January 2014 – Tasmanian photographer | Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)

Waxwork of Trucanini, Madam Tussaud Sydney

Constable John Nevin at Trucanini’s funeral 1876

January 25, 2014

Constable John Nevin (1852-1891), brother of photographer Thomas J. Nevin, joined the civil service as an 18 year old in 1870 and was stationed at the Cascades Gaol and Reformatory until transferred to the Hobart Gaol in 1877. He was on duty at the burial of Trucanini regarded in that era as the “last Tasmanian Aboriginal”, on 10th-11th May 1876 at the Cascades cemetery. Located on a patch of ground -“a vacant spot opposite the Cascades” as the press described it (South Australian Register 12 May 1876) – that patch is now identified as No. 2, Nevin Street . … More Constable John Nevin at Trucanini’s funeral 1876

Nevin Street and the Cascades Prison for Males

January 23, 2014

The 1935 Hobart Walkers Club map (detail above) shows two very distinct routes to the southeast which John Nevin might have chosen in the 1870s on his journey from the family farm at Kangaroo Valley, situated next to the Lady Franklin Museum where Thomas and John’s father John Nevin snr had built their cottage. Whether on foot or horseback, the first and longer route he could have taken was along Kangaroo Valley road, alternatively titled Lenah Valley Road by 1922, to the waterhole and the cabin named by the Old Hobartians (alumni of Hobart High School) as their own by 1935. He would then veer south on the path to the New Town Falls, crossing Brushy Creek until arriving at the edge of a very steep ravine . Once there, he would join the McRobies track until arriving at the Hobart Rivulet, passing below the Cascades Brewery. The track, much wider at that point, passed by the cemetery, and ended directly opposite the Cascades Prison … More Nevin Street and the Cascades Prison for Males

Charles Dickens and Captain Goldsmith at Gad’s Hill 1857

January 18, 2014

“Wild legends are in circulation among the servants how that Captain Goldsmith on the knoll above–the skipper in that crow’s-nest of a house–has millions of gallons of water always flowing for him. Can he have damaged my well? Can we imitate him, and have our millions of gallons? Goldsmith or I must fall, so I conceive.”

Charles Dickens, Letter to Henry Austin, from Gad’s Hill, June 6th 1857 … More Charles Dickens and Captain Goldsmith at Gad’s Hill 1857

John Watt Beattie and the Nevin family legacy

January 15, 2014

The friendship between these two photographers, Thomas J. Nevin and John Watt Beattie extended back to 1887 on the death of Thomas Nevin’s father, John Nevin at the family house and farm adjacent to the Lady Franklin Museum at Kangaroo Valley (renamed Lenah Valley in 1922). It had long been a wish of John Nevin that the Franklin Museum be restored to its original purpose when first built on Jane Franklin’s land, named Ancanthe, as a library and botanical museum, but by 1887, it was little more than a storage shed for local orchardists and farmers. As a gesture towards reviving John Nevin’s wish, before his own death in 1930, John Watt Beattie approached the Hobart City Council with a proposal to house his vast convictaria collection in the Lady Franklin Museum at Kangaroo Valley (Lenah Valley) but the Hobart City Council declined. … More John Watt Beattie and the Nevin family legacy

Departure of Captain Goldsmith and the 99th Regiment 1855

January 13, 2014

A Grand Ball was held at the Victoria Theatre, Hobart on 20th December 1855 in honour of the service rendered to the colony by the 99th Regiment on the eve of their final departure, attended by Captain Goldsmith among a distinguished group of invitees.

