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WARWICK, Queensland |
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Site created 13
November 1999/last updated 30 January 2006 © Marcel Safier, 2001-2006
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| Index of Photographers
and Studios listed on this site:
Edwin Torrens
Brissenden
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Photography did
not arrive in Warwick until some years after it had arrived in Brisbane.
Like Toowoomba although it has emerged as a commercial centre serving a
large farming community its relatively small population made it unprofitable
for anyone but travelling photographers to offer their services to the area
initially.
James
Elsbee was the first recorded photographer to have visited Warwick
in 1857 followed the next year by Edwin Brissenden. Their work would
mainly have been portraiture in the ambrotype format although Brissenden
was still offering daguerreotypes (which had mostly been superseded by
the ambrotype by that time). Scotsman Robert McClelland visited
the town in 1859. Thomas Mathewson, also Scottish born, whose family
had settled in Toowoomba in 1853 visited Warwick repeatedly during his extensive
travels as an itinerant photographer from the mid-1860s.
In 1868, Henry Haig, son of Warwick pioneer John Haig opened a studio in Percy St that was the start of the Haig family's dominance of photography in Warwick for over 120 years. In 1869 Chris Roggencamp set up a studio in opposition in Albion St. His brother Martin previously had a small studio operation in Allora but was living in Warwick at the time so most likely he had an interest in the studio although it was free held by Chris and always operated under his name. Martin set up his own long running studio in Toowoomba in 1874. Chris Roggencamp was the second longest operating photographer in 19th century Warwick whose years working as a photographer in there closely paralleled Henry Haig's. Both studios started by offering portraits in carte de visite and several years later they both introduced cabinet photos. Andrew Chandler, a former partner of Albert Lomer in Sydney may have visited the Warwick as a travelling photographer between 1869 and 1870 and he established a studio for a while in Dalby in 1870. Haig and Roggencamp remained unchallenged in Warwick for over 22 years as the town's only photographers until the arrival in 1892 of Robert Rickwood from Inverell. He was followed in 1896 by Mads Poulsen, youngest of the Poulsen brothers family of photographers. The Poulsens had immigrated from Denmark and Mads eldest brother Poul became a photographer in Sydney and eventually set up a prestige studio in Brisbane. Around this time Sidney E. Hill who had come from Cooktown also set up a studio but he appears to have closed it several years later when he set off to fight in the Boer War. Mads Poulsen went on to become the third long operating photographer in Warwick, eventually taking in his wife's father Silvanus White in partnership. Aside from producing views for the local postcard market Poulsen and White were responsible for many of the fine enlarged framed portraits of Warwick's residents. It was only in the last few years that Poulsen's studio in Palmerin St, that had passed through several ownerships to Gordon Brown finally closed its door to clients. Haig's studio, in the hands of John Haig's great grandson finally closed in 1984. |
| PHOTOGRAPHERS NAME | ADDRESS OF OPERATION | DATES ACTIVE | NOTES incl. types of photographs produced |
| James Elsbee | travelling photographer | 1857 | Itinerant photographer
who spent four months in Ipswich before advertising he was heading for
Drayton, Warwick and Dalby.
probably ambrotypes |
| Edwin Torrens
Brissenden
(-1907) |
traveling photographer | 1858 | Brissenden trained
in the studio of Thomas Glaister in Sydney. He set up his own studio
in Brisbane in November 1857 and later set up in Ipswich for several months.
Brissenden then travelled to various stations on the Darling Downs and
Warwick before departing for Melbourne. His Ipswich studio was taken over
by his assistant Thomas Bowdich (North Australian 30 Mar 1858)
daguerreotypes, calotypes, ambrotypes |
| Robert McClelland | travelling photographer | 1859 | Born c.1829 in Kirkinner,
Scotland. Emigrated to Australia c.1852 and worked in Melbourne as
photographer. He later travelled to Armidale in 1859, then on to
Tenterfield, Warwick and Drayton before going to Sydney. He returned
to Brisbane in September 1859 and stayed into 1860, then went to Ipswich.
