Summary

This photograph, taken from the rear of the church, depicts the exterior of the All Souls St Bartholomew Quetta Memorial Church, Thursday Island, Queensland. Fences can be seen to either side of the church, post and wire on the left and palings on the right. In the background, some low-set buildings can be seen and, beyond that, the ocean. Some coconut palms are also visible. The church was consecrated on 12 November 1893. Reverend Frederic Charles Hall was ordained as a priest in this church by the Right Reverend Gilbert White on 24 June 1906. The church is also known as Quetta Memorial Cathedral, All Souls and St Bartholomew Church. The church is named in memory of the 133 lives lost when a merchant ship, the RMS Quetta, was wrecked in the Torres Strait on 28 February 1890 as a result of an uncharted reef.

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.