Summary

This photograph depicts a girl and two boys posed in front of a solidly built home with a Union Jack draped behind them. The house, only partly visible, appears to be built of milled timber and is set on stumps approximately 100cm high with well-fashioned ant-caps. A piece of fabric with a fruit and leaf print can be seen on what is probably the front verandah. To the left are some low wooden benches holding a basin and tin tub, with some long-handled implements leaning against the bench. A corrugated iron water tank is visible at the rear of the house. The Union Jack draped behind the children has been hand-stitched in a very sheer fabric and shows signs of wear, with holes, tears and repairs visible. While the older boy is standing, the girl is seated, perhaps on a stool, over which is draped a rug or cloth - of the same fruit-and-leaf printed fabric - which is fanned out over the ground. Atop this is a small fringed mat upon which the youngest boy sits, arms folded. The girl has her long hair pinned back from her face but draped loosely over her shoulders and wears a lacy, light-coloured dress which has a pleated skirt to below the knee, gathered long-sleeves, a high neck, and sash around waist. She also wears two bangles, a small brooch on her bodice, dark stockings and buttoned shoes. The boy standing beside her wears a light-coloured striped shirt and tie of same material under a light-coloured jacket with collar and pocket, dark shorts to below the knee and dark stockings. The young boy seated wears a light-coloured sailor-style shirt, striped above-the-knee shorts, long dark socks, and fine quality lace-up shoes.

This photograph was taken in North Queensland but the exact location is unknown. Early twentieth century houses in North Queensland mining towns frequently consisted of two rooms, often with balustraded verandahs front and back, and outbuildings such as kitchen, bathroom and toilet. Due to the high cost of transport and labour, the houses were commonly constructed by erecting a timber frame with belt-rails and braces, set upon timber stumps, with corrugated-iron gabled roofs, and cladding of corrugated-iron and perhaps timber. These simple constructions were often extended and added to over time.

The photographs in this collection were taken by the Reverend Frederic Charles Hall (1878-1926) during the period 1902-1909 when he was the Anglican Curate appointed to Georgetown in North Queensland. Hall's foremost hobby was photography. He used both a half-plate camera with tripod made by J. Lancaster & Son, Birmingham and a quarter-plate Austral No. 3 made by the Australian company, Baker & Rouse. Glass negatives from Ilford and Austral were used; developing was done by the photographer himself and printing by exposure to sunlight.