Tasmanian photographer | Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)

This photograph was taken by H. H. Baily on Regatta Day, Hobart, February 1872. The Mercury published a notice to inform the public of its availability. The notice describes the scene in great detail.

Photo by H. H. Baily, Regatta Day 1872.
State Library of Tasmania
AUTAS001126252188

State Library of Tasmania
Title: Regatta: championship gig race, Hobart Town
Publisher: [Hobart, Tas. : s.n., between 1870 and 1890]
Description: 1 photographic print mounted on card : b&w ;
104 x 180 mm. ; on mount 152 x 240 mm.
Format: [picture]. Photograph
ADRI:AUTAS001126252188
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
Notes: Condition at May 2003: Minor staining and spotting as well as considerable fading adjacent to both horizontal borders.Overall condition is good.
Electronic version of photograph available at: http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/

THE MERCURY, 2 February 1872
Beneath the notice about Baily’s photograph is a notice informing the public that Thomas Nevin’s photographs taken of an organised tour called “The Colonists’ Trip” down the Derwent were also available. The newspaper did not publish photographs until the late 1880s, so these photographs which Baily and Nevin forwarded to The Mercury would have been displayed in the newspaper office windows.

H.H. Baily and Thomas Nevin at the Regatta,
The Mercury 2 February 1872

TRANSCRIPT

PHOTO OF THE CHAMPION GIG RACE.- Mr H. H. Baily, photographer, has succeeded in obtaining an admirable picture of the start for the Champion Gig Race, of which he has forwarded us a copy. In the background are the hills beyond the Derwent. On the bosom of the river lies Clio, with every rope and her innumerable flags clearly brought out. Beside Her Majesty’s ship is the Government schooner Harriet, between which and the shore are the competing gigs, with their crews well brought out. The other various craft cruising about have been well caught, and prominent by the cattle jetty is the Monarch, every inch of which is crowded with the figures on those aboard. The picture will make an acceptable souvenir of the Regatta. Why has not a photograph of the Domain, with its thousands of spectators, taken from on board some of the steamers when stationary?

THE TRIP DOWN THE RIVER.- A photograph of the “Colonists’ Trip” has been very well taken by Mr. Nevin, which will be of special interest to those who took part, and will probably like to secure this remembrance of so memorable event.

The photographs by Nevin may be among a series of stereographs depicting people on board a ship held at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Their database listed these items in 2005:

TMAG
Q1994.56.1
ITEM NAME: Photograph:
MEDIUM: sepia stereoscope – arched image,
MAKER: T Nevin [Artist];
DATE: 1870c
DESCRIPTION : Group of gentlemen and a lady on board a ship. Capstan wheel in centre of image. Same group as in Q994.56.5, Q1994.56.24
INSCRIPTIONS & MARKS: Impressed on front : T Nevin/ Photo