, Videos

The Nevin farm burglariously entered 1881 2010-02-18 About women, Biographica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Police Records, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

John Nevin: "My Cottage in the Wilderness" 1868 2009-09-01 About women, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Mitchell Library SLNSW, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

The early deaths of Thomas Nevin's sisters and niece Rebecca, Mary and Minnie Carr 2009-08-27 About women, Biographica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

The firm of Nevin & Smith 2009-02-14 19th century photographers, About women, Newspapers, Private Collections, State Library Victoria, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, TMAG

Oral history: Nevin family at Kangaroo Valley 2009-02-06 About women, Biographica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Thomas Nevin's portraits of his wife Elizabeth Rachel 2009-01-29 About women, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Prisoners Henry SINGLETON, Richard PINCHES, and Robert BEW 2009-01-19 About women, Archives Office Tasmania, National Library of Australia, Police Records, QVMAG, Supreme Court Convictions, Supreme Court men

The Nevin group portrait and wedding photo 1871 2009-01-06 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

The Medical Officer's report of the Fairlie passengers 1852 2008-11-07 About women, Biographica, National Archives UK, Ships and Captains

Site Map No.1: Nevin Family 2008-10-05 About women, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Ships and Captains, Site maps, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Nevins on sick list during voyage out on the Fairlie 1852 2008-08-14 19th century prison photography, About women, Biographica, National Archives UK, Ships and Captains, Soldiers, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Prisoner poses: women, children and ticket-of-leave men 2008-07-16 About women, Archives Office Tasmania, Attribution Issues, Cascades, Misattribution

Thomas Nevin and Robert Smith 1865-1868 2008-04-21 19th century photographers, About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Private Collections, Stereographs, TMAG

Elizabeth Nevin's souvenir cruet of the Model Prison 2007-11-28 About women, Misattribution, Private Collections

Sonny Nevin's American journey with the Bates family 2007-11-22 About women, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections, Ships and Captains

First- born child May Nevin and her China trade soapstone vase 2007-11-22 About women, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections, Ships and Captains

Nevin & Smith tinted vignette of Elizabeth Rachel Day 1868 2007-11-07 19th century photographers, About women, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, Trademarks and stamps

Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day & children 2007-09-22 About women, Biographica, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Key dates in Thomas Nevin's life 2007-08-16 About women, Biographica, Hobart Town Hall, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Kangaroo Valley house and school stereographs ca.1868 2007-07-25 About women, Attribution Issues, Biographica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, TMAG

Rocking Stone Parties on kunanyi/Mount Wellington 2007-06-25 About women, Exhibitions and Publications, Group Portraits, Stereographs, TMAG

G.T. Stilwell's letter to Mrs Shelverton 1977 2007-06-14 About women, Archives State Library Tasmania, Biographica, Exhibitions and Publications, QVMAG

Mary Ann Nevin, sister of Thomas Nevin 2007-06-09 About women, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

John Nevin's marriages to Mary Ann Dickson and Martha Genge 2007-06-09 About women, Biographica, Descendants and In-Laws, Private Collections, Soldiers, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits, Videos

An early carte of Elizabeth Rachel Day 2007-04-14 About women, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin's Wedding Photographs 1871 2007-04-13 About women, Biographica, Kangaroo Valley Hobart, Private Collections, Thomas Nevin's Family Portraits

Nevin & Smith studio Elizabeth St. 1867-1868 2007-04-09 19th century photographers, About women, Archives


Navigation aid

Site Map No. 1: Nevin Family
See also Key Chronology 1842-1923
Site Map No 2: Professional Work
Complete archive by date and label

Last update: April 2024
Copyright © KLW NFC Group & KLW NFC Imprint 2003-2024

A remarkable New Town studio stamp: Thomas Nevin+s

Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1863
Untitled, and held at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, this example by Thomas Nevin of a popular and much photographed vista of the Queen's Orphan School and St John's Church, New Town Tasmania, could be titled "Long shadow with guard at the entrance to St John's Avenue, New Town". Its uniqueness as an artefact is the very rare studio stamp on the verso.This is the only extant example (to date) of Thomas Nevin's earliest photography which bears the design with the wording "Thomas Nevins New Town Tasmania" set against a ribbon in three flat loops, enfolding a flowering plant, and printed in bright blue ink. Nevin was barely out of his teens when he took this photograph, still a bachelor, and living with his parents in the house built by his father John Nevin next to the Lady Franklin Museum at Kangaroo Valley (New Town, Hobart, Tasmania.) It is entirely possible that Thomas Nevin's early training and first photographic equipment prior to 1865 was obtained from photographer Douglas Kilburn's declining interest as his political aspirations took precedence. It was through Kilburn's neighbour master mariner Captain Goldsmith that Thomas met his future wife Elizabeth Rachel Day, who was the elder daughter of Captain James Day and Captain Goldsmith's niece.

