This cabinet card photograph is the first image I’ve shared from Australia. It was printed at the Anson Brothers studio in Hobart, Tasmania, which was in operation from 1878 to 1891. Founded by brothers Joshua, Henry Joseph and Richard Edwin Anson, the studio became known for views of Tasmanian scenery, which received medals at the 1883–84 Calcutta International Exhibition and the 1888–89 Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition.
The stern-looking man in the photograph is pointing to a royal charter awarded by Queen Victoria. Unfortunately, I can read only a few words of it, such as witness and Queen Herself. On the table in front of the charter is a royal seal.
(To open an enlargement of the image above [2.1 mb] in a separate tab, click here.)
Update, July 21: A reader suggested in a comment below that this document may have been a Letters Patent rather than a charter.
I found a partial image online of a charter awarded to Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, in 1841. That page also shows a replica of the royal seal which accompanied the charter. Presumably the charter above was awarded much later, in the late 1870s or 1880s, when the Anson Bros. studio was in operation. On the other hand, the Ansons could have copied a photograph that was taken earlier, before they opened their business. It’s possible that the stern-looking man with the charter never stepped foot in Tasmania. But if that were true, why would the Ansons reproduce the photograph? It must have had some connection to Australia.* I intend to reach out to museums there to see if they’ve come across the image before. If you have any other ideas, do let me know.
*Wikipedia has a list of royal charters awarded by decade, including the 1880s. The University of Tasmania received a royal charter in 1915.
Tokens of Companionship 
Very official-looking! Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t think anyone from that era would reproduce a photograph of a royal charter. 🙂
One of the blogs I follow is https://tasview.com Tone is a photographer in Hobart, Tasmania. Maybe he might know.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re probably right. Thanks for the link–I’ll check it out!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gravitas! Royal charters, still awarded I wonder? I’m also curious as to why all those wonderful, international exhibitions are no longer. They seemed to morph into World Fairs and then disappeared. Hmmm.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Isn’t that funny that your comments begin with “Gravitas,” Mary Jo! When I opened the post, my immediate thought was, “The damage to the photograph has ruined the gravitas of the occasion it commemorates.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Serendipity, Liz! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I looked at the list of organizations which have received royal charters, I was surprised at the wide variety. This photo suggests that this charter was for something Very Important. The answer may be lost, but I suspect not. We’ll see!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m no expert but I do watch a lot of cop shows set in Australia and his wig looks like a judge’s wig. Good luck on this quest, Brad!
LikeLiked by 3 people
You’re probably right, Shayne. I know nothing about the legal systems in the UK and Australia. When researching this photo, I came across a website that might interest you if you don’t already know it: https://thomasnevin.com/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t seen that website but it looks very interesting! Can’t wait to explore it. Thank you, Brad!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let me know if you find anything good!
LikeLike
Hope you find the answer, and let us all know!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think the chances are pretty good!
LikeLike
There must be historical societies as well as museums? You could try university libraries’ digital archives as well.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Those are good suggestions, Liz. It’s useful to remember that databases like those are often not indexed by internet search engines.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve had quite good luck with them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now, all of that falls into the category of “things I know absolutely nothing about!” Good luck in your quest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Eilene, there was a steep learning curve for me as well. On the other hand, that’s true for most of the things I write about on this blog!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t imagine why the studio would reproduce a photo of this nature unless it was related to Australia. I wonder what the other piece of paper is. It is a wonderful photograph and falls in line perfectly with the scenery the studio became known for as there’s a superb attention to detail. The lines and angles throughout harmonize with one another. It reminds me of late Renaissance portraits in the way they would hint at the scenery beyond the figure through windows and other architectural openings. A great mystery! Looking forward to what you discover about it. Happy searching, Brad! ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
The other piece of paper appears to have a stamp on it which may have been made using the royal seal. But that’s just a guess. I love your comparison to Renaissance portraiture! Early photographers often had artistic training which exposed them to significant artistic traditions. I don’t know much about the Ansons, but they were certainly talented and enterprising. I hope to see more of their Tasmanian views online. Thanks so much, Suzanne!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I LOVE this. He looks like someone out of Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice in Wonderland, or like a character out of Gilbert and Sullivan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have to admit, I never expected that anyone would love this photo. Thank you kindly, Carol!
LikeLike
To me this fellow looks like he belongs in a Dickens novel.
LikeLike
Apparently that longer wig is called a “full-bottomed” wig.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now I want to know more! 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes the connections my mind draws surprise even me, but your mention of a full-bottomed wig brought to mind Queen’s song “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Of course I had to listen, and now I’m wondering how long it’ll be before it leaves my mind!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that’s funny! Now I’ll have to listen as well. Will I be sorry? 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not if you like Queen — or just a good, rollicking song!
LikeLiked by 1 person
An unusual image ! Popular wisdom would say that Victorians didn’t like to boast, but this chap has been handed an Important Job and would like it to be remembered.
