Summary

This photograph depicts a man and a woman in a one-horse buggy pulled up alongside a house where one woman greets them from a window and another from the verandah. This photograph was taken in North Queensland but the exact location is unknown. The couple in the buggy are well-dressed with the man wearing a neat wide-brimmed hat with band around the crown, a dark-coloured suit, long-sleeved light-coloured shirt, and a small bow-tie. The woman has her hair neatly swept up and topped by a fancy hat decorated with ribbon and flowers. She wears a long-sleeved dress of a dark striped material with light-coloured bodice and a necklace or locket. The woman at the window has her hair neatly tied back with a ribbon, and wears a long-sleeved light-coloured blouse. The woman on the verandah has her hair neatly tied up in a bun and wears a lightweight print blouse with gathered 3/4 length sleeves and a plain long skirt cinched with a belt. The neat little home has a gable roof that extends over two verandahs at front and back. The external walls and front door are made of shiny corrugated-iron. Three sash windows are visible, all with lace curtains, and while two at front are shaded by the roof, the side window from which the woman leans is shaded by a timber and corrugated-iron awning. The house is set upon timber stumps with ant caps and has a set of five steps at front. Some potted plants are neatly placed on the front verandah. Adjacent to the back verandah is a smaller corrugated-iron structure, perhaps the kitchen, with awning windows propped open. The photographer's shadow can be seen looming from centre foreground.

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.