The wording on this unique stamp is typical of commercial branding; the prospective client would know from common speech that "Photographic Studio" are the missing words, and no generic apostrophe denoting possession was necessary or even grammatically logical because of the omission, viz. Nevin's (? what?). Comparative usage today goes unnoticed, eg. Myers, Woolworths, Coles, and Harrods, are the founding family surnames of large retailers where both the apostrophe before the "s" and the thing of possession have been dropped. The American department store, Macy's is a notable exception.

The stamp was devised around 1863 at Thomas Nevin's studio in New Town (Hobart) prior to his acquisition of Alfred Bock's stock, studio and glass house at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart in 1865 and prior to his partnership with Robert Smith 1867-68. The more usual New Town stamp which Nevin printed verso on the dozens of stereographs taken during his partnership with Samuel Clifford - and continued to use until ca. 1888 - was a completely different design (see below).



Verso of "Long shadow with guard at the entrance to St John's Avenue, New Town"
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Collection Ref: Q1990.22.4



"Long shadow with guard at the entrance to St John's Avenue, New Town"
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Collection Ref: Q1990.22.4

Thomas J. Nevin took this photograph in the early evening of a summer's day when the shadows were long and the watch house at the entrance to the avenue was manned by at least two constables, given there are two canvas stools outside the porch on the right. The figure sitting against the perimeter fence may have been a guard, or even Nevin's assistant, or quite possibly his younger brother Jack Nevin, who was both his assistant and a constable, Constable John (W. J.) Nevin. The original plans for these two sandstone watch houses included a separate reception room each for men and women plus three small cells in one, and in the other, three rooms for constables. Watch houses on the busy New Town road (the main road leading to the north of the island) were considered a necessary police measure by the 1840s. These lodges were constructed in 1841, the church and schools were built in 1834-35 (TAHO, CSO 5/1/283/7452). The striations across the road at the entrance in this image could be the result of carriage wheels, or chemicals used in the printing process.

Nevin may have taken this photograph with the dual purpose of producing a commercial image for sale and a documentary record for the Queen's Orphan School's administrator, Dr John Coverdale, whose predecessor Adolarious Humphrey Boyd was dismissed from the post after less than two years as Superintendent (July 1862-October 1864). This same A. H. Boyd was despised by the public throughout his career as an administrator of the Orphan School, as Commandant of the Port Arthur Penitentiary, and administrator of the Cascades Asylum for Paupers, evidence of which proliferates in Parliamentary Papers seeking his dismissal, and in newspaper articles of the day decrying his bullying of staff and misuse of public funds. A. H. Boyd's descendants in the 1980s - who appear to have inherited their ancestor's nasty disposition - desperately tried to bring him up from history smelling like roses with a photographic attribution to the hundreds of extant police mugshots taken by Thomas Nevin in the 1870s. A. H. Boyd was no photographer, amateur, official or otherwise, in fact, no single document or photograph exists which substantiates the ridiculous and aggressive deceptions of Boyd's descendants to credit him as a photographer "artist" of any persuasion. No doubt Boyd knew Thomas Nevin from his work such as this photograph of the St. John's Church and Orphanages, and from Nevin's studio portraiture at Alfred Bock's in the early 1860s. He knew too that his brother-in-law, the Hon. W. R. Giblin, Attorney-General 1870-77, was Thomas Nevin's family solicitor. A. H. Boyd's misogyny cost him the job of Superintendent at the Orphan School. He was dismissed in October 1864.




TRANSCRIPT

THE ORPHAN SCHOOL.
We understand that the subject matter into which the Board, referred to in our last issue as having been appointed in connection with the above establishment, is the dismissal of one of the female officials, in consequence of a report by the Superintendent to the Government. The Board hold a protracted sitting on Saturday, but we have not heard the decision arrived at. We understand that a board of ladies, and presided over by Mrs. C. Meredith, also held an enquiry within the past few days into some charges preferred by another female against the Superintendent, and that the report of this Board was condemnatory of the proceedings of Mr. Boyd.

