These 795 photographic negatives were taken by unknown photographers between the late nineteenth century and 1935 and are part of a larger collection of 7,900 negatives once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell.

Included in this section of the collection is a wide variety of subject matter including Sydney Streets, New South Wales landscapes, World War I portraits and images of the Harbour Bridge from the early 1930s. While many of these images remain unattributed at present, it is likely that some were taken by Charles Kerry and Henry King and were either copied by Tyrrell or one of these photographers at a later date.

Some of the photographs from Papua New Guinea appear to have been taken by Reverend Lawes and these may have been a part of the selection acquired by King in the 1890s. David Millar in his book on Charles Kerry also comments on how Tyrrell's purchase from Kerry contained a number of World War I portraits and these seem likely to be the ones in this part of the Tyrrell collection.

However other photographs, like those of Sydney Harbour Bridge, were taken after both Kerry and King had died and must have been later acquisitions by either Tyrell or Australian Consolidated Press.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, December, 2008

References
Millar, David P., Charles Kerry's Federation Australia, David Ellis Press, Sydney, 1981

+ Sydney, New South Wales
+ Photography
+ Gelatin dry plate negatives

Images on this site are reproduced for the purposes of research and study only. Whilst every effort has been made to trace the Copyright holders, we would be grateful for any information concerning Copyright of the images and we will withdraw them immediately on Copyright holder's request.