Showing posts with label albumen prints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label albumen prints. Show all posts

Friday, 28 March 2014

Sepia Saturday 221: The Photo Boat


Sepia Saturday by Alan Burnett and Marilyn Brindley

Travelling photographers catered for quite a different section of the portrait trade from those who had established studios in larger towns. The population of smaller towns and villages just didn't generate enough business to keep a full time permanent studio viable year round. In order to make ends meet, the photographer who either lived in or wished to cater to a small town needed to either find extra work in an alternative trade, or travel further afield in search of customers.

In previous articles here on Photo-Sleuth I have written about several of these itinerant tradesmen who worked in Derbyshire, England: "Professor" Frank Simpson, Charles Tyler and Charles Warwick all owned caravans and toured the countryside, often following the circuit of summer fairs.

Image © and courtesy of Richard D. Sheaff
J.B. Silvis' U.P.P.R. Photograph Car
Image © and courtesy of Richard D. Sheaff

In North America the rapid settlement of vast expanses of land in the late nineteenth century meant that practitioners who wished to ply their trade there needed to be inventive. Much of the expansion took place along the network of railroads, it is therefore not surprising that railroad photographers set up business to service these disparate communities. The most famous of these was perhaps John B. Silvis, proprietor of the Union Pacific Rail Road car, who took portraits and sold stereoscopic and other landscape views along the Union Pacific and other companies' railway tracks from 1870 until 1882.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
F.E. Webster's Dental and Photo Boats, Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisiana
Mounted paper print, 204 x 153mm
Image © and courtesy of Jana Last

In parts of the United States, however, communities were linked by waterways rather than roads or railways. Many tradespeople serviced their customers from riverboats, but I had never come across a photographic studio housed on one until I saw this image shared by Jana Last on her family history blog. Jana's maternal great-grandfather Frederick Emory Webster (1864-1946) graduated from the Western Dental College, Kansas City, Missouri in April 1896. Some time during the next decade he appears to have operated a dental surgery from the boat shown at centre in the photograph above which, according to the handwritten caption, is on the shore of Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
Detail of F.E. Webster's Photo Boat, Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisiana

Moored alongside is an almost identical craft with a sign reading "F E WEBSTER PHOTO BOAT." (Click on the image above for more detail.) That it does indeed house a photographic studio seems quite plausible, as the end of the boat closest to shore has large windows and a special skylight with pitched roof which I believe was the actual room where portraits would have been taken.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
F.E. Webster's Dental and Photo Boats, unknown location
Mounted paper print, 202 x 124mm
Image © and courtesy of Jana Last

Jana has at least two more photographs of her great-grandfather's boats, although the photographer's studio has now been replaced by the premises of an optician. That the same boat was converted from studio to eye-testing rooms, and presumably a dispensary (or how would he have made a living, since the eye-tests were advertised as free?), is fairly certain because the characteristic skylight is still just visible in both photographs.

In fact, the Photo Boat may have been Webster's first craft, as the name painted on the prow appears to read "F.E. Webster No. 1," while that on the dental boat is quite clearly "No. 2." I've not been able to decipher the caption fully (it is written in either Portuguese or Galician, in neither of which I am proficient), but it appears to state that the floating theatre is towed by the steamboat with two smokestacks.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
Detail of F.E. Webster's Dental & Photo Boats, Lake Charles, Louisiana

That steamboat appears to be a different one from that in the first photograph taken at Lake Charles (see detail above). Judging from the apparent lack of paddles or smokestacks on the floating studio and surgery, they were not self-propelled, but rather barges towed by a paddle steamer. It's not clear whether Webster owned his own steamer, or whether he just hired one to tow the two barges whenever they had exhausted the opportunities for business in one location and wanted to move to another. However, I did note that the steamboat superstructure also has "Photographer" signwritten on the wheelhouse.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
F.E. Webster's Dental and Optical Boats, Natchez, Mississippi
Mounted paper print, 205 x 153mm
Image © and courtesy of Jana Last

The caption on the third photograph indicates that it was taken at Natchez, Mississipi. Locations in FE Webster's timeline show a general migration south, away from his former residences in Stockton (Kansas) and Kansas City (Missouri), down first the Missouri River and then the Mississippi, although since none of the photographs are accurately dated it is difficult to be precise about his movements. By April 1899, when he was granted a patent for a dental handpiece, and shortly after the granting of a divorce from his first wife, he gave his address as "Clarendon, Monroe, Arkansas." It may have been an address of convenience, perhaps that of his lawyer, as presumably he was on the move much of the time.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
Portrait of Cynthia Maria Webster née Waterman (1834-1895)
taken by The F.E. Webster Photo Boat, c.1894-1897
Albumen print (47 x 61mm) mounted on printed card (60 x 77mm)
Image © and courtesy of Jana Last

Jana is also very fortunate to have a portrait taken F.E. Webster's Photo Boat studio. Although identified as the photographer's mother, who died in September 1895, I think it's possible it might be the portrait of one of her daughters. Whoever it is, we can see from the card mount that it was produced on the boat, and I believe from the wide sleeves worn by the subject that it was taken in the mid-1890s.

Image © and courtesy of Jana Last
Frederick (Watson) Emory Webster (1864-1946), taken c.1890-1896
Cabinet card print by David P. Thomson of Kansas City, Missouri
Image © and courtesy of Jana Last

Webster, pictured here in Kansas City while he was studying to be a dentist or on his graduation, may not have lasted very long in the photograhic trade, but his choice of studio was pretty unusual. I've not yet found evidence of any other portrait photographer using this mode of transport, although there may well have been some.


Doremus' Mississippi Views Photograph Gallery, c.1870s

J.P. Doremus was a portrait photographer from Patterson, New Jersey, who in 1874 constructed a floating photographic studio which he used to travel down the Mississippi:
... from St Paul, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico photographing steamboats, waterfronts, bridges, lumberyards, log rafts, and river towns. Doremus would then convert these images to stereo card views which he described in a short work entitled "Floating Down the Mississippi" (1877).

While there are plenty of extant stereoviews by Doremus, there is no evidence that he took any portraits in this studio. Perhaps Webster's studio was one of a kind.

I'm very grateful to Jana Last for the opportunity to use these photographs from her private collection. Thanks also to Dick Sheaff for the use of one of his fine images. You may or may not find similar modes of water transport in this week's Sepia Saturday contributions, but I can guarantee that there will be plenty of interesting images.

