Our fifteenth treasure celebrates a man, a machine and a moment. The man is Reverend Frederic Charles Hall, the machine is his cameras, and the moment is captured on numerous glass plate negatives. From the North Queensland Photographic Collection comes Reverend Frederic Charles Hall's cameras and the Reverend Frederic Charles Hall Photographic Collection
Trisha Fielding answers the question "why is this significant?"
The Reverend Frederic Charles Hall was an Anglican priest with a keen interest in photography. While ministering to the people of Georgetown Parish, in the Diocese of Carpentaria, between 1904 and 1909, Hall took hundreds of photographs of everyday life in remote north Queensland communities.
Born in 1878 in Woollahra, New South Wales, Fred Hall was educated at St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir School in Sydney. He later attended the Chinese Christian Church in Sydney, learned Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy, and considered becoming a missionary to China, though this did not eventuate.
In 1900, Hall reportedly met Bishop Gilbert White, the first Bishop of Carpentaria, north Queensland, at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. The following year White invited Hall to Thursday Island to complete his training and, in 1904, Hall was ordained as a Deacon and appointed Curate at Georgetown, north Queensland. In 1906, he was ordained as a priest at the Quetta Memorial Cathedral, on Thursday Island, by the Right Reverend Gilbert White and returned to Georgetown as Curate-in-Charge.
The Parish of Georgetown covered an extensive area and encompassed the townships of Croydon, Golden Gate, Normanton and Burketown. Hall’s parishioners faced harsh, and often challenging living conditions — in early 1906, Croydon was almost destroyed by a cyclone. The damage to the gold mining settlement was so severe, the State Government was prompted to establish a relief fund.
Hall travelled to his parishioners on horseback or bicycle, and by train between Croydon and Normanton. A talented amateur photographer, he carried a timber and brass Thornton Pickard half-plate camera (with tripod) and a quarter-plate camera made by Baker and Rouse, everywhere with him in a Gladstone bag. Images were captured on glass plate negatives by removing and then quickly replacing the camera’s lens cap.
Hall’s photographs are now an invaluable historical record of the period 1904-1909, and cover broad-ranging subjects including landscapes, interiors and exteriors of dwellings and churches, fashion, bush picnics, weddings, transport, farming and mining in north Queensland. Hall’s photographs of miners and mining equipment, in particular, are an important record of alluvial gold-mining techniques on the Oaks and Etheridge goldfields. The miners and other workers in Hall’s photographs are portrayed either busy at their work, or posing for the photo holding tools or equipment.
Apart from his portrayal of people (both at work and at play), Hall seems to have had a real love of the north Queensland landscape because he took his cameras everywhere with him, and they would have been cumbersome to carry — particularly on a bicycle. His photos encompass a range of vastly different landscapes: parched, almost treeless country; lush rainforest, rivers, creeks and gorges; and remote locations such as Yarrabah and Thursday Island.
Hall may have also had a genuine interest in photography as art, rather than just a simple desire to capture scenes of everyday life. In some of his photos, he appears to have asked his subjects to pose in rather artful scenes. A series of photos taken in a rugged, rocky mountain range, with his subjects lounging on large boulders while dressed in their Sunday best, would seem to provide examples of the photographer’s desire for artistic composition.
Hall left north Queensland in 1909 to marry his fiancée of eight years, Edith Searle, in Sydney. They had three children together, and Hall remained in New South Wales with his family, serving at various parishes in Sydney and surrounding districts until his death in 1926, aged 48.
Over the course of 2020, JCU Library's Special Collections will be unveiling 50 Treasures from the collections to celebrate 50 years of James Cook University.
Author Biography
Trisha Fielding is an historian and writer whose published works include the books 'Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the remarkable lives of North Queensland's independent midwives 1890-1940', 'Queen City of the North: a history of Townsville', and the history blogs 'North Queensland History' and 'Women of the North'. She holds a Master of History degree from the University of New England and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from the University of Southern Queensland. Trisha also works part time in JCU Library's Special Collections.
