Stereographs: Rose Stereoscopic Views of Victorian Contingents leaving for the Boer War in South Africa, 1899-1900

October 2023

1st Victorian Contingent

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Victorian Continent
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

A historical posting this week: stereographs of soldiers of the two Victorian Contingents leaving from Melbourne for the Boer War in South Africa, the first in October 1899 and the second contingent in January 1900.

I have digitally scanned and cleaned these stereographs (that is, two nearly identical photographs or photomechanical prints, paired to produce the illusion of a single three-dimensional image, usually when viewed through a stereoscope, usually mounted on card) that I borrowed from my friend Terence Hodgkinson. I have added bibliographic information where possible: a small history of Australia and the Boer War; enrolment and embarkation details of the contingents; photographs and details of both ships that the men departed on; and information on the Rose Stereograph Company and its founder.

These 3D stereographs really give you a feeling of what it would have been like to live in Australia in last year of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century: a society full of pomp and circumstance with banners and bunting, ceremony and marches supporting a militarised society, where Australia was still a colony and not yet a nation (Federation of Australia only occurred on 1 January 1901).

In the stereograph The Victorian Continent (Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899, above) a crowd of spectators on Swanston Street, Melbourne (viewed from Flinders Street Station with people on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral at back right) celebrates the departure for South Africa of the 1st Victorian Continent to the Boer War. Notice the flags of the United States of American, Japan, Scotland, United Kingdom and St. George (England) flying above the procession and the absence of the Australian flag (the current Australian flag was first flown on 3rd September 1901). Also note the girl at bottom right clinging onto the corrugated iron roof of wooden sheds where you can book tickets to the Moonee Valley Races and Port Melbourne.

In the series of three stereographs Victorian Continent, S.S. “Medic” Leaving the Pier (Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899, below) we can observe the passage of time as the ship pulls away from the pier as the crowd of onlookers walks towards us, and in the two following stereographs Victorian Continent, S.S. “Medic” off to South Africa and The Victorian Continent, Last View of Boat (both Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899, below) we note that the photographer on top of his high perch has swung his large plate camera through 180 degrees to photograph the crowd and stern of the ship as she passes from view. Again, in the series of stereographs of the departure of the 2nd Victorian contingent The Bushman’s Contingent. “Euryalus” Leaving Pier (Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900, below) we an see how the photographer captures the ship as she slides past, closing in on the troops piled high on the deck to wave goodbye. With their layered geometric forms and serried ranks these are very modernist photographs for their time in Australia. Finally, note another photographer with his large format camera and tripod standing above the crowd at left in the stereograph 2nd Victorian Contingent. The Troops at the Pier (Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900, below)

It’s been a lot of hard work but it’s great to have this record of Melbourne life online as large format jpg for as far as I can tell they are not available otherwise. If anyone needs high resolution scans of the images please get in touch, always happy to send them.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Many thankx to my friend Terence Hodgkinson for allowing me to scan and publish his stereographs. Digital clean and colour balance by Marcus Bunyan. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

“It was national sentiment in Canada and Australia which demanded that they share in the dangers of empire as well as the benefits they had long known. Self-appreciation would no longer permit colonial peoples in such advanced areas to feel that they could make no significant contribution to the war in which Britain was engaged.”

Donald C. Gordon, The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense 1870-1914 (Baltimore, 1965), p. 152.

“South Australia was still a colony, and Australia not yet a nation, when the Boer War broke out in South Africa in 1899. The colonies of Australia each provided contingents. When the war was over the colonial contingents had been merged, reflecting Australia’s emergence as a nation. Its soldiers had already begun the process of forging a reputation for courage, initiative, and endurance, which would later be reinforced during the Great War.”

Adapted by Steve Larkins from original work by Will Clough as featured in “Tributes of Honour”. “Boer War (11 October 1899 to 30 May 1902),” on the Virtual War Memorial Australia website Nd [Online] 03/10/2023

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Victorian Contingent Procession
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

A crowd of spectators watching a parade of the 1st Victorian Contingent to the Boer War. The white helmets of the soldiers are visible as a line passing through the arch emblazoned with the words “For Queen”. The soldiers are on their way to embark on a ship bound for South Africa.

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
Victorian Continent Procession (Governor’s Carriage)
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

The enrolment of Victorian volunteers for service in the Transvaal should war break out began on 20 September at Victoria Barracks. Members of all branches of the service were invited to register, as well as citizens with previous military training,22 and by 28 September 760 men of the defence forces and 280 civilians had volunteered.23 But after 3 October, when Victoria committed itself to sending 125 infantry and 125 mounted infantry, the call for recruits became more specific. By 12 October 260 mounted men from a volunteer regiment of 800, and 250 infantry men from a militia regiment of 1900, had given in their names. This was hardly an enthusiastic response to the call to arms, but worse was to follow. When called up for medical and military efficiency tests, only 128 mounted infantry men and 107 infantry men reported.24 The medical examination also produced a surprise: forty percent of the applicants failed to pass a test considered not strict. The failure rate among the Victorian Mounted Rifles might be explained by the fact that as a volunteer regiment its recruits were not subject to any medical examination; but the same excuse could not be made for the militia, and their failure rate was just as high.25 To complete the numbers in both the mounted and unmounted units, the authorities called on the Victorian Rangers,a volunteer infantry regiment; but still lacking five men for the infantry unit they gave the places to members of the permanent artillery!26 Victoria had set out to enlist preferably single men of twenty to forty years of age, and it is a further measure of recruiting difficulties that twenty-seven married men embarked for South Africa.27

It was common for press reporters to regard the Victorian contingent as being composed of bushmen, but that could not have been so for about eighty percent of the infantry were recruited from Melbourne, with the remainder coming from Castlemaine, Ballarat, and Bendigo. Only the mounted unit was filled from country areas. A summary of the occupations of the Victorian contingent shows a preponderance of townmen, with rural areas being represented by landowners rather than rural workers.

