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

19th century Australian police and commercial photographer

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Biographies

 

A brief summary of generational levels of the immediate families of Tasmanian photographer Thomas J. NEVIN and his wife Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee DAY, 1830s-1920s.

(a) GENERATION ONE: Dickson, Nevin, Day, Pocock 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. Born in England, 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. Rececca 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. Wilshire

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)

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Cdv's at NVG Exhibition WHO ARE YOU 2022

T. Nevin cdv at the “Who Are You” exhibition, NGV and NPG 2022

July 30, 2022

Photographic works extant in public collections taken by Hobart professional photographer Thomas J. Nevin  (1842-1923) in Tasmania during the 1860s and 1870s are regularly displayed at exhibitions held by Australian national galleries and museums. In many cases, a publication in book form accompanies the exhibition. This year’s exhibition titled WHO ARE YOU includes a hand-tinted carte-de-visite of a woman yet to be identified, taken by Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1865-67. The exhibition of 230 works – 79 from the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, and 160 from the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne – represent all visual media of photography, painting, sculpture, works on papers and video. … More T. Nevin cdv at the “Who Are You” exhibition, NGV and NPG 2022

Bust of Truganini by Bemnjamin Law 1836

Indigenous elder Truganini and poet Ann Kearney, 1875

July 11, 2022

John Woodcock Graves the elder (1795-1886), famous for his composition of the song “D’ye ken John Peel”, was a family friend and frequent visitor of Thomas Kearney’s father, William Keaney (1795–1870) of Laburnam Park, Richmond, Tasmania. His son, lawyer and townsman John Woodcock Graves the younger (1829-1876), defended Thomas Kearney (1824-1889) in a dispute in 1875 over the conveyancing of a lease five years earlier, in 1870, to neighbour William Searle for use of a road on his property. The defense was Kearney’s state of intoxication and severe delirium tremens prevented him from knowing what he was doing. Thomas Kearney’s wife, Ann Elizabeth Keaney nee Lovell, showed her gratitude to John Woodcock Graves in June 1875 by writing a poem praising his pretty youngest (non-Indigenous) daughter , Trucaninni Graves, named in honour of Indigenous elder and leader Truganini … … More Indigenous elder Truganini and poet Ann Kearney, 1875

Wm Snelling's family butcher shop

Thomas J. Nevin at William Snelling’s inquest 1875

April 13, 2022

The original of this photograph of W. Snelling’s family butcher shop featuring five smiling individuals posed out front at the curb may have been taken by commercial photographer and government contractor Thomas J. Nevin ca. 1872-1874 shortly before former coach maker William Snelling’s death from lung disease in January 1875. The image has been disseminated widely across the internet and even offered for sale, in every instance purloined from the Archives Office of Tasmania’s Flickr collection of photographer James Chandler (1877-1945). Since James Chandler was not yet born when this photograph was taken in the 1870s, its inclusion by the AOT among dozens of his works taken in the 1900s on their Flickr page might suggest the date – 1870s – is incorrect, especially as there is no photographer attribution given to suggest another, earlier photographer. However, a number of works – stereographs as well as cabinet and cdv portraits  – which Thomas J. Nevin produced in the 1860s-1880s were not imprinted with his stamp if they were one of several taken in the same sitting or of the same view in the endeavour to obtain the best shot. The fact that Thomas J. Nevin was required to attend William Snelling’s inquest on January 25, 1875, strongly suggests the date given to the photograph is correct, in the first instance, and that William Snelling and Thomas Nevin were closely acquainted. In the second instance, it is the photograph’s provenance which supports Nevin’s attribution. It was in the possession of James Chandler, a distant relative and beneficiary of Thomas J. Nevin’s collections and indeed of his expertise, in the wider family network. James Chandler was related to Thomas J. Nevin by virtue of his mother Mary Chandler nee Genge’s sister’s late marriage – his aunt Martha Genge – to Thomas’ father, John Nevin snr. … More Thomas J. Nevin at William Snelling’s inquest 1875

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