THE ORPHAN SCHOOL. (1864, May 17). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8826244



TRANSCRIPT

OFFICIAL CHANGES.
MR. A. H. Boyd is to be removed from his position as superintendent of the Queen's Asylum. Dr. Huston, at present superin- tendent-surgeon of the Hospital for the Insane, New Norfolk, is to take Mr. Boyd's place. And Dr. Coverdale, of Richmond, is to take Dr. Huston's place at New Norfolk How Mr. Boyd is to be provided for, we have not heard, but things have been made plea- sant enough with regard to the other two gentlemen. For instance, Dr. Huston is to have £500 a year, as superintendent of the Queen's Asylum, with allowances, which means, we suppose, the £150 a year, now given to Dr. Smart, as medical officer and for travelling expenses,-thus making his salary, as Superintendent of the Asylum, £650 a year, that is, £350 a year more than was allowed to Mr. Boyd. On the other hand, Dr. Coverdale, who has long been on the look-out for something, gets the £500 a year that was allowed to Dr. Huston at New Norfolk. At these changes, few will be taken by surprise. They are just such as might have been expected from persons, who have so many political hangers-on to reward for past services. And we hear that there are other debts of political gratitude to be paid at no very remote date. What those are, are well enough known, without our further hinting at them, if never so much inclined. But we let the whole pass without farther remark, until the first batch of appointments are officially announced.which will be the case in the course of a few days. Of course, there is nothing corrupt in this. It is simply the exercise of a little political patronage. And if the country loses a few hundreds a year by it, it can well afford to do so.

OFFICIAL CHANGES. (1864, October 5). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8828741

Medical practitioner Dr John Coverdale M.D. (1814-1896) was working for the Police Department with the title of 'medical officer, special duties at the gaol' by 1844. He was appointed to the Board of Medical Examiners in 1863, and superintendent of the Queen's Asylum for Orphans at New Town in 1865, about the time Thomas Nevin took this photograph. Dr Coverdale was to endorse Thomas Nevin's photographic commissions at the Port Arthur prison and Hobart Gaols when he (Coverdale) assumed the post of Commandant-Surgeon of the Port Arthur penitentiary in January 1874 after Adolarious Humphrey Boyd's sudden dismissal from the post for corruption. Dr. Coverdale stayed as civil commandant until the Port Arthur prison was abandoned in 1877. Next year he took charge of the Hospital for the Insane at the Cascades, near Hobart. On the 19th July 1866, Dr Coverdale's report on the state of children at the Queen's Asylum (Orphan School) was published in the Mercury:

CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
QUEEN'S ASYLUM REPORT FOR 1865.
Queen's Asylum, New Town,
July 2nd, 1866.
SIR,-I have the honor to furnish the annual report of this institution for 1865.... etc etc
... With reference to the general health of the children, it is pleasing to be able to make a most favorable report. Ophthalmia, once so general, has almost disappeared ; the few cases remaining simply going in support of the rule. A cutaneous disorder of a pustular nature, however, has been experienced more especially by the younger children, and has been of a troublesome and persistent character, and not unfrequently recurring after an apparent cure.
Two deaths only have taken place during the year - the one that of an imbecile boy bedridden with scrofulous sores for 3 years ( the other, also a boy, with inflammation of the pericardium and pycemia.
Vaccination during the spring months was successfully performed in 104 cases.
The question of education comes next, and it is one that has engaged much serious attention. With the valuable aid of the Inspector of School's measures have been adopted which it is hoped will lead to improvement in that essential branch of the establishment.
If that success the anxious philanthropist could wish has not attended the exertions made in that department, it has been owing to causes to a large extent beyond control.
Considering the idiosyncrasies of the children the surrounding circumstances of their early life, and the character of their parents, it would be too great a stretch of charity to believe that the unfortunate inmates of the Asylum, as a body, could be otherwise than defective in mental capacity and physical vigor.
Under these circumstances the task of instructing is not an easy one ; and when coupled with the condition spoken of by the Rev. Thomas J. Ewing, the protestant chaplain to the institution in 1862, who writes, " Where they are deficient, perhaps, is in intellectual development and in their want of comparison, arising in a great measure from their restricted intercourse with the world," that task is made even more difficult.
These observations are not intended to convey the impression that the children are incapable of improvement, or are insensible to kindness ; and whilst, therefore, scholastic duties and industrial training are strictly enjoined, one great aim has been to impart, as far as practicable, to the establishment the character of a home.
With this view, and to neutralise that feeling of seclusion from the world, periodical walks abroad have been established, and attendance at public places of amusement occasionally allowed.
The band also, established in 1864 at the instigation of Captain Clinch, has been continued by private contributions ; but as they are likely to fall short in support of what is now an admittedly essential item in the economy of the institution, a sum for a drill and band master has been placed on the estimates for 1867. .... etc etc

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
J. COVERDALE, M.D.