Selection of the officers for the contingent on grounds that ignored seniority was questioned in the Legislative Assembly, but defended by the premier who claimed that efficiency had been the criterion.29 An Age report regarded the officers, who had been selected from “numerous volunteers”, as “young, intelligent and enthusiastic”,30 but when one considers the favourable connections of several of them, another factor in their selection seems likely. A biographical summary of the officers is given below. It indicates possible sources of influence, but more importantly, it gives an idea of the type of leader who sailed with the first and the second contingents. All the Victorians were colonials and in personal and professional details they appeared fairly typical of Australian militia officers of the time.31

…

From existing sources, fragmentary though they may be at times, there emerges a reasonably clear picture of the men who were to lay the foundations of Australian military tradition. They were predominantly unmarried men, on an average in their mid-twenties. The average physique might have approximated a man five feet eight and a half inches in height, ten stone twelve pounds in weight, and thirty-five inches around the chest.47 This suggests a tallish, lithe soldier, and the suggestion is supported by numerous contemporary references to the Australians’ admirable physique. If members of infantry units, the contingenters were most likely to have come from the cities; if members of mounted infantry and cavalry units they would have come mainly from country towns and rural areas. They would have had a liking for the military life, a modicum of discipline, but only a limited knowledge of the science of war.

L.M. Field. The Forgotten War. Australian Involvement in the South African Conflict of 1899-1902. Master of Arts thesis, Australian National University, September 1973, pp. 55-56; 60-61.

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Victorian Continent Taking Horses Abroad
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Victorian Continent Going Aboard
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
Victorian Continent, S.S. “Medic” Leaving the Pier
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

A crowd of onlookers walk down Railway Pier in Port Melbourne to farewell the Victorian Contingent aboard the S.S. Medic as it departs for the Boer War in South Africa.

Unknown photographer
S.S. Medic leaving Sydney
Probably 1900s
State Library of New South Wales
Public domain

S.S. Medic

SS Medic was a steamship built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line which entered service in 1899. Medic was one of five Jubilee-class ocean liners (the others being the Afric, Persic, Runic and Suevic) built specifically to service the Liverpool – Cape Town – Sydney route. The ship’s name pertained to the ancient Persian region of Media and was pronounced Mee-dic.

Medic was the second Jubilee-class ship to be built for the Australia service. Like her sisters she was a single funnel liner, measuring just under 12,000 gross register tons (GRT), which had capacity for 320 passengers in third class on three decks, she also had substantial cargo capacity with seven cargo holds, most of them refrigerated for the transport of Australian meat.

After a long career with White Star, Medic was sold in 1928 and was converted into a whaling factory ship and renamed Hektoria, she remained in service in this role until being torpedoed and sunk during World War II in the Atlantic Ocean whilst sailing in a convoy in 1942. …

White Star Line career

Medic was launched at Belfast on 15 December 1898, but her completion was delayed until 6 July the following year, so that improvements that were being made to her earlier sister Afric could be incorporated into her construction.

Medic inaugurated White Star’s new Australia service with her maiden voyage, which started from Liverpool on 3 August 1899, she was then the largest ship ever to sail to Australia. Although Afric was the first ship built for the service, she did not make her first voyage to Australia until the following month. On board the maiden voyage was Charles Lightoller on his first assignment as fourth mate, he would later become the only senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic. Upon Medic‘s arrival in Australia she was greeted with a rapturous reception. Lightoller wrote:

“She was a show ship, the biggest that had ever been out there, and the people in Australia gave us the time of our lives. Everything and everywhere it was Medic“

On her first return trip to the UK, Medic carried Australian troops to South Africa for the Boer War which had started in October 1899, and continued to carry troops to the conflict until it concluded in 1902. In October 1900, while Medic was anchored in Neutral Bay, Sydney Harbour, Charles Lightoller and some shipmates were involved in the “Fort Denison Incident”, a prank intended to fool locals into believing a Boer raiding party was attacking the city. The culprits were never apprehended but Lightoller confessed to his company’s superiors, after which he was transferred to the Atlantic route.

Text from the Wikipedia website

Allan C. Green (Australian, d. 1954)
The steamship and White Star Liner Medic
Before 1940
State Library of Victoria, Allan C. Green collection of glass negatives
Public domain

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
Victorian Continent, S.S. “Medic” off to South Africa
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

A crowd of onlookers on Railway Pier in Port Melbourne waves off the Victorian Contingent aboard the S.S. Medic as it departs for the Boer War in South Africa.

The Victorian government took additional steps to ensure the success of the Melbourne farewell by making available holiday excursion fares from all stations to the city. It also approved the issue of free rail passes to the immediate relatives of country members of the contingent.107

…

The Victorian contingent was given a taste of the morrow by the crowds who thronged inside and outside the Melbourne Town Hall for the mayor’s farewell. “For the first time in the history of Victoria the thrill of patriotism vibrated through the nerves of the people”, and their hearts were stirred by the colony’s first plunge into “the great deeps of international warfare”. After the ceremony, the troops headed a triumphal procession back to barracks, and as the men disappeared within the gates the huge crowd sang Soldiers of the Queen. 111

The thronged streets were lined by 2000 school cadets for the march the following day, Saturday 28 October, and the contingent had an escort of 4000 members of the defence forces. Included in the column, and basking in a glory they must have thought gone forever, were former Imperial soldiers, “ambling but proud old wrecks” who wore the medals of Crimea and the Mutiny.112 Lieutenant Tremearne, in writing of the occasion later, told of people, perfect strangers to him, rushing into the ranks with tear filled eyes and murmuring, “Good luck, old man”.113 Followed by a flotilla of smaller craft, the Medic, largest ship ever to enter an Australian port, sailed down the bay and turned to the open sea. Long after the cheering had died and the launches had turned back, Victoria continued to salute her first contingent with huge bonfires which blazed along miles of coastline.114

L.M. Field. The Forgotten War. Australian Involvement in the South African Conflict of 1899-1902. Master of Arts thesis, Australian National University, September 1973, pp. 74-76.