Post Script 31 March 2014

Mike Brubaker has very kindly drawn my attention to a collection of photographs of Photo Studio Boats on the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library web site, which demonstrates that Mr Webster's venture was not the only one of its kind. From this page, I extracted details of the following:
- Williams Photo Boat, Sistersville, West Virginia, 1896-1900, and on the Muskingum River, Marietta, Washington County
- H.O. Schroeter's Floating Photo Studio, Green River, Kentucky, 1900
- Doremus Photo Gallery No.1 named Success and No. 2 named Flora
- Thornton Barrette's Photograph Boat, Russell, Ky., 1899-1900
- Little Gem Floating Pictures, unknown location and date
- Eureka Photo, unknown location and date
Clearly more research can be done on this topic.

Post Script 14 March 2021

A further communication gratefully received from Gary Saretzky has shed much more light on the fascinating activities of John P. Doremus and his floating Photograph Gallery between 1874 and 1881:

You mentioned lack of evidence that Doremus took any portraits on his floating gallery. There are frequent mentions in his diary that he did and I’ve seen examples of a tintype and a cabinet card, although these portraits seem to be quite uncommon compared to his stereo views taken on his travels down the river from 1874 into the 1880s.  Excerpts from his diary are available online in Stereo World 30:5 and the entire diary from March 1874 to the end was published in S. & D. Reflector in sections from March 1992 to December 1993, also available online.  Doremus did not take all the portrait himself as he had a camera operator as well as other staff.  When he was away from the boat for an extended period, he let his operator continue taking portraits for a percentage of the gross.  The quality of the portraits I have seen are not impressive and I suspect those were taken by his operator.  On one occasion mentioned in his diary, he got into a physical fight with an unsatisfied inebriated customer.

References

Last, Jana (2014) The F. E. Webster Dental and Photo Boats, Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog, 3 February 2014.

J.P. Doremus, on the Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium web site.

Stereoviews by J.B. Doremus, from George Eastman House.

Thursday, 8 August 2013

Sepia Saturday 189: Ode to the Rickshaw-wallah


Sepia Saturday with Marilyn Brindley and Alan Burnett

This week I'll take you globe-trotting once again. While I suspect you'll be treated to a myriad of contraptions powered by the internal combustion engine by other Saturday Sepians, I'm choosing to use a more environmentally friendly, if not particularly pc, means of transport.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Jinnirickshaw, undated probably c.1880s, unidentified photographer
Albumen print (141 x 95mm) mounted on printed card (155 x 112mm)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

This mounted albumen print of a non-standard format was purchased on a whim, partly because it's a well composed and exposed photograph of an interesting subject, representing a way of life that's pretty much disappeared, but also because it doesn't merely reinforce the colonial stereotype of white sahib being conveyed from one shady verandah to another by a rickshaw-wallah.

Judging from the style of print and mount, I estimate that it was probably printed in the 1880s or 1890s, and I think it may have been taken somewhere in the Indian sub-continent. The printed text at lower left appears to relate to the subject, rather than the photographer or publisher, and suggests that the photograph may have been produced in some numbers. Indeed, I found another copy of the image here, dated 1895.

The derivation of jinnirickshaw is suggested by The Free Dictionary to be from three Middle Chinese words, jin (person), lik (strength) and chai (vehicle) via the Japanese word jinrikisha. My Concise Oxford Dictionary states that the variety of spellings one finds are archaic forms of the more familiar rickshaw, which they define as a:
Light two-wheeled hooded vehicle, drawn by one or more persons.
Wikipedia claims, quite plausibly, that the rickshaw is thought to have been invented in Japan in 1869 after the removal of a ban on wheeled vehicles during the Tokugawa period. After a popularity explosion in that country, it spread quickly to other Asian countries, being introduced to India around 1880.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Kingwell in a rickshaw, Durban, South Africa, c.1920s
Souvenir postcard portrait by unidentified photographer
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

Although the popularity of hand-pulled rickshaws waned in the Third World throughout the twentieth century, particularly after the Second World War, there was one country where this mode of transport took on a life of its own. South Africa's first rickshaws were imported into Natal in 1892 and within a decade had become the main mode of transportation, with over 2000 of them in Durban's streets. Gallery Ezakwantu tells a fascinating and well illustrated story of how the rickshaw puller's simple, unadorned calico uniforms and traditional Zulu feathered, bovine-horned headwear have evolved, over time, into outrageous enormous multi-horned headdresses and costumes spectacularly decorated with beads, sheepskins and a variety of other accessories.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne

An example of one such Zulu rickshaw puller with his conveyance and a client is pictured in the postcard above, probably taken in a makeshift outdoors studio on Durban's waterfront some time in the 1920s. The scene somewhat clumsily painted on the backdrop is easily identifiable as Durban's sweeping beachfront, with The Bluff forming a backdrop to the harbour entrance, as this Streetview shows. The message handwritten on the back of the postcard merely identifies the occupant of the rickshaw as "Kingwell," presumably a surname. I feel that the uniform he is wearing is possibly merchant marine, or perhaps from a colonial administration, but I haven't been able to pin it down.


"Rickshaw Boys" - Durban, South Africa
Postcard by unidentified publisher, posted 1966

In early 1968 my family had an extended holiday in South Africa, photos in the family albums showing that we spent time in Potchefstroom, Simonstown, Bredasdorp, Durban and Umhlanga Rocks. The only memory of that trip that remains with me is an extremely vivid one of the rickshaw drivers on the Durban waterfront. By that time their costumes, and their playing-up-to-the-tourists antics, were probably at their most extravagant. Unfortunately I don't have a family photograph to go with it, which reinforces my idea that it is a real memory rather than one prompted by later tales of the event related by my parents. In my mind's eye, however, they looked very much like the three posing for this mid-1960s postcard.

An excerpt from a 1967 article in the New Age provides a taste of the experience to be expected:
As pictorial attractions for tourists go probably no city in the world would care to challenge Durban ... at the spin of a 20c piece ... some 15 Zulu ricksha boys, who ply their trade along the sweeping Durban Esplanade between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. ... offer outstanding value. They out-Twiggy Twiggy with the number and variety of their poses ... [take] a swing along the sea shore ... [and] spread their regalia like peacocks.
As a six year-old country boy who had never come across anything like this in my life, I was terrified and absolutely refused to go near it. When one of my parents and my younger sister Diana went off down the Esplanade for a ride, complete with the see-sawing, twirling gyrations and strange chants of the "driver," I was convinced I would never see them again. I suspect tears ensued although time, thankfully, has wiped those from my memory.