Source: CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. (1866, August 6). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8840878

Thomas Nevin soon after reprised his photography of the avenue leading to St John's Church, this time as a stereograph, pasted to a square yellow frame. This one is inscribed on verso "Queens Orphan Asylum, New Town", in either Nevin's or Samuel Clifford's handwriting. An additional and later inscription in pencil,  "G. Turner", possibly refers to Rev. G. Lawrence Turner who may have donated the photographs to the Narryna Museum, Battery Point, Tasmania where this stereograph was on display in 2008.



"Queens Orphan Asylum, New Town"
Verso of a stereograph by Nevin and/or Clifford held at Narryna Heritage Museum, Hobart
Photography © KLW NFC Imprint 2008 ARR

Samuel Clifford 1863
In Nevin's photograph, the small white box next to the watch house on the right at the end of the low wooden fence was possibly a dog house. The low wooden gate next to the box leads to a pit. The gate used to enter the pit is closed and not visible. Similarly, in this next photograph there is no open, low wooden gate at the entry to the pit on the viewer's right, adjacent to the watch house in the foreground at the entrance to the avenue leading to the church at centre and the orphan schools on either side. The photograph has been attributed and dated to 1863 by successive archivists and publishers using the stereo frame and notebooks of Clifford's contemporary, namely photographer, horologist and meteorologist Alfred Abbott, so Thomas Nevin's photograph of the same view minus the open gate can also be dated to around 1863 or earlier. In this stereo bearing Clifford's name transcribed on the recto, a male figure stands quite formally outside the gate keeper's porch on the viewer's left; in Nevin's photograph a male figure sits closer to the main road, outside the perimeter fence, and on the right. The publisher has dated the image to March, 1863 when the deciduous tree outside the school on the left was still leafy.



Title: Orphan Schools, New Town / Clifford photo
Creator: Clifford, Samuel, 1827-1890
In: Abbott album Item 75
Publisher: 1863
Description:1 stereoscopic pair of photographs : sepia toned ; 8 x 7 cm. each
ADRI: AUTAS001136189297
Source: W.L. Crowther Library
Notes: Title printed on label and pasted below images
Inscribed lower left in ink: Clifford photo. ; right: Mar. 1863
Exact size 73 x 64 mm. each
For descriptive notes by Alfred Abbott see his notebook item 197

Unattributed - 1870s
This later photograph (below) of the Orphan School and St John's Church New Town was taken in winter after heavy falls of snow on Mount Wellington. The tree on the viewer's left of the avenue outside the Orphan school has lost its foliage. The low gate on viewer's right next to the gatekeeper's lodge is open and hangs evenly, unlike the same gate in the later photograph (see below, attributed to H. H. Baily) where it hangs down on its hinges. This image was reprinted in an album ca. 1870 and titled "Church and Orphan Schools New Town with Mount Wellington."



Title: Queens Orphan Asylum New Town
In: Tasmanian scenes P. 21, item 41
Publisher: [1863] [incorrect?]
Description: 1 photograph : sepia toned ; 11 x 19 cm
ADRI: AUTAS001124075235
Source: W.L. Crowther Library



Title: Photograph - New Town - St John's Avenue - church and orphan schools
Description:1 photographic print
ADRI: PH1-1-15
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Series: Album of Photographs of Tasmania, 1870 (PH1)
Notes: 1870

The photograph (above) was also taken in winter. The tree outside the school building (left of church) is again bare of leaves, and snow has fallen along the slopes of Mount Wellington. Some decorative objects were placed outside the gatekeeper's porch on the left: a milk can and a birdcage. Two canvas stools stand on either side of the gatekeeper's porch on the right, but the guards who sat on them are missing. The photograph (below) was taken in summer, an appropriate capture for the emergent tourist market. It would become one of the most common scenes reproduced in albums and postcards at the close of the 19th century.



