Summary

This photograph depicts, in foreground, two women standing outdoors in an open area surrounded by bushland. Two clusters of men, women, and children are in the background to left and right, with several women on the right sitting on cut logs on the ground. The two women both wear light-coloured long-sleeved dresses with features such as ribbons, frills, lace, pin-tucking and buttons, as well as leather belts and dark-coloured hats. The woman on left holds a crumpled handkerchief and the woman on right carries an umbrella. The women in the background all appear to be dressed in wide-brimmed straw hats and either long skirts with lacy or ruffled blouses, or, dresses with ribbon accents. The little girls appear to be wearing straw hats accented with ribbons, and pinafores over their dresses. A young boy partly visible appears to be wearing a sailor-style suit. The men appear to be wearing suits or long-sleeved shirts and trousers, some with braces, and hats. This group is most likely from St. Margaret's Church in Croydon, having gathered together for a Sunday School picnic. This photograph was taken in North Queensland but the exact location is unknown.

Due to the isolation experienced by most of the residents in the Normanton and Croydon areas, bush picnics, organized by social clubs and church groups, were a popular outing. These picnics were often for men, women, and children, but sometimes a women's church group would organize a ladies' tea out in the bush. While the events themselves were somewhat informal and social, everyone would wear their "Sunday best". While social etiquette required arms, shoulders and legs to be covered, especially for women, the fabrics used would have been lightweight and durable, such as cotton and thin wool, in deference to the climate.

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.