Image © and collection of Brett PayneImage © and collection of Brett Payne
Bud Payne, Durban or Umhlanga, 4 April 1968
Photomatic photobooth portrait (65 x 68mm)
Images © and collection of Brett Payne

Although, as far as I am aware, no photograph exists of that particular scary ride, there is a photobooth portrait of my father which could have been taken on the same day. It doesn't have any identifying studio marks or printing on it, but by comparison with similar thin-metal-framed prints from the 1950s which I discussed in a previous article, I can tell it was taken in a Photomatic photobooth. It's possibly the latest example of a Photomatic portrait that I've seen.

Getting back on topic, this series of photos suggests that Durban's rickshaw drivers are still attracting the tourists, although I suspect they're no longer offering rides for twenty cents. I don't think I would fancy expending that amount of effort, even for a considerably greater sum.

References

Japanese Rickshaw, at the Powerhouse Museum.

Zulu Ricksha, 1892-2000, Power Carriages of the Mandlakazi Clan, from Gallery Ezakwantu.

Ricksha Boys of Durban, The Age, 11 September 1967, p.11, courtesy of Google Books.

Thursday, 4 April 2013

Sepia Saturday 171: Before the humble postcard


Sepia Saturday by Alan Burnett and Kat Mortensen

Although the picture postcard is almost as old as the postage stamp, it wasn't until the 1890s that postcards with pictures of scenic views and landmarks were published in large numbers. After the United Kingdom and United States postal services gave a green light to the use of divided backs, in 1902 and 1907 respectively - message on one half, address on the other, thus freeing the entire one side of the card for the picture - the craze reached fever peak in the decade up to the Great War. Due to two world wars and the introduction of the telephone in most private households, postcards were never again produced in quite the number and variety as during the pre-war heyday, but they remained enormously popular for most of the remainder of the century.

The widespread availability of email, text, skype and smartphone services has understandably been followed by a decline in the use of postal services, and postcards have likewise diminished in popularity. A study last year claimed that the proportion of British tourists sending postcards home had declined from a third in the 1970s to an astonishing 3% (although another survey gives a more believable figure of 16%). Similar trends have been reported elsewhere, such as in India, and I can report that I struggled to find any postcards, let alone decent ones, in Honiara last year.

Image © and courtesy of Library of Congress
Conway (Conwy) Castle, Wales, c.1890-1900
Photomechanical print by the Detroit Photographic Company, 1905
Image courtesy of Library of Congress

I think it's still a little early to assume the complete extinction of the postcard - viz. Alan and his Twitter for Gentlefolk campaign, and the huge Postcrossing project, responsible for almost half a million postcards a month - but I'll sadly admit the chances of a major revival are slim. On a more positive note, and prompted by this week's Sepia Saturday Photochrom image of Conway Castle in Wales, I thought we'd take a look at what people kept as mementos from their vacations before the advent of postcards.

Image courtesy of National Gallery of Canada
The Great Pillars, Baalbek, Lebanon, c. 1857-1860
Albumen silver print, 203 x 153mm, by Francis Frith
Image courtesy of National Gallery of Canada

Albumen-based cartes the visite were the first popular and affordable medium for portraits in the early 1860s, which tends to overshadow the fact that albumen prints were already well established in photography by then. Developed in 1850 by Blanquart-Evrard the albumen print quickly superseded the calotypes or salt print. Paired with the wet plate collodion process, many print copies could be made of a single photographic glass plate negative. One of the first to take advantage of this was Francis Frith, who established a huge business selling both mounted and unmounted prints of views produced from three trips to the Middle East between 1856 and 1860.

Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Dovedale, Derbyshire, c. 1850s
Stereoview by the London Stereoscopic Company, 54 Cheapside
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley

The sale of paper prints was boosted considerably by displays of the stereoscopic photograph at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851, and the subsequent production of views in enormous numbers by firms such as Francis Frith and the London Stereoscopic Company. The stereoview - also referred to as a stereogram or stereocard - used two images of the same scene, taken from slightly different view points, mounted side-by-side on card which, when viewed with a special device with lenses, gave the appearance of a three-dimensional picture.

After a revival in the 1890s, stereoviews remained popular well into the twentieth century, but seem to have fallen from favour after the Great War.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Buxton Crescent from The Slopes, Derbyshire, c.1860s
Carte de visite by Francis Frith (Frith's Carte Series)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, c.mid- to late 1870s
Carte de visite by William Potter of Matlock Bath
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

For the duration of the carte de visite's heyday, in the 1860s and 1870s, many countrywide firms like Friths, as well as local photographers such as William Potter of Matlock Bath produced views of the countryside in great numbers. These two Derbyshire views showing the popular Victorian tourist destinations of Buxton and Chatsworth are typical examples.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
View of unidentified building, possibly in Derbyshire, c. mid-1880s
Cabinet card by Alfred Seaman of Chesterfield
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

The larger format of the cabinet card, first introduced in the late 1860s, but which did not really catch on until a decade or so later, lent itself to scenic views, so it is perhaps a little surprising that they are not more common. This example from Chesterfield photographer Alfred Seaman depicts an unidentified building, possibly a hotel or a hyrdopathic establishment and presumably somewhere in northern Derbyshire; it is from the mid-1880s.

Image © and courtesy of Nino Manci
Wallis' Furnishing Ironmongers shop, Bakewell, Derbyshire, c.late 1880s
Collodion positive (ambrotype) by unidentified photographer
Image © and courtesy of Nino Manci

It is clear from Seaman & Sons' display of mounted scenic photographic views in the shop window of Wallis' Furnishing Ironmongers shop (click image above for a more detailed view of the display) in Bakewell, where they did not have a branch studio, that they did offer scenic views.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Ashby Castle, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, c.late 1860s-early 1870s
Albumen print by J.W. Price of Derby & Ashby-de-la-Zouch
(mounted on card, later roughly trimmed)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

Seaman and many others published loose and mounted prints of landscapes and other views in a large variety of formats. This example of a mounted print (roughly trimmed) depicts the ruined Ashby Castle and has the backstamp of photographer J.W. Price. At 138 x 98mm, it is slightly larger than the size of a postcard. A scene in Sir Walter Scott's popular historical novel Ivanhoe is set in Ashby Castle, and this attracted visitors to the town of Ashby throughout the 19th Century. Harrod & Co.'s 1870 directory states,
Ashby is highly celebrated on account of its baths and springs, and its ancient castle ... Tradition states that Mary Queen of Scots was confined within one of the upper chambers.
Price no doubt sold this print and others from his studio on Ivanhoe road.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
All Saints Church and St Mary's Gate, Derby, 1884
Albumen print (126 x 171mm), attributed to Richard Keene of Derby
(mounted on album page)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne

Loose prints, such as this 1884 view of All Saints church - now Derby's cathedral - were sold by Derby photographer, printer, publisher and stationer Richard Keene from his premises just around the corner at number 22 Irongate, still within full view of the church. A visitor could then paste the print into a large format album together with others from his trip. This particular print sits alongside two other Derby views on an album page, with photographs of Bournemouth on the reverse.