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Victorian Continent, Last View of Boat
Melbourne, Victoria, 28th October 1899
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

The Rose Stereograph Company

The publishing output of this long-lived firm (which operated from about 1880 until it went into liquidation in 2017) was phenomenal, and when the remains of what must have been a vast photographic archive went on sale in June 2021 with Lloyds Auctions…

According to a brief history by postcard collector Leo Fitzgerald, the Rose story began when Cornish sea captain William Rose came to the Victorian Ballarat gold fields from California and married Grace Ash at Ballarat in 1861. The couple’s son, George, was born in 1862 at the town of Clunes. He worked in his father’s shoe shop in Chapel Street, Prahran, between 1877 and 1880 (apparently producing his earliest photos from those premises) and began spending his Sundays selling photos to picnic parties in the Dandenong hills. Finding his niche in photography, he moved to a new address at Armadale and founded his own firm publishing stereographic views. Over the years he travelled to many countries and recorded numerous important historic events with his stereographic camera equipment, opening offices in Sydney, Wellington and London. His images from Korea have become especially celebrated in Korea, where they represent an extremely rare glimpse of the nation in 1904, before the onset of the destruction wrought by the wars of the 20th century. …

Collector and researcher Ron Blum, whose excellent books built on Leo Fitzgerald’s work, wrote that George’s son Walter took over the business sometime before 1931, selling it in that year to long-time employees Edward Gilbert and Herbert Cutts… George’s wife, Elizabeth, died in 1929, and both George’s sons died before him. With no longer any legal interest in the company he had founded, George kept on taking photographs for the old firm, travelling around Australia in a mobile darkroom and camping along the way. He worked almost until his death in 1942, aged 80… The Rose Stereographic Company continued under the stewardship of Herbert “Bert” Cutts, who brought his son Neil into the business in the 1950s.

Greg Ray. “The Rose Stereograph Company: a snapshot,” on the Photo Time Tunnel website July 16, 2021 [Online] Cited 23/09/2023

George Rose was born in Clunes, Victoria, in 1861. He did not follow his father into boot-making, but was interested in astronomy and natural history. He was unconventional, of rather eccentric and Bohemian character. After moving to Melbourne in 1876, George developed his skills as a photographer, especially in the stereoscopic field – what is known as 3D photography today. He founded the Rose Stereographic Company in 1880. In 1901 George recorded the celebrations for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York, and in the following years travelled across Australia and over 35 countries taking three-dimensional photos. By 1907 his business employed six people – two males and four females; at its peak, staff numbered around 20. In 1913 the Rose Stereographic Company began manufacturing “real photo” postcards. George’s son Walter managed the company, allowing his father to concentrate on taking the photographs. In 1931 the business was sold to two long-time employees, Edward Gilbert and Herbert (Bert) Cutts. George Rose died of cancer in 1942, having outlived both his sons, but the business remained in the Cutts family for many years before it finally closed down in March 2017.

Information from the book George Rose – The Postcard Era by Ron Blum.

2nd Victorian Contingent

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent at Camp, Langwarrin
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent at Langwarrin
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent Lining up for Grub
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent. Capt. Patterson Giving Instructions to Officers
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent. Group of Officers
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent, at the Showgrounds
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Procession (Scottish Regiment)
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

The Scottish Regiment parading down Collins Street (looking east), Melbourne. The building on the left appears to be the Colonial Mutual Life Building (demolished) and further along, the clock tower is the town hall and the spire is Scots Church. Interesting to note the American flag flying the building at left. I wonder why?

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Procession
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

The 2nd Victorian Contingent parading down Collins Street (looking east), Melbourne. The building on the left appears to be the Colonial Mutual Life Building (demolished) and further along, the clock tower is the town hall and the spire is Scots Church. Interesting to note the American flag flying the building at left. I wonder why?

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Horses alongside Boat
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Departed Melbourne: SS Euryalus 13 January 1900.

Raised predominantly on the Mounted Rifle Regiment, formed by Lt-Col Tom Price in 1885, and Victorian Rangers, Militia including the battalions of the Infantry Brigade and some from the Royal Australian Artillery. Colonel Price was initially made CO of the Hanover Road Field Force, including one battalion of Lancashire Militia, two companies of Prince Albert’s Guards and Tasmanians. Price was the only Australian Colonial Officer placed in command of British units during the Boer War.

A seminal moment in the Boer War was the capture of Pretoria in 1900 by British commander, Lord Roberts. The Victorian 2nd (Mounted Rifles) Contingent was the first unit to enter the city. A large number of this unit were invalided back to Victoria, having experienced starvation and extreme exhaustion on some treks.

Strength: 265
Service period: Feb 1900 – Dec 1900.

Text from the Defending Victoria website

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Soldiers Taking Saddles Aboard
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Horses Going Aboard
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

The horses of the 2nd Victorian Contingent to the Boer War about to be put aboard the steamship “Euryalus”, bound for South Africa. The 2nd Victorian Contingent consisted entirely of mounted rifles.

Unknown photographer
S.S. Euryalus
Between 1898 and 1913?
Albumen silver print
13.8 x 19.7cm
State Library of Victoria, R.J. French photographic collection of ships
Gift of Mr R. J. French 1979
Public domain

S.S. Euryalus

The steamer Euryalus returned from South Africa
last night, berthing at the Port Melbourne Town
Pier at about a quarter-past 9 o’clock. It was
thought that she, like the Moravian, might have
had some invalided Australian troops on board, but
there were not any, although the vessel brought a
number of saloon and steerage passengers. She had
an uneventful voyage. Durban was left on the 5th
inst., and normal weather was experienced until
the Euryalus reached lat. 41deg. S. and lon. 97deg.
E., where foggy conditions set in, and these continued
to lon. 109deg. E. She passed Cape Otway
at 11.30 a.m. yesterday, and entered Port Phillip
Heads at 5.30 p.m.

