Prisoner George LANGLEY 1873-1877

MANSLAUGHTER of wife 1873
RESIDUE of sentence remitted (10 yrs)

The mugshot (NLA collection)
This poor copy was reproduced decades later from the original negative taken by government contractor Thomas J. Nevin at his one and only sitting with prisoner George Langley at the Hobart Supreme Court and Gaol in July 1873. John Watt Beattie copied it in the 1900s, printed it in a cdv mount, and inscribed the verso with the phrase "Taken at Port Arthur 1874" purely in the interests of early 20th century dark tourism. That phrase was inscribed across the versos of three hundred similar 1870s prisoner mugshots for display and for sale in 1916 at John Watt Beattie's "Port Arthur Museum" located at 51 Murray St. Hobart.

NLA Catalogue (incorrect information)
https://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4506237
Title George Langley, per John Renwick, taken at Port Arthur, 1874 [picture].
Extent 1 photograph on carte-de-visite mount : albumen ; 9.4 x 5.6 cm. on mount 10.5 x 6.3 cm
Part of collection: Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874.
Gunson Collection file 203/7/54.
Title from inscription on verso.
Inscription: "127 ; George Langley, per John Renwick, taken at Port Arthur, 1874"--In ink on verso.

Police records 1873-1877

TRANSCRIPT

INQUEST
An Inquest was held at Oyster Cove, on the 9th instant, befor H. J. Daldy, Esquire, Coroner, on the body of Maria Lewis, F. S. per ship Tory. Verdict: "murder, against George Langley," who has been committed for trial.

George Langley per ship John Renwick, 48 yrs old, was arraigned at the Supreme Court Hobart, sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter, 15 July 1873.

George Langley was photographed by T. J. Nevin at the Hobart Gaol on incarceration, July 1873. The press reported he was charged with the murder of his "paramour" who was named as Mary Miller (Cornwall Chronicle Wednesday 16 July 1873 and 8 August 1873). Details were given by the Tasmanian Tribube, 10 June 1873:

TRANSCRIPT

A sad occurrence, resulting in the death of a woman by her husband, "it is supposed" happened at Oyster Cove on Saturday week last. From what we learn today it appears that a sawyer named George Langley who lives at Trial Bay, went to Flight's public house to bring home his wife, who it is said, had been drinking there. It is stated that they started from Flight's public house for their home; sometime after a man named John Patterson, was going along the road when he saw the woman, lying dead and her husband sitting beside her. In reply to Patterson as to whether she was dead he said he could not believe it. An investigation was commenced at Oyster Cove on Wednesday, before Dr Daldy, and concluded yesterday. From the evidence of Dr Smith it appears death was caused by a kick, the conclusion of the evidence George Langley was committed for trial.

Source: Tasmanian Tribune, Tuesday 10 June 1873, page 2

DISCHARGED 1877

George Langley was discharged from the Hobart Gaol, 25 July 1877, "Residue sentence remitted"
Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, J. Barnard Gov't printer

Prison record

George Langley arrived at Port Arthur 9th August 1876
Transferred to the Hobart Gaol 19th July 1877
Port Arthur Conduct Register 1873-76
TAHO Ref: CON94-1-2_00034_S

Langley, George
Record Type: Court
Status: Free by servitude
Trial date: 15 Jul 1873
Place of trial: Hobart
Offense: Feloniously kill and murder Mary Langley.
Verdict: Guilty of manslaughter
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/NamesIndex/1520340

RELATED POSTS main weblog

BIOGRAPHY: Professional photographer Thomas James Nevin snr (1842-1923) produced large numbers of stereographs and cartes-de-visite within his commercial practice, and prisoner identification photographs on government contract. His career spanned nearly three decades, from the early 1860s to the late 1880s. He was one of the first photographers to work with the police in Australia, along with Charles Nettleton (Victoria) and Frazer Crawford (South Australia). His Tasmanian prisoner mugshots are among the earliest to survive in public collections, viz. the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart; the Tasmanian Heritage and Archives Office, Hobart; the Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasman Peninsula; the National Library of Australia, Canberra; and the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, Sydney. Thomas J. Nevin's stereographs and portraits are held in public and private collections in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Switzerland.

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THE MUGSHOTS:Thomas Nevin's extant prisoner identification prints and cartes-de-visite in oval mounts - "mugshots" - were taken between 1871 and 1888. The public collections consists of 350+ estrays from more than 2000 photographs taken of prisoners in Tasmania by Thomas Nevin and his brother Constable John Nevin. The National Library of Australia currently holds 87 photographs, the State Library of NSW holds 13 photographs, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery holds 112 photographs, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery holds more than 50, and the Archives Office of Tasmania holds 10 originals and 100 or so paper copies of the QVMAG collections. A dozen or so are held in Private Collections.

DISCLAIMER: We have not voluntarily contributed to any publication which supports the misattribution of Nevin’s prisoner/convict photographs (300+ extant) to the non-photographer A.H. Boyd, nor do we condone any attempts by public institutions or private individuals to co-opt the work on these Nevin weblogs to apply the misattribution.

INDIGENOUS NOTICE: lutruwita/Tasmania/Van Diemen's Land (loo-tru-wee-ta) always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

This weblog pays respect to the ancestors and elders past, present, and emerging of the first Australian peoples and acknowledges their continued connection to land, sea and culture as the traditional custodians of this country.

Irish-born Thomas J. Nevin would have been keenly aware that the residence and photographic studio he occupied at No's 138-140 Elizabeth St. Hobart in the 1870s were built on nipaluna, the traditional lands of the palawa people. It is no small irony that today, the very same property, which is renumbered as No. 198 Elizabeth St. Hobart and is occupied by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, has returned to its traditional owners.

Looking east from the corner of Patrick St., the Royal Standard Hotel, 142 Elizabeth St. then T. J. Nevin’s studio and residence, 140-138 Elizabeth St. Hobart, 1870s

We also acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the traditional custodians of the City of Sydney, and the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional custodians of the Kamberri/Canberra region on whose lands this site is maintained.

PLEASE NOTE: images on this weblog represent deceased people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Viewing such images may cause sadness and distress.

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Prisoner George LANGLEY 1873-1877

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