Thomas Nevin, his studio carpet and pauper William Graves

WILLIAM GRAVES transportation and police records
MISIDENTIFICATION with Brother PAYNE
THOMAS J. NEVIN studio decor

William Grave or William Graves?
A prisoner by the name of William GRAVE arrived at Hobart on board the convict transport Lady Montague in December 1852. He was already lame when he arrived. His records stated "A cripple walks with a crutch." When photographer Thomas J. Nevin assisted the New Town Territorial Police police in the arrest of a well-known identity in the Glenorchy area called William GRAVES in May 1875 , the warrant described the man as "lame of right leg, walks with a crutch". One month later, when he was discharged from Hobart, his left leg, not the right, was recorded by police as "crippled". So who was this man, photographed standing on Thomas Nevin's carpet?



Wrong identification at the Archives Office of Tasmania
This man was William GRAVES, not Brother Payne
Photographed by T. J. Nevin 1875-1880s
Source: ARCHIVES OFFICE of TASMANIA
Reference: PH30/1/221

Transportation Records for William Grave
There was no "s" on the end of this prisoner's name when details were recorded on his arrival aboard the transport Lady Montague at Hobart, VDL (Tasmania) in 1852, although the description of this man "William Grave" and the description of the prisoner subsequently recorded as "William Graves" per Ly Montague in the police gazette warrants, arrests and discharges of the 1870s accord with his single salient feature: "a cripple walks with a crutch".

CONDUCT RECORD
The conduct record of prisoner "Grave William" gives the following details: -
He was tried at Carlisle QS on 3rd July 1849, transported for 7 years. He arrived at Hobart on 9th December 1852. His religion was C.E. (Church of England) and he could read and write. He was transported for larceny. The prison report noted - "very good". His marital status was single, a widower. He stated that this offence was for stealing (other details are illegible). His age either at trial in 1849 or on arrival at Hobart was 34 yrs old, his height just over 5 feet 5 inches, and his occupation was shepherd. On 13 June 1854 he was granted a ticket of leave.

Thereafter, a number of dates for the same offence or period spent as an inmate of an invalid depot are recorded on this page, starting with 1858 and repeated (as ditto) through to his last in 1886: see Health and Welfare Records further below.

4 Aug 1858 PA (Paupers) Port Arthur Prison
10 June 1867 PB Brickfieds Depot; 2 Aug 1867 PA Port Arthur
16 July 1875 PA Port Arthur Prison
26 April 1878 Cas (Cascades Invalid Depot)
28 February 1879 Cas (Cascades Invalid Depot)
29 September 1883 N. Town (New Town Charitable Institute)
13 May 1884 N. Town (x2) (New Town Charitable Institute)
5 May 1886 N. Town (New Town Charitable Institute)
26 May 1886 N. Town (New Town Charitable Institute)
7 April 1893 "Died at the Invalid Depot New Town 7 April 93"



Conduct Record
Grave, William
Record Type: Convicts
Departure date: 9 Aug 1852
Departure port: Plymouth
Ship:Lady Montague
Voyage number: 356
Index number: 27726
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1396535
Source online: CON33/1/110

DESCRIPTION LIST
The same facial features as those on the conduct record were recorded in this list (top left entry) with the same name " William Grave" and the same remark:

"A cripple walks with a crutch"

Description List
Source online: CON18-1-58 Image 28

INDENT RECORD
The indent record still lists the prisoner as William Grave, not Graves (first page on left, second entry from top). Details added to this record show that when convicted for larceny of victuals at Carlisle he was a widower and had a daughter called Anne at Windermere UK (second page on right, second entry from top).



Indent
Source online: CON14-1-43 Images 287 and 288

Police Records for William Graves
William Grave or Graves' offences and misdemeanours between his arrival at Hobart in December 1852 and this warrant for his arrest for larceny committed on 24 August 1874 are not detailed here. Only Thomas Nevin's involvement is of interest, firstly because he assisted police in the arrest of this man William Graves and secondly, because the photograph Nevin took of him at his studio has been misidentified at the Archives Office of Tasmania as a photograph of a street knife-grinder called Brother Payne.

At some point during those years 1852-1875 William Grave's surname acquired the "s": officially, he became William Graves, sharing the name incidentally with a famous Hobart family whose patriarch John Woodcock Graves the elder became universally acclaimed as the author of the song "D'ye Ken John Peel".

WARRANTS
Two warrants were issued in March and April 1875 for the arrest of William Graves, one for burglary committed in August 1874 at Robert Osborne's store at the railway bridge, Bridgewater, and the other in 1875 for unlawful entry to the premises of Richard Rodda, publican of the Black Snake, Bridgewater.



Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, 19 March 1875 p.42
Warrant for the arrest of William Graves

TRANSCRIPT

HOBART TOWN. - On the 10th instant by W. Tarleton, Esq., J. P. for the arrest of Williams Graves, charged with having, on the 24th August 1874, at Bridgewater, broken into and entered the dwelling-house of Robert Osborne, and feloniously stolen 1 black cloth coat, value £1, 1 pair black cloth trousers, value £1, and other articles, the property of Robert Osborne.
Description
About 60 years of age, about 5 feet 5 inches high, lame of right leg, walks with a crutch. Well known in the Glenorchy district.

Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, 16 April 1875 p.58
Warrant for the arrest of William Graves

TRANSCRIPT

NEW NORFOLK.- On the 14th instant, by James L. Turnbull, Esquire, J. P. for the arrest of William Graves, charged with having, on the 20th ultimo, at Bridgewater, been an idle and disorderly person, in that he was found in the dwelling-house of one Richard Rodda for an unlawful purpose. For description see Crime Report of the 19th ultimo, p. 42

ARREST
William Graves was arrested by P. C. Badcock of the New Town Territorial Police,"assisted by Thomas Nevin" on 21st May 1875.



Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police 21 May 1875 p. 78.
Arrest of William Graves assisted by Thomas Nevin
Elijah Elton alias John Jones and Flash Jack who was suspected of robbery in this notice was photographed by Thomas Nevin on May 14th 1874 at the Hobart Gaol.

TRANSCRIPT

Vide Crime Report of the 19th March, 1875, page 42, and 16th ultimo, page 58.
William Graves has been arrested by P.C. Baldock, of the New Town Territorial Police, assisted by Thomas Nevin.

DISCHARGE



William Graves, aged 65, tried at New Norfolk, sentenced to one month for being found in a dwelling house, left leg crippled, discharged 23 June, 1875 at Hobart Town. The left leg, not the right, is recorded here as crippled. Less than a fortnight later, on 10 July 1875, William Graves was admitted to the Cascades Invalid Depot where he remained until 31 January 1878. He was discharged at his own request, recorded as "Able to work". From 1878 to 1885 he was admitted and discharged at invalid depots up to his death in 1893 at the New Town Charitable Institute.

HEALTH and WELFARE RECORDS



Graves, William
Record Type: Health & Welfare
Description: Pauper or invalid
Property: Cascades Invalid Depot
New Town Charitable Institute
Admission dates: 10 Jul 1875 to 31 Jan 1878, 16 Apr 1878 to 20 Jan 1879, 04 Jul 1879 to 13 Feb 1882, 16 Aug 1883 to 04 Mar 1884, 22 Apr 1884 to 23 Feb 1885
Ship to colony: Lady Montague
Paupers & Invalids no.: pi0693700
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1605001
Source online: https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1605001

Sources online:
William Graves recorded at Cascades Invalid Depot
https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-15$init=POL709-1-15p34
https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-16$init=POL709-1-16p26

William Graves recorded at New Town Charitable Institute
https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-19$init=POL709-1-19_1882p43
https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-20$init=POL709-1-20_1884p53
https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-20$init=POL709-1-20_1885p48

This last record dated February 1885 adds the initial "L" to William Graves name, i.e. "William L. Graves". A large number of paupers were discharged with approval at the same time to go hop-picking.