“S.S. EURYALUS.” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848-1957) 26 May 1900: p. 12. Web. 23 Sep 2023 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9542431

Name: EURYALUS
Type: Passenger Cargo Ship
Launched: 08/06/1898
Completed: 08/1898
Builder: Palmers’ Shipbuilding & Iron Co Ltd
Yard: Jarrow
Yard Number: 732
Dimensions: 3570grt, 2286nrt, 360.0 x 45.7 x 24.1ft
Engines: T3cyl (27, 45.5 & 74 x 48ins), 458nhp
Engines by: Palmers’ Shipbuilding & Iron Co Ltd, Jarrow
Propulsion: 1 x Screw, 11.5knots
Construction: Steel

History

04/11/1898: A Currie & Co, Melbourne
1913: British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Glasgow
1913: Placed on the India to Australia service
1919: Accommodation increased to include 2441 x deck passengers
31/12/1923: Arrived for breaking up at La Spezia. Cost £6,500

Comments

1898: Completed at a price of £47,500
Accommodation for 22 x 1st and 24 x 2nd Class passengers

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. Going Aboard the “Euryalus”
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Australia and the Boer War, 1899-1902

As part of the British Empire, the Australian colonies offered troops for the war in South Africa. Australians served in contingents raised by the six colonies or, from 1901, by the new Australian Commonwealth. For a variety of reasons many Australians also joined British or South African colonial units in South Africa: some were already in South Africa when the war broke out; others either made their own way to the Cape or joined local units after their enlistment in an Australian contingent ended. Recruiting was also done in Australia for units which already existed in South Africa, such as the Scottish Horse.

Australians served mostly in mounted units formed in each colony before despatch, or in South Africa itself. The Australian contribution took the form of five “waves”. The first were the contingents raised by the Australian colonies in response to the outbreak of war in 1899, which often drew heavily on the men in the militia of the colonial forces. The second were the “bushmen” contingents, which were recruited from more diverse sources and paid for by public subscription or the military philanthropy of wealthy individuals. The third were the “imperial bushmen” contingents, which were raised in ways similar to the preceding contingents, but paid for by the imperial government in London. Then were then the “draft contingents”, which were raised by the state governments after Federation on behalf of the new Commonwealth government, which was as yet unable to do so. Finally, after Federation, and close to the end of the war, the Australian Commonwealth Horse contingents were raised by the new Federal government. These contingents fought in both the British counter-offensive of 1900, which resulted in the capture of the Boer capitals, and in the long, weary guerrilla phases of the war which lasted until 1902. Colonial troops were valued for their ability to “shoot and ride”, and in many ways performed well in the open war on the veldt. There were significant problems, however, with the relatively poor training of Australian officers, with contingents generally arriving without having undergone much training and being sent on campaign immediately. These and other problems faced many of the hastily raised contingents sent from around the empire, however, and were by no means restricted to those from Australia…

The Australians at home initially supported the war, but became disenchanted as the conflict dragged on, especially as the effects on Boer civilians became known…

Conditions for both soldiers and horses were harsh. Without time to acclimatise to the severe environment and in an army with a greatly over-strained logistic system, the horses fared badly. Many died, not just in battle but of disease, while others succumbed to exhaustion and starvation on the long treks across the veld. Quarantine regulations in Australia ensured that even those which did survive could not return home. In the early stages of the war Australian soldier losses were so high through illness that components of the first and second contingents ceased to exist as viable units after a few months of service.

Extract of text from “Australia and the Boer War, 1899-1902” on the Australian War Memorial website Nd [Online] Cited 06/10/2023

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent. Horses Going Aboard
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent. “Euryalus” Leaving Pier
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent, “Euryalus” Leaving Pier
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
The Bushman’s Contingent, “Good-bye, Lads.”
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. The Troops at the Pier
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

Soldiers and sailors lined up on the pier, at a farewell parade for the troops of the 2nd Victoria Contingent to the Boer War. The troops of the 2nd Victoria Contingent, all Mounted Rifles, are aboard the steamship “Euryalus”, which is about to depart for Cape Town, South Africa. Note the photographer with his large format camera on tripod at left.

Unknown photographer
George Rose (Australian, 1861-1942) (publisher, Windsor, Melbourne)
2nd Victorian Contingent. The Last View of the “Euryalus”
Melbourne, Victoria, 13th January 1900
2 photographic prints on stereocard
9 x 18cm

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Photographs: ‘Australia 1946-1947’ Part 2 March 2020

March 2020

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Flinders Street railway station)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Another mountain of work scanning and cleaning 50 of these 2 1/4″ square (6 x 6 cm) medium format black and white negatives which come from the collection of my friend Nick Henderson. In Part 2 of the posting the family travel to Melbourne, Colac and Tasmania. The photographs of postwar Melbourne are fascinating. There are also pictures of mining works, a speedcar racer, picnic, pub, dogs, ballerinas, actors, children and some stunning, Frank Hurley-esque photographs of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The photographs seem as though from another world. The Pacific Highway in North Sydney is almost deserted of traffic. A fascinating set of four photographs are Road accident, hay truck, Albion Park, New South Wales. In the first photograph from a distance we observe that a hay truck has lost its load, possibly after rounding the corner from left at too fast a speed, the intersection marked in the road by a small metal bollard. Small children inspect the underside of the truck while a boy on a bike rides to join them. What strikes one is the openness of the scene, the lack of other cars, and the spareness of the landscape, with only the “milk bar” with the Peters ice cream sign showing any sign of commerce. In the second image the photographer has moved around to the front side of the truck which tilts at a crazy angle. Two forty-gallon oil drums, possibly from the truck, have been placed upright on the road while bales of hay little the bitumen. In the background a petrol station advertises PLUME, Mobiloil, and Atlantic tyres(?) and on the right we can make out the Albion Park Hotel and the intersection around which the truck came.