The First Waltz on the Programme, “Les Adieux,” was composed by Miss J. V. Smith for the occasion of the “Departure of the 99th Regt. from Hobart Town”. … More Departure of Captain Goldsmith and the 99th Regiment 1855

Paris Expo 1855: Captain Goldsmith’s blue gum plank

January 11, 2014

Elizabeth Nevin’s uncle, master mariner Captain Edward Goldsmith , departed Hobart Tasmania permanently in February 1856 but his entry of a blue gum plank (eucalyptus globulus) was shipped to France months prior, intended for the opening of the Paris Exposition on 15 May 1855, closing on 15 November 1855. Over five million people visited the exhibition which displayed products from 34 countries across 6 hectares (39 acres). … More Paris Expo 1855: Captain Goldsmith’s blue gum plank

Thomas J. Nevin’s Blue Ink Series

January 11, 2014

For some time after Bock’s departure in 1865, Thomas Nevin was using the same supply of blue ink on the same design as Bock’s with just a minimal alteration to include Bock’s name as credential – “T. Nevin Late A. Bock” – enclosed by a belt – the belt being a popular and universal design of the period. The blue ink used in the verso stamp on this portrait of a baby is paler, suggesting Nevin’s supply was running low, expending the last for the vivid blue tinting around the baby’s shoulders, possibly executed by a studio assistant. … More Thomas J. Nevin’s Blue Ink Series

Prisoner Nathan HUNT 1870s-1890s

January 6, 2014

This later photograph of Nathan Hunt taken by Constable John Nevin was printed in the earlier format of an oval framed carte-de-visite vignette typical of his brother Thomas’ commercial technique of printing his 1870s mugshots for the Municipal Police Office and Hobart Gaol. This photograph is only the third mugshot to surface of a Tasmanian prisoner wearing a prison issue cap; the earlier mugshots taken by Thomas Nevin of prisoners James Mullins and William Smith at the Hobart Gaol in 1875 show both men wearing the “black leathern cap” manufactured by prisoners at Port Arthur in 1873. The prison issue woollen cap also made by prisoners at Port Arthur in 1873 is shown here, worn by Nathan Hunt in this later mugshot dated 1890. … More Prisoner Nathan HUNT 1870s-1890s

The Millbank Prison Photographer, 1888

January 5, 2014

“The photographer at Millbank is one of the steel- buttoned warders, and we congratulate him on his well-arranged studio. Here are some pictures he has just taken — half profile, bold, clear, and vigorous portaits, well lighted, and altogether unlike what prison photographs usually are. There is no ‘prentice hand here, and we say so. A sitter is departing as we arrive — a man in ordinary attire, his short, cutaway beard giving him the appearance of a foreigner. Our guide sees our look of astonishment — ‘ He is a liberty man, and is photographed in liberty clothes ; he goes out next week, and has, therefore, been permitted to grow a beard during the past three months ;’ and on the desk we see a printed form referring to him, to which his photograph will presently be attached, ‘ Seven years’ penal servitude, three years’ police supervision,’ is upon it. His crime was forgery …” … More The Millbank Prison Photographer, 1888

2013 in review

January 4, 2014

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 19,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many … More 2013 in review

Captain Edward Goldsmith at the New Market banquet 1854

January 3, 2014

Captain Edward Goldsmith was highly esteemed by both the Hobart City Corporation’s Mayor and aldermen and the business community. He attended the Regattas as a judge, and at his testimonial dinner in 1849 at the Hobart Town Hall, he stated that he might become a colonist and settle in Hobart, but that was not to be. He attended many social functions sponsored by the Governor and Mayor before his final departure in 1855, sometimes with his younger son Edward Goldsmith jnr, who accompanied him to the Governor’s Levee. The construction of the New Market on the Hobart Wharves, and the banquet held to celebrate its opening in January 1854, was another of his interests and an event he attended in the company of Hobart’s most illustrious officers and the colony’s most modest traders alike. … More Captain Edward Goldsmith at the New Market banquet 1854

Captain Edward Goldsmith and the Waterloo 1832

January 2, 2014

The WATERLOO 1832
Despite the trials and calamities which beset his very first command as a young master of the James on the voyage to the Swan River, Western Australia, in 1830, Captain Edward Goldsmith returned to London on board the Norval via Hobart and Sydney (dep. 26 April 1831) to command another ship bound for the port of Hobart, the Waterloo (not to be confused with the convict transport the Waterloo which was shipwrecked at Cape Town in 1842). First Mate on board the Waterloo (1832) was his brother-in-law, James Day, arriving 5 August at Hobart and 22 August at Sydney. … More Captain Edward Goldsmith and the Waterloo 1832