Title: Photograph - Church & Orphans School (St John's Park) - St John's Avenue New Town
Description: 1 photographic print
ADRI: PH30-1-6284
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Series: Miscellaneous Collection of Photographs. 1860 - 1992 (PH30)

Henry Hall Baily (attributed) 1876
Historic photographs collated into albums held at the Tasmanian Archives Office and catalogued with a photographer's name such as "Allport or "Clifford" or "Baily", as is this one, Baily album: Souvenir of Tasmania, are more often than not compilations of scenes and portraits by various photographers, put together by publishers such as Walch's for the tourist market, or included in family albums displaying bought scenes and family mementos, or by archivists anxious to tidy up disparate piles of donated items, with only a small number bearing evidence of attribution, such as a photographer's studio stamp. H. H. Baily and Samuel Clifford were both victims of Joshua Anson's theft of plates, frames, chemicals, albums etc (1877) while he was Baily's apprentice, so a catalogued album bearing their names might suggest attribution where none had been established from signs on the single item, nor from the contexts of capture, acquisition and accession.



Title: Queen's Asylum, New Town
In: Baily album: Souvenir of Tasmania P. 6
Publisher: [ca. 1875]
Description: 1 photograph : sepia toned ; 11 x 18 cm
ADRI: AUTAS001124850645
Source: W.L. Crowther Library

The New Town Studio Stamp 1860s-1888
Thomas Nevin used eight different commercial stamps, labels, government insignia stamps and handwritten inscriptions for four different studio locales between 1863 and 1888: the New Town studio; the Elizabeth St, studio (late A. Bock's); the Hobart Town Hall and Municipal Police Office where he was Keeper; and the Hobart Gaol photographer's room (the Royal Arms insignia stamp for government commissions) plus handwritten inscriptions for photographs taken on the road with Samuel Clifford. These stamps were registered between 1863, the date of this unusual "Thomas Nevins" New Town stamp, and 1888, the date when he ceased commercial and police work per evidence from official records, eg. birth registration of last born children and Mercury notices, although he continued producing family photographs well into the 1900s, most likely in the company of his father's second wife's nephew James Chandler (of the Genge family). The more usual commercial stamp used by Nevin operating from his studio at New Town was this one:







Vista of New Town, Hobart, Tasmania towards the former Methodist church
Stereograph by Thomas J. Nevin, New Town ca. 1866
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Collection Ref: Q1994.56.28

This stereograph (above) taken by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1866 (verso has his usual New Town stamp) may be a view from the Swan family property, Beaulieu, looking across to the former Methodist church on New Town Road (at the junction of Pedder St). However, given the height at which it was taken, Nevin may have captured the scene from the tower of the large (pink-coloured) building now the Divisional Headquarters of the Salvation Army at 4 Bay Road New Town, called Brightside, which was the residence of a key figure in Thomas Nevin's life, Police Superintendent Richard Propsting of the Municipal Police Office, Hobart Town Hall.

The 1900s 
Trees were planted along St Johns Avenue to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. New fences were built adjoining the gatekeepers' lodges, the dog house was removed and the pit planted with a tree, but the white pebbles at the entrance to the porches, visible from Nevin's 1863 photography, were retained.



St John's Church 1930s
TAHO Ref: PH30/1/6135

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The firm of Nevin & Smith stamps and label 1867-1868

Robert Smith and Thomas Nevin established the firm of Nevin & Smith soon after Thomas Nevin acquired the stock, studio and glass house of Alfred Bock at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town in 1865. The partnership was brief, lasting less than two years. It was dissolved by Nevin's family solicitor, the Hon. W. R. Giblin, in February 1868.

Robert Smith may have operated a studio in Hobart prior to his partnership with Nevin, as Mrs Esther Mather referred briefly to the "coloured ones from Smith's" in a letter to her step-son, dated October 1865. On Robert Smith's departure in January 1868 to Goulburn, NSW where he set up a studio, Thomas Nevin used their label on the verso of a few more photographs, but with Smith's name struck through, the word "Late" added, and the plural signifier "s" of "photographers" crossed out.

Studio portraits
Two studio stamps and one label have survived from their brief partnership. The first stamp featuring the Prince of Wales' blazon of three feathers and a coronet, banded with the German "ICH DIEN" (I Serve) dates from the visit of Alfred Ernest Albert, the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria in late 1867 on his first command, the royal yacht H.M.S. Galatea.

This carte-de-visite photograph on a plain mount of two unidentified children may have been intended for inclusion in an album of photographic prints depicting the children of Tasmania which was gifted to Prince Alfred during his visit to Hobart before he returned to Sydney in January 1868 where he was to survive an assassination attempt weeks later (Clontarf, March 1868).



