Summary

This photograph depicts a group of women having a picnic in a bush setting. This may be a church picnic held by ladies from the St. Margaret's Church in Croydon. Due to the isolation experienced by most of the residents in the Normanton and Croydon areas, bush picnics, organized by social clubs and church groups, were a popular outing. These picnics were often for both men and women but sometimes a women's church group would organize a ladies tea out in the bush. While the events themselves were somewhat informal and social, everyone would wear their "Sunday best". The women all appear to be dressed in elaborate wide-brimmed straw hats and either long skirts with lace or ruffled blouses or dresses with ruffles and ribbon accents. While social etiquette required arms, shoulders and legs to be covered, especially for women, the fabrics used would have been lightweight and durable, such as cotton and thin wool, in deference to the climate. The women are sitting on buckets and boxes and have brought crockery, little tables and big metal coffee urns with them. Two children can be seen playing in the background.

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.