In the third image which again shows the underside of the truck men have joined the scene, talking to presumably the shirtless truck driver in peaked cap, sheepishly standing among the twisted axles and staring at the camera. To the left two shoeless boys observe the scene. In the last photograph of the front of the truck we see kids sitting on the hay bails posing for the camera, while at far right the shirtless truck driver may be in conversation with others. What a glorious sequence of Walker Evans type social documentary photography… a brief context, an accident, a shooting star in the timeline of the galaxy.

My two favourite photographs in the posting: the almost solarised image of the Convict-built church at Port Arthur convict colony ruins; but more especially Number 42 tram going to Mont Albert. This photograph should become a classic in the annals of Australian photography. In one dynamic image the photographer has captured the hustle and bustle of postwar Melbourne – the women striding purposefully towards us, the Silver Top taxi cresting the rise at speed, the number 42 tram to Mont Albert kicking up dust from the tracks, the shadows, the gothic buildings, the towers behind and the vanishing point. A superlative image.

Hopefully there will be part 3 of this series when I get chance to scan some more negatives. In the meantime you can view Part 1 and these images. Enjoy!

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Many thankx to Nick Henderson for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. All photographs collection of Nick Henderson. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Y.M.C.A, City Road, South Melbourne)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Collins Street, Melbourne looking west from just above the Swanston Street intersection, Town Hall on the right, and then the Manchester Unity building across Swanston Street, probably taken from in front of the Regent Theatre)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Looking at Flinders Street railway station on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Centreway Building on Collins Street, 259-263 Collins Street)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Melbourne street)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (A. C. Goode House at 389-399 Collins) (the Gothic building at right)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Russell Street taken from near Collins Street)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Russell Street with police radio tower viewed from Collins street. American 1930’s car’s that where popular then, Dodge, Chevy, Lincoln & Fords! Yellow cab at left, and the cars are facing the same way both sides of the road. The Holden Motor Company built Buick, Chevy & Pontiac from “CKD” kits from the USA. Parking in the middle of the road (so we are not seeing the other side of the road).

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Exhibition Street, looking from Collins Street, down past Flinders Lane)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Collins Street looking up towards Old Treasury Building)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Number 42 tram going to Mont Albert)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Photograph taken where – Collins and Swanston Street? The lady is walking towards or just beyond the Melbourne Town Hall, the tram is on the other side of the road going the opposite way towards Mont Albert. In the centre background is the APA Tower and in front of it is the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Co (MLC) building. In the far distance is the Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace. Silver Top Pontiac Taxi (1937) slippery leather seats! Front bench seats with full length grab bar too hold on when cornering! (centre of image).

Many thankx to James Nolen for help identifying this image.

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne looking from Flinders Street railway station)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Princes Bridge, Melbourne on the Yarra River with Flinders Street railway station to the right)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Seagulls, rowing sheds on the Yarra River, Melbourne)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Bill Edwards speedcar, Victoria)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Union Club Hotel, Colac)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Union Club Hotel, Colac
2010
Wikimedia Commons
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Picnic, family and car)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Two women and two girls)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Girl)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Two lads and two children)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Three dogs)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Port Arthur convict colony ruins, Tasmania)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Convict-built church at Port Arthur convict colony ruins, Tasmania)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Pirates Bay Lookout, Tasmania)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

One of the Tasman Peninsula’s finest coastal lookouts is actually on the Forestier Peninsula, high on the hillsides above the Tesselated Pavement. Pirates Bay Lookout gives panoramic views down the east coast of Tasmania Peninsula and overs spectacular vistas towards Cape Hauy and Cape Pillar, which are both visible on a clear day. The lookout is on Pirates Bay Drive, the turnoff to the left off Tasman Highway being around 2 km before reaching Eaglehawk Neck when approaching from Dunalley. The lookout can also be accessed from Eaglehawk Neck. Simply take the Scenic drive past the Lufra Hotel.

Text from the Our Tasmania website [Online] Cited 29/03/2020

Pirates Bay Lookout, Tasmania
2009
Wikimedia Commons
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Men and shark) (location unknown)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Mining landscape) (location unknown)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Three dogs)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Two dogs)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Smiling girl with pigtails)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Two ballerinas)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Man and ballerina)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Women in gown)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Three girls)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Two women, a man and a dog)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Road accident, hay truck, Albion Park, New South Wales)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Bridgeview Motors, 267 Pacific Highway, North Sydney with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Lavender street, Lavender Bay looking towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Dawes Point ferry, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge looking to Fort Denison)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Sydney Harbour Bridge, south looking north showing the North Sydney Olympic Pool in the background left)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

The North Sydney Olympic Pool is a swimming and exercise complex located adjacent to Sydney Harbour at Milsons Point in North Sydney between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park. Designed by architects Rudder & Grout in the Inter-War Free Classical style with art deco-style decorations, the Olympic-sized outdoor pool was built on part of the Dorman Long workshops site following the completion of the Harbour Bridge. The pool opened 4 April 1936 and hosted the swimming and diving events for the 1938 Empire Games.

Text from the Wikipedia website

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Sydney Harbour Bridge, north looking south showing DC current power station stack to the left)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, north looking south showing DC current power station stack to the left)
1946-1947
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

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Exhibition: ‘Victorian London in Photographs 1839 to 1901’ at the London Metropolitan Archives

Exhibition dates: 5th May – 29th October 2015

Henry Flather (British, 1839-1901)
Building the Metropolitan Railway
1862
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

This photograph by Henry Flather shows workers at Baker Street as they construct London’s first Tube line.

This is a fascinating exhibition about the history of London portrayed through Victorian era photographs.