Title: [Studio portrait of two children] [picture] / Nevin & Smith.
Access/Copyright: Reproduction rights: State Library of Victoria
Accession number(s): H2005.34/2004. H2005.34/2004A



Cdv of bearded young man in check jacket
Cdv in oval mount, hand-tinted, studio stamp verso.
Photographers: Nevin & Smith, Hobart, 1868
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint & courtesy of the Liam Peters Collection 2010

This photograph, a delicately coloured carte-de-visite portrait of an unidentified young man with wispy beard man in semi-profile, wearing a summer check-patterned jacket, which is printed verso with the rare Nevin & Smith stamp featuring the Prince of Wales' three feathers insignia, was also taken in late 1867 during Prince Alfred's visit to Hobart.

Thomas Nevin photographed his future wife Elizabeth Rachel Day (1847-1914) during the summer of 1867-1868; they married in July 1871 at the Wesleyan Chapel, Kangaroo Valley (Tasmania). He took this photograph of his fiancée when she was barely out of her teens, circa 1867, while operating the studio at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart under the name of Nevin & Smith. Although a personal memento in many respects, and as such, surprisingly stamped verso, it may have been intended for sale to a large circle of friends, such as the group featured in the stereograph below which was probably one of three taken during an excursion to the Shoobridge hop fields at Valleyfield, New Norfolk, on 27th December, 1867. Or perhaps it was taken of another group of Terpsichoreans who celebrated Queen Victoria's birthday on May 27th, 1868 at Rosny.



Elizabeth Rachel Day, married Thomas Nevin in 1871
Taken by Thomas Nevin at Nevin & Smith (late Bock's) ca. 1867-8
140, Elizabeth Street Hobart Town
Full-length portrait, carte-de-visite
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint & Private Collection. Watermarked.

Terpsichoreans
Just possibly, the stereograph below of a large group of men and women in formal wear, some seated on the grass, many more dancing in a circle close to the River Derwent, was taken about the same time as the full-length portrait of Elizabeth Rachel Day. She wore a white dress and dark topcoat, her white hat placed on top of a photo album for the studio portrait, and many women in this outdoor stereograph wore the same outfit on this day of festivities. Dozens of men wore a striking white hat with a wide brim, floppy crown and black band visible in other photographs by Nevin. In all likelihood, this stereograph bearing the Nevin & Smith pink label verso without amendments to the business name was one of three photographs Thomas Nevin was reported to have taken during the excursion to Shoobridge's estate on 27th December, 1867, sponsored by the Working Men's Club, viz:



Source: Tasmanian Times (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1867 - 1870), Saturday 28 December 1867, page 3

TRANSCRIPT

WORKING MEN'S CLUB EXCURSION TO NEW NORFOLK
Yesterday the steamer Monarch, specially chartered by the Working Men's Club, conveyed between 300 and 400 excursionists to New Norfolk. This was the order of the day. An excellent brass band performed a variety of dance music on the bridge, and a number of indefatigable votaries of Terpsichore tripped it away "on the light fantastic toe" throughout the whole of the upward voyage. New Norfolk was reached by about ½ past 12. The majority of the excursionists proceeded at once to Valleyfield, the beautiful seat of Mr. Shoobridge, who kindly threw open his grounds to the visitors, and supplied all and sundry with hot new potatoes and green peas fruit and tea. Pic-nic parties were soon formed in all directions under the trees, and everybody seemed thoroughly to enjoy Mr. Shoobridge's genial hospitality. After refreshment the band summoned the company to the hop-room, where dancing was kept up for nearly a couple of hours. After this football, foot races, kiss in the ring etc. occupied the young folks for some time in a large paddock near the house, during which Mr. Nevins [sic] took three photographic views of the animated scene. We regret to state that an accident which might have proved serious, occurred during the day. In descending the wooden steps leading to the hop-room, a lady missed her footing and fell to the ground, some 12 or 15 feet, on her head, receiving several cuts and contusions on the face. The sufferer received every possible attention from Mrs. Shoobridge, and mainly owing, under Providence, to that excellent lady's assistance and succour was enabled to return to town by the steamer. On the homeward voyage, the excursionists were overtaken above Bridgewater by a violent squall of wind and rain, which damped for a time the ardour of their enjoyment. But as soon as the rain ceased, dancing was resumed once more, and "all went merry as a marriage peal." Mr. Henry Dobson, the secretary of the Working Men's Club, was unremitting in his exertions to promote the harmony and hilarity of the excursion; and with the drawbacks just mentioned, the whole trip was a very enjoyable success.

