Glass plate negative of George Street, Sydney, showing Sydney Town Hall and early electric street lighting, c.1904-1917
Object No. 85/1284-2009
This photograph was taken from the corner of George and Bathurst Street looking north towards the Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building. In the centre of the image is a horse drawn cart owned by T. Harpur, a produce merchant, turning into George Street. In front of the cart are two men both of whom appear to be street sweepers, or as they were commonly referred to then, 'Blockboys'. The one on the left appears to be taking a bit of a break with his equipment left by the lamppost while he talks to his mate in the middle of the street. An early electric streetlight can be seen dangling above the men and similar streetlights can be seen all along George Street. In the right foreground is an electric tram. This was one of the 140 which worked on the Enmore line. This photographic negative was published by the Sydney firm Charles Kerry & Co. and is part of the Powerhouse Museum's Tyrrell collection which contains over 2,900 glass plate negatives by Kerry & Co. Although a few appear to be from the 1880s most were produced between 1892 and 1917. Over this period, and well into the early 1900s, prints from these negatives appeared in many Australian publications and albums of views. In 1903 the company began producing postcards from these negatives, further establishing the images as some of the most significant and best known early views of New South Wales. Some of the more significant themes covered by the collection include; views of New South Wales, Queensland, country towns, Sydney, Indigenous Australians, the South Pacific, rural life, native flora and fauna, and sentimental views. In addition a number of significant events from the 1900s are covered by the collection including; embarkation of troops for the Boer War, Hordens fire, the Inauguration of the Commonwealth in 1901, the arrival of the Great White Fleet and the Burns verses Johnson boxing match at Rushcutters Bay in 1908. Geoff Barker, Curatorial, January, 2009 References Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988 David, Millar, Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981 Tyrrell, James, Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islands Implements, Weapons and Curios, James Tyrrell, Sydney, 1929
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Summary
Object Statement
Glass negative, half plate, entitled 'George St, by Town Hall', depicting George Street, Sydney, and showing Sydney Town Hall and early electric street lighting, photograph by Kerry and Co, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, c. 1904-1917
Physical Description
Glass negative, half plate, entitled 'George St, by Town Hall', depicting George Street, Sydney, and showing Sydney Town Hall and early electric street lighting, photograph by Kerry and Co., Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, c. 1904-1917 Silver gelatin dry plate glass negative in landscape. The image depicts George Street, Sydney at the corner of George and Bathurst Streets. Horse drawn vehicles are depicted in the centre of the image. One is turning onto George Street from Bathurst Street and is inscribed 'T. Harpur Produce Merchant'. Another horsedrawn vehicle is depicted in the foreground travelling west along Bathurst Street. Two men, one of whom is a streetsweeper can be seen standing on the road on the corner of George and Bathurst Streets. An electric streetlight is depicted near the men in the foreground on the left side of the image, similar streetlights can be seen along George Street in the background of the image. The electric tramway along George Street is depicted in the right side of the image. Two trams can be seen on the tramway. The '140 Enmore' tram can be seen travelling south and the '249 Circular Quay via George Street' tram can be seen travelling north. A man can be seen pushing a trolley across George Street, in between the trams. Numerous buildings along George Street are depicted in the right side of the image. St Andrew's Cathedral, Town Hall and the Queen Victoria building are depicted on the left side of the image. 42/62 Tyrrell Inventory Number, 116 Kerry Studio Number
DIMENSIONS
Width
120 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Charles Kerry was born in 1858 and by 1885 was running a studio in partnership with C. D. Jones. This partnership lasted until 1892, when Charles became sole owner and changed the studio's name to Kerry and Co. By 1890 the company was employing a number of photographers who would become famous in their own right. George Bell who covered rural New South Wales was employed in 1890 and Harold Bradley was doing outdoor work and covering events around Sydney by 1899. Kerry continued to work in the field and in 1895 he took photographs of Royal National Park for New South Wales Government, photographed Queensland artesian bores and was employed by the New South Wales Government to travel the state and photograph Indigenous Australians. In 1897 Kerry led the first party to reach the summit of Mt Kosciuszko in winter conditions and photographed the Jenolan caves. By 1900 Kerry had turned his studio into one of the largest and most respected photographic establishments in the colony. His new four story premises at 310 George St were designed by the architect H. C. Kent and the third floor studios alone could accommodate 70 people wanting their portraits taken. In 1913 Kerry retired leaving the running of the studio to his nephew, unfortunately the business did not do well and Kerry and Co. closed its doors in 1917. Kerry himself died in 1928. Geoff Barker, Curatorial, January, 2009 References Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988 David, Millar, Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981 Tyrrell, James, Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islands Implements, Weapons and Curios, James Tyrrell, Sydney, 1929
HISTORY
Notes
This photographic negative is one of 2900 Kerry & Co. photographs in the Powerhouse Museum's 'Tyrrell Collection' once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell. Almost all of these negatives are 21.5 x 20.3 cm (10 x 8 inch) glass plates and many of those now held by the Powerhouse Museum collection would have been used to create postcards. In addition to the Kerry & Co. Studio images, the Tyrrell Collection at the Powerhouse Museum includes glass plate negatives published by Henry King and a number of other negatives by unattributed photographers James Tyrrell used the images by Kerry & Co. and Henry King to produce his own booklets and views of New South Wales but although full of iconic Australian images, the collection does not appear to have been fully utilised by Tyrrell. In 1980 the collection was purchased by Australian Consolidated Press who published a limited series of 2000 contact prints from the collection. Housed in boxes copies of these were given to the State Library of New South Wales and the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney. In 1985 Australian Consolidated Press donated the collection to the Powerhouse keeping a set of copy prints for themselves. The collection at this time consisted of 7,903 glass plate negatives and 7,916 contact positive prints. A further 2,500 Kerry & Co. negatives are held in the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney, although these do not appear to have been acquired from Charles Kerry and Co. by Tyrrell. Geoff Barker, Curatorial, January, 2009 References Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988 David, Millar, Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, Sydney, David Ell Press, 1981 Tyrrell, James, Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islands Implements, Weapons and Curios, James Tyrrell, Sydney, 1929
SOURCE
Acquisition Date
19 July 1985
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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