Image © and collection of Brett Payne Image © and collection of Brett Payne

(Left) Unidentified view of ruined building on cigarette box, by Davis & Sons, Barrow-in-Furness (Right) View of The Promenade, Matlock Bath on glass, mounted on velvet frame, by William Potter of Matlock Bath
Images © and collection of Brett Payne

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Cover of Buxton and Derbyshire booklet of views, publ. F. Wright, Buxton

Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Matlock Dale and High Tor, Derbyshire, c.1892, published mid-1890s
Photomechanical print by Valentine and Sons of Dundee
Images © and collection of Brett Payne

It was also possible to buy sets of photographs, either loose or in booklet form, such as this collection of 24 Derbyshire views published by Francis Wright, stationer and bookseller of Buxton. The photographs were taken and printed by the Dundee firm of Valentine and Sons, and sold by Wright from his premises at 1 Spring gardens and Devonshire colonnade.


High Tor and Dale, Matlock, c.1892
Colourised postcard by Valentine & Sons, Dundee
View #17206, registered 1892, published c.1905-1906

A decade or so later this exact view was republished a number of times by Valentine and Sons in postcard format, a colourised example from c.1905-1906 being displayed above. Although other print formats would continue to be sold, nothing would rival the postcard for many decades.

Next time you're on holiday and send a postcard to someone back home - and I hope you do (a few each year can't be too bad for your carbon footprint) - spare a thought for its forerunners. If you head over to Sepia Saturday, you may well find a few more ancestors to the postcard on display amongst this week's contributions.

References

Spiro, Lisa (2006) A Brief History of Stereographs and Stereoscopes, on Connexions

J.G. Harrod & Co.'s Postal and Commercial Directory of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Staffordshire, 2nd Edition, 1870, from the University of Leicester's Historical Directories

Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, 1895, Kelly & Co. Ltd., from the University of Leicester's Historical Directories

Monday, 13 June 2011

Rev. Roseingrave Macklin (1792-1865), Incumbent of Christ Church, Derby

Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
Reverend Roseingrave Macklin, 1862
Carte de visite portait by James Brennen, Derby
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin

When Roseingrave Macklin arrived in Derby in 1835 with wife Jane Ann and six daughters he was already in his forties. He had taken Holy Orders in his home town of Dublin - where his father Gerard Macklin (1767-1848) was state surgeon of Ireland - and held a living as Rector of Newcastle, in the county of Wicklow, for some years.

© Copyright Kieran Campbell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Church of Ireland church at Lusk, Co. Dublin, 2010
© Copyright Kieran Campbell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Immediately prior to his move to England, Macklin had been the vicar of Lusk, north of Dublin, and was instrumental in the establishment of a Protestant church-based school in the nearby town of Rush [2]. He also appears to have been an active participant in the "no-Popery" movement. In late 1828, following agitation by Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association, a proposal was made to legislate for the right of Catholics to enter the British parliament. In response, a significant number of well-heeled Irish Protestants initiated a large scale campaign, forming the Brunswick "constitutional" clubs as part of a thinly disguised attempt at a Populist movement against the political reforms [3].

© Copyright Kieran Campbell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Sir Francis Burdett, Joseph Hume & Daniel O'Connell celebrating Catholic Emancipation, 1834
Drawing by John Doyle, courtesy of Spartacus Educational

Macklin was present at a meeting for the purpose of establishing a Brunswick Club for the baronies of Rathdowne and Newscastle at Newtown-Mountkennedy in October 1828 [4], where he made the following inflammatory contribution:
Can any man of common sense come forward and tell me that the Protestants of Ireland are to lie down and be trodden under foot, or be led like lambs to the sacrifice? ... I would entreat of you to preserve that constitution inviolate and inviolable, which your ancestors sacrificed so much to obtain. They handed it down to you - you have another duty to perform, to hand it down to your posterity unaltered and glorious as it has ever been.
Despite the efforts of the Brunswicks at scaremongering, attempting to incite a fear of Catholic ascendancy and eventual home rule, the government of the Duke of Wellington succeeded in passing the Emancipation legislation in 1829. Continued resentment by the general population of Ireland against the payment of tithes to the Church of Ireland resulted in the Tithe War of the early to mid-1830s.


St Werburgh's Church, Derby, c.1833 [5]

This was the political backdrop at the time of Rev. Macklin's move from Dublin to Derby, although his reasons for leaving the land of his birth are unknown. In 1832 he purchased some land in Derby [6], and three years later he settled in the town, having been made curate of St Werburgh's church under Rev. Edward Unwin [1]. Unwin was a wealthy Derby resident, for whom the Grade II listed Regency villa Highfield House - featured previously on Photo-Sleuth, here - was built by Richard Leaper in 1827. Macklin was performing duties at St Werburgh's by 19 August 1835 [7].

Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
Christ Church, Derby, 13 June 2011
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin

By 1841 he had impressed his superiors sufficiently to be appointed to the incumbency of Christ Church situated near the junction of Normanton and Burton Roads, and presumably a step up in the clergical heirarchy.

The new position did not prevent Rev. Macklin from pursuing his anti-Catholic mission. Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin) published an article in July 1839 discussing reactions to the "no-popery cry," which included a letter from Sir George Harpur Crewe, former Sherriff of Derbyshire, and at the time M.P. for South Derbyshire [8]. The letter was written in response to a request from Henry Cox, secretary of the Protestant Association, and Macklin, and declined an invitation to assist in the formation of a local branch:
I have never attended any of the meetings at Exeter-hall of this association, because, whatever be their inention, I cannot approve of their practice. the sole object appears to me to be the most violent abuse of the Roman Catholics ... I neither like the tone nor spirit of the speeches delivered by the great Irish speakers on these occasions. There is too much of human temper, and far too little of Christian love to please me.
One wonders whether Macklin approved of the marriage of daughter Jemima to Harpur Crewe's nephew Arthur Godley Crewe (1831-1894) in 1861 [9]. Perhaps the intervening two decades had tempered Macklin's views somewhat, although it seems unlikely. In 1843 Macklin was in the news again, welcoming a former "Romish priest" of the Dominican order to his congregation at Christ Church [10]. Then in January 1851, at a meeting of the Foreign Aid Society [11], he remarked:
... that the Protestantism of the people of this country had lately been evoked to a remarkable extent, and he sincerely hoped it would ... strengthen them in their determination to carry out the principles of their religion which were essentially antagonistic to Popery.

Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
The Macklin residence, Wardwick, Derby, 13 June 2011
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin

The Macklin family lived at what was then number 14 Wardwick, on the south-west corner with Becket Street, Rev. Macklin owning much of the land to the west of Green Lane, which was largely undeveloped when they first arrived in Derby. At that time (1835) they had six daughters: Martha R. (1823-1905), Charlotte R. (1825-1863), Georgina (1828-1913), Sophia (1830-1887), Rosina Margaret (1831-1884) and Jemima (1832-1916), all born in Ireland. A seventh daughter Frances Arabella (1838-1885) and, finally, a son Gerard Roseingrave Wilson (1843-1896) were born after their arrival in Derby. Although five of their eight children died unmarried, three daughters did marry and produced, in turn, eight grandchildren.

Martha Macklin married another clergyman Arthur Charles Pittar (1827-1899), variously curate of Alfreton (Derbyshire), vicar of Ashton Hayes (Cheshire), vicar of Holy Trinity Trowbridge (Wiltshire) and rector of Melmerby (Cumberland). Georgina Macklin married iron master and colliery owner Charles Henry Oakes (1826-1906) from Riddings, near Alfreton, Derbyshire. Jemima Macklin married Alfred Godley Crewe (1831-1894) (son of the Rector of Breadsall), a physician and surgeon for the Madras Army in India, and later of Portsea, Hampshire.

Roseingrave Macklin remained the incumbent of Christ Church for over twenty years, resigning because of poor health in 1862. In an obituary published in The Derby Mercury [1], his religious views gained a prominent mention:
Like most of the Irish clergy holding similar opinions, he was an indefatigable opponent and denouncer of the errors of Romanism, and was actively engaged in every movement which had for its object the defence of the Protestant Church, or aggression on the Romish, particularly in his native land.
Perhaps the most enduring of Reverend Macklin's legacies to the town of Derby are Macklin Street and Wilson Street, in the area to the south-west of the city centre. Wilson was also a family name. It may be that there are other surviving Macklin remnants, for example perhaps some reminders of his tenure at All Saints. If you are aware of any, please let me know and I'll add them to this article.

In a future article, I will discuss the carte de visite portrait itself, where it came from, and the circumstances under which it may have been taken.

References

[1] The Late Mr. Macklin, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 22 November 1865.

[2] Address to the Rev. Roseingrave Macklin, late Vicar of Lusk, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 3 June 1835.

[3] Phylan, Alan (2004) The Brunswick Clubs: Rise, Contradictions & Abyss, The Old Limerick Journal, v. 40, pp. 25-34.

[4] Brunswick Clubs: Meeting at Newtown-Mountkennedy (From the Dublin Evening Mail), in The Standard (London, England), 29 October 1828.

[5] Glover, Stephen (1833) The History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby.

[6] Derby Improvement Act, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 9 May 1832.

[7] Marriages, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 19 August 1835.

[8] The No-Popery Cry, Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin, Ireland), 18 July 1839.

[9] Marriage of Alfred G. Crewe, Esq, and Miss Jemima Macklin, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 3 July 1861.

[10] Conversion of a Roman Catolic Priest, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 9 September 1843.

[11] Foreign Aid Society, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 15 January 1851.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

A Hoby print revisited


Composite portrait of the Hoby family, New Plymouth, c.1866
Image courtesy of Philip Duke

In part 5 of my biographical sketch of George Hoby, photographer of New Plymouth and Nelson, I included this image of a composite photograph of the Hoby family, taken around 1866. It was sent to me by Hoby descendant Philip Duke, who told me that it was scanned from an original at the Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth.


Taranaki Museum photo index card with "Hoby composite portrait"
Image courtesy of Puke Ariki

I subsequently received a series of images from Kate Boocock, Pictorial Technician at Puke Ariki. The first image, taken from "file card drawers in the research centre," appears to be a Taranaki Museum (succeeded by Puke Ariki in 2003) photo index card with a very similar version of the "Hoby composite image" either printed on or affixed to it. Handwritten in the relevant spaces on the card are a File Number P.2.1436, Negative Number LN 672, the names of the subjects in each of the cameo frames, the number E.C.385 and a note "storage album 2, pg 37." The final note may refer to the location of an "original," but of course this location reference may no longer be valid.


Mounted photographic print of "Hoby composite portrait"
Image courtesy of Puke Ariki

Of much greater interest was a scan of "a black and white copy photograph, mounted on card that was on display in the old Taranaki Museum." I have made the following observations:
- the buff-coloured card mount measures approx. 234 x 296 mm
- the b&w photographic print, slightly smaller than the mount, measures approx. 231 x 293 mm, has three small pin holes at top right, top left and bottom centre, and slight flaking damage to the photographic emulsion at edges and corners
- part of a white rectangular passe-partout frame with rounded corners is visible, internal dimensions approx. 199 x 265 mm
- series of 10 elliptical-shaped cut-out vignetted head-and-shoulders portraits (each approx. 57 x 73 mm) arranged in 2-3-2-3 pattern, and overlapping from bottom to top, on a darker background


Edge of "Hoby composite portrait" frame, compared with typical 1850s/1860s ambrotype frame

The passé partout frame appears to be very similar in design to those sometimes used for ambrotype (collodion positive) photographs in the 1850s and 1860s (example here), probably somewhat more expensive than the standard wooden cases lined with velvet, with the glass positive image mounted behind a brass matt and pinchbeck surround (example here).

The largest format glass plate negative in general use during the 1860s was the full plate, measuring a standard 6½" x 8½" (or 165 x 216 mm). Since the internal dimensions of the frame visible in the photographic print are substantially larger than this, the print is most likely to have been an enlargement. This fact, in combination with the appearance of the photographic emulsion, suggests to me that the print was made some time later than the original composite was produced. It is possible that it was produced when the Taranaki Museum either acquired the original, or had it on loan, perhaps from a family member. The appearance of light and dark patches within the darker background may be due to reflections from a glass behind which the original was mounted.


Detail of "Hoby composite portrait" print
Image courtesy of Puke Ariki

The overlapping nature of the vignetted cameo portraits, as well as the appearance of shadows at the edges of the cameos (see detail above) suggests that the individual head-and-shoulders portraits were originally printed separately using the vignetting techniques that Hoby displayed in other portraits (see Hoby Part 4). They were then cut out and arranged on a plain, darker backgroundbefore being mounted behind glass and in the ambrotype-style frame.