DEATH and CONFUSION



Graves, William
Record Type: Deaths
Gender: Male
Age: 63 [incorrect - should be 83 yrs old]
Date of death: 07 Apr 1893
Registered: Hobart
Registration year: 1893
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1139290
Source online: Image 39
https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD35-1-14$init=RGD35-1-14p39

This record (above) identifies a man named William Graves who died of senile decay on 7 April 1893 with an incorrect age: 67 instead of 83. One day later the same man identified below as William Graves, 83 yrs old, pauper of New Town, was buried at the Hobart Public Cemetery with the funeral date of 8 April 1893.



Graves, William
Record Type: Deaths
Age: 83
Description: Last known residence: New Town Charitable Institution, New Town
Property: Cornelian Bay Cemetery
Date of burial: 08 Apr 1893
File number: BU 9245
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES: 1549499
Source online: AF70-1-19 (BU 9245)
Cornelian Bay, Pauper, Section A, Number 544

The photograph
William Graves was photographed standing on the same carpet which features in dozens of Thomas Nevin's studio portraits of family members and private clientele. The photograph could be dated between May 1875, taken soon after William Graves' arrest, and June 1875 when he was discharged from Hobart. Then again, Thomas Nevin may have photographed William Graves at his New Town studio in late 1879 when he resumed working for the New Town Territorial Police as photographer and assistant bailiff to police constables (Badcock) and detectives (Dorsett and Connor).

By 1880, William Graves was an inmate at the New Town Charitable Institute, formerly the Queen's Orphan Asylum (1833 - 1879), located at St. John's Park, New Town Road and close to the Nevin family home at Kangaroo Valley. William Graves was “well-known in the Glenorchy district” according to the warrant issued in March 1875. Perhaps because of his physical disability, his age and obvious destitution and because Nevin took an active interest in the man from assisting police with locating him, the occasion warranted a photograph, though not the standard prisoner mugshot as William Graves was detained for only a month, fined with being idle and disorderly. Who would have paid for such a studio photo? Not the poor man himself. It is likely to be Thomas Nevin’s souvenir of the event, a token and gift of friendship.



Photograph - Brother Payne, sawyer [incorrect - this was William Graves, photo by T. J. Nevin, 1875]
Item Number: PH30/1/221
Start Date: 01 Jan 1880
Unidentified Creating Agency (XX1)
Series: Miscellaneous Collection of Photographs. (PH30) 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1992
Source online: https://stors.tas.gov.au/PH30-1-221

The original print of this photograph would have been sepia, very similar to Thomas Nevin's full-length portrait of Alfred Barrett Biggs (below). This black and white print was most likely reproduced for a 20th century book publication and in the process, the book's author confounded this man's identity with that of knife-grinder Brother Payne.

The same carpet on which William Graves stands while posing for his portrait by Thomas Nevin is clearly visible in this photograph (below) by Nevin of Alfred Barrett Biggs, taken at Nevin's studio, The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart, in the early to mid 1870s. The studio was built by Alfred Barret Biggs' father Abraham Biggs in 1854. The premises consisted of two house-and-shop properties at No's 138-140 Elizabeth St. Hobart constructed with his son, builder Abraham Edwin Biggs. By 1857 they had let the premises at No. 140 Elizabeth St. to photographer Alfred Bock which he operated as a studio with his (step) brother William Bock until 1865. On Alfred Bock's departure to Victoria, commercial photographer and government contractor Thomas J. Nevin continued the business with the firm's name, The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobart Town, vacating the shop, residence, glass house and studio a decade later, in 1876, to take up his appointment in full-time civil service with residency at the Hobart Town Hall.

It is the same carpet lined up against the same wall in the same studio in both portraits, indicating clearly that Thomas Nevin photographed the man who answers to the description of William Graves, but who is misidentified by the Archives Office of Tasmania as Brother Payne.



Alfred Barrett Biggs ca, 1872-4 (ca. 45 yrs)
Photographer : Thomas J. Nevin, City Photographic Establishment, Hobart (verso stamp)
Source:Archives Office of Tasmania
View online:LMSS754-1-9

This full-length portrait of Alfred Barrett Biggs was taken by Thomas Nevin in the early to mid 1870s at the City Photographic Establishment. The same decor of a backdrop sheet painted with a vista of tiles on a patio terrace, an Italianate balcony, and a cart path or river meandering through a valley in the distance, partially obscured by a damask drape foregrounded to the left of the client, all feature in dozens of Nevin's full-length portraits. That particular dining chair appears in his portrait of a woman with bonnet and pink ribbons held at the National Gallery of Victoria, and in another of Mrs Elizabeth Bayley, second wife of Captain James Bayley, held at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The carpet pattern of lozenges and chain links, darker in some portraits or heavily tinted in others with green or red, is also present in many of these full-length portraits. In this portrait of Alfred Barrett Biggs, where the carpet meets the wall is as clearly visible as the same carpet meeting the same wall in the portrait of William Graves.



Verso: Description: Photograph - Portrait - Possibly Alfred Barratt Biggs [photographer - City Photographic Establishment, Hobart, T. Nevin, late A. Bock]
Item Number: LMSS754/1/9
Start Date: 01 Jan 1858
End Date: 31 Dec 1876
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
View online: LMSS754-1-9

William Graves or Brother Payne?
The Archives Office of Tasmania has misidentified the pauper in the photograph (above) who fits the description in transportation and police records of William Grave or Graves, photographed by Thomas ca. 1875-1880, as another well-known identity, a man called Brother Payne, who was a sawyer and knife-grinder by trade. He sharpened knives from a trolley cart around the streets of Hobart. The term "Brother" may be a courtesy title of Methodist origin. This man was probably photographed ca. 1900.



(NB: flipped horizontally here to read the inscription on glass negative)
Photograph - Payne, Knife Grinder
Item Number: NS1013/1/1278
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Creating Agency: Pretyman Family (NG1012)
Photographs and Glass Plate Negatives collected by E R Pretyman (NS1013)
View online:NS1013-1-1278



Photograph - Brother Payne working as a knife grinder
Item Number PH30/1/744
Series Miscellaneous Collection of Photographs. (PH30)
Start Date 01 Jan 1900
View online PH30-1-744

This cdv portrait of the same man, identified as the sawyer Brother Payne was recorded with a start date of 1880 at the Archives Office of Tasmania, which is unlikely to be the date of photographic capture. The date 1900 is more plausible but without any attributable information to a studio or photographer, it must be left to the researcher to discover when and where this carte-de-visite was produced, by whom it was created and for what purpose.



Photograph - Portrait of 'Brother Payne', sawyer
Item Number: PH30/1/220
Start Date: 01 Jan 1880
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• Thomas Nevin's photographs mounted on calico 1870s
• With Jean Porthouse GRAVES 1870s West Hobart
• Thomas Nevin and Alfred Barrett Biggs 1872-1876
• Woman with pink ribbons by Thomas Nevin 1870s
• Portraits of older women by Thomas Nevin 1870s
• Thomas J. Nevin at the New Town studio to 1888
• The pauper on Thomas Nevin's carpet and Brother Payne

The Glenorchy Landslip 1872

GLENORCHY LANDSLIDE  June 1872
PRISONER CORNELIUS GLEESON
STEREOGRAPHS 1872

Thomas Nevin was married and a first-time father by June 4th, 1872 when heavy rains and the great landslide at Glenorchy destroyed houses, farms, businesses and streets and tore boulders and vegetation from the slopes of Mount Wellington. He was living at his city studio, The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart with his wife Elizabeth Rachel Day and their new-born daughter May (Mary Florence) who was born just a fortnight earlier on the 19th May 1872 (she died to the day exactly 83 yrs later, on 4th June 1955). That Tuesday night of the great flood in Glenorchy, photographic stock at Nevin's old studio in nearby New Town was probably saturated by the heavy rain, if water damage on some of his extant photographs taken a few months earlier in January 1872 at Adventure Bay, is any indication. But his anxieties would have been far greater concerning his parents living in the cottage his father had built at Kangaroo Valley on land above the Lady Franklin Museum, in the northern foothills of Mount Wellington.

