Summary

This photograph depicts a woman sitting on bare rocky ground under a tree along with her children (two little boys and two little girls), one of whom is sitting on a small swing suspended by ropes from the tree. This exact location of this photograph is unknown but it may have been taken near Burketown. The woman, believed to be Mrs. Murray, has her hair loosely pinned back and wears a lightweight print blouse with a lace collar and a light-coloured skirt. The oldest boy, standing, wears a light-coloured sailor suit with short dark socks and lace-up shoes, while the younger boy, believed to be named Eric, sits on the ground in front and is wearing a long-sleeved striped shirt with a wide collar and dark-coloured above-the-knee shorts, shoes, and socks. The little girl on the swing wears a light-coloured long-sleeved lacy dress worn under a light-coloured loose-fitting pinafore. On the ground behind her lies a crumpled hat. In front of her, a baby girl is seated on the ground wearing a dress with full sleeves gathered at the wrist with a high-waisted pinafore, and socks. Beside her lies a light-coloured straw hat. In the background are two small wooden crates on one of which can be discerned the word "stow."

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.