Reverse of "Hoby composite portrait" print card mount
Image courtesy of Puke Ariki

The reverse of the card mount shows a series of label remnants, inscriptions and annotations, obviously created at different times and by a variety of hands, as follows (and not necessarily in the order they were created).
(1) The remnants of a rectangular label are visible close to the top of the mount, its approximate original extent visible from the
(2) What may be the earliest extant inscription is handwritten in pencil:
Mr + Mrs Geo Hoby + family
Mr + Mrs H + the elder members
of family arrived in N.P. from
London, of which they were citizens,
by the "Fatima" in 1851.
The names of family starting from
second row from top + from left to right
Oliver, Amy (Mrs Keeling), George
Clara (Mrs Merridge) Lilla,
Arthur, Percy, Hubert
(3) Handwritten in pencil at the top, probably in several different hands, different again from that of (2) above, is the text "EARLY SETTLERS: groups and reference numbers, "P2/1436" and "LN 672."
(4) Handwritten in black ink, possibly felt tip, at top right, is the number "25."
(5) The list of subjects has been re-written, by a different hand, in black ink.
(6) The reference number E.C. 385, handwritten in black ink, has been added.
(7) A purple stamp, "TARANAKI MUSEUM," is at the bottom of the mount.
(8) A number, possibly "26," is handwritten in black ink close to the bottom edge of the mount, appearing to have been crossed out in slightly different black or brown ink.
(9) A thin, irregularly trimmed rectangle of white paper, measuring roughly 289 x 129 mm and with typewritten text (image above), has been glued by its left hand edge to the back of the card mount. The text - relating to George Hoby junior rather than his father, who died in 1882 - reads as follows:
MR G. HOBY AND FAMILY Page 49 Obituaries
He died on the 4th October, 1927.
The death of Mr. G. Hoby, one of the oldest settlers in the Bell Block, occured in the N.P. Hospital yesterday. Mr. Hoby was in his 85th year. He was one of the earliest settlers in Bell Block and there he had his schooling. As youn g man he found himself in the thick of the Maori War. he immediately joined Captain Deveaux's Mounted Corps and served with it from 1861-1866. Mr. Hoby went right through the Maori War, taking an active part in the famous battle of Waireka.
Trooper Hoby gained the reputation of being one of the most daring fighters in the district. He flirted with danger.
After the way, he continued his military duties, being Captain of the Volunteer Corps at Bell Block for some years after Captain Cornwall had retired. Later in life he carried on a contracting firm and then a land commission business. he was a good type of settler, a fine, hard-working man in his prime, and straight in his dealings. he married Miss H. Chapman whose parent emigrated from England, and who predeceased him by about two years. Mr Hoby leaves eight children, Mrs G.E. Grover (Fitzroy), Mts Motteram (Opotiki) Mrs Wood (Whareroa), Mrs Somerville (Okoia), Mrs Addenbrooke (Ngaere), and Messrs G. Hoby (Nelson), P. Hoby (Tataraimaka), and R. Hoby (Bell Block). Another son Stanley, was killed in the Great War.
Not being familiar with the Taranaki Museum and Puke Ariki cataloguing and refencing systems and practices, I can't comment on the several numbers present, except to say that several different number sequences may have been employed over the years. The handwritten number "26" (8) appears to have been partly truncated, which may indicate that the mount has been trimmed at some stage. The pin holes are probably a relict of its being used for display purposes in the old Taranaki Museum.

Conclusions

An anlaysis of a scan of the mounted photographic print of the "Hoby composite portrait" provided by Puke Ariki has revealed that it is a later copy of a pre-existing composite portrait. The mounted copy print appears to have been produced (possibly by Puke Ariki's predecessor, the Taranaki Museum) by photographing either the framed print or a print of that. The "original" may have been constructed by George Hoby senior himself, by photographing and printing portraits of the family members, cutting out the cameos, and mounting them on a darker background, probably under glass, and then within an ambrotype-style frame. What has happened to that "original" is another matter altogether, perhaps best left to Hoby descendants to pursue if they wish. It may well not have survived, which makes the documentation of this print, possibly the best surviving copy, all the more important.

Treatment of the Photograph as an Artefact

Researching this article has been a timely reminder - to myself as much as I hope it will be to the readers of Photo-Sleuth - that thorough examination and analysis of a photograph as a physical object, or artefact, is often just as important as are discussions about the photographer/originator or the subjects. Such a description will provide a firm base on which all future work can be done, and an analysis will often provide very useful clues regarding provenance, photographers, dates and subjects featured in the photograph. To conduct these examinations, it's obviously best to have the artefact in your hand, suitably gloved, or many details and subtleties may be lost. However, when this is not possible much can be deduced from digital scans, provided they are done properly.

I don't intend to provide an exhaustive list of scanning Dos and Don'ts (perhaps in a later article), but these are the most important things to keep in mind. To produce useful, I strongly recommend that the user familiarise his/herself with the scanner control software, and that the scanning operations be carried out from within the software, rather than using the buttons on the scanner. It just isn't possible to manipulate the scanner parameters when using the scanner buttons.

  • Scan in full 24-bit (or 48-bit) colour, even if the photograph itself is black and white.
  • Always include the full extent of the print, mount and any enclosing folders.
  • Scan the reverse as well, even if there are no obvious marks or inscriptions.
  • Scan at the highest resolution (optical, not interpolated) the scanner can manage; a minimum resolution 300dpi is just acceptable, 600dpi better, but 1200dpi is best. Note that the smaller the original, the larger resolution you need to use to capture detail.
  • Save all files in TIF format, and optionally in JPG format at the same time, although you can easily convert them subsequently.
  • Number and file the scans meaningfully.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Kate Boocock of Puke Ariki and Philip Duke for their assistance in this project.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

George Hoby, Part 6: Back to the Farm

Part 5 related how George Hoby had spent much of the late 1860s and early 1870s away from his home and family, pursuing clients around the top of the South Island.

Image © Puke Ariki Museum and courtesy of Philip Duke
Berridge-Hoby wedding party at Hoby residence, 6 May 1874
Beach Farm, Bell Block, Taranaki (Albumen print) [107]

On 22 April 1874 George returned to New Plymouth aboard the S.S. Wellington [108], probably to be in time for his second daughter Clara's wedding at Hua Church to William Berridge of Omata two weeks later [109], and where he was, no doubt, the official photographer.