Trisha Fielding answers the question "why is this significant?"
The Reverend Frederic Charles Hall was an Anglican priest with a keen interest in photography. While ministering to the people of Georgetown Parish, in the Diocese of Carpentaria, between 1904 and 1909, Hall took hundreds of photographs of everyday life in remote north Queensland communities.
 |
Two ladies and one boy posing
on a rocky hillside in North Queensland [NQID 850] Photographer: Reverend Frederic
Charles Hall
|
In 1900, Hall reportedly met Bishop Gilbert White, the first Bishop of Carpentaria, north Queensland, at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. The following year White invited Hall to Thursday Island to complete his training and, in 1904, Hall was ordained as a Deacon and appointed Curate at Georgetown, north Queensland. In 1906, he was ordained as a priest at the Quetta Memorial Cathedral, on Thursday Island, by the Right Reverend Gilbert White and returned to Georgetown as Curate-in-Charge.
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| Interior of the Quetta Memorial Cathedral, Thursday Island, Queensland [NQID 1155] Photographer: Reverend Frederic Charles Hall |
Hall travelled to his parishioners on horseback or bicycle, and by train between Croydon and Normanton. A talented amateur photographer, he carried a timber and brass Thornton Pickard half-plate camera (with tripod) and a quarter-plate camera made by Baker and Rouse, everywhere with him in a Gladstone bag. Images were captured on glass plate negatives by removing and then quickly replacing the camera’s lens cap.
 |
| Thorton Pickard half-plate camera owned by Reverend Frederic Charles Hall. Photograph: Michael Marzik |
Hall’s photographs are now an invaluable historical record of the period 1904-1909, and cover broad-ranging subjects including landscapes, interiors and exteriors of dwellings and churches, fashion, bush picnics, weddings, transport, farming and mining in north Queensland. Hall’s photographs of miners and mining equipment, in particular, are an important record of alluvial gold-mining techniques on the Oaks and Etheridge goldfields. The miners and other workers in Hall’s photographs are portrayed either busy at their work, or posing for the photo holding tools or equipment.
 |
| Mr Johnson using a combination cradle and sluice to find alluvial gold along the Copperfield River, Oaks Goldfield, Queensland [NQID 1202] Photographer: Reverend Frederic Charles Hall |
Apart from his portrayal of people (both at work and at play), Hall seems to have had a real love of the north Queensland landscape because he took his cameras everywhere with him, and they would have been cumbersome to carry — particularly on a bicycle. His photos encompass a range of vastly different landscapes: parched, almost treeless country; lush rainforest, rivers, creeks and gorges; and remote locations such as Yarrabah and Thursday Island.
Hall may have also had a genuine interest in photography as art, rather than just a simple desire to capture scenes of everyday life. In some of his photos, he appears to have asked his subjects to pose in rather artful scenes. A series of photos taken in a rugged, rocky mountain range, with his subjects lounging on large boulders while dressed in their Sunday best, would seem to provide examples of the photographer’s desire for artistic composition.
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| Three people posed on a rugged rock formation, North Queensland [NQID 569] Photographer: Reverend Frederic Charles Hall |
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| Reverend F.C. Hall and wife, Edith, with their baby son, Kenwyn [NQID 539] Photographer: Reverend Frederic Charles Hall |
Over the course of 2020, JCU Library's Special Collections will be unveiling 50 Treasures from the collections to celebrate 50 years of James Cook University.
Author Biography
Trisha Fielding is an historian and writer whose published works include the books 'Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the remarkable lives of North Queensland's independent midwives 1890-1940', 'Queen City of the North: a history of Townsville', and the history blogs 'North Queensland History' and 'Women of the North'. She holds a Master of History degree from the University of New England and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from the University of Southern Queensland. Trisha also works part time in JCU Library's Special Collections.
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