Source: Tasmanian Times (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1867 - 1870), Saturday 28 December 1867, page 3

Possibly it was the same group of Terpsichoreans who danced at Rosny at one of the many events celebrating the 49th birthday of Queen Victoria on 28th May 1868:



TRANSCRIPT

CELEBRATION OF HER MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY.
Yesterday being declared a general holiday by proclamation, to celebrate the 49th anniversary of the birth of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, was very closely observed as such throughout the city. The stores, merchants' offices, and shops were all closed, with the exception of a few of those devoted to the sale of creature comforts, and the people very generally betook themselves to scenes of enjoyment. There were many private pic-nic and excursion parties, and a long list of public amusements was provided. Soon after sunrise the flagstaff on Mulgrave Battery was dressed with appropriate colors, the " flag that braved a thousand years" waving proudly over all. At the Battery Staff, and also at the Telegraph Office, the Royal Standard was hoisted, and at the offices of the several consuls the flags of various nations were displayed. The shipping in harbor likewise made a good display of bunting, and at many of the shops and residences in the city staffs, which had been erected to do honor to " the Duke," bore national ensigns in honor of his Queen mother....

The Mercury report continued with a paragraph about a dancing party at Rosny, and a spot of bother:



TRANSCRIPT

ROSNY.
A number of people yesterday took advantage of the holiday to pass a few hours at Rosny, where arrangements had been made for their amusement. A race between two skiffs, for £4 a side, took place, and appeared to be watched with considerable interest by the spectators. A brass band which had been engaged discoursed sweet music, to which the Terpsichoreans danced incessantly until about 5 o'clock, when the steamer made her last trip to Hobart Town. A very pleasant afternoon was spent, the only interruption to the general harmony being caused by the conduct of several young "roughs," who terminated their disgraceful proceedings by a general fight on board the boat.

Source: CELEBRATION OF HEB MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY. (1868, May 28). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8852443





Stereograph by Nevin & Smith of Terpsichoreans at New Norfolk, 27 December 1867 or Rosny, 27th May 1868
Verso label: "Tasmanian Views from Nevin & Smith Photographers"
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Ref: Q1994.56.20.1

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection (online catalogue 2006)
"Tasmanian Views from Nevin & Smith .... plus Tombstones copied, Terms - Cheap!"
REF: Q1994.56.20.1
ITEM NAME: Label:
MEDIUM: Paper and printing ink,
MAKER: Nevin & Smith [Artist];
DATE: 1860s
DESCRIPTION : Label from the back of Q1994.56.20 for photographers Nevin & Smith, 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobarton
INSCRIPTIONS & MARKS: On back a pink label: Tasmanian views/ from/ Nevin & Smith,/ Photographers,/ 140, Elizabeth St., Hobarton./ Stereoscopic and Album Portraits/ Views Photographed./ Viiews of Residences, Tombstones copied, Terms —Cheap!

Residences
This stereograph of a house bears a yellow rather than pink Nevin & Smith label, with Smith's name struck through, the word "Late" superimposed, and the plural "s" on the word "Photographers" crossed out. It was taken before Robert Smith's departure from the partnership in January 1868 but reprinted soon after. From 1869, Nevin replaced this label with a blind stamp impress on the recto of outdoor stereographs with the simple wording "T. Nevin Photo". Different extant stamps, labels and verso inscriptions used by Nevin to date number at least eight.

Unlike the single image carte-de-visite photograph (below) of a large single-storey house on a hill taken by Nevin of his parents' family home at Kangaroo Valley in 1868, this stereograph of a house bears his commercial label (Smith's name struck through) pasted verso, and was therefore intended for sale to clients. The subject of the photograph represents one of several houses built to a similar architectural template in the Kangaroo Valley area. Some tinting of the grass in this image was attempted but otherwise abandoned, suggesting a rejected copy.





Stereograph by Nevin & Smith of four people outside a house with side extensions
Verso: Nevin & Smith yellow label ca. 1868
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014
TMAG Ref: Q16826.9

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection (online catalogue 2006)
REF: Q16826.9
ITEM NAME: photograph:
MEDIUM: albumen silver print sepia toned stereoscope,
MAKER: T Nevin [Photographer];
TITLE: 'Tasmanian Views.'
DATE: 1870c
DESCRIPTION : No information relative to title of his images. This one, of a house or maybe a school.
INSCRIPTIONS & MARKS: (On bacK) Tas. Views from Nevin & Smith (Late) Photographers (s crossed out) 140 Elizabeth Street. Steroscopic and Album Portraits Views Photographed. Views of Residences, Tombstones copied, Terms:-Cheap!





