Tasmanian International Exhibition 1891-92
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The Launceston Family Album Project
The Exhibition Passport Album The Tasmanian International Exhibition was the biggest event ever held in Launceston. Community excitement and anticipation grew steadily during the months leading up to its opening in November 1891. The event was widely promoted as a trade fair, cultural exhibition and expression of community achievement. Season tickets to the Exhibition were advertised in The Examiner newspaper prior to its opening. They were issued to anyone in the community who wished to take advantage of free admission to the opening ceremonies, concerts and oratorios. A photograph was mounted on the season tickets which were effectively passports. The cost of a season’s ticket was two guineas for gentlemen, one guinea for ladies and 10/6 for children under fourteen. Special reductions were available "for large families". |
The official photographer for these passports was Richard Nicholas whose Elite Studios were at 74 St John Street. Nicholas kept a master set of passport photographs in a large album which remarkably has survived and is now one of the treasures held in the Launceston Library’s collection.
The album has 1,179 photographs each 3.8 by 5.2 cm. They have been pasted into the album in a roughly alphabetical sequence. Each has been named and staff members at the Launceston Library have re-indexed the album. The original album is fragile and the photographs themselves are quite brittle restricting its use. It has been at the Library since 1950 when it was donated by Mr R W J Hart from the estate of the late A W Joscelyne.
The album is a record of a large proportion of Launceston’s population at the time (around 18,000), and it includes men, women and children. Such a representative photographic record is very unusual for any community at that time. Its limitation is that it includes only the names of the subjects, and no further information about them.
The “Launceston Family Album” project
An exciting project to discover the stories behind these passport photographs has been instigated by the Friends of the Library, Launceston. It has been called “Launceston Family Album” because the collection is like a big family album belonging to the whole community.
Friends of the Library are inviting the community to join them in a detective story – the challenge is to find out who these people were, what was their part in creating the heritage of Launceston, what were their stories, who are their descendants?
The passport album has been photographed using a digital camera and individual images created of each portrait. A superb website (www.launcestonfamilyalbum.org.au) has been developed displaying all of the portraits and names, which gives people a simple way of contributing information about the subjects. The kind of information that people can contribute includes:
This project has been supported financially by a grant from the Tasmanian Community Fund, and has been endorsed by the Launceston City Council as part of It’s About Us 2006. The website has been developed by Future Medium, a Tasmanian company, using innovative software which allows easy searching, browsing and public contribution.
This website can be accessed from home, or it can be used with the help of staff at the Launceston Library.
Anyone who wishes to search the site for family members, portraits of Launceston identities or persons of historical interest, can do so, and submit information about those people, either online or using a printed form from the Library.
The aim of the project is to identify and collect and display information about as many of the people as possible. Many of the younger men and women photographed would have served in the First World War and made significant contributions to our local community. Others have made their marks in other parts of the Australia and the world, in careers in business, the arts and many other areas. The older people in the photographs were already active in Launceston in 1891, and many of their stories remain to be told.
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ALBERT HALL In 2005 Albert Hall is still a Launceston landmark. It was built to house the Tasmanian International Exhibition and was paid for entirely by the Launceston City Council at a total cost of £12,224. The foundation stone was laid on April 2 1890, and the completed building, including temporary annexes, was ready for the opening twenty months later. The architect was John Duncan, and the builder J T Farmilo, with decorative cement work added by J & T Gunn. |
To find out more about this project, visit the website or contact Marion Sargent at the Launceston Library, Civic Square, Launceston, Tas, 7250, Ph (03) 6336 2639.
Content and Design Copyright © 2005, Friends of the Library, Launceston & Future Medium.
