One of the many glass plate negative series in the State Library’s digital collection shows people and scenery in the Mackay area around the 1870s-1880s. There aren’t many pictures, and some are badly damaged. Others depict First Nations people, and I’m uncomfortable about uploading those, given cultural sensitivities, and the fact that the photographs were probably taken without informed consent or good intentions.
Of the few that remain, there were a couple of striking studio photographs, along with some views outdoors.
This was one of the most damaged photos, but I was able to clean up most of the black marks on it using AI. I’m glad I was able to restore a digital download of it a little, because this chap looks like quite the character.
Another studio portrait, and a striking likeness.
A group of men photographed outside the Mount Britton Hotel in the Mackay region around 1880.
I did relax the rule about First Nations people in photographs for this one, because of the truly impressive building they are in the vicinity of. Imagine. A bank building with a bark roof. Well, the locals seem pleased to be photographed in front of it, and those locals included one First Nations child and a bearded young man second from the left. I apologise if this image causes any indigenous person distress.
An avenue of palm trees, Mackay area. I’d bet London to a brick that the men standing around in this tropical idyll were dreaming of hedgerows and cool weather, oblivious to the glorious scenery.
A group of young men with guns outside a bush hut in the Mackay area, 1881. There are other photographs from this group, but they involve rather a lot of dead wildlife, and I just couldn’t. Mind you, that hunters’ hut looks sturdier than the bank.
Moreton Bay and More 