The best photographs in the posting are by John Thomson. The composition of these images is exemplary with their eloquent use of light and low depth of field. The seemingly nonchalant but obviously staged positioning of the figures is coupled with superb rendition of light in photographs such as Old Furniture, London Nomades and Recruiting Sergeants At Westminster (all 1877, below).

The details are intriguing, such as shooting contre-jour or into the light in Recruiting Sergeants At Westminster with one of the soldiers and the two street lads in the distance staring directly at the camera. This seems to be a technique of Thomson’s, for there is always one person in his intimate group photographs staring straight at the camera, which in this era is unusual in itself. The women on the steps of the Romany caravan stares straight at the camera, one of the two children framed in the doorway behind slightly blurred, telling us the length of the exposure.

Then we have the actual characters themselves. With his tall hat and what seems to be scars around his mouth, the man centre stage in The Cheap Fish Of St. Giles’s (1877, below) reminds me of that nasty character Bill Sikes out of Charles Dicken’s immortal Oliver Twist (1837-39). And the poverty stricken from the bottom of the barrel… the destitute women and baby in The “Crawlers” – Portrait of a destitute woman with an infant (1877, below). “The abject misery into which they are plunged is not always self sought and merited; but is, as often, the result of unfortunate circumstances and accident.” It must have been so tough in that era to survive every day in London. See Matthew Beaumont. Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London, Chaucer to Dickens. London and New York: Verso, 2015.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Many thankx to the London Metropolitan Archives for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

Philip Henry Delamotte (British, 1821-1889)
Setting up the Colossi of Rameses the Great, The Crystal Palace
1854
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

Philip Henry Delamotte was commissioned to record the disassembly of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1852, and its reconstruction and expansion at Sydenham, a project finished in 1854. This image, entitled Setting up the Colossi of Rameses the Great, is part of an incredible set of photographs which record a large scale project in fascinating detail.

Anonymous photographer
Opening ceremony of the Blackwall Tunnel
1897
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

This image shows the opening ceremony of the Blackwall Tunnel. The tunnel was finally opened by the then Prince of Wales (Edward VII) in 1897, having been originally proposed in the 1880’s. It was constructed using a ‘tunnel shield’ to create the tunnel and remove debris. A major engineering project of the period, the tunnel was created to improve commerce and trade in the East End by providing a Thames crossing for a mixture of foot, cycle, horse-drawn and vehicular traffic.

This photograph was taken from Southwark Bridge by an anonymous photographer. The foreground shows London’s lost wharf buildings, including Iron Wharf and Bull Wharf.

George Washington Wilson (Scottish, 1823-1893) and Charles Wilson (photographers)
Marion & Co (publishers)
Piccadilly, London
1890
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

The name derives from ‘picadil’, a fashionable stiff collar of the early seventeenth century. The Aberdeen photographers George Washington Wilson and his son Charles specialised in high quality topographical views. This image is believed to be the work of the Wilsons, many of which were published by the firm of Marion & Co. The distinctive viewpoint is several feet above the carriageway. The photographers and their large format camera were driven round London in a covered wagon hired from Pickfords removals firm. This method allowed them to take candid photographs of streets and people.

Life in Victorian London Exposed

The arrival of photography in London in 1839 would change the way people saw their city, and each other, forever. Quite suddenly it was possible to see life captured ‘in the flesh’, rather than as an artist’s sketch or painting. The new medium was embraced as a means of recording the progress of grand engineering projects and revealing the shocking poverty that haunted the capital’s poorer districts.

The collections at London Metropolitan Archives contain an extraordinary range of photographs from Queen Victoria’s reign, recording the city and its people in stunning detail. Whether in carefully posed studio portraits or images of people gathered in the street, it seems that almost everyone wanted to be recorded on camera. This exhibition delves into these collections to present some of most striking images of the era; from the first known photograph of London to the opening of Blackwall Tunnel at the end of the century, taking in the Crystal Palace, the first Tube line and the harsh realities of life on the city’s streets. This free exhibition runs from Tuesday 5th May to Thursday 8th October at London Metropolitan Archives.

Images on display will include photographs from these astonishing Victorian collections:

Street Life in London

The industrial and social developments of the nineteenth century and their effect on the city and by extension the poor in Britain were subjects of interest and detailed study in the Victorian period. Street Life in London by Adolphe Smith and John Thomson was an early use of photography as a medium to expose the lives of London’s poor and dispossessed in the late 1870’s. (More images from the book can be found on the LSE Digital Library website)

Preserving the Disappearing City

In March 1875 a letter appeared in The Times calling attention to the immanent demolitions affecting The Oxford Arms, a lovely but ramshackle seventeenth century coaching inn near to the Old Bailey. A response came a few days later, in the same column, announcing that a photographic record would be made. The group of historians and photographers responsible for this initiative called themselves Society for Photographing Relics of Old London. Between 1875 and 1886 they published 120 beautifully composed photographs of buildings. These images of a City swept away by the new Victorian world provide a surprising and beautiful record of a long forgotten London.

The Crystal Palace

Constructed for The Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, the Crystal Palace remains an enduring and enticing ‘lost’ icon of Victorian London. The building was re-erected in Sydenham in 1852 and photographer Philip Henry Delamotte was engaged to record the full process, creating 160 images which begin with the first girder going into the ground and end with Victoria and Albert’s appearance at the opening ceremony. The many fabulous highlights include Roman and Egyptian courts, a cast of the Sphinx, the dinosaurs of Crystal Palace Park and an incredible recreation of the Colossi of Aboo Simbel.

Replacing the smaller carte de visite in the 1870’s, cabinet cards were a popular way to share and collect images of friends and acquaintances.

This photograph is taken from a case book of the Ragged School Union which provides biographical information and images of a group of boys who were prepared for emigration to Canada.