The cottage that John Nevin built at Kangaroo Valley Tasmania
"T.J. Nevin Photo" inscribed on verso, ca. 1868. Exhibited at Wellington Park 1868.
From © KLW NFC Imprint & The Liam Peters Collection 2010.



Dissolution of partnership Robert Smith and Thomas Nevin
Mercury 26 Feb 1868

This dissolution notice was published in the Mercury on 26 February 1868 of the partnership between Robert Smith and Thomas Nevin. William Robert Giblin, later Attorney-General and Premier, was Thomas Nevin's solicitor and witness. Robert Smith moved to Goulburn, NSW where he opened a studio.

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery holds fifty or more of stereographs by Thomas J. Nevin, some stamped verso, some inscribed verso and some blank, in addition to the fifty of so photographs of prisoners ("convicts") taken by T. J. Nevin in the 1870s. Many of the stereographs have survived in barely fair condition, not simply because these early stereos were printed on absorbent salt paper which rendered the image fuzzy over time, they were salvaged from private and public archive locations where conditions were less than optimal. Wherever two very similar photographs have survived, one with Nevin's stamp or inscription, one without, the following circumstances of their production have to be considered:

1. duplicates of a stamped original chosen for commercial profit were not routinely stamped but simply supplied to the client as a copy.

2. duplicates of an original or another very similar original showing the same subject and location but differing in minor details of pose etc were not stamped, especially photographs taken for immediate use by friends, family or even government officials well -known to the photographer.

3. one original photograph bearing a specimen studio stamp was submitted to the Customs and Patent Office to register copyright of that particular stamp for one year, or for a limited quantity to be produced for a specified fee. Nevin covered the registration of eight different studio stampdesigns and imprints from 1865 to 1888.

4. some originals were flawed at the moment of capture, or rendered useless during printing and colouring, and so not stamped or circulated but nonetheless retained by the studio, which then ensured a life beyond the photographer's control in the hands of collectors.

5. many stock commercial negatives by Nevin were acquired and reproduced by Samuel Clifford until Clifford's retirement in 1878. The Anson Brothers acquired Nevin's, Clifford's and even Baily's negatives (the latter through Joshua Anson's theft) and reproduced them with their own studio stamps.

Despite these caveats which segue into disputes about attribution, it must be remembered that Thomas Nevin began professional photography around 1863 at New Town, then ca 1865 with Alfred Bock, continued as a partner in commercial production with Robert Smith, Samuel Clifford and Henry Hall Baily, as well as taking commissions as a government contractor for the Colonial Government's Lands Department, the Hobart City Corporation, the Municipal Police Office, and the New Town Territorial Police, retiring from professional photography after twenty-five years only at the birth of his last child, Albert, in 1888. To date, 450 or so photographs have been identified and attributed correctly as the work of Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923); many more sit in archives and private collections yet to be aired and taken for a stroll down the virtual highway.

The ANSON Bros' Books of Tasmanian Scenes



Title: Anson's books of Tasmanian scenes, both north, south and the interior
Creator(s):Anson Bros
Date: 1890?
Description: 1 endpaper : Black/red lettering, 40 X 58 cm.
Related to: In: Picturesque and interesting Tasmania. No. 1
Subjects: Anson Bros. Craw and Ratcliff, Booksellers, Stationers and Fancy
Other titles: Best photographs of Tasmania's world-fames scenery, mountains, lakes, ferns and rocks Endpaper of album
Format: album
Location: Tasmaniana Library
ADRI: AUTAS001125641373

John Anson acquired the stock in 1878 of both Thomas Nevin and Samuel Clifford; he reprinted - on glass - an Aboriginal portrait originally taken by Charles A. Woolley in 1866 which is privately held in the McCullagh Collection. With his brother Joshua, recently released from prison, the Anson Bros reproduced Clifford and Nevin's photographs taken in 1873 and 1874 at Port Arthur, which they then printed as an album and sold in 1889 with the title Port Arthur Past and Present, .held at the SLNSW



Anson Bros. photographic album, Port Arthur Past and Present (1889), held in the SLNSW.
State Library of NSW
Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2009

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery databases
• Six of Nevin’s salt paper stereos at TMAG
• Nevin and Smith stereo of Elizabeth St studio
• Thomas Nevin and the Terspsichoreans, New Norfolk 1867