While Hoby had been laid up or in Nelson, his old colleague Hartley Webster had returned to New Plymouth in January 1873 [110], setting up his own studio in Fishleigh's Buildings, Devon Street [111]. By October 1874 Webster had diversified and was operating as a "photographer, chemist and druggist," employing the services of William Andrew Collis as an assistant [112,113]. Perhaps the competition was now too stiff. George did not advertise his photographic or dental services again, and presumably restricted himself to farming activities.

Image © Puke Ariki Museum and courtesy of Philip Duke
Berridge-Hoby wedding party at Hoby residence, 6 May 1874
(Colourised and mounted albumen print) [114]

As recalled by his son Arthur, George may have had "poor success" in his photographic ventures [4], but one could not fault him for persistence. Over the previous decade and a half he had pursued the profession assiduously, spending much of that time away from his family. Although no Hoby photographs from outside Taranaki were discovered during this study, the fact that he spent some years operating in Nelson and Marlborough makes it likely that some examples will surface in due course.

In October 1878, George met with another accident:
Mr. G. Hoby, sen., had a narrow escape from fatal injury on Saturday. He was driving to town with produce from his farm, and when near the Waiongona Bridge, the horse in his trap took fright at something on the road and bolted. Mr. Hoby was thrown out on to the road, and the trap smashed to pieces. Mr. Hoby was picked up insensible, and was conveyed to his home. We have not learnt the extent of his injuries, but we regret to hear that he was very much hurt. [115]

George Hoby died in his home at Beach Farm, Bell Block, Taranaki on the 14th May 1882, aged 61 years [116].

Acknowledgements

As a cursory glance at the references below will reveal, the research for this article would not have been possible without access to the historical newspaper collection of the National Library of New Zealand, available online as the PapersPast collection. I have also made extensive use of the online Heritage Collection of images of the Puke Ariki Museum, and have received additional kind assistance from Kate Boocock, Pictorial Collection technician at that institution. The task of establishing a biographical framework has been made a great deal easier with the receipt of information from Philip Duke, great-great-grandson of George Hoby, in particular a transcript of the Memoirs of Arthur Hoby, for which I am most grateful.

References

[4] Hoby, Arthur (1937) Memoirs of Arthur Hoby, Transcript of original held by Alexander Turnbull Library, Courtesy of Philip Duke.[106]

[107] Berridge-Hoby wedding party at Hoby residence, Beach Farm, Bell Block, Taranaki, albumen print, undated, attributed to George Hoby, Collection and courtesy of Philip Duke.

[108] New Plymouth. Arrivals, Taranaki Herald, 22 April 1874, p.2.

[109] Marriage, Taranaki Herald, 13 May 1874, p.2.

[110] Notice (Advertisement), Taranaki Herald, 4 January 1873, p.3.

[111] [A Card] H. Webster, Photographic Gallery, Taranaki Herald, 5 April 1873, p.3.

[112] Business Cards, Taranaki Herald, 7 October 1874, p.4.

[113] Advertisements, Taranaki Herald, 16 October 1875, p.3.

[114] Berridge-Hoby wedding party at Hoby residence, Beach Farm, Bell Block, Taranaki, Hand colourised and mounted albumen print, attributed to George Hoby, Puke Ariki Museum, courtesy of Philip Duke.

[115] Monday, October 14, 1878, Taranaki Herald, 14 October 1878, p.2.

[116] Death, Taranaki Herald, 15 May 1882, p.2.

George Hoby, Part 5: Hard Times

Continued from Part 4, which dealt with his busiest period as a photographer, catering to the military personnel stationed in Taranaki. Once the soldiers departed, however, he had to look for more clients and come up with new marketing ideas.

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
The Taranaki Herald, Saturday, 8 December 1866

In early December 1866, Hoby announced that he was offering portraits using the stennotype [sic] process, "combining real permanency with the advantage of colouring." [71] The sennotype process had been introduced to Australia by Charles Wilson, who sold rights to use it in the Australian colonies in 1863 [72]. The London Portrait Rooms in Dunedin, operated by Messrs. Peyman and Irwin, were the first to "purchase the secret" in New Zealand in August 1863, inviting the public to inspect a selection at their gallery [73,74]. In September 1863 William Meluish of Dunedin was offering to divulge the "secrets" of the process for £5 [75], but there is little evidence that the many practitioners took it up. Henry Frith, recently arrived in Dunedin, offered sennotypes in May 1866 [76].

Image © Puke Ariki Museum and courtesy of Philip Duke
Composite portrait of the Hoby family, New Plymouth, c.1866

This composite portrait of members of the Hoby family shows the parents and eight of their children [77]. They are, from left to right and top to bottom, George Hoby Sr., Hannah Hoby, Oliver, Amy (Hannah Amy), George Jr., Clara, Lilla (Eleanor Mary Ann), Arthur, Percy and Hubert. Percy, shown in the centre of the bottom row, was born in Nelson on 5 February 1863; assuming he was about 2 to 3 years old in this portrait, the sitting was possibly around 1865 to 1866. George and Hannah's youngest child Minna Sarah was born at Woolcombe Terrace, New Plymouth on 12 October 1865, and died on 28 February 1866. Since she does not appear, it is likely that the composite portrait was produced after her death.

Image © Alexander Turnbull Libraty and courtesy of Timeframes
Bullock team hauling house along Devon Street, New Plymouth, Unidentified photographer, c.1860s [78]

After the removal of troops from New Plymouth, business for the studio declined drastically, and the Hobys moved back to the farm on the Bell Block, their house from Woolcombe Terrace being moved there in 1868 in sections [4,78]. Although it's unlikely to be the Hoby's house, the unattributed photograph above shows a building being transported in a similar manner [79].

Later that year a fire burnt twelve houses in Devon street to the ground, including the photographic studio, which must have significantly added to their woes [80]. George tried his hand at dentistry from the premises of Keeling & Co., a shop belonging to his son-in-law, while still selling accumulated portraits at a shilling each, but business remained very slow [81].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Nelson Evening Mail, Thursday, 23 September 1869

George Hoby returned to Nelson, looking for customers for his photographic business, and on 15th June attempted to revive the partnership with William Davis, offering free sittings for the first three days [82,83]. To drum up business, they even tried raffling photographs [84] but it soon became clear that partnership would not work and it was dissolved on 10th September [85], Hoby announcing that he was building his own studio on Trafalgar Street [86].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Colonist, Friday, 8 October 1869

By early October he was at the premises of Mr. John in Trafalgar Street, offering cartes de visite at half price for the rest of the month [87].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Colonist, Friday, 24 June 1870

In June the following year, he tried a new marketing tack, offering a subscription lottery, which would entitle a customer to a dozen portraits, presumably cartes de visite, and a chance of winning larger coloured portraits, pictures, etc. [88] Whether or not this strategy worked is unknown, but he continued to place advertisements in all three Nelson newspapers, the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, the Nelson Evening Mail and the Colonist until late October [89,90] when he announced his intention to leave Nelson "shortly" and end the "Art Union" lottery [91].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Friday, 3 March 1871

He was still practising in the town in early March when he urged customers not to delay, as he would "positively leave" on 10th March [92]. He actually departed on the 19th March aboard the steamer Phoebe, headed for "Picton and South" [93].