The document may be Letters Patent (always plural) rather than a charter. They were issued by the monarch for various reasons, including the establishment of a Royal Commission, a sort of court of inquiry. This is my guess, based on the judicial garb.
As you have already pointed out it may be a copy and nothing to do with Tasmania/Australia, but there is a Wiki page listing South Australian Royal Commissions, which began in 1859. I think the image is c. 1880, and there were a lot of RCs established around that time, so perhaps some patient digging could turn up a list of candidate names.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent suggestion, Michael! I hadn’t heard of Letters of Patent before. That might explain why the judge is holding more than one document. For now I’ll leave the post as-is, until we can confirm that the he is, in fact, holding one or more Letters of Patent.
Regarding the age of the photo, I suspect you’re right, based on the condition of both the mount and the print. If we could find additional Anson Bros. cabinet cards to compare this one to, that might help date this one with greater certainty.
Michael, on a different subject, do you have any interest in photos related to India? I have a large photo, probably from the 1910s or early 1920s, containing a group of scholarly South Asian and European men posing together. I suspect the photo was taken at a British university, although it came from an estate in Texas. I’d hoped to identify the men or the location, but so far no luck.
LikeLike
Thanks Brad. Sorry, I don’t have special knowledge of photos from India, but if you post it I’m sure you will receive interesting contributions.
I was collecting UK portrait photos in the 1980s and 1990s when they were plentiful and still very cheap. Dealers evidently thought they were secondary to topographic postcards. More than once, I got the pitying comment : “But you don’t know who they are !”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Portrait photos are still very plentiful, and sometimes cheap, although probably not as cheap as they were in the 1980s and 1990s. Dealers seem to have caught on to the fact that old photos are collectible, which is a good thing overall, because it means they put the photos up for sale instead of tossing them in a rubbish bin. In recent years the number of new listings on eBay has been enormous, including listings in the UK, which has had the effect of keeping prices down somewhat. I wonder how much longer that will be true?
By the way, I bought this photo from a dealer in Chesterfield, England, in January 2020.
LikeLike
I suppose photographic conventions of the time have something to do with it, but I couldn’t help thinking that this fellow’s expression is somehow reminiscent of the expression often seen in Queen Victoria’s photos. I did notice that most of her photos show a profile rather than a full-face view. I wonder if that was her preference (“Be sure and show my good side!”) or if it was for some other reason.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bet you’re right that it was her preference. She and Albert were avid collectors of photographs, including portraits, so she must have held strong opinions about her own. Maybe she mentioned them in her journals?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are her journals available? I suspect they’d be as interesting as anything from the era; she’s clearly more interesting and complex than I imagined after our brief exposure to her in school.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The journals must have been transcribed, but I don’t know if they’re publicly available. She was definitely an interesting and complex person, which may explain why there’s still so much interest in her 120 years after her death.
LikeLike
This is a fascinating photograph. Those judge wigs are something else, aren’t they? I wonder if they’re hot and itchy to wear?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I bet they’re hot and itchy! That might explain why judges often look dour. Generally speaking I enjoy traditions, but I’m glad our judges don’t have to wear wigs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So exciting to see your first image from Australia! 😀 I was curious naturally and did a search which led me to the same blog you found and this post about the Anson Brothers. Might it explain how they got the photo? https://thomasnevin.com/2014/05/12/the-trial-of-joshua-anson-1877/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Lin! So nice to hear from you! You’re absolutely right that the Anson brothers might have printed the photo from an earlier negative that they had purchased. The page you linked to says they purchased Samuel Clifford’s studio and stock in 1878, which also included images made by Thomas J. Nevin, who had been in partnership with Clifford. So, this photo could have been taken by either of those men. I had planned to continue researching the photo, but got busy with summer activities and didn’t follow through. Your interest in the post is inspiring me to pursue it again! Thank you! 🥰
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was intrigued by the stories of the brothers and dig further into the history of the studio. I thought the photo of W.R. Giblin (in the link I posted earlier) who was the Attorney General then bore a resemblance to the one in your post, but I’ve never been particularly good with faces. I also found two websites that specialize on Tasmanian historians and photographers, you might get some answers from them (if you are pursuing further)! https://nichaygarth.com/index.php/2016/12/16/the-disappearance-of-joshua-anson-tasmanian-landscape-photographer/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ForgottenTasmania/about
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantastic links! I learned a lot about Joshua Anson from the first one. He had a hard life because of epilepsy. Your second link led me to Beatties Studio, which is a gold mine of early images of Tasmania. John Watt Beattie purchased the Anson Brothers studio and stock in 1892, along with rights to the images they had acquired from Samuel Clifford. Beattie was a very accomplished photographer himself. What an amazing catalog of images he must have had!
LikeLiked by 1 person