Within days of the landslide, Thomas Nevin was out and about taking photographs of the damage on commission for the Lands and Survey Division of the Hobart City Council, most likely in the company of Mr. Hull, Council Clerk for the district. These three extant stereographs are held at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Both stereographs in yellow mounts bear verso the Royal Arms insignia studio stamp issued to Thomas J. Nevin by the Attorney-General, W. R. Giblin and Surveyor-General J. Erskine Calder in 1868 for use on government commissions. The same stamp appears on police photographs of prisoners (convicts), of the Royal Mail coach operated by Sam Page, of full-length and mounted cartes-de-visite of staff members of the Hobart City Council, their wives and children, and on photographs such as these of streets, landscapes, mining operations, caves and geological formations. The third stereograph in a buff mount is the same photograph of Humphrey Rivulet as the one above it. It bears no stamp, and was probably printed for private or experimental use.



Water flow caused by the landslip at Glenorchy, June 1872
Stereograph in arched yellow mount
Thomas J. Nevin, June 1872.
Verso stamped with Nevin's Royal Arms insignia issued by Lands Dept.
TMAG Ref: Q1994.56.2. Verso below



Verso:Water flow caused by the landslip at Glenorchy 1872
Stereograph in arched yellow mount
Thomas J. Nevin 1872.
Verso bears Nevin's Royal Arms insignia stamp issued by Lands Dept.
TMAG Ref: Q1994.56.2. 



The Landslip at Glenorchy June 1872
Humphrey Rivulet showing passage of the debris flow.
Stereograph in arched yellow mount
Thomas J. Nevin June, 1872.
TMAG Ref: Q1686.20. Verso stamp same as above on Q1994.56.2.



The Landslip at Glenorchy June 1872
Humphrey Rivulet showing passage of the debris flow.
Stereograph in arched buff mount
Thomas J. Nevin 1872.
Sames as TMAG Ref: Q1686.20. Verso blank.
TMAG Ref: Q16826.36. Verso below.



Historical accounts of the Glenorchy Landslip 1872
Tasmanian Geological Survey Record 2007/01
A compilation of historical accounts of the 1872 Glenorchy landslide
C. Mazengarb, G. J. Dickens & C. R. Calver

Read the full document HERE

EXCERPTS
These excerpts are courtesy of the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources Mineral Resources Tasmania. A single image print held at the Archives Office of Tasmania of another of Nevin's photographs of the landslip was published in this report, viz:.



Title:The landslip on Mt Wellington near Glenorchy
In:Tasmanian scenes P. 33, item 66
Publisher:[ca. 1873]
Description:1 photograph : sepia toned ; 11 x 19 cm
Format: Photograph
ADRI: AUTAS001124075482
Source: W.L. Crowther Library

From the Introduction:

"Late at night on Tuesday 4 June 1872, after about 24 hours of heavy rain, a large landslide took place on the steep northern slope of Mt Arthur (at approximately 517 300 mE, 5 252 400 mN — coordinate datum GDA94). The slide — incorporating a huge volume of floodwater, boulders, broken trees, sediment and other debris — was channelled rapidly down Humphrey Rivulet and disgorged onto the plains of what is now the city of Glenorchy. A number of houses and farms were damaged or destroyed. Miraculously, no lives were lost, although one drowning had occurred during the floods of the preceding afternoon.

The descriptions of this event are consistent with it being due to a debris flow, a fast-moving torrent of water, mud and debris. The 1872 Glenorchy landslide remains the largest and most damaging debris flow recorded in Tasmania since European settlement. If a similar event was to be repeated today, the impact on the now densely built environment of the city of Glenorchy would be severe. Similar debris flows could also reach Hobart from the slopes of Mt Wellington, and although likely to be highly unusual (infrequent) events, debris flows are a significant geological hazard in the greater Hobart area, as shown by recent geohazard mapping (Mazengarb, 2005)...."
Source: Tasmanian Geological Survey Record 2007/01 A compilation of historical accounts of the 1872 Glenorchy landslide by C. Mazengarb, G. J. Dickens & C. R. Calver

Page 5: The Mercury, Wednesday 5 June 1872



Prisoner Gleeson's commendable heroics
Mercury 5th June 1872

TRANSCRIPT

WELLINGTON BRIDGE.
This bridge narrowly escaped being burst up in consequence of the accumulation of debris, consisting of timber, and other things, which had to be removed by special means. Aldermen Nicol and Rheuben were particularly active on the occasion, and Superintendent Propsting, Constables Green and Hollis, and others, did substantial service in superintending and assisting to clear away obstructions. At the request of the Public Works Committee, the Hon. Colonial Secretary gave orders for two gangs of prisoners from the gaol to work at the bridge, and these, headed by a man named Gleeson, behaved with much daring, indeed risking their lives, to seize the debris as it rushed, borne on the torrent, towards the bridge, and hand it ashore. The attention of the Colonial Secretary was specially directed to Gleeson and the other men who acted so praiseworthily in behalf of the citizens. Besides the Aldermen already named, we noticed Aldermen Crisp, Risby, and Belbin taking an active interest in the various operations. The timber and other articles rescued from the water were stacked in the road, and showed how much good had been effected in removing such formidable obstructions. The names of the constables referred to, and other members of the force who rendered good service in this and other localities, and of the prisoners mentioned, will be submitted in a formal way to the authorities, with a view to the recognition of their services, and, in the case of the prisoners, to some indulgence, which they well merit.

Cornelius Gleeson was discharged on 26 June 1872, at the Hobart Gaol from a 6 months sentence, residue remitted, originally charged on 12th February 1872 with being on premises for an unlawful purpose. It is entirely possible that his sentence was remitted on merit because of the leadership he showed in heading a group of fellow prisoners from the Hobart Gaol to catch and clean up the debris at Wellington Bridge (Elizabeth St.) during the great deluge of June 4th 1872 which swept through the city and resulted in a huge landslip at Glenorchy. The Mercury mentioned him twice in this report of the floods, June 5th, 1872. Despite the promise of indulgences for these heroic deeds, Gleeson continued to offend. Eighteen months later he was sentenced at the Supreme Court Hobart for the crime of burglary and larceny (2 December 1873), for which he earned an eight year sentence and a mugshot taken by Thomas Nevin at the Hobart Gaol.



Print of Thomas Nevin's original mugshot (glass negative) of Cornelius Gleeson (1873)
Reprints by J. W. Beattie ca. 1915
QVMAG Collection: Ref : 1983_p_0163-0176

Page 7: The Mercury, Wednesday 5 June 1872

GLENORCHY.
Very serious disaster has to be recorded in this locality,
and the devastation, we regret to say has been attended
with loss of life, a man named Moran in the
employment of Messrs. Wright and Co. having been
carried away by the flood in the endeavour to save the
property of his employers by removing some logs
which threatened it. The properties of Messrs. Wright,
Reed and the Rev. Mr Symons, have also suffered
much injury, the whole of the extensive hop grounds of
Mr Stephen Wright being completely inundated. The
residence and grounds of the Rev. Mr Symons was
almost entirely submerged, the water being up to the
eaves of his cottage and he and his family being
compelled to seek refuge at the residence of Mr H
Hopkins, New Town.

