Summary

This photograph depicts a family picnic in North Queensland by a stream. This photograph may have been taken on the family's property or somewhere further afield in the bush and the picnic might include non-family members, such as neighbours or property staff. The men are wearing long trousers with either a white long-sleeved collared shirt or a light collared coat. The boys appear to be dressed quite differently to one another with two dressed in long-sleeved white collared shirts and trousers (one with suspenders), one in a sailor suit (a common style of dress for boys at the time) and the last in a light coat and breeches. The ladies are wearing high-collared lightweight dresses (or shirtwaists and long skirts) in light colours, a necessity in tropical climates, and the little girl on the far right is dressed in a smock dress. The baskets used to transport their picnic supplies can be seen on the far right and the picnic appears to be set with proper china, as was the custom.

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.