Set up a studio in Newtown, Sydney from 1862-64. Travelled through
Queensland in 1869 but settled in Maryborough where he died in 1872.
Father of photographer George S. McClelland.
ambrotypes |
| Thomas Mathewson | travelling photographer | 1868, 1872 | Began in photography
in 1864. Travelled throughout southern Queensland and NSW.
Remained in Gympie from 1868-1871 before travelling again. Eventually
formed the partnership Mathewson and Co with his brother Peter in 1876
and they operated a studio in Queen St, Brisbane.
cartes de visite |
| Henry Haig | Percy St
Dragon St Percy St |
1868-1891
1892-1902 1903-1919 |
Son of Warwick pioneer John Haig, patriarch of three generations o f Haig family photographers. The longest established Warwick photographer. cartes de visite, cabinet photos |
| Christopher Roggencamp | Albion St | 1869-1918 |
cartes de visite, cabinet photos |
| Haig & Son
(Henry & William Haig) |
Dragon St | cabinet photos | |
| Robert C. Rickwood | Fitzroy St | 1892-1894 | Previously
in Sydney, McLean, Glen Innes and Inverell, Rickwood worked for several
years in Warwick, later opening a studio in Brisbane.
cabinet photos, postcards |
| Mads Hansen Poulsen | Palmerin St | 1896-1911 | Youngest brother of Poul
C. Poulsen who had a studio in Brisbane.
cabinet photos, postcards |
| Poulsen & White
(Mads Hansen Poulsen & Sylvanus White) |
Palmerin St | 1912-1931 | Mads
Poulsen formed a partnership with a cousin on his wife's side.
postcard photos, enlargements |
| Sidney E. Hill | 1896-1900 | Started in Eidsvold 1888, then had studios in Barcaldine & Maryborough in 1892, the Elite Photo Coy. in Charters Towers (year unknown), the Elite Photo Coy. Cooktown in 1896 and Warwick in 1896. His fate after serving in the Boer War is unknown. | |
| Eddie T. B. Hutchison | 1899 | Started in Queanbeyan, then travelled in NSW operating studios in Orange and Dubbo, brief partnership with Spliet. Open Queen St studio in Brisbane which he sold in 1890 to Brame. Appears to have worked for Mads Poulsen around 1896 before opening his own studio, but then decided to try and enlist in the Boer War. After being rejected worked passage to South Africa and enlisted in the Pretoria Volunteer Rifles. After the war set up a studio in Pretoria, before returning to Brisbane in 1906 and setting up a studio in Woolloongabba which he ran until his death in 1912. | |
| EARLY POST CARD PUBLISHERS | |||
| Coloured Shell Series | c.1904-1915 | Produced view postcards covering the all major towns of Queensland. They appear to have licensed negatives also used by other publishers. Their range included over 150 different views. | |
| E.D. & Co. later EDCO (Edwards Dunlop & Company) |
c.1905-1915 | Published numerous view postcards initially real photographs usually taken by Crown Studios of Sydney later moving into printed postcards. Most cards feature an identifying serial number and they cover both the major and many smaller towns of Queensland. | |
| M. H. P.