John Thomson (Scottish, 1837-1921)
The “Crawlers” – Portrait of a destitute woman with an infant
1877
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

This image was published in 1877 by John Thomson in Street Life in London, alongside stories written by Adolphe Smith.

“Some of these crawlers are not, however, so devoid of energy as we might at first be led to infer. A few days’ good lodging and good food might operate a marvellous transformation. The abject misery into which they are plunged is not always self sought and merited; but is, as often, the result of unfortunate circumstances and accident. The crawler, for instance, whose portrait is now before the reader, is the widow of a tailor who died some ten years ago. She had been living with her son-in-law, a marble stone-polisher by trade, who is now in difficulties through ill-health. It appears, however, that, at best, “he never cared much for his work,” and innumerable quarrels ensued between him, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, a youth of fifteen. At last, after many years of wrangling, the mother, finding that her presence aggravated her daughter’s troubles, left this uncomfortable home, and with her young son descended penniless into the street. From that day she fell lower and lower, and now takes her seat among the crawlers of the district.”

The industrial and social developments of the 19th century and their effect on the city and by extension the poor in Britain were subjects of interest and detailed study in the Victorian period. Street Life in London by Adolphe Smith and John Thomson is a good example of this and in particular, its use of early photographic processes.

Adolphe Smith was an experienced journalist connected to social reform movements. While John Thomson was a photographer who had spent considerable time in the Far East, especially China, and central to his work was the photography of streets and individuals at work. Produced in 12 monthly issues, starting in February 1877, each issue had three stories accompanied by a photograph. Most of the text was written by Smith, although two are attributed to Thomson – London Nomades and Street Floods in Lambeth. The images were staged as tableau rather than being spontaneous street scenes and the relatively new process – Woodburytype – was used to reproduce the images consistently in large numbers for the publication.

Text from the London Metropolitan Archives Facebook page

Anonymous photographer
Theatre magazine (producer)
Portrait of actor William Terriss
late 19th century
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

This is a typical example of the portraits of performers produced by the Theatre magazine between 1878 and 1897. Known for heroic roles such as Robin Hood, Terriss was murdered outside the Adelphi Theatre in 1897.

William Terriss (20 February 1847 – 16 December 1897), born as William Charles James Lewin, was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, as well as parts in classic dramas and comedies. He was also a notable Shakespearean performer. He was the father of the Edwardian musical comedy star Ellaline Terriss and the film director Tom Terriss.

Athletic as a child, Terriss briefly joined the merchant navy and tried several professions abroad and at home. Adopting the stage name William Terriss, he made his first stage appearance in 1868 and was first in the West End in Tom Robertson’s Society in 1871. In the same year he had major successes in Robin Hood and Rebecca and quickly established himself as one of Britain’s most popular actors. In 1880, he joined Henry Irving’s company at the Lyceum Theatre, appearing in Shakespeare plays.

In 1885, he met 24-year-old Jessie Millward, with whom he starred in The Harbour Lights by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt. They toured Britain and America together. Terriss played the hero parts in Adelphi melodramas from the late 1880s, among other roles. In 1897, he was stabbed to death by a deranged actor, Richard Archer Prince, at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre, where he was appearing. Terriss’s ghost is supposed to haunt Covent Garden tube station and the Adelphi Theatre.

Text from the Wikipedia website

Shot by Henry Dixon as part of the ‘Society for Photographing Relics of Old London’ project to record heritage on the verge of destruction as Victorian London re-invented itself. Amongst the subjects recorded were the galleried coaching inns which had existed in some form since the time of Chaucer and which were swept away by the coming of the railways. Most ended their days as slum dwellings before being demolished. Only one, the George, now survives.

This image was published in 1877 by John Thomson in Street Life in London, alongside stories written by Adolphe Smith.

“At the corner of Church Lane, Holborn, there was a second-hand furniture dealer, whose business was a cross between that of a shop and a street stall. The dealer was never satisfied unless the weather allowed him to disgorge nearly the whole of his stock into the middle of the street, a method which alone secured the approval and custom of his neighbours. As a matter of fact, the inhabitants of Church Lane were nearly all what I may term “street folks” – living, buying, selling, transacting all their business in the open street. It was a celebrated resort for tramps and costers of every description, men and women who hawk during the day and evening the flowers, fruits and vegetables they buy in the morning at Covent Garden. When, however, the question of improving this district was first broached, Church Lane stood condemned as an unwholesome over-crowded, thoroughfare, and the houses on either side are now almost entirely destroyed, and the inhabitants have been compelled to migrate to other more distant and less convenient parts of the metropolis.”

John Thomson (Scottish, 1837-1921) (publisher)
Recruiting Sergeants At Westminster
1877
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

This image was published in 1877 by John Thomson in Street Life in London, alongside stories written by Adolphe Smith.

“Recruiting in London is almost exclusively circumscribed to the district stretching between the St. George’s Barracks, Trafalgar Square, and Westminster Abbey. Throughout London it is known that all information concerning service in the army can be obtained in this quarter, and intending recruits troop down to this neighbourhood in shoals, converging, as the culminating point of their peregrinations, towards the celebrated public-house at the corner of King Street and Bridge Street. It is under the inappropriate and pacific sign-board of the ‘Mitre and Dove’ that veteran men of war meet and cajole young aspirants to military honours. Here may be seen every day representatives of our picked regiments. […]

“The most prominent figure in the accompanying photograph, standing with his back to the Abbey, and nearest to the kerb stone, is that of Sergeant Ison, who is always looked upon with more than ordinary curiosity as the representative of the 6th Dragoon Guards, or Carbineers – a regiment which of late has been chiefly distinguished for having included in its ranks no less a person than Sir Roger Tichborne himself! To the Carbineer’s right we have the representatives of two heavy regiments, Sergeant Titswell, of the 5th Dragoon Guards, and Sergeant Badcock, of the 2nd Dragoons, or Scots Greys; the latter is leaning against the corner of the public-house. Close to him may be recognized the features of Sergeant Bilton, of the Royal Engineers, while Sergeant Minett, of the 14th Hussars, turns his head towards Sergeant McGilney, of the 6th Dragoons, or Enniskillen, whose stalwart frame occupies the foreground. This group would not, however, have been complete without giving a glimpse at Mr. Cox, the policeman, to whose discretion and pacific interference may be attributed the order which is generally preserved even under the most trying circumstances at the ‘Mitre and Dove.'”