Pages 9, 10 : The Mercury, Thursday 6 June 1872

GLENORCHY — IMMENSE LAND SLIPS.
In addition to the few particulars which we gave in our
yesterday’s issue, we have now to record a far more
disastrous visitation in this locality. The residents in
the vicinity of O’Brien’s Bridge [locality 3, fig. 1] were
at a late hour on Tuesday congratulating themselves
on the belief that the worst danger had passed, and
hailing with satisfaction the gradual subsidence of the
waters in the creek, when at about half-past ten o’clock
a dreadful dull rumbling sound, a heavy smothered
crash, and a deafening roar of flowing waters, gave
evidence of some unusual convulsion of Nature. Those
who had not retired to rest started to their feet in alarm,
whilst many who had sought repose after the fatigues
and anxieties of the day’s work in protecting their
premises from destruction, hurriedly attired
themselves and issued from their dwellings anxious to
ascertain the cause of the shock. The night was
intensely dark, and the inhabitants of the village were
soon all astir congregated in groups, and dull
forebodings passed rapidly from one to another as to
the unknown, invisible danger which threatened
them. Preparations were at once made for the saving of
life and property, those having tenements on the low
lands leaving them and taking with them such
property as they could secure. About an hour after the
sound was heard that caused so much consternation,
the waters were heard approaching with a dull
rumbling sound. An immense wall of it was seen in the
darkness to be coming on, bearing onward with
irresistible force everything with which it came in
contact. Eyes which had now become accustomed to
the darkness, saw borne on the foaming torrent, huge
masses, consisting of trees uptorn by the roots, and
bearing with them branches of others, tangled
undergrowth, dead timber, masses of rocks, portions
of broken buildings, and other debris all mingled,
tumbling one over another in a most grand but terrible
confusion. Houses substantially built were carried
away like wooden matchboxes, and the furious flood
burst from the inadequate creek channel, and forced
for itself new passages over the cultivated ground.
Land which had hitherto had entire immunity from
inundation was suddenly covered to a depth of many
feet; and trees, dead timber, and other drift, finding
obstructions, piled itself in gigantic heaps, resembling
hastily constructed barricades. The light of morning
was never more anxiously awaited then by the
watchers through that fearful night, and when dawn
broke it revealed surroundings which told in the most
forcible way of the desolation which has been wrought
in the few previous hours. Hundreds of acres of
ground which a day to two before had gladdened the
eye of the traveller as he passed through the
picturesque village, and admired the trim and neat
appearance of the gardens and the luxuriance of the
hop grounds and orchards, were now a desolate waste
of mud and silt, with sheets of turbid water lying in
patches over their surface, and trees of immense size
cumbering the ground at short intervals. A glance to
the left disclosed the cause of the previous night’s
alarm. Those familiar with the scenery at the foot of
black-browed Wellington at once discovered an
appearance entirely dissimilar to that which had
hitherto met their eyes as they had daily wandered
round the horizon. A great land slip had occurred. One
immense mass of fallen earth of a dusky brown
intermixed with a yellow clayey material met their
view, and another similar, but a much smaller one, was
to be seen where, the previous evening, only verdure
clad hills were visible. It is impossible to adequately
describe the altered appearance of the locality and the
dire destruction which has visited the property
holders. On the estate of Mr. Murray thousands of tons
of wood are to be seen spread over the ground. His
property of Murray field [locality 5, fig. 1] has suffered
to an extent which at present it would be difficult to
estimate. His manufactory has been thrown down, and
the vinegar and candle works and appliances by which
he carried on his business, entirely destroyed. The
bridge has been severely assailed. At the present time a
huge denizen of the forest some six feet in
circumferences lies stretched entirely across the creek
and jammed against the bridge. One of the centre stays
has also given way, but the bridge still seems tolerably
secure. When the flood came down, the bridge was
completely submerged, the archway became choked
with the debris, and the water escaped over both sides
and covered the road to a depth of several feet. Of the
sudden and furious discharge of the destroying
element, the land slips, were, it is conjectured, the
primary cause. Of the extent of these, various and
widely different estimates have been made, but that
they have been of very great extent, admits of no
doubt. They occurred amongst the subsidiary hills at
the base of Mount Wellington, and about six miles
from O’Brien’s Bridge. The earth has not slipped in one
mass, but in two distinct divisions on either side of the
gully which forms the source of the creek crossing the
road at O’Brien’s Bridge. Those familiar with the
conformation of the country in the locality of the hills
mentioned, will understand that behind those hills,
and lately enclosed by them was a natural basin, and it
is supposed that during the heavy rains a vast area of
water was here collected, which forced away the
immense wall of earth and carried down with it the
masses of trees, rocks, dead logs, and debris, which
created such destruction as it deluged the low lands in
the ungovernable fury of its onward course. This view
of the catastrophe is borne out by the fact that over the
dark soil of the land slip which presents itself to the
spectator, and even at a distance of six miles the water
may be still seen in several places where it has cut its
way into the fallen bank of earth and still continues to
flow in reduced volume over it. It would of course with
the very insufficient data which we at present have at
command, be impossible to judge with any degree of
accuracy of the extent of these land slips. From
observation the first would appear to extend in one
direction for nearly a mile, and the area of earth has
been variously estimated to contain from 200 or 640
acres of land. The second slip on the further side of the
creek is of much smaller proportions, and not much
more than half of the magnitude of the other. In order
to convey some idea of the noise produced by the land
slip, it may be mentioned that it was distinctly heard at
Risdon ferry some nine miles distant.
In the hurry of collecting particulars of yesterday’s
floods in this locality, a mistake occurred by which the
name of a man drowned at O’Brien’s Bridge was given
as Moran, and he was stated to have been in the
employ of Messrs. Wright. The unfortunate man who
lost his life was named Andrew Ranaghan, and he was
employed by Mr. Murray as foreman. In the
endeavour to save his master’s property, he was, on
Tuesday afternoon, with some others, engaged in
attempting to make more secure a wooden
embankment which kept the water in the creek from
flooding the premises [locality 9, fig. 1]. With this
object he took a chain, and clambering over the barrier
was in the act of fixing it on the side abutting on the
creek, when the barrier suddenly gave way, and falling
on the poor fellow he was borne down under the turbid
waters, never rising to the surface. He was an excellent
swimmer, but, of course, could not bring his powers
into use. The poor man leaves a wife and eight
children. We have been unable to gather the whole of
the particulars of losses in this locality, but append a
list of the principle ones. Mr. Murray has been by far
the greatest sufferer, the whole of his manufacturing
works being destroyed, his lands submerged, and
thousands of tons of fallen timber and other debris
scattered over his ground. A large portion of Mr. Thos.
Laing’s premises were carried away. Mr. R.
Shoobridge had a portion of his house destroyed, and
his grounds partially inundated. Mr. Edwin Morrisby,
miller, has had his private bridge and mill race washed
away. His brother, Mr. Tasman Morrisby has a portion
of his garden destroyed. Mr. Isaac Wright has suffered
extensively; the walls of his tannery [locality 10, fig. 1]
are gone and the tan pits filled with debris. Mr Stephen
Wright, on the opposite side of the creek, had five acres
of hops destroyed [locality 11, fig. 1]. A house occupied
by Mr. Cane, on the estate of Mr. Murray, was
completely knocked in, and Mr. Cane had only time to
make his escape without an opportunity of dressing.
The Rev. Mr. Symons was not so severe sufferer as was
reported to us yesterday, the water only rising a little
over the doorstep. Of Mr. John Oswald’s four-roomed
cottage not a vestige is left, and an enormous tree now
marks the spot which, on Tuesday evening was Mr
Oswald’s bedroom. Of the wholesale devastation
which is visible on every side it would be extremely
difficult to convey an idea, and the dwellers at
Glenorchy and in the vicinity of O’Brien’s Bridge will
long have cause to remember sadly the floods of June
1872, and the landslips at Mount Wellington.
We regret to state that the splendid garden of Mr. H.
Cook was flooded by the waters of the creek, which
washed away a quickset hedge and then overspread
the garden, which is about 3½ acres in extent.
Yesterday the whole area of the land presented the
aspect of a foaming sea. All the valuable trees are
destroyed. Mr. Cook was a large sufferer by the flood
of 1854, but the damage now sustained is
unprecedented and greatly discouraging.

