Hocken Digital Collections

Ian Farquhar Collection: Photographic negatives of Ships

Details

CreatorFarquhar, Ian James, 1931-DescriptionThis collection consists of 2,624 glass plate negatives of mostly merchant ships, donated to the Hocken Collections by Ian J. Farquhar in the year 2000. The collection centres around Australian and New Zealand registered vessels and overseas lines that traded to Australasia between 1898 to the early 1920s.

Plates 0001-0707 were taken by Sidney H. Rawson between 1900-1916 at Dunedin/Port Chalmers, Auckland, Wellington and the West Coast. Many of the plates include a hand-written number in the bottom right corner. This number links to a series of six exercise books which record the subject matter of each photograph, date, time of day, film type and speed, camera aperture and weather conditions, which are also held at the Hocken (P2000-021/2).

Plates 0708-2328 were taken by Australian photographer, William Livermore at Sydney and Adelaide from 1898 to the early 1920s.

Not all of this collection is digitised and available through Digital Collections. Information about other items can be found on the Hākena catalogue, through the Library Catalogues link above.History / BiographyThere is some confusion in the donor's notes over whether the Rawson photographs were taken by Sidney H. Rawson (1883-1951), who was a dentist and hobby photographer of ships in Dunedin between 1901-1916, or his father, Thomas Rawson (1852-1904), who was Secretary and Engineer to the Otago Harbour Board. The donor attributed them all to Thomas Rawson, but given that many of the plates include the initials 'S R' and were clearly taken after Thomas's death in 1904, they may possibly be a mixture of the two, if not all taken by Sidney.
ProvenanceAccording to the donor, the Thomas Rawson shipping collection was inherited by his son, Sidney Rawson, who eventually passed it on to Dr M.N. Watt of Dunedin. He in turn gave the plates to I.J. Farquhar in the 1960s.

Corolla, Rattray Street Wharf

Depicts Or Relates To

NamesFarquhar, Ian J.Anderson, J., CaptainLivermore, WilliamRawson, Thomas, 1852-1904Rawson, Sidney Herbert, 1883-1951PlacesSydneyDunedinAucklandWellingtonWest CoastPort ChalmersSubjectsShipsLighthouses - New ZealandSteamshipsSailing shipsHarbours

CollectionShips

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Ian Farquhar Collection: Photographic negatives of Ships

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