(Mads Hansen Poulsen) |
c.1910 | Produced a series of real photograph postcard of Warwick. His negatives were also used to produce black and white printed postcards. | |
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| Notes: Some of the year ranges stated may not be complete or totally accurate as the information is limited to what has appeared in trade directories and newspapers, what was on the back of photos or my guestimate from examination of the photos. It is always difficult to determine those travelling/itinerant photographers who may have visited the region as they often visited for very short periods and left little record of their activities. Sometimes they would announce their arrival in a local newspaper but detecting these notices can be a labourious task since few regional newspapers are indexed . | |||
| Sources:
private photograph collection of author of this site various Queensland trade directories and almanacs Alan Davies and Peter Stanbury, "The Mechanical Eye in Australia", OUP, Melbourne, 1988. Sandy Barrie, "Queenslanders Behind The Camera. Professional Photographers in Queensland 1849-1920", Volumes 1-5, Brisbane, 1988. Joan Kerr (ed), "The Dictionary of Australian Artists, Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870", Melbourne, OUP, 1993. Early Newspapers: The Warwick Argus (established in November 1864) Examiner and Times (established 1866) |
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| Thankyou to Jack Mathewson (grandson of Thomas Mathewson), "Hutch" Hutchison (grandson of E.T.B Hutchison), Nancy Edwards (Poulsen descendant), Liz Smith (White relation), Gordon Brown (Warwick photographer), John Haig (great great grandson of Henry Haig), Ivy Siddell (grand daughter of Sidney E. Hill), Alan Davies (curator of the picture collection Mitchell Library, Sydney and author) and Sandy Barrie (photographic historian, collector and author). | |||
| Anyone with further information about the above photographers or with names of and information about other photographers not listed is welcome to contact me. I am particularly interested in making contact with the descendants and relations of photographers. Due to the large number of such requests I am unable to respond to queries asking me to date or identify your family photographs. | |||
| GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPH TYPES | |
| Daguerreotype | Invented by Louis Daguerre in 1837 and introduced to the world in 1839. The daguerreotype was produced on highly buffed silver coated on to a brass plate and cannot be easily viewed unless turned at the right angle. The image was mounted under a brass mat and glass and placed in a leather-bound folding case (imported from the USA, France or England) or sometimes framed. Ninth, sixth, quarter and half plate sizes were the most popular - the former two being those most commonly found. |
| Calotype | A paper print made from a paper negative. Pioneered by Fox Talbot, the calotype was introduced at the same time of the daguerreotype but never caught on in popularity |
| Ambrotype
(Collodiotype) |
Underexposed and sometimes bleached photographic negative on glass backed by black paper, dark velvet or black paint directly on the plate to make the negative appear positive. This was then mounted in a brass frame and placed in a paper mache or leather-bound folding case or sometimes framed. Ninth, sixth and quarter plate sizes were all popular - half and full plate images are sometimes seen. |
| Carte de Visite | Paper photograph from glass plate negative mounted on card board mount 2 1/2" x 4" - popular from 1861-c.1895 |
| Cabinet Photo | Paper photograph from glass plate negative mounted on card board mount 4 1/4" x 6 1/2" - popular from mid 1870s-c.1905 |
| Tintype | Photograph on metallic tin, akin to an ambrotype. Produced in many sizes, the most popular being a small postage stamp sized tintype (gem tintype) which could be mounted in carte de visite sized cardboard frame (carte de visite tintype) or an unmounted carte de visite size (2½" x 3½"plate - so called sixth plate). Introduced to Australia in 1858 but popular 1879-1885. |
| Opalotype | Photograph on white opaque "milk" or "opal" glass. Commonly 12" x 14" and framed. Poplar from mid 1880s until 1920s. |
| Postcard Photo | Photograph on paper with printed post card back, so that it could be mailed if desired taking advantage of the penny post. This paper was used by professionals (where it was mainly used for studio portraiture or for views specifically for the postcard market) and by amateurs alike. Size 5" x 3 1/2" |
| I am always after photographs for my reference collection and I welcome offers of any old photographs, postcards and albums (not just from Queensland but anywhere in Australia). I also seek glass plate negatives and early wood and brass camera equipment. |
| Warwick and district historical organisations/libraries/museums & other links of interest | |
| Warwick
Shire Council Library
49 Albion St P.O. Box 26 Warwick QLD 4370 (07) 4661 0342; Fax: (07) 4661 0349 cpye@warwick.qld.gov.au |
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| Warwick
Historical Society 81-83 Dragon Street PO Box 236 Warwick QLD 4370 (07) 4661 2028; Fax: (07) 4661 9532 |
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| Warwick Walkabout | Covers some of the history and also details some of the historical buildings of the town |
| Warwick Shire
Tourism and Events Board PO Box 293 Warwick QLD 4370 (07) 4661 9073; Fax: (07) 4661 9971 info@warwickshiretourism.com.au www.warwickshiretourism.com.au |
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visits to this site since 13 November 1999