Summary

This photograph depicts a well-dressed man in a one-horse buggy exiting a fenced North Queensland property. In the dry yard, spindly shrubs are growing along the fences, the one in foreground being perhaps a geranium with a hoop pine behind. In the yard are two or three roofed buildings adjacent to each other, with one storing what looks to be hessian bags of produce. There is a round, corrugated-iron water tank to the front of the buildings. The man in the buggy wears a brimmed cap, suit with vest, and tie. Behind him on the buggy is wicker furniture, perhaps two chairs tied together facing each other. On right of photograph, just discernible on the other side of the fence is part of a weatherboard building with a brick chimney. A ladder is propped over the fence and against the house.

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.