Friday, July 15, 2011

Unknown Gentleman of Dunedin, Hokitika or Greymouth circa 1866

Here is another of the mysterious unknown gentlemen from New Zealand.  The dark halo around the subject suggests that this is a copy of an earlier photo.  Photographers did a lot of copying as part of their business.

The photo was taken by the Tait Brothers, with a printed logo on the back suggesting they operated in Dunedin, Hokitika and Greymouth.  Where this one was taken is anyone's guess.  Maybe not even in New Zealand.

What I can deduce from the photo is that the fellow is wearing a good quality woollen suit coat, which looks clean and newish.  He is a bit of a dude, wearing a very fashionable roll curl on top of his head, and maintaining a good length of curl over his ears. 

He is rather gaunt-looking, with hollowed-out cheeks, possibly from hard physical labour - or perhaps he had been ill.  He has light-coloured eyes, and appears to be aged in mid to late thirties.

Early Canterbury Photographers has a lot of information about the Tait Bros operation, but there is no example of the same style of printed mountboard, so that doesn't help with a date.  The man's hair-style and fashion, though, places the portrait date in the mid to late 1860s.

Again, if you are able to identify this man, please get in touch.
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8 comments:

  1. Lenore FrostJuly 17, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Thanks, Bill. I'm finding it entertaining working out just what his story was. He's a slippery ancestor. So far all I've managed to do is work out that he was in Hokitika for a few months, but where was he the rest of the time?

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

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  2. TCasteelJuly 18, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    You have a very well defined description of this person. Too bad a a surname was noted on it somewhere. Good luck on locatinghis id and family!
    Regards,
    Theresa (Tangled Trees)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lenore FrostJuly 18, 2011 at 10:42 AM

    Thanks, Theresa. I've had these photos for years, and can say it is the first time I have had a detailed *look* at them. I think probably the scanning and the capacity to enlarge them easily is one of the keys to a close examination. I'm really enjoying have a good look - now I need to get the scanner out again.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

    ReplyDelete
  4. Liv Taylor-HarrisJuly 18, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    Greetings and welcome to Geneabloggers.com! Your blog site is WONDERFUL and I've enjoyed my visit here very much today. Hopefully others from the community will surf in and lend a helping hand in identifying the gentleman in your feature post on Friday.

    Again, welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lenore FrostJuly 18, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    Hi Liv,

    Thank you for your kinds words. We'll have some fun, even if no-one can identify their relatives. But let's hope someone does.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

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  6. Wendy WilsonSeptember 6, 2016 at 10:31 AM

    Hi Lenore
    I wonder if it's Inspector W.H. James (William Henry) who was very involved in the Dobson murder by the Burgess gang in 1866. I have a photo of his son Thomas Harvey James and he looks a lot like the man in the photo. I can send you the photo of the son for comparison if you like. Tait Brothers opened up in Greymouth in 1866 and it seems possible that they would take a photo of Inspector James as he was all over the press at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lenore FrostSeptember 6, 2016 at 10:44 AM

    Hi Wendy, as I have not a clue who my gentleman is, I am open to suggestion, and would very much like to have a look at the photo of the son. If Inspector James was a bit of a celeb in his day and getting his photo taken, there might be a chance of finding one somewhere else.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownOctober 28, 2017 at 9:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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