It’s just until death you do part…
It was a societal norm that one didn’t grin like an idiot when one’s photograph was being taken. The time for exposure in early photographs was such that holding a smile for that long would result in an unhinged appearance. However, we’re so accustomed to wedding photographs showing the “happy couple” that 19th and early 20th century wedding photos look bizarre.
Here are some of the choicest wedding photos from the digital collection of the State Library of Queensland. Information on the couples is provided at the end, in numerical order of the photographs.
- The best man’s speech at the reception did not go down well.
2. “My God, what have I done,” the bride appears to be asking. Or perhaps she’s just had a premonition of how many children she would have.
3. After the rigours of the sermon, but before the festivities of the reception?
4. “Well, I can’t make a run for it in this gown, so….”
5. Groom looks keen. Bride looks apprehensive.
6. The vicar had rather over-emphasized the seriousness of the step they’d taken.
7. “I’ll get used to the moustache…”
- Mary Dunbar Aitken and Robert Poole on their wedding day in October 1899. Despite her expression in the photograph, the couple thrived together and built a dynasty. A newspaper photo of four generations of the Poole family was published just before Robert’s death in 1953. Mary Dunbar Poole died a decade later.
- Gottfried Zanow and Wilhelmina Beckmann on their wedding day inn Caboolture, 1882. Wilhelmina’s face and dress did not come out clearly, and the photographer painted in some details. Very badly. The couple had eight children. Wilhelmina died in 1926, and Gottfried died aged 95 in 1951.
- James Tilley and Ann Moloney on the happy occasion of their union in 1900. It wasn’t as bad as the photograph suggests- the Tilleys had three daughters and they were well loved and respected in Rathdowney. Mrs Tilley passed away in 1923, having been ill for some time, but not so ill that her death didn’t come as an enormous shock to her loved ones. James Tilley died in 1936.
- Robert Sommerfield and Isabella Dodd on their wedding day in 1872. They were married for over 40 years, so perhaps the bride’s look of apprehension had more to do with the difficulty of navigating the festivities in such a tight corset and narrow skirt.
- Caroline Charlotte Mann and David Fiechtner on their wedding day. They were married for 20 years, and when she passed away in 1913, David and his sons were devastated. A poem appeared in the “In Memoriam” section of the Courier a year after her death, which tells of her long and painful illness and the helplessness her husband and sons felt as she suffered. “Not lost, but gone before, She lives with us in memory still, And will for evermore.”
- The only detailed information on this couple that I could find was a charming description of their Edwardian wedding in the Courier: “The marriage of Mr. Moreton Bottger (son of the late Mr. H. Bottger, of Moreton Island and of Mrs. Bottger-Blair, of Moreton Villa, Hemmant) to Miss Mary Jane (May) Smith (third daughter of Mrs. J. V. Smith, of Enoggera) took place in St. Luke’s Cathedral at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the Rev. Hugh Simmonds officiating. The bride wore a pretty gown of ivory Japanese silk, inlet with Valenciennes lace, and a bridal veil of tulle and coronet of orange blossoms. She was attended by her three sisters as bridesmaids — namely the Misses A., F., and L. Smith, who all wore dainty frocks of mousseline de soie ornamented with Valenciennes lace and insertion; and summer hats wreathed with flowers. Messrs. Perry Brothers presented the bridegroom with an oak carved tray with set of cutlery, and Messrs. Gallagher with a silver teapot.” I like to imagine that their descendants are still fighting over custody of the teapot.
- John Thomas McFadzen and Annie Hansen on their wedding day in Mackay. The bridesmaid was Sophie Hansen, and the cheerful best man was Charles O’Malley. John and Annie went on to have eight children together.
Moreton Bay and More 