Page 11: The Mercury, Friday 7 June 1872

THE FLOODS.
GLENORCHY — THE LAND SLIPS.
The marshy state of the ground and the numerous
mountain torrents render it impossible to get
sufficiently near the scene of the recent land slips in
this locality, and hence no accurate estimate can be
formed of their extent. A stream of water still continues
to pour over the dislodged earth, but its volume has
materially diminished. The damage to Mr. Murray’s
manufacturing buildings [locality 5, fig. 1] has been
found to be not so severe as at first reported. The
buildings used for the manufacture of candles and
vinegar have not been destroyed but are still standing,
although the former are surrounded by a densely
packed mass of dead timber. A portion, consisting of
one corner of the building used as a soap manufactory
and store-house was carried away, but this, it is
anticipated, may be easily repaired. Mr. Calloway, Mr.
Murray’s manager, has a large body of men vigorously
engaged in removing the timber and other
obstructions, and expects to be able to proceed with the
manufacture of candles on Monday morning next. On
the night of the great flood two young men employed
by Mr. Murray, and a son of Mr. Calloway, had a most
miraculous escape. They were watching the waters of
the creek when the great wave of water came down
and overtook them. They were knocked down several
times, and with difficulty regained their feet. Two of
the young men found security on some higher ground,
and had already reported to Mr. Calloway that his son
had been overtaken by the waters. Young Calloway
had, however, clambered on to a cattle shed, and from
this afterwards climbed into a gum tree, and remained
in this perilous position some three hours. During this
time his parents were in a most anxious state, but were
at length re-assured by their son announcing his
safety. No efforts could, however, by made to relieve
him till the waters abated. Mr Calloway describes the
descent of the waters as most terrific, the noise caused
by the enormous boulders as they came crashing down
the creek, being likened to the discharge of a hundred
pieces of heavy ordnance. Trees from 50 to 100 feet
long and six or seven feet diameter at the butt, are
strewn all over the ground. An embankment built to
protect Mr. Murray’s property, the piles having been
shod with iron and secured with iron rods, and which
was considered an impregnable barrier to any flood,
was carried away for over thirty yards of its course,
and it was when this gave way that the lives of the
young men mentioned above were placed in jeopardy.
Some of the houses on Mr. Murray’s estate have been
miraculously preserved by the barricades of wood
which accumulated before them. Large logs coming
down became in many places fixed and by this means
other timber piling itself caused the diversion of the
water, and saved, besides Mr. Murray’s buildings,
several dwelling houses. This was observable in two or
three instances, the piles of timber forming closely
packed walls around three sides of many of the
cottages. Mr Murray’s garden, which before the flood
was in a most flourishing state, and contained many
choice and prolific fruit trees, has had the top soil
washed away, boulders and drift timber remaining.
The hut of a man named Craig was knocked through
by heavy trees in three places. At Mr. Stephen Wright’s
as we mentioned yesterday, immense injury has been
done, and further examination discloses greater
disasters. The top soil has been carried away over a
large area, and the ground, in many places strewn with
rocky boulders, has a slight resemblance to the
ploughed field on Mount Wellington. The creek at this
point has made for itself an entirely new channel,
running through the properties of Mr. Isaac Wright,
and Mr. Cook, instead of in its old course [locality 10,
fig. 1]. A number of men were yesterday engaged in
putting Mr Isaac Wright’s tanneries in order, and
others in clearing the road and bed of the creek at
O’Brien’s Bridge. A party of men were out searching
for the body of the unfortunate man Andrew
Ranaghan, but without success. Barrett’s store was one
of the places flooded on Tuesday night, about a foot of
water going into the shop Tuesday night, about a foot
of water going into the shop and filling the cellars. The
road at this point is still covered some inches deep with
sludge.

Page 12: The Mercury, Monday 10 June 1872

THE LAND SLIPS.
A correspondent writing from Glenorchy on Friday,
says:—
Yesterday four of us started to follow up the gully
down which the fatal O’Brien’s Bridge deluge poured.
Those who knew the gloomy, densely wooded ravine
prior to the descent of the water, will be astonished
when they see it again. From the bed of the creek, for
perhaps 80 yards up, each hill-side has been swept of
every tree, and the ground is covered with silt and
sludge in which stones, rocks, fragments and nearly
whole trunks of trees lie tossed together in supreme
confusion. For over a mile from the foot of the great
slide the course of the water had a slope of at least 30
degrees. The timber met with along here, presents a
singular uniformity of appearance. Every branch and
root has been shorn close to the stem, the bark stripped
off, and a large proportion of the surface wood
feathered up into fine splinters. One green trunk,
about 30 feet long, and perhaps 4 feet through at the
base, attracted our particular attention. It is split for
about half its length, and three considerable logs
remain wedged in it. A little above where this log lies,
my companions judged the torrent must have been at
least 150 yards wide, and perhaps 70 feet deep [locality
12, fig. 1]. The edges of the stream are lined with
shattered timber. Large trees, standing many yards
above the water mark have been struck high up, their
branches rent and bark torn off, apparently by the logs
which the water hurled along. One spot, on the left as
we ascended, seems to have been passed over by a
water spout. Trees have been torn up and smashed, the
naked trunks of others left, blotched with muddy
splashes, and large mud-covered stones scattered
among them, yet there is no sign of water having
overflowed the ground.
What is spoken of here as the “small landslip” appears
to be on the clearance made by the surging of the water
when its course was arrested by the hill which faces
that down which it poured. The so-called small slip is
exactly opposite the large one. If the winding course of
the valley permitted, it would be seen from the main
road that each side, for some distance downwards, is
bared almost as high up from the bed of the creek.
The aspect from the foot of the great slide is
inexpressibly grand and awful. Its distance from
O’Brien’s Bridge lends it an appearance of smoothness,
which leaves the observer quite unprepared for what
will meet his gaze when he enters upon the scene itself.
By the time we reached this spot, our party was
reduced to two. Mr._____ and myself climbed to
within what he thinks was 150 yards of the head of the
great slide, when a fog began to shroud the top, and
obliged us to descend. The course we had traced by eye
from below bade fair to lead us right out, and it was
disappointing to be obliged to return without reaching
the top. The journey up and down is one not likely to be
forgotten.

Page 12: The Mercury, Tuesday 11 June 1872

THE LAND SLIPS. — A visit to the locality of the
recent Glenorchy disaster, made yesterday, showed
the course taken by the devastating torrent, which
swept down upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of the
district on Tuesday night last. The aspect of the
gigantic convulsion which has occurred, viewed from
the road at O’Brien’s Bridge, conveys but a faint idea of
the wonderful magnitude and destructive effect
produced a few miles distant, the apparently smooth,
level surface, which presents itself to the eye of those
travelling along the road being, on a nearer approach,
changed to rugged, rocky, and uneven banks, while
the mountain sides are utterly denuded of vegetation,
and rent and channelled by the many torrents which
have occurred down their dusky sides. The site is of the
grandest, although most terrible description. A
pressure on our space compels us to hold over a
detailed description, which will appear in to-morrow’s
issue.
etc etc

This stereograph was taken of the swollen creek at Kangaroo Valley in the aftermath of the floods. The verso is stamped with Nevin's government contractor's stamp with Royal Arms insignia, though much faded.



New Town creek in flood, June 1872
Stereograph by T. J. Nevin
TMAG Ref: Q16826.22



Verso: New Town creek in flood, June 1872
Stereograph by T. J. Nevin
TMAG Ref: Q16826.22

Sources of original newspapers articles
The Mercury, Wednesday 5 June 1872
The Mercury, Thursday 6 June 1872
The Mercury, Friday 7 June 1872
The Mercury, Monday 10 June 1872
The Mercury, Tuesday 11 June 1872
The Mercury, Saturday 15 June 1872
Notes on the landslip at Mount Wellington, Tasmania (Wintle, 1872)
Guide to Excursionists (Anonymous, 1879)
Round the Fireside: Reminiscences of an old Glenorchy Resident (Hull, 1940)

Read the full document HERE



The landslip area is clearly visible as two large indentations below a flattened Mt Arthur, with Mount Wellington behind and the Derwent Entertainment Centre (white building) in foreground in this photograph taken from the River Derwent on board the MONA vessel passing Elwick Bay. Photo copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2015.

UPDATE May 2017
The Tasmanian Department of State Growth Mineral Resources section issued an updated version in March 2016 of their earlier report issued in 2007 to include two stereographs taken by Thomas J. Nevin of the Glenorchy landslip in 1872, held in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery collections - read the updated report issued in March 2016 here (our link). The report compares the waterfall shown in this particular stereograph taken by Nevin with a present day photograph of the same waterfall (pages 14-15):



Caption: "Figure 6. A stereoscopic pair of photographs of upper Humphreys Rivulet, attributed to Thomas J. Nevin, showing a broad zone of stripped vegetation caused by the passage of the debris flow; and also showing significant super-elevation on the right (see later section for discussion). (Stereograph reproduced with the permission of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.) "

"The stereograph in Figure 6 (Nevin, 1872b) shows a waterfall in the bed of Humphreys Rivulet with a broad zone of bare slopes stripped of their vegetation by the passage of the debris flow down the Rivulet (see later section). The site of this photograph is well established by the position of this waterfall, which is still recognisable in the present day (Figure 7)."


Caption: "Figure 7. Present day view of the waterfall on Humphreys Rivulet that appears in the 1872 stereograph shown in Figure 6."

Source:

1872 Glenorchy debris flow
Tasmanian Geological Survey Record 2016/02 2
Historical assessment of the 1872 Glenorchy debris flow: a basis for modelling the large debris flow hazard from the Wellington Range, Hobart.
M.D. Stevenson, R.N. Woolley and C. Mazengarb
Tasmanian Geological Survey Branch
Mineral Resources Tasmania
Department of State Growth March 2016

ADDENDA
The stereograph scans (above) were supplied by the TMAG in June 2015. The photographs (below, front and back) were taken on a visit to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart on November 10th, 2014. Both stereographs in yellow mounts bear the Royal Arms insignia studio stamp issued to Thomas J. Nevin by the Attorney-General, W. R. Giblin and Surveyor-General J. Erskine Calder in 1868 for use on government commissions.





Stereographs by Thomas J. Nevin, June 1872
Photos recto and verso copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2014-2015
Taken at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 10 November 2014

A stereograph produced with Samuel Clifford's rare blindstamp of another scene of destruction from the landslip is held at the State Library of Tasmania.

It is well known that the blue gum tree (Eucalyptus
globolus) is amongst the toughest of Tasmanian woods,
a fact due to its labyrinthine grain, and yet a vast
number of these trees (many of which must have
attained a height far above 200 feet) had been snapped
as short in the middle — to use an expressive
vulgarism — as a carrot.

(Wintle, 1872; page 17 of  Report op.cit.2007)



State Library of Tasmania
Debris of the floods and landslip 1872
Stereograph with blindstamp impress of Samuel Clifford
ADRI:NS2929-1-9

Hobart Gaol camera and mugshot books 1891-1901

Marion's Excelsior Camera, 22 & 23 Soho Sq., London W,
The firm operated from this address between c.1866 - 1913.
Held at the Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site, Campbell St. Hobart, Tasmania, site of the former Hobart Gaol and Supreme Court.
Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2015 ARR

This camera was used by the (as yet) unidentified photographer at the Hobart Gaol from the 1890s. Prior to the 1890s, prisoners were photographed by Constable John Nevin who was resident at the Gaol until his death from typhoid fever in 1891, working with his brother, commercial photographer and civil servant Thomas J. Nevin who attended the gaol and Supreme Court Oyer and Terminer sessions on a weekly roster. They used two rooms above the women's laundry as a studio. The cameras they used were wet plate, multi-lens cameras such as the 1860s American Scovill (possibly Peck) style wet-plate camera with four Darlot No.4 lenses, a Simon Wing 'Repeating' camera, or a stereoscopic, sliding box type, wet plate (wood, brass & glass), by Ottewill & Co, lenses manufactured by A Ross, London, England, 1860 - 1870.



Advertisement for the Marion Excelsior Studio Camera 1898, available in 9½, 12 and 15 square formats. with repeating single dark slide, extra front and all carriers with double extension, priced from  £5.5 to £13.10.

Sources: https://archive.org/stream/1898britishjourn00londuoft#page/10/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/1898britishjourn00londuoft

Photographing prisoners was a laughing matter in 1895
During the famous Conlan case of 1895, in which a scam and fraud was attempted on the estate of an old ex-convict John Conlan who had lived life as a pauper but died apparently having hoarded a small fortune, the attention of Parliament was drawn to the irregular presence of newspaper photographers from the Tasmanian Mail taking photographs of the four accused inside the court room.  The Attorney-General's response was that he had given the press permission, although his recall about the details was hazy, and asserted in any case, that the taking of photographs of persons arrested both before conviction and after it was customary. The objection to being photographed before he was found guilty had been raised by one of the accused, John Marchant Frazer of California, arrested on suspicion, found guilty in the course of events, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment at the Hobart Gaol.  The concerns voiced in Parliament regarding the impropriety of photographing persons both innocent and under suspicion, as well as the disregard of personal privacy and the potential harm to personal reputation, was punctuated with a some very witty comments and loud outbursts of laughter.  This transcript of the session gives a very clear idea of how commonplace the photographic image had become for the police and judiciary by 1895.

FOR ADJOURNMENT.
"THE TASMANIAN" IN PARLIAMENT.
TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE POLICE COURT.
Mr. W. T. H. BROWN, having been granted leave to ask a question without notice, said he had noticed in the evening paper that when the Conlan will case was called on at the Police Court that morning, "Mr. Winch remarked, that there was a gentleman in the court with a camera, for the purpose of taking photographs of the accused and he objected to it." (Laughter.)
The Police Magistrate said it was by the order of the Attorney-General. (Loud laughter.) It might be a laughing matter to some, but it was not so to those concerned. The prisoner Frazer said he "objected to having his photograph taken before he was found guilty. " The Police Magistrate subsequently said that to have a camera in the court was most unseemly, and if the Attorney General was there he thought he would not allow it. Mr. Winch asked that if the photograph had been taken it should be de- tained in court. Now he would like an answer from the Attorney-General as to whether any gentleman, especially if he was connected with the press, had the right to go to the Police Court to take a photograph of anyone charged on suspicion as a guilty person.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Permission was asked for, and granted by me. It is the custom to photograph persons arrested both before conviction and after it.
Mr. URQUHART : It's a piece of cheekiness.
Mr. BROWN : I think it time such a practice was put an end to.
Mr. URQUHART moved the adjournment of the House in order that the matter might be discussed. He thought such a practice might result in innocent persons being ruined. He was not aware there was any law by which photographs could be taken in this way. When a man was found guilty he was in the hands of the gaol officials but not before. Many a man was arrested on an unfounded suspicion, and he would like to know why there should remain in the hands of the gaol officials an imprint of that man's features. It was highly derogatory to the administration of justice that photographers should be allowed into the Police Court to take photographs.
Mr. MULCAHY: It does not hurt them. (Laughter.)
The PREMIER could not say what harm could arise from an innocent man having his photograph taken. They all had their photographs taken all their lives, and sometimes without permission. (Laughter). He would second the motion for the sake of discussion, because he was sure the Hon. member would withdraw it when he was told that this was a practice not peculiar to Tasmania -( laughter)-but common throughout a considerable portion of the world. The practice was, after all, a very harmless one, and the use of a camera did not make a man guilty.
Mr. BROWN: Sometimes it does. (Laughter.)
The PREMIER said that because a man's photograph was taken it did not pronounce that he had done anything wrong. In England judges on the bench were photographed.,
Mr. BROWN : Surreptitiously.
The PREMIER : Witnesses giving their evidence, the defendant, the prosecutor, jurors, barristers, and even the crier of the court, were photographed, and appeared in the illustrated papers, and no one ventured to say that any aspersion was cast on them because their photographs were published. Lots of persons spent large sums of money in being photographed, and some of them were innocent persons. (Laughter.)
Mr. BROWN said that was a very different thing from holding innocent persons up to public condemnation. No man's likeness should be taken as a prisoner until he was found guilty. So long as he was an innocent man let him remain so. He hoped steps would be taken to prevent anything of the kind in the future.
Mr. MULCAHY said that he agreed with the police magistrate, that it was unseemly to take the photograph of a prisoner in court, otherwise he could not say that there was any great grievance.
Mr. W. T. H. BROWN : I hope you won't be brought up on suspicion. (Laughter.)
Mr. MULCAHY: I should not regard being photographed as a grievance at all.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I gave permission to take photographs of the four accused. I did not know when or where, and I did not think it would matter much. I do not want to create any unseemly scenes in the Police Court, and I do not apprehend that there was one. I am sorry to hear that in the opinion of the Police Magistrate an unseemly incident occurred.
Mr. MACKENZIE thought it was in the interests of justice that the men should be photographed, because if they were on bail they might bolt, and the colony might lose their pictures altogether. (Loud laughter.)
The motion for adjournment was put and negatived.

Source: FOR ADJOURNMENT. (1895, July 13). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 1 Supplement: The Mercury Supplement. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9305012



Source: nla.pic-vn4269861 PIC P1029/5 LOC Album 935 James Conlaw, per Hydrabad 3

Prisoner John Conlan, also known as James Conlan (mispelt as Conlaw at the NLA where this mugshot is held) was photographed by T. J. Nevin on 16th December 1874 at the Hobart Gaol when Conlan was discharged from a four year sentence for larceny. He lived as a pauper but was believed to have hoarded a fortune on his death. One of two fraudulent claimants who forged the will, James Marchant Frazer, received a sentence of six years for forgery on 26th July 1895.





Prisoner James Marchant Frazer 1895 objected to being photographed
Mugshots attached to his criminal record sheet
TAHO Ref: GD6312 Page1308

Michael Wm or Maurice Walch 1893-1935
The Marion Excelsior camera was used by the visiting photographer to the Hobart Gaol to photograph this Huon resident and recidivist, Michael William Walch in 1909 for his front and profile pair of mugshots, pasted at lower centre of page, and if still in use in 1935 at the Gaol, for the trio of a full-length photograph, a full frontal photograph, and the small profile photograph of Michael Walch who by that date had changed his middle name from William to Maurice (lower left of rap sheet.). In 1906 and 1935 he was arrested for the same offence of exposing himself. The earliest mugshots at right were taken in 1893 when he was 23 years old on being sentenced at the Supreme Court Hobart for common assault. By 1935 he would have been 65 years old when he was photographed at the Police Office Hobart in his three piece suit, shirt and tie, and hat. He served six months for indecent exposure. The full length photograph was introduced in the 1920s. For the most engaging police photographs in this genre, visit the NSW Justice and Police Museum mugshots page, especially the selection published by Peter Doyle. Crooks Like Us (2009),



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1

Thomas Clark 1897
A first offender, prisoner Thomas Clark and his co-arsonist George Campbell (see below), were sentenced to 4 years in 1896 but discharged in October 1897. The photographer applied the mugshot methods of Bertillon required by prison regulations by the 1890s in providing a pair of photographs, one full frontal and one in profile, but still printed both photographs in oval mounts typical of earlier commercial carte-de-visite production. Thomas Clark was photographed wearing the prison-issue houndstooth patterned tie with a shirt in the fortnight prior to discharge, but not the full prison uniform. The third photograph pasted to the bottom of his criminal sheet was taken on arrest, wearing the same collarless shirt and coat as his partner in crime, George Campbell, who was an inmate of the Boy's Training school when captured.



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1



George Campbell 1888 and 1897
These two photographs (Reg: 776) of prisoner George Campbell, one full frontal printed into an oval mount, the other in profile and unmounted, were taken a fortnight before he was discharged from the Hobart Gaol on 6th October 1897. Although appearing to wear civilian clothes, he was wearing the prison-issue houndstooth patterned tie on discharge. In 1888 he was sentenced to 4 years for larceny, and another 4 years for arson in 1896. He was sentenced for the same crime and on the same date as the prisoner Thomas Clark (see above), 24th March 1896. The third unmounted full frontal photograph pasted to the bottom of his rap sheet shows George Campbell as younger, thinner, and wearing his own shirt. It was probably taken on arrest while he was still at the Training School (Boys' Orphanage).



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1



Joshua Anson 1877 and 1897
Joshua Anson was indicted for feloniously stealing a quantity of photographic goods from his employer, H. H. Baily, photographer, of Hobart Town on May 31st, 1877. The charge was larceny as a servant. The prisoner pleaded not guilty. Despite the depositions of good character from photographer Samuel Clifford, Charles Walch the stationer, and W.R. Giblin, lawyer and Attorney-General, Joshua Anson (b. 1854, Hobart), was found guilty of stealing goods valued at £88, though the real value of the goods, which included camera equipment, negatives, paper, mounts, chemicals, tripods etc exceeded £140. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with parole. On July 12, 1877, the Mercury reported that Joshua Anson's appeal was " to seek to retrieve his character by an honest career in another colony; and asked that during his incarceration he might be kept from the company of other prisoners as much as possible, though not, he said, on account of feeling himself above them, as the verdict of the jury removed that possibility." The seriousness of the crime warranted a 14 year sentence, but the jury strongly recommended him to mercy "on account of his youth".

Joshua Anson did not take the two photographs of himself that were pasted to his criminal sheet, the first (on left) in 1877 when he was 23 yrs old, and the second (on right) in 1897 when he was 43 yrs old, nor did he photograph any of the other prisoners for gaol records while serving time at the Hobart Gaol. His abhorrence of the company of convicts was extreme, as his statement testifies. His 1877 prisoner mugshot was taken by Constable John Nevin in situ, and unmounted. Thomas Nevin may have printed another for the Municipal Police Office Registry at the Town Hall, Macquaries St. Hobart where he was the Hall and Office Keeper, but it is yet to be identified among the Tasmanian prisoner cdvs held in public collections. Joshua Anson was certainly the beneficiary of Thomas Nevin's stock and commercial negatives when Samuel Clifford acquired them in 1876 and then sold them on to Joshua Anson and his brother Henry Anson in 1878. The Anson brothers reprinted Clifford & Nevin's Port Arthur stereoscopes for their highly commercial album, published in 1890 as Port Arthur Past and Present without due acknowledgement to either Nevin or Clifford.

The Launceston Examiner reported another theft by Joshua Anson on 30 May, 1896. The arrest, he was reported to have said, had brought on two epileptic fits. He was imprisoned again at the Hobart Gaol, served 12 months and discharged on 1st July 1897.



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1



TRANSCRIPT

HOBART, Friday
At the City Court to-day Joshua Anson, photographer, was charged with having robbed Charles Perkins of £32 12s5d. Accused, who was not represented by counsel, stated he had had two epileptic fits since he was arrested, and his head was not now clear. He asked for a remand. After the evidence of the prosecution had been taken, the accused was remanded till Tuesday.
Beautiful spring-like weather is prevailing.

Source; Launceston Examiner, 30 May, 1896

John Jones 1896
Both photographs taken of prisoner John Jones at the beginning and end of his sentence, June and December 1896, were vignetted (cloudy background) and posed in full frontal gaze. He was photographed as clean shaven with closely cropped hair in the first, taken on incarceration for being idle etc, and again  six months later, in the fortnight before being discharged, with full beard, more hair, and still wearing the prison-issue tie. The discharge photo was registered No. 685.



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1

George Davis 1895
A single photograph in semi profile, with the registration number 560 was taken at the Police Office, Hobart where prisoner George Davis was repeatedly detained for short sentences from 14 days to three months. For some reason, the Hobart Gaol header on this form has been taped over. The prison scarf or tie worn during these last years of the 19th century featured a large lozenge pattern.



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1

James Connolly 1876, 1883 and 1895
Thomas Nevin photographed this prisoner James Connolly (or Conly) at the Hobart Gaol on being transferred from Port Arthur on 29th November 1876, per this record, the Conduct PA Register Con 94-1-2 1873-76 (State Library Tasmania)



Transfer of prisoner James Connolly from Port Arthur to the Hobart Gaol, photographed there by T. J. Nevin on being received, 29th November 1876. Source: Conduct PA Register Con 94-1-2 1873-76 Archives Office Tasmania





Prisoner James Connolly was photographed in November 1876 by Thomas Nevin at the Hobart Gaol (QVMAG Collection: Ref. No.Q1985_p_0086).





Photocopy of the QVMAG cdv held at the Archives Office Tasmania, Hobart, of prisoner James Connolly, photographed in November 1876 by Thomas Nevin at the Hobart Gaol (P30/1/3231). 

This rap sheet (below), held at the Hobart Gaol and Municipal Police Office, Town Hall, shows a summary of James Connolly's criminal history from transportation in 1852 for stealing a watch to his last offense - being idle - in 1899 when he was transferred to the Invalids Depot at Launceston where he died in 1900. The photograph pasted to this rap sheet was taken by Thomas Nevin in 1883 on James Connolly's sentence at the Supreme Court Hobart for the axe murder of Constable William Thompson. His sentence - to be hanged - was commuted to life in prison.



Inquest for the axe murder of Constable William Thompson 17 Feb 1883
James Connolly committed for trial. Source: Tasmanian Reports of Crime



Prisoner James Connolly 1883: photo by T. J. Nevin, detail of rap sheet below

Note the pencilled reference to the earlier photograph of prisoner James Connolly taken by Thomas Nevin in 1876 - For Photo see Photo Book No. 1 p. 54 - next to the boxed word "Sentence". Duplicates from Nevin's glass negatives of these sittings with prisoners dating from the early 1870s onwards were kept at the Municipal Police Office, Town Hall and Hobart Gaol where they were collated into separate mugshot albums, designated and sequenced as "PHOTO BOOK No. 1..." etc.



Archives Office Tasmania
Connolly, James
Record Type:Prisoners
Year:1883
Record ID:NAME_INDEXES:1486139
Resource GD63/2/1 Page 7

This last photograph, a single full frontal image, registered as No. 503, was taken at the Hobart Gaol on James Connolly's transfer to the New Town Invalid Depot in July 1895. A short hand-written record of his criminal history was pasted over a duplicate of the first sheet.





Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1

Michael Charlton 1901
This record gives a registration number for the photograph - "B1". Prisoner Michael Charlton was convicted at the Police Office Hobart on 21st December 1900 and discharged on 5th January 1901, serving a sentence of three weeks at the Hobart Gaol for "obtaining passage by sea" which presumably meant he was caught as a stowaway. The two photographs, one full frontal, and one profile, were taken according to the Bertillon method in the same sitting on conviction at the Police Office, and printed with the date of the sitting "21-12-00" across the bottom of the photograph in profile. Extensively torn from use, and rotted from poor storage, the book was salvaged  from the Hobart Gaol, transferred to the Archives Office Tasmania in the 1950s. This buff coloured page was pasted onto the blue criminal record form used by the gaol, visible at the torn edges.



Source: Archives Office State Library of Tasmania
Mugshots 1891 GD67-1-10, 1895 GD128-1-2, 1901 GD128-1-1

ARCHIVES OFFICE TASMANIA
These mugshot books are held at the State Library and Archives Office of Tasmania.

Series Number: GD67
Title: PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF PRISONERS RECEIVED.
Start Date: 01 Jan 1860
End Date: 31 Dec 1936
Date Range of Holdings:
01 Jan 1860 to 31 Dec 1901
01 Jan 1934 to 31 Dec 1936
Access: Open
Creating Agency:
• TA31 GAOL (BRANCH) 01 Jan 1823 31 Dec 1936
• TA32 GAOL DEPARTMENT 01 Jan 1936 31 Dec 1959
Description (Content/Function):
Name, ship, trade, height, age, complexion, head, hair, whiskers, visage, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, native place; remarks: sometimes include - civil condition, clothing, family, offence, sentence, photograph.

System of Arrangement:
The relationship of these volumes to each other is somewhat obscure. There is considerable date overlap and some people are included in more than one volume. Each volume is arranged roughly chronologically. The situation is further confused by the fact that some volumes have been indexed at a later date and marked 'A', 'B', 'C' etc,. not all of these indexed volumes have survived. There is no indication as to why some were indexed and others not, as what differences there are between volumes which have been indexed are also apparent between some of those which have not been indexed. Indexed volumes are: c.1860-74 'A' GD67/1, 1862-66 'B' GD67/2, 1866-70 'C' GD67/4, 1870-77 'D' GD 67/5, c1874-86 'E' GD 67/7, c1884-91 'G' GD67/8, c1892-97 'H' GD 67/11, c1897-1901 'I' GD 67/12, c1934-36 'L' GD67/13 contained in (the back) GD67/7. Generally the same format as CON18.

Information Sources:
Controlling Series:
• GD68 INDEX TO PRISONERS DESCRIPTION RECORDS. 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1952
Related Series:
• GD128 PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD AND DESCRIPTION OF PRISONERS. 01 Jul 1895 30 Nov 1902
Items in Series:
• GD67/1/1 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/2 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/3 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/4 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/5 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/6 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/7 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/8 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/9 Physical description of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/10 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/11 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/12 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
• GD67/1/13 Physical descrption of prisoners received 01 Jan 1860 31 Dec 1936
© State of Tasmania, Archives Office of Tasmania 2006



Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2015 ARR