John Thomson (Scottish, 1837-1921) (publisher)
The Cheap Fish Of St. Giles’s
1877
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

A street market in the notorious St Giles in the Fields area, noted as one of the worst slums in Britain during the Victorian period, 1877.

This image was published in 1877 by John Thomson in Street Life in London, alongside stories written by Adolphe Smith.

“Awaiting the moment when the costermonger is able to procure a barrow of his own he must pay eighteen pence per week for the cost of hiring. Then he must beware of the police, who have a knack of confiscating these barrows, on the pretext that they obstruct the thoroughfare and of placing them in what is termed the Green Yard, where no less than a shilling per day is charged for the room the barrow is supposed to occupy. At the same time, its owner will probably be fined from half a crown to ten shillings so that altogether it is much safer to secure a good place in a crowded street market. In this respect, Joseph Carney, the costermonger, whose portrait is before the reader, has been most fortunate. He stands regularly in the street market that stretches between Seven Dials and what is called Five Dials, making his pitch by a well-known newsagent’s, whose shop serves as a landmark. Like the majority of his class, he does not always sell fish, but only when the wind is propitious and it can be bought cheaply. On the day when the photograph was taken, he had succeeded in buying a barrel of five hundred fresh herrings for twenty five shillings. Out of these he selected about two hundred of the largest fish, which he sold at a penny each, while he disposed of the smaller herrings at a halfpenny.

“Trade was brisk at that moment, though the fish is sometimes much cheaper. Indeed, I have seen fresh herrings sold at five a penny; and this is all the more fortunate, as notwithstanding the small cost, they are, with the exception of good salmon, about the most nutritious fish in the market.”

This image was published in 1877 by John Thomson in Street Life in London, alongside stories written by Adolphe Smith.

“The class of Nomades with which I propose to deal makes some show of industry. These people attend fairs, markets, and hawk cheap ornaments or useful wares from door to door. At certain seasons this class ‘works’ regular wards, or sections of the city and suburbs. At other seasons its members migrate to the provinces, to engage in harvesting, hop-picking, or to attend fairs, where they figure as owners of ‘Puff and Darts’, ‘Spin ’em rounds’, and other games. […]

“The accompanying photograph, taken on a piece of vacant land at Battersea, represents a friendly group gathered around the caravan of William Hampton, a man who enjoys the reputation among his fellows, of being ‘a fair-spoken, honest gentleman’. Nor has subsequent intercourse with the gentleman in question led me to suppose that his character has been unduly overrated. […]

“He honestly owned his restless love of a roving life, and his inability to settle in any fixed spot. He also held that the progress of education was one of the most dangerous symptoms of the times, and spoke in a tone of deep regret of the manner in which decent children were forced now-a-days to go to school. ‘Edication, sir! Why what do I want with edication? Edication to them what has it makes them wusser. They knows tricks what don’t b’long to the nat’ral gent. That’s my ‘pinion. They knows a sight too much, they do! No offence, sir. There’s good gents and kind ‘arted scholards, no doubt. But when a man is bad, and God knows most of us aint wery good, it makes him wuss. Any chaps of my acquaintance what knows how to write and count proper aint much to be trusted at a bargain.’ […]

“The dealer in hawkers’ wares in Kent Street, tells me that when in the country the wanderers ‘live wonderful hard, almost starve, unless food comes cheap. Their women carrying about baskets of cheap and tempting things, get along of the servants at gentry’s houses, and come in for wonderful scraps. But most of them, when they get flush of money, have a regular go, and drink for weeks; then after that they are all for saving… They have suffered severely lately from colds, small pox, and other diseases, but in spite of bad times, they still continue buying cheap, selling dear, and gambling fiercely.’ […]

“Declining an invitation to ‘come and see them at dominoes in a public over the way’, I hastened to note down as fast as possible the information received word for word in the original language in which it was delivered, believing that this unvarnished story would at least be more characteristic and true to life.”

The first proposal for a square on the site of the former King’s Mews was drawn up by John Nash. It was part of King George IV’s extravagant vision for the west end curtailed by his death in 1830. Trafalgar Square was completed between 1840 and 1845 by Sir Charles Barry. There had been proposals to erect a monument to Horatio Nelson since his death at Trafalgar in 1805 but it was 1838 before a committee was formed to raise funds and consider proposals. William Railton’s design was chosen from dozens of entrants and his impressive Devonshire granite column with its statue of Nelson by E. H. Baily was erected in 1839-1843. It was already attracting photographers before the scaffolding was dismantled. The four lions at the base of the column were originally to be in stone rather than bronze but it was 1857 before a commission was given to the artist Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873). This photograph shows two of the lions when newly positioned some ten years later.

London Bridge was the only crossing over the river Thames in London until the eighteenth century, after which a number of bridges and tunnels were constructed. Perhaps the most famous of these is Tower Bridge. There were a number of designs for different types of bridges but the City of London Corporation decided on a bascule (French for see-saw) design. This remarkable anonymous photograph was taken two years before the bridge opened.

London Metropolitan Archives
40 Northampton Road,
London EC1R 0HB
Phone: 0207 332 3820

Opening hours:
Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm
Friday closed

*Please note: on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays all computers, microfilm readers, photocopiers and printers will be turned off by 7.25pm and original documents must be returned to staff by 7.25pm so that the building can close at 7.30pm.

London Metropolitan Archives website

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