NLA Catalogue full record (as at April 17, 2009)
Henry Cavanagh at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1874 [picture] Title Henry Cavanagh at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1874 [picture] Date 1874. Extent 1 albumen print : sepia toned; 10.5 x 6.5 cm. Context Part of Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874 [picture] Series * Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874. Biography Henry Cavanagh was a convict at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1874. Notes Condition: Fair, some foxing. Title devised by cataloguer. "306 Henry Cavanagh Native Taken at Port Arthur 1874."--In ink on verso. Convicts confidential Gunson collection. Part of collection: Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874. NLA neg. 1998. Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: https://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3660505 Subject * Cavanagh, Henry -- Portraits. * Convicts -- Tasmania -- Port Arthur -- Portraits. Occupation * Prisoners. Identifier nla.pic-vn3660505 Bib id vn3660505 Call number(s) * P1029/76 LOC Album 935 *
Henry Cavanagh was sent to Port Arthur in December 1873. His name does not appear in the House of Assembly Journals, Nominal Return of Prisoners sent to Port Arthur since its transfer to Colonial Government in 1871, tabled in Parliament on 11th June, 1873. He was discharged before that date, on the 14th June 1872 after sentencing of one month in Hobart, and arraigned in Launceston nine months later, on the 3rd September 1873. He was received at the Hobart Gaol, sentenced to 6 years, and photographed there on 17th September 1873 by the government contractor, commercial photographer T. J. Nevin. He was a 'native', i.e. a locally-born prisoner, and too young to be a transportee among the thousands who arrived before 1853 when transportation ended to Tasmania.
The numbering on the verso of this carte, according to the NLA notes is "306". This is an archivist's number which could date from ca 1916 sourced from Beattie's Museum, or from the 1960s with the Gunson Collection acquisition by the NLA, or from the 1930s when the QVMAG acquired Beattie's Collection, or from the 1980s when the QVMAG copied and distributed more than 70 cartes to the Port Arthur prison site, the NLA, the AOT, the TMAG etc.
POLICE RECORDS
Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime Information for Police (police gazettes).
Henry Cavanagh was discharged in the week ending 14 June 1872
Details: Henry Cavanagh, aged 19 yrs, arraigned 3 September 1873 and sentenced to 6 years for stealing a posted letter and uttering. He was admitted to the Hobart Gaol (Campbell St Gaol) and photographed by T, J, Nevin on 17th September 1873.
This prisoner mugshot is included in the Gunson Collection by the National Library of Australia, and was unattributed until 2007 when all Tasmanian prisoner cartes-de-visite were identified as the work of government contractor and commercial photographer Thomas J. Nevin. It has all the characteristics of the other booking photographs, mugshots, or "convict portraits" by T. J. Nevin held at the NLA, including pose, processing, framing, and verso notes. The verso bears the number '306' and the factually incorrect inscription "Taken at Port Arthur 1874" which was touristic spin written in the early 1900s on the versos of dozens of these prisoner cdvs for inclusion in travelling exhibitions associated with the fake convict hulk Success .
The NLA's unattributed catalogue entry prior to 2007 looked like this:
NLA Digital Collection: Henry Cavanagh at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1874 [picture] Date: 1874.
Extent: 1 albumen print : sepia toned; 10.5 x 6.5 cm.
Biography: Henry Cavanagh was a convict at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1874.
Notes: Condition: Fair, some foxing. Title devised by cataloguer. "306 Henry Cavanagh Native Taken at Port Arthur 1874."--In ink on verso.
Convicts confidential Gunson collection. NLA neg. 1998.
Cavanagh, Henry -- Portraits. Convicts -- Tasmania -- Port Arthur -- Portraits. Occupation Prisoners. Identifier nla.pic-vn3660505 Bib idvn3660505
Call number(s)PIC/10045 LOC BOX PIC/10045 *
Updated May 2009