Image © Nelson Provincial Museum and courtesy of The Prow
Steamer S.S. Lyttelton at Blenheim Wharf [94]

He probably spent the next eight months in Picton and the Marlborough district [4], before heading back from Wairau, near Blenheim, to Nelson aboard the steamer Lyttelton in mid-November [95].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Nelson Evening Mail, Saturday, 11 November 1871

His marketing skills invigorated, and "photography seeming to have gone mad in Nelson," George offered his cut rates (six pictures for 3/6) in Trafalgar Street "for a few days." [96] By mid-December he'd had enough, travelling by the S.S. Wellington via the port of Onehunga in the Manukau harbour, and arriving home in New Plymouth on the 14th December, after an absence of two-and-a-half years [97].

Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
The Taranaki Herald, Saturday, 16 December 1871

He was not hesitant to advertise his services in both photography and dentistry to residents, in the latter possibly being assisted by his son Arthur [98], and by July 1872 was operating from new premises in Devon Street [99]. In November he had an accident in the street outside the studio, as reported in the Herald [100]:

ACCIDENT TO MR. HOBY. - Yesterday afternoon, as Mr. Hoby was mounting his horse in front of his photographic studio, the animal became restive, and before the unfortunate gentleman could gain his seat, he was thrown violently to the ground, his head coming in contact with the kerb-stone. When picked up, Mr. Hoby was insensible, so he was carried into his studio, and Dr. Rawson sent for. We learn he has received injuries such as will lay him up for some time, but we are happy to hear that no serious consequences are likely to result from his fall.
Image © National Library of New Zealand and courtesy of Papers Past
Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Monday, 8 September 1873

He must have recovered soon, because by August 1873 he was back in Nelson again, "ready to take portraits at the Gallery, opposite the Masonic Hall, Trafalgar street." [101] His intention was to remain there for a month taking portraits and selling new photographic views of Nelson, as well as offering to take views of houses [102,103], but he was still there in December [104]. On 31st December he set off again, this time aboard the S.S. Taranaki for Wakefield and Spring Grove (Mr Botterell's), near Havelock in the Marlborough Sounds, where he offered to "take portraits, views of houses, animals, etc." [105]

In the final part of this series, George Hoby returns to Taranaki and the family home at Beach Farm, Bell Block for good.

References

[4] Hoby, Arthur (1937) Memoirs of Arthur Hoby, Transcript of original held by Alexander Turnbull Library, Courtesy of Philip Duke.

[71] Stennotype (Advertisement), Taranaki Herald, 8 December 1866, p.2.

[72] Charles Wilson, Dictionary of Australian Artists Online (updated 14 November 2007)

[73] Portraits, &c. (Advertisements), Otago Daily Times, 17 August 1863, p.2.

[74] Rackstraw, Tony (2009) London Portrait Rooms, Early Otago Photographers (including Southland) and their successors.

[75] To Photographers (Advertisement), Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 15 September 1863, p.2.

[76] Frith's Sennotype Gallery (Advertisement), Otago Daily Times, 7 May 1866, p.3.

[77] Composite photographic portrait of the Hoby family of New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, Unknown format and size, attributed to George Hoby, Puke Ariki Museum.

[78] Tenders. To Carpenters, Builder, and others, Taranaki Herald, 1 February 1868, p.1.

[79] Bullock team hauling a house along Devon Street, New Plymouth, B/W negative, Undated, Unidentified photographer, ID: 1/2-110547, Alexander Turnbull Library/Timeframes.

[80] Another Great Fire in Devon-Street, Taranaki Herald, 28 November 1868, p.3.

[81] Notice, Taranaki Herald, 6 February 1869, p.2.

[82] Davis and Hoby, Photographers, Trafalgar Street (Advertisement), Colonist, 15 June 1869, p.2.

[83] New Plymouth. Departures, Taranaki Herald, 12 June 1869, p.2.

[84] Notice. Davis & Hoby, Photographers, Trafalgar Street (Advertisement), Nelson Evening Mail, 25 June 1869, p.3.

[85] Dissolution of Partnership, Nelson Evening Mail, 23 September 1869, p.3.

[86] Advertisement, Nelson Evening Mail, 23 September 1869, p.3.

[87] Advertisement, Colonist, 8 October 1869, p.2.

[88] New Advertisements. Photographic Art Union, Colonist, 24 June 1870, p.2.

[89] Business Notices. Photographic Art Union, Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 26 October 1870, p. 1.

[90] Photographic Art Union (Advertisement), Colonist, 21 October 1870, p.1.

[91] New Advertisements, Colonist, 28 October 1870, p.2.

[92] Business Notices, Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 3 March 1871, p.1.

[93] Shipping Intelligence. Sailed, Nelson Evening Mail, 20 March 1871, p.2.

[94] Photograph of S.S. Lyttelton at Blenheim Wharf, Undated, Mounted albumen print, undated, unidentified photographer, Acc. No. C2152, Nelson Provincial Museum, Courtesy of The Prow

[95] Shipping Intelligence. Arrived, Nelson Evening Mail, 13 November 1871, p.2.

[96] New Advertisements, Nelson Evening Mail, 11 November 1871, p.2.

[97] Port of Onehunga. Arrivals, Daily Southern Cross, 12 December 1871, p.2.

[98] Dentistry. Photography (Advertisements), Taranaki Herald, 16 December 1871, p.3.

[99] Photography & Dentistry (Advertisements), Taranaki Herald, 13 July 1872, p.1.

[100] Accident to Mr. Hoby, Taranaki Herald, 6 November 1872, p.2.

[101] New Advertisements. Photography., Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 21 August 1873, p.2.

[102] Business Notices, Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 8 September 1873, p.2.

[103] Photography (Advertisement), Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 17 November 1873, p.1.

[104] Advertisement, Nelson Evening Mail, 22 November 1873, p.2.

[105] Shipping Intelligence. Sailed, Nelson Evening Mail, 31 December 1873, p.2.
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