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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TELEGRAM COVER with ADVERTISEMENT

TRANSCRIPT

NOTE. –  The standard time for the Eastern States of Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania
is half an hour in advance of the standard time for South Australia and two hours in advance of the standard time for Western Australia
_______________________________________________________________________

TELEGRAM RECEIVED, 12.55 pm NSW

TRANSCRIPT

Office of Origin           Words          Time Lodged

11.           HOBART  NORTH TAS    15      12.55p

__________________________________________________________________________

Remarks.                                                  | To

This message has been received [etc]                                      MISS   H   NEVIN

                                                                                52   DENISON   ST   CAMPERDOWN   NSW

__________________________________________________________________________

                                    AUNTY    A X U P    PASSED   AWAY   LAST   NIGHT

                                                                                                                       MOTHER

 

__________________________________________________________________________

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

Axup obituaries

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

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

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

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

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

TRANSCRIPT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Addenda: Telegraphy

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

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

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

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

Read more in this post here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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• • Hector Charles James Horatio AXUP, Thomas Nevin’s brother-in-law
  • Youngest daughter Minnie Nevin m. James Drew (1884-1974)
  • Photographers A. Bock, S. Clifford and T. Nevin at Port Arthur
  • Mary Sophia Day (m. Axup), Thomas Nevin’s sister-in-law
  • First Mate James DAY on the “Panama” to California 1850-1851
  • Mary Sophia